To call God “Father”
The Christians of Galatia had been brought to Christian faith from heathenism. They were not circumcised (5. 2; 6.12) and had been following false Gods (4. 8). Now, as Christians, they are threatened by a false religion that is every much of an enslavement as their pagan religion had been. And this false system? Judaism. The insistence on receiving circumcision. Now Jesus was a Jew, as were Peter, John, Andrew, Mary and Paul. Jesus came as the Jewish Messiah to bring the Kingdom of God that Jews had awaited for so long; only they had misinterpreted it and in so doing had turned it into a narrow and exclusive nationalism. And that kind of law-based religion was as much help in finding and walking with God, as their previous Greek gods had been. Paul refers to the idea of resorting to law-religion as a return to the “ basic principles of the world” To take up with Jewish practise would not be a step forward, it would be a step back (v. 8f) We have to be careful that we don't allow our beliefs and practises to become something of the same. Church is more than OK, it is vitally important. So is Bible reading. So are Hymns and songs and prayers. House groups are OK. But when there is a sense of slavery instead of sonship in these activities, we are in danger of turning something good into something bad. We are in danger of turning our system into an idol. God wants us to serve him not as slaves but as sons. So today I want to look at some of the characteristics of sonship rather than slavery...
Firstly, faith.
What we do, the one thing we do, to come to God, is exercise faith in Christ. We turn to Jesus in quiet confidence that what he did on the cross is all that needs to be done, to deal with the rubbish in our lives. We trust that he died for our sins.. We trust this Kingdom Gospel: God is good and what he made, he made good. Human wilfulness has spoiled god's good world and the people he made in his image; Jesus came to put his father back on the throne; by living with his Father on the throne in his own life, by demonstrating what the world is like when God rules through healing and deliverance and justice; through dying to take sin away. So it's possible through faith in Christ to enter god's kingdom now and for eternity. And we continue to live by faith. We live in a trusting confidence in our heavenly father. Jesus spoke about that sort of trust when he said “which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then,who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7. 9-11) .
Secondly, identity.
Paul goes on: as many as have been "baptised into Christ have put on Christ like a garment” (v 27) Paul talks about begin”baptised into Christ”. It's almost as if Christ were a place. He's certainly bigger than we are. As believers, we are more than followers of Jesus of Nazareth (although we are his followers).. We are in Christ who Is seated at his Father's side. That is where we live. We have “put on Jesus” like a garment. We are surrounded by Jesus. Clothes keep us protected and identify us for who we are. A uniform marks out a soldier of a nurse; a suit and tie identifies you as working for the Bank; a baseball hat and baggy jeans marks you out as a fan of a particular kind of music. Paul may have been thinking of the grown up toga that a boy would start to wear in Roman and Greek society when he reached his teenage years, that marked him out as no longer just a kid... Identity. And part of our identity is in our parenting. We are God's children. He is our Father. In our relationship with Father and with Jesus is where our identity comes from. Not, as was a problem for the Galatians, from Jewishness, or being free or slaves, or male of female. I see three results of having our identity in our Heavenly Father
1. Esteem. Jews are not to look on Gentiles as second-class citizens. Masters are not to say to their slaves “You're only a slave. I own you. If you or your ancestors weren’t' so useless you would never have been a slave in the first place. Men are not to treat women with contempt. And gentiles, slaves, and women can't say “I can't do anything; my opinion isn't worth anything, I'm only an outsider/slave/woman. None of us are defined by our class or race or gender or sexual orientation. What we are is defined by who our father is. We ache our identity in Christ.
2. Unity. We are “all one in Christ Jesus”. We are literally one person in Christ. Those differences that define a pecking order within the Church, actually don’t' exist. God has been speaking to us about “Unity” and it is important that we lay aside our cultural differences and personal preferences, and live as one.
3. Inclusive. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, slave nor free, male nor female. That narrowness that insisted the Kingdom was only for Israel, is not part of the Gospel. In Jesus these distinctions don't exist. God doesn’t' recognise them. And we are called upon to be like Father. “I tell you to love your enemies and pray for anyone who mistreats you. Then you will be acting like your Father in heaven. He makes the sun rise on both good and bad people. And he sends rain for the ones who do right and for the ones who do wrong.” (Matthew 5. 45) Are there any people whose lives are so messed up that God can't save them? Are there any people who would be better of without knowing Jesus? Are there any people who have done things so bad that God isn't interested in them any more?
Thirdly, Respect.
The Jewish law had been a “Schoolmaster” (AV) or “Guardian” (NIV) to lead people to Christ (verse s 24-25). Now “Schoolmaster” is the Greek paidagogos, literally one who leads a boy around. The paidagogos was the slave whose job it was to take the young master to school, and sometimes to sit behind him at his lessons and give him a slap if he misbehaved. The job of was often given to an old man who had got too weak to do the heavy work, too clumsy to serve tables, and was perhaps too uneducated or visually impaired to look after the accounts. He wasn't, in other words, one of the most respected and appreciated members of the household. That's OK... It was something that had to be done. Paul isn't saying the law is a bad thing. But he is saying it isn't the kind of respect that God deserves. We are not to look on God like that. The Pedagogue is not Father. A slave obeys his master out of fear. A son honours his father out of love. As sons we are to respect our Father.
Away back in the Old Testament, God had asked this question: “If I am a father, where is my honour?” (Malachi 1. 6) Slave-religion does things out of a sense of duty – and then tries to get away with the least possible sacrifice. In Malachi's day that meant picking out the
Fourthly, Intimacy
By the Spirit, we are able to say to God “Abba, Father”. I've heard that translated as calling God “Daddy” like a little child. Now it's right that we need to come to God with that sense of Childlike trust and simplicity, not pretending to be more than we are. Maybe some of us need to revisit childhood and find out where the idea of “Father” went wrong for us. But that's not what “Abba” means. Sure, it was the word used by bairns. But it was also the word used by a grown-up son, who has become a friend of his Dad. It speaks of informality, it is intimate, but it is mature, respectful, trusting. It is the Hebrew word that Jesus used when he taught his disciples to pray “Father in Heaven.” We need to be discovering a grown-up, listening, trusting, open and honest relationship with our Heavenly Father. One where we can tell him what is on our minds. But one where we can hear what is on his mind.
Fifthly, authority
Paul says we are heirs of our Father 3. 28; 4. 7) Israel looked to God to fulfil promises made to Abraham and Moses. They stood to inherit, but not yet; at a time set by the Father. So there were trustees and executors (verse 2) in the meantime. But for believers, if you are a child, then you are also an heir and you receive your inheritance now. We are all inheritors of the promises of god. All god's promises, all the things god promised through Abraham, all the things God promises through St Paul in the New testament, all the benefits of living in the reality of the Kingdom of God; all of theses are for us, through the love of a heavenly Father.
Conclusion...
But I don’t' feel much like a child of God. How can I be god's child. Look at me. I've done a load of stuff that makes me feel embarrassed. I wasn't born to high status, I've never had much education, I haven't got much to offer really. When I try to serve God I really fumble. But God doesn't make us his children on the basis of our background, our training, or niceness or goodness. He makes us his children through Christ and by the Spirit.
God sent his Son ... to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as his children. (4. 4f). If you want to be a child of God, to receive adoption papers, then come to Jesus. If you have already trusted in Jesus, you are already a child of god. You need to enter into what is already yours.
God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts to cry out, “Abba! Father!” If today you have trusted Jesus, but you don’t' know you are God's son, you need to Holy Spirit to be released within you to cry out “Abba Father.”
© Gilmour Lilly November 2012
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