Galatians chapter four. If you were here last Sunday morning and you see the title of the message this morning and you think, didn't I just hear this last week? Well, yes and no. I do want to preach from this passage this morning. Last week, Stuart Rogers preached on this text or this theme. And I just want to kind of build on what he gave us last week. Galatians 4, 4, and 5 says that when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth his son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. Let's bow together for prayer. Father, again, we come to you this morning. Thank you for the music, and thank you for all the hymns that we can sing, the music we can enjoy, especially at this Christmas time. Thank you for each one that has participated this morning and throughout this Christmas season. We thank you for your word and the truth that it reveals to us about that one that was born 2000 years ago of Bethlehem. We pray father this morning that you would open your word to us that you would impress this truth upon our hearts that we would know and believe and be able to defend our belief in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray in his name, amen. Well, Paul tells us that when the fullness of time has come, God sent forth his son and we don't know exactly when Jesus was born. We know it was the time planned by God. Almost 600 years before Jesus was born, the Lord told Daniel of his plan for the Jewish people. And let me just read a portion of Daniel chapter nine when the Lord told Daniel 70 weeks are determined upon my people and upon my holy city. Know therefore and understand that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and build Jerusalem unto Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks and three score and two weeks. So there's some indication of a timeframe there in which Messiah would come. And of course, again, Pastor Rogers dealt with all this history last week, and so we won't get into that. But I do want to build on that, because that's the way this text begins, but it goes on to tell us about what happened when the fullness of time came. And so notice with me, first of all, that in the fullness of time, the Father sent the Son into the world. The first thing that Paul emphasizes as he tells us about the fullness of time is that it began with the Father, that God the Father sent forth his Son. That verse is so familiar to us, John 3, 16, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. God, God the Father gave his only begotten Son. The plan for the Lord to come into the world, the plan for salvation, the plan for the first Christmas began with the Father. And so we read as we've read and heard this morning in the book of Luke that the angels who proclaim the message to the shepherds, the multitude of the heavenly hosts were praising God and saying, glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace, goodwill toward men. When the angels proclaim glory to God in the highest, where was Jesus at that time? Was he in the highest? No, he was in the manger in Bethlehem. Glory to God in the highest. Who was in the highest? The Father was in the highest. They were praising the Father for sending His Son, the Lord Jesus. It was the Father's plan. And 1 John 4, verses 9 and 10, it tells us, and this was manifested, the love of God toward us, that is God the Father, because that God the Father sent His only begotten Son into the world that we should live through Him. Here in His love, not that we love God, but He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. This plan of sending the son into the world was the plan of the father. As Jesus was preparing to ascend into heaven, the disciples asked him, Lord, will thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And he said unto them this. He said, it's not for you to know the times or the seasons which the father hath put into his own power. Now, the father has a plan for the ages. It began with a creation. And with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, it will end when the Lord Jesus comes again. And the Father has a timing for that. Matter of fact, if you'll keep your finger there in Galatians chapter four and turn to the book of Revelation for just a moment, in chapter 14, Revelation 14. And I believe that what we find here in this text that I want to show you is the father telling the son, it's time to go back. Just as the father told the son, it's time to go down and be born in Bethlehem, the father will tell the son, it's time to go down and bring this age to a close. In Revelation 14, beginning in verse 14, John writes, and I looked and behold a white cloud and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of Man." That's a term that Jesus used for Himself. He called Himself the Son of Man. So I think what you have pictured here is that the Son of Man, the Lord Jesus, is on the cloud waiting to come down to the earth to bring this age to an end. And another angel comes out of the, he has on his head a golden crown and in his hand a sharp sickle. And another angel comes out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, thrust in thy sickle and reap, for the time is come for thee to reap, for the harvest of the earth is ripe. He comes out of the temple. What's in the temple? The Father is in the temple. The Son is on the cloud. The Father sends the angel to tell the Son, it's time, Son, go down and reap the harvest of the earth. And he that sat on the cloud, verse 16, thrust in his sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped. I mean, this is a picture of the Lord Jesus coming back. And we read further about it in Revelation 19, when He comes on His white horse with the armies of heaven following Him. He puts down all of His enemies and establishes His millennial reign, the thousand year reign of Christ on earth. But it's all in the father's plan. The father planned that the son would come at a certain time, at the time that he had appointed, and he will come again at the time that he has appointed. But notice secondly, not only does this text tell us that it was the father that sent his son, but the father sent his son into the world. And I stress that to emphasize the fact that Jesus was God come in the flesh. He was the son of God. His life didn't begin at Bethlehem. In Micah 5 and verse 2 we read, You remember when the wise men came, it's recorded in Matthew chapter two, and they came to Herod asking, where is he that is born king of the Jews? And Herod turned to all the priests and the scribes and asked, where would Messiah be born? And they turned to this text and they quoted this verse to Herod that he would be born in Bethlehem, and they quoted Micah 5.2. So this is a verse that speaks of the coming of the Messiah, the Lord Jesus. And of course, the wise men found Jesus in Bethlehem, probably a couple years after he was born. He was in a house. He was no longer in the stable, in the manger, but he was in a house. But this was the one who, Micah says, his goings forth, that is, his activity had been from of old, from everlasting. He's been active since eternity past. Though he was born in Bethlehem, that wasn't the beginning of his existence. He had been active. He had been, since eternity past, he had existed. And so this one that was born in Bethlehem is the eternal God. And let me encourage you this morning, if you know Christ the Savior especially, pull out your pen and paper, pencil and paper, and you can jot down some of these verses, because someday you might run across somebody who would say to you, you know, Jesus wasn't God. He was just a great man, a good man, a great prophet. Well, no, he was the Son of God. He was God come in the flesh. Isaiah told us that. One of the Christmas passages that we sometimes turn to, Isaiah 9, 6, unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. And note that the child was born, but the son was given. The child that was born in Bethlehem was the son that the father gave. He's the son given because that wasn't the beginning of his existence. And he is called there further in Isaiah 9, 6, the mighty God and the everlasting father. Isaiah refers to him as God. Gabriel, when he declared to the shepherds that the Lord Jesus had born, he, I'm sorry, when Gabriel declared it to Mary, he said to her, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a son and call his name Jesus. And he shall be great and shall be called the son of the highest. And Mary said, you know, how can this be? I know not a man, and the angel answered and said, the Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, the power of the highest shall overshadow thee, therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. And we're not looking at all the passages this morning, but I'm giving you some passages that declare that Jesus, born in Bethlehem, it wasn't the beginning of his existence, he existed in eternity past, he is God come in the flesh. Isaiah proclaimed it. Gabriel, as he spoke to Mary, proclaimed it. John tells us this. Let me just remind you of what Genesis 1.1 says. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. In the beginning, God. And so John declares in John chapter 1, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And in verse 3, he says, all things were made by Him. In the beginning God created, and John says the Word created. Without Him was not anything made that was made. Well who is the Word? In verse 14 John tells us the Word was made flesh, the One that was made flesh and dwelt among us. And he says we beheld His glory, the glories of the only begotten of the Father full of grace and truth. Who was the word? He was the one that became flesh. The child that was born in Bethlehem. He is God come in the flesh. Somebody will say, well Jesus never claimed to be God. Well, turn in your Bibles to John chapter 10. John chapter 10. Anybody that would say that Jesus didn't claim to be God doesn't know their Bible. And again, I'm not looking at all the passages, I'm just giving you a few. But in John chapter 10, beginning in verse 30, Jesus said, I and my father are one. And verse 31 tells us the Jews took up stones again to stone him. Why? He said, I and the father are one, and they're ready to stone him. Why? Well, Jesus asked them that very same question. In verse 32, Jesus answered them, many good works have I showed you from my Father, for which of those works do you stone me? Why do you want to stone me? And they answered, saying, for a good work we stone thee not, but for blasphemy, and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God. They understood that when Jesus said, I and my Father are one, that he was claiming equality of the Father, that He was claiming that He was indeed God. They understood that. That's why they wanted to kill Him, because they thought He had blasphemed. They didn't believe Him, but they understood what He was claiming, that He was claiming to be God. And so you go back to John chapter 8 and in verse 56, Jesus said, Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad. And they said unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham? And Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, before Abraham was, I am." And again, they take up stones to cast at him. Why? Because by saying, I am, before Abraham was, I am, he is claiming to be God, because I am is a name for God in the Old Testament. It's the name by which God revealed himself to Moses. When God sent Moses down to deliver, to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt, he said, you know, when I go down there, They're not going to believe me. Who do I tell them sent me? And God said to Moses, I am that I am. Tell them, I am has sent me unto you. So when Jesus said before Abraham was, I am, he's claiming to be God. He's claiming to be the one that appeared to Moses, the one that appeared to Abraham in eternity past, or in time past. He is claiming to be God. So don't let anybody ever tell you that Jesus never claimed to be God or that the Bible doesn't say that Jesus was God. Yes, indeed He was. And again, there are many other passages that we could turn to, but let me just give you those few this morning. But going back to Galatians chapter four, in the fullness of time, the Father, God the Father, at the appointed time sent His Son, the Lord Jesus, God, to come in the flesh, to become a man. He was made of a woman. Jesus was the eternal God, and he never ceased to be the eternal God, but he also became fully man. He was fully God and fully man. Paul would write to the Philippian church in Philippians chapter two, verses that no doubt are familiar to you. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, that is something that he had to hold on to. Jesus in eternity passes in the heavens with the Father. He's being worshiped by the angels and all that are there. But he thought it wasn't something he had to hold on to. He could leave that and leave heaven, leave all of that and come to earth. And so he made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men. and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. We call that the incarnation, incarnate, God becoming man, God taking upon himself human flesh. You know, when God revealed himself to Moses as I am, and again, Jesus used that to refer to himself, claiming to be God, But that phrase, I am, declares God to be the self-existent one, the one who needs nothing else. God doesn't need anything. But Jesus became a man, just as you and I, yet without sin, but he became a man like any other man. And we don't often think about it this way, and I don't mean to be disrespectful, but I think I wanna say it this way so that we can really lay hold of this truth. When Jesus was a baby, he had to be fed like any other baby. He had to have his diaper changed like any other child. He had to learn to walk. He had to learn to talk. He learned the carpenter's trade. He needed food and water. Do you remember there was one day that Jesus was making his way from Bethany to Jerusalem and he was hungry, the Bible says. And he saw a fig tree and he went over there and he was going to eat some of the figs because he was hungry. He was a man, he hungered. God doesn't hunger. But the God-man did. He was every bit of a man, just as any of us are. He needed water like everybody else. He needed rest. There was one time that he and the disciples, they got on a ship. They were crossing the Sea of Galilee. There was a tremendous storm that arose. The disciples were scared that they were gonna be, the ship was gonna sink. They turned to Jesus and where is he? He's in the back of the ship and he's asleep. God doesn't sleep. He that watches over Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps. God doesn't need to sleep. But Jesus was the God-man and he was tired and he needed rest and he could rest even in the midst of the storm and then turn around and wake up and say, peace be still and the storm ceased because he's still God. But he is the God-man. We sang Martin Luther's hymn this morning away in a manger. In verse two it says, the cattle are lowing, the baby awakes, but little Lord Jesus, no crying he makes. Don't you believe that? He absolutely cried. He cried like any child, like any baby would cry. You say, Pastor, you mean we're not gonna sing Away in a Manger anymore? Well, no, if we had to not sing Christmas songs that contain some inaccuracies, we probably wouldn't be singing most of the Christmas songs we sing, because they all kind of have some sentimentality to them. Not all of them, but many of them have things in them that really aren't accurate. But we understand that. I hope you understand that. We like them, we sing them, but we understand that Not everything they're saying is right, but the Lord Jesus was God. He was the Son of God who became a man whilst not ceasing to be God. He was the God-man. By the way, note that back there in Galatians 4 and verse 4, again, Paul says he was made of a woman. He doesn't say he was made of a woman and a man. He was the virgin-born son. of God, made of a woman. And I don't want to get into that this morning, but I do want to note that Paul states it that way, and that though it's not his intention in this text to stress the virgin birth of Christ, but the way he says it does indicate the reality of the virgin birth. And then fourthly, not only was it the plan of the Father to send His Son, that Jesus was God, and He was God come in the flesh, made of a woman, but He was also subject to the law. He was made under the law. That word under means under subjection, subject to the authority of the law. Jesus had to keep the law perfectly, and He did so. He said in John 8, verse 46, Nobody could because he had never sinned. In John 15 and verse 10, he said to his disciples, I have kept my father's commandments. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5, 21, the father made the son to be sinned for us who knew no sin. The writer of Hebrews said, Jesus was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Peter said in 1 Peter 2 about Jesus, he did no sin. You know, John would declare the words of Jesus, I've kept my father's commandments. Peter would say that Jesus did no sin. These were men that lived with him day in and day out. And I've said this before, but let me just stress it again this morning. If we were to go to, if you're married, we were to go to your husband or your wife and ask, is your husband, your wife, are they perfect? Do they ever do anything wrong? Nobody's going to say, Oh no, they never do anything wrong. Or your children or children about your parents. Nobody, nobody would ever claim that we have never done anything wrong. We know each other too well. But Peter said, Jesus never did anything wrong. We walked with Him, we talked with Him, we were with Him for three and a half years, and we know He never did a single thing that was wrong. John would declare what Jesus said, and he wouldn't refute it, because he knew it was true that Jesus had kept His Father's commands. Even His enemies said that. Some of the Pharisees and Herodians came to Jesus. They're trying to catch Him in His words. And when they were come, they said unto Him, Master, we know that Thou art true. We know you always tell the truth. and care us for no man, regard us not the person of men, but teach us the way of God in truth. Even as enemies said, we know that, you know, we're gonna ask you the question and we know whatever you tell us is gonna be true because you always tell the truth. Jesus was the sinless son of God. He kept all, he was made under the law, subject to the law and throughout his life, he kept the law perfectly and not just the law of Moses, but every commandment of the father. He would say in John 8, 29, I do always those things that please the father. Everything that the Father desired of Him to do, He did. Isaiah tells us that every morning He would rise up and He would go and spend time with His Father and get the Father's plan for the day, and He would carry out that plan perfectly and do everything the Father wanted Him to do. He never did a single wrong, made under the law, subject to the law, subject to the Father, and did that perfectly. But why? Well, Paul tells us, when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, for this purpose. Note that word, to, in verse 5. That's a purpose word. What is the purpose? Why did all this take place? So that we could be redeemed. To redeem those that were under the law. The word redeem means to purchase. It was often used of buying a slave out of the slave market and setting him free. It's the idea of purchasing freedom for us. Peter reminds us in 1 Peter 1, 18 and 19 that we were not redeemed with corruptible things like silver and gold. Jesus didn't purchase us with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. Jesus had no sins of His own. When He died upon the cross, He didn't die for anything wrong that He had done, for He had done no wrong. It was only as He could live a sinless life that He could then give His life as a sacrifice for our sins. We are the ones who are guilty of breaking God's law. We are the ones that deserve death. but Jesus died in our place, having no sins of His own, then He died for our sins. And so Paul tells us over in Galatians chapter 3, if you look over there in verse 10, he says, as many as are of the works of the law are under a curse For it is written, cursed is everyone that continueeth not in all the things which are written in the book of the law to do them. If anybody would say, and maybe you're here this morning and you're thinking is, I'm gonna get into heaven because I'm basically a good person and I don't really do anything wrong and I'm keeping the law, I'm trying to do good works and my good is gonna outweigh my bad. Well, the truth is that if you were gonna be saved by keeping the law or by your good works, you'd have to do it perfectly. Cursed is everyone that continues not in all the things which are written in the book of the law to do them. Maybe you have said this in a moment of surprise or something, and you said, oh my, and then you put the word God in there. You've just broken the law of God. You've just taken the Lord's name in vain. There's not one of us that haven't broken the law of God, except for Jesus. And so we are under the curse because we've broken the law, but Jesus redeemed us. Verse 13, Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us, for it is written, cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree. Jesus paid the penalty of our sins by dying upon the cross. And if you've never trusted Christ as Savior this morning, you're not saved, but you can be. It's not by works of righteousness, which we have done. but by the mercy of God that we are saved. It's by grace through faith and not of ourselves. It's the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. Again, salvation is a gift that God gives us when we believe on Jesus Christ as our Savior. You know, this Christmas, you may receive some gifts. And if you can think about it this way, if I wanted to give you this Bible as a gift, and I'd say, here, I want you to have this, Well, you can take it as a gift and it's yours. If you try to pay for it, it's no longer a gift. And God doesn't say, here, let me give you this gift, but now you need to pay for it by keeping the law. No, he says it's a gift and all you can do is receive it. Believe what the Bible says, that you're a sinner, lost, and on your way to hell. but that Jesus paid for your sins when he died upon the cross, and asked God to forgive your sins and to save you, and he'll do that. Jesus was made under the law, lived perfectly, so that he could redeem us who are under the law. But, you know, let's go a step further, because this is a wonderful truth. To redeem them that were under the law, not only delivering us from the curse of the law, but delivering us from the need to keep the law to be acceptable to God. I don't have to keep the law. I don't know if you realize that or not, you don't have to keep the law. You are free not to live according to the law. You don't have to constantly worry about what God thinks of you or be afraid that you're gonna do something that displeases Him. You are freed from the law, even as a believer. You say, preacher, are you saying I can do whatever I want? I can live however I want, it doesn't matter? Well, not exactly. What I'm saying is, and I've said this a few times recently, because I think this truth has just really hit home to me in more recent days, more than it ever has before. I am free to live by the Spirit of God. I don't live by a list of rules and regulations, I live by the direction of the Spirit of God. Matter of fact, if you'll turn over a page in your Bibles to Galatians chapter five, and look at what Paul says in verse 16. This I say then, walk in the Spirit and you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Notice what he doesn't say. Walk according to the law and you won't fulfill the lust of the flesh. No, he says let the Spirit control your life and you will do those things which are pleasing to God. I am free to live by the Spirit. And I've said it before, let me just say it again this morning, it's the child who needs to list. of rules and regulations to live by. It's the mature believer who understands how to live by the Spirit of God, to be led by the Spirit of God, to be directed by the Spirit of God. And that can be messy. Because as I learn to walk by the Spirit, I don't always hear His voice rightly. I don't always yield to Him, but I'm free to live by the Spirit of God. There was a woman one time who heard the preaching of D.L. Moody and she got under conviction that she needed to be saved. And Moody was dealing with her after the service and talking to her as she was struggling with the need of her salvation. And she said to him, you know, but I love to go to the theater, and if I get saved, I'll have to quit going to the theater. And Moody said, I didn't say a thing in the world to you about not going to the theater. You need to be saved. God'll take care of that. If you don't need to go to the theater, if God doesn't want you to go to the theater, you get saved, God'll change your heart, and you won't go to the theater. That's what God has for you. God leads us by his spirit. I just need to come to God. Matter of fact, that very familiar favorite invitation hymn, Just As I Am, that second verse says, just as I am, and waiting not to rid my soul of one dark blot. Lord, I'm not waiting to clean myself up and change my ways. I'm just coming to you, and your blood can cleanse each spot. Lamb of God, I come. I just need to come to you as a sinner who needs your salvation. God, you'll change me and make me what you want me to be. And we need to understand that. We need to understand it as we share the gospel. People just need to be saved. They're sinners, they're lost, they're on the way to hell, they need salvation. God will change them once he saves them. And if they'll yield to the Spirit of God as a believer, they'll walk in a way that's pleasing to God and they'll grow in their understanding of that. I've been saved for 42 years. When I first got saved, though, I grew up in church, a good church like this one. Heard the word and was taught all my life. I didn't get saved until I was 19 years old. But, you know, as I began the Christian life, there are things I look back on that I did as a young Christian that today I think, what in the world was I thinking? You know what changed? It wasn't somebody saying, now look, here's a list and you violated this list. As I grew and as I studied God's word and began to understand what God desires of me, I changed. You know, it's not pleasing to God. This isn't what God wants me to do. The Spirit of God teaches me what God wants of me. I began to change and to to live a way that pleases God, and I'm still growing, as are you, if you know Christ as Savior. No matter how long you've been saved, you're growing in the Lord, and the Spirit is teaching you and changing you, but it's His work. I'm not under law anymore, I'm under grace, and I'm free to live by the Spirit of God. So I've been redeemed from the law, I've been delivered from the law. For salvation and even as a believer for sanctification, no, it's no longer law, it's the Spirit of God. And because of all that then I've received the adoption of sons, I've become a part of God's family. I like the way They say it on, though Adrian Rogers is dead and with the Lord, his program continues on the Bible Broadcasting Network. And when they talk about salvation and those who have been saved, they say, welcome to God's forever family. I like that. When you get saved, you become a child of God. and nothing will ever change that. You'll never cease being his child. That word adoption just emphasizes a lot of things, but let me just stress this one truth about it this morning, and that is that when somebody's adopted, they're chosen to be part of the family. And God, when he saves you, he chooses to make you part of his family. He could have saved you and made you just a servant, but he didn't. He chose to make you his son. When you got saved, you became a child of God, a son of God, and you'll never cease to be a part of his family. And He will never stop loving you as His child, no matter what you do. You can displease Him, yes, but He won't stop loving you. He accepts you because you have become His child through faith in Jesus Christ. And so in the fullness of time, God sent forth His Son, first of all, to deliver us from hell. and the destructive consequences of sin. The wages of sin is death. Sin has consequences, but when we trust Christ as Savior, we are delivered from that, and we can live a life that pleases God. And so let me ask you this morning, have you trusted the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior? And if not, will you do so today? But remember this too, the fullness of time came, and Jesus came, but there's another appointed time, that the Father has planned when God will come again, Jesus will come again and put down all of His enemies and establish a righteous reign. If you know Christ as Savior, are you longing and looking for His return? I don't think we can ever come to the first coming of Christ without thinking about his second coming. And when you study the Old Testament prophecy, so many of them put those two together. And the Old Testament prophecy didn't always see the gap between them, but so often they're together. And we need to keep that in mind as we think back to the coming of Christ as that babe in Bethlehem. gave His life for our sins. He's coming again to rule and reign. And what a day that will be when the Lord Jesus returns. Let's stand together for prayer. Our Father, we thank You this morning that we have had the truth of the gospel. Most of us, all of our lives, thank you that there was that time that we received Christ as our Savior. Our sins were forgiven. We became a part of your family. We were delivered from the law, freed up to live by the Spirit of God. And I pray that if there's one here this morning who does not know Christ as Savior, Lord, we can't. Convict them only you can do that. We pray that your Holy Spirit will do that work of convicting them. Troubling their conscience of their need of Christ and father that they will not. Leave here. Without settling that matter. We've given your word this morning, Father. I pray that it will bear fruit in our lives. According to your plan. as you would have it to do. And we pray it in Jesus' name, amen.