In Galatians Chapter 3, we learn that the law was created as a teacher to teach us that we cannot be right on our own. The Law was created so that we would know that we needed something more.
Last week, we celebrated the holiday where God came to earth as a baby. In Galatians 4:4 it says that God sent his Son made of woman under the law so that we could be made sons. You see, we weren’t able to follow the rules, so God sent us one who could and did. As it says in 4:5, he came to redeem them that were under the law so that we could receive the adoption of sons. We receive this adoption when we choose to believe, as it says in Hebrews 11:6 that we must have the faith to believe that God exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
We can call Him Father
In Galatians 4:6 it says that because we are sons, God sent the Spirit of HIS SON into our hearts so that we could cry out to him as Our Father. WE are no more servants but heirs of God through Christ. Once adopted, God doesn’t unadopt us when we do wrong, but he does allow you to suffer the consequences of our actions until we ‘see the light’.
The Son That When Astray
Jesus told about a younger son who decided that he didn’t want to have to follow his father’s rules and decided that he wanted to go out and see the world for himself. He took his inheritance and went out into the world. At first he had a great time. He partied. He chased women. He enjoyed himself, but then his money ran out. the next thing he did was start accepting work that was against everything that he was taught to believe in. He had to feed pigs which were considered unclean animals in his culture. He was underpaid for the work he did and didn’t even have enough to eat. He started stealing the pigs food in order to survive. Finally he said enough was enough. His Father treated his servants better than that. He decided that he would go back to His Father’s house and ask to be his servant.
If you know anything about the story of the prodigal son, you know that the father would have none of that. When he saw his son coming from afar off, he run to him, took him in as the son that the son always had been even when he was not acting like a son.
The Son That Didn’t Know What He Had
Which brings us to the part of the story concerning the older brother. This older brother was not happy when his brother who wasted all that he was given was welcomed back with open arms. The older brother could not understand how it was that the Father could accept him with no questions asked. He then compared himself to the other brother. he had done everything as the Father had told him, but the Father didn’t celebrate that. The Father then said that he could have celebrated any time he wanted, that everything the father had given him was his to do with as he wished. The older son, because he always obeyed the Father acted more like a servant than one who was to inherit everything that belonged to the Father.
Learning What We Have In Christ
This parable reminds us that though we go out into the world and live like the world, it’s not all its cracked up to be. However, this story also shows us that living under the Law is bondage as well because it keeps us living as though we were servants rather than the Sons that God created us to become. Like the older brother, we have not because we ask not. Everything that the Father has, belongs to us, and yet we don’t accept it because we think that we have to somehow earn it. The truth is, Jesus already earned all of it. What we have to do is learn to accept what he has already given us and it is more than simply keeping us from going to hell when we die.
During the coming year,I am going to look what our father has given us. He saved us from more than just hell. We simply have to accept what he has given us and celebrate those gifts. Won’t you join me in learning what it is that God has for us. He has so much more to give us than just a “get out hell” free card?
Donna Brown is pastor at Faith in God Church in Brandsville, Missouri. As Author Cygnet Brown, she has recently published her first nonfiction book: Simply Vegetable Gardening: Simple Organic Gardening Tips for the Beginning Gardener
She is also the author of historical fiction series The Locket Saga. which includes When God Turned His Head and Soldiers Don’t Cry, the Locket Saga Continues, and most recently, A Coward’s Solace, Book III of the Locket Saga.For more information about Cygnet Brown and her book, check out her website at http://www.cygnetbrow.com .