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Thomas F. Fischer, M.Div., M.S.A., Editor
Eleventh Sunday After
Pentecost
St. Mary, Mother of our Lord
Option
#1: "When The Time Had Fully Come"
Galatians 4:4-7
Rev. Wayne Dobratz, B.A., M.Div.
1) God sent the right Man--Micah 5:2; John 8:35ff; Phil 2:6-8; 1 Tim 3:16
2) To do a great work--Matt 20:28; Gal 3:13-14; Eph 1:7, 5:2; Titus 2:14; Heb 9:12; 1 Pet 1:18-20, 3:18; Rev 5:9
3) To accomplish the greatest adoption in history--Rom 8:17 & 23; Gal 3:29; Eph 3:6; Titus 3:7; Rev 21:6-7
Barnes Notes on the New Testament:
as a consequence of your being adopted into the family of God, and being regarded as his sons. It follows as a part of his purpose of adoption that his children shall have the spirit of the Lord Jesus.And because ye are children--
The Spirit of his Son--the idea is, that as the Lord Jesus was enabled to approach God with the language of endearment and love, so they would be. He, being the true and exalted Son of God, had the spirit appropriate to such a relation; they being adopted, and made like him, have the same spirit. The "spirit" here referred to does not mean, as I suppose: the Holy Spirit as such; nor the miraculous endowments of the Holy Spirit, but the spirit which made them like the Lord Jesus; the spirit by which they were enabled to approach God as his children, and use the reverent, and tender, and affectionate language of a child addressing a father. It is that language used by Christians when they have evidence of adoption; the expression of the warm, and elevated, and glowing emotions which they have when they can approach God as their God, and address him as their Father.
Crying--that is, the spirit thus cries, (pneuma--krazon).
Abba, Father--see Rom 8:15. It is said in the Babylonian Gemara, a Jewish work, that it was not permitted slaves to use the title of Abba in addressing the master of the family to which they belonged. If so, then the language which Christians are here represented as using is the language of freemen, and denotes that they are not under the slavery of sin.
+ + +
Visual aid: a toy airplane.
I want to tell you about something that happens every week all across the country. The day has come which couples have been awaiting for a long time. A baby is about to arrive, but it wont be at the hospital; it will take place in an airport.
What I have just described is an ADOPTION. In Bible times, it was possible for a slave to be adopted as a son into a rich family. Even though he was born to a poor family as a slave, he has become a son; he now has the name of the rich man who has adopted him.
Because of his adoption, the slave also became an HEIR. Do you know what that word means? Its not the stuff on top of your head. An HEIR is someone who is given gifts when the parents die. He inherits what they owned as a gift. In some families that can be a lot of money.
You became part of Gods family when you were baptized. Jesus is the one who died so that you might be an heir, that you might be given many blessings.
You are a child of God because Jesus died for your sins. You can look forward to a place in our Fathers house because Jesus died for you. Youre an heir because someone has been very kind to you.
Those little babies on the airplane didnt become heirs of their parents because they did something. Paul wrote: since you are a child, God has made you also an heir. Their parents took them into their own families and they probably came from countries very far away. It was, as we say, BY GRACE--these parents will be giving and giving, and giving some more to these ADOPTED CHILDREN for the next 18, 20 or more years.
Thats a picture of what you have because God made you His child and heir. Praise Him for his many gifts and for making you a part of His family.
"God
Mary-s Us!" or
"How To Be A Mary In A Martha Stewart World"
Isaiah 61:7-11
Rev. Kelly Bedard, B.A., M.Div.
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