WEBVTT 00:00:00.010 --> 00:00:02.370 We're continuing in our study of Galatians, and 00:00:02.370 --> 00:00:05.549 before we get to today's text, we need to kind 00:00:05.549 --> 00:00:07.309 of see how Paul got us here. You know, we're 00:00:07.309 --> 00:00:12.810 in week, what is this, four, five of Galatians, 00:00:12.830 --> 00:00:17.469 and we've taken a journey with Paul, and he's 00:00:17.469 --> 00:00:19.129 kind of making this argument, you know, the first 00:00:19.129 --> 00:00:23.109 part of Galatians 3 specifically, Paul is brashly 00:00:23.109 --> 00:00:26.670 warning the Galatian Christians, don't go back 00:00:26.670 --> 00:00:31.019 to the law. Don't revert to old ways. Don't go 00:00:31.019 --> 00:00:35.560 back to bondage. Don't go back to what was. And 00:00:35.560 --> 00:00:39.799 now we're going to see something else from Paul. 00:00:40.219 --> 00:00:45.280 A kind of don't do this, but instead do this. 00:00:46.020 --> 00:00:49.759 The law wasn't bad. We need to clarify that before 00:00:49.759 --> 00:00:53.299 we kind of keep going in Galatians. I think sometimes 00:00:53.299 --> 00:00:56.420 when we preach on things like religious freedom. 00:00:56.880 --> 00:00:59.060 And when we preach on things like God's grace 00:00:59.060 --> 00:01:02.000 and not the law and all that, it comes off as 00:01:02.000 --> 00:01:04.579 if we're saying that rules don't matter. It comes 00:01:04.579 --> 00:01:06.659 off as if we're saying that we can just do whatever 00:01:06.659 --> 00:01:09.180 we want, that Christianity is a free -for -all, 00:01:09.200 --> 00:01:12.239 that now that I'm saved, I can do whatever I 00:01:12.239 --> 00:01:16.480 please or whatever makes me happy. But that's 00:01:16.480 --> 00:01:18.280 not what we're talking about. The law wasn't 00:01:18.280 --> 00:01:22.120 bad. It served a purpose. It was used to, one, 00:01:22.219 --> 00:01:26.019 show us just... how sinful we were, kind of a 00:01:26.019 --> 00:01:29.099 mirror, if you will. But it also was used to 00:01:29.099 --> 00:01:31.859 keep us in check and help us to have some type 00:01:31.859 --> 00:01:34.560 of right standing with God. By us, I mean the 00:01:34.560 --> 00:01:37.500 Jews. And so the law had its place. What Paul 00:01:37.500 --> 00:01:40.420 calls it is the law was a guardian. In fact, 00:01:40.439 --> 00:01:46.920 the Greek word there was pedagogos. I think I 00:01:46.920 --> 00:01:50.629 practiced this this week. And I got so excited 00:01:50.629 --> 00:01:54.750 right here to use this big Greek word. And anyways, 00:01:54.950 --> 00:01:58.209 the word pedagogue comes from this. But basically 00:01:58.209 --> 00:02:01.150 what it is, is it's a strict tutor who disciplined 00:02:01.150 --> 00:02:05.030 children until they reached maturity. And so 00:02:05.030 --> 00:02:07.709 when Paul talks about the law as this guardian, 00:02:07.950 --> 00:02:11.550 he's saying this was what you would do in this 00:02:11.550 --> 00:02:14.849 culture. Basically what would happen is a kid 00:02:14.849 --> 00:02:17.800 around, you know, I think it was age seven. would 00:02:17.800 --> 00:02:21.259 be sent to go stay with a tutor. And this kid 00:02:21.259 --> 00:02:23.639 would stay with the tutor. The tutor would teach 00:02:23.639 --> 00:02:27.099 the kid how to be a good citizen. It would teach 00:02:27.099 --> 00:02:29.099 them the law. It would teach them all the things 00:02:29.099 --> 00:02:32.719 they know or need to know to be good citizens 00:02:32.719 --> 00:02:35.360 in their society. And then when they reached 00:02:35.360 --> 00:02:39.199 adulthood, they were let free into society. I 00:02:39.199 --> 00:02:41.349 mean, this kind of sounds like... sending your 00:02:41.349 --> 00:02:43.250 kid to boarding school, or if your kids are like 00:02:43.250 --> 00:02:45.469 my kids, you're considering sending them to military 00:02:45.469 --> 00:02:49.310 school. That's what this is like. And so Paul 00:02:49.310 --> 00:02:54.810 says the law was your boarding school. It was 00:02:54.810 --> 00:02:57.129 your place that you went to receive instruction, 00:02:57.530 --> 00:02:59.990 where you were trained, where you were taught, 00:03:00.310 --> 00:03:05.289 where you were raised. But now there's something 00:03:05.289 --> 00:03:11.009 new here. See, the guardian isn't a friend. I 00:03:11.009 --> 00:03:14.409 love when I hear parents say, I'm not your friend. 00:03:15.030 --> 00:03:18.129 And I feel like as a kid, if you hear your mom 00:03:18.129 --> 00:03:20.969 say, I'm not one of your little friends, you 00:03:20.969 --> 00:03:24.169 know you're in a little trouble. It wasn't a 00:03:24.169 --> 00:03:27.870 friend. The law was a guardian. The guardian 00:03:27.870 --> 00:03:31.189 was there to keep them in line, to help them 00:03:31.189 --> 00:03:35.770 grow. And Paul says, that's what the law did. 00:03:35.969 --> 00:03:40.280 But now that Christ has come, everything... has 00:03:40.280 --> 00:03:45.580 changed. You no longer need that guardian. See, 00:03:45.620 --> 00:03:48.580 the temporary thing that God put in place to 00:03:48.580 --> 00:03:52.400 kind of keep his children in line, that temporary 00:03:52.400 --> 00:03:56.319 thing is gone. It's no longer the standard we 00:03:56.319 --> 00:03:59.199 live by, the broken scale that we talked about 00:03:59.199 --> 00:04:02.039 last week, the thing that we use to weigh ourselves. 00:04:02.889 --> 00:04:05.930 And to judge if we're saved or if we're in good 00:04:05.930 --> 00:04:08.569 standing with God or not, that broken scale has 00:04:08.569 --> 00:04:13.550 now been replaced with salvation. See, that was 00:04:13.550 --> 00:04:16.810 just kind of a temporary get you by type of thing. 00:04:16.870 --> 00:04:18.930 You know, you put a bandaid on something, but 00:04:18.930 --> 00:04:25.029 really you need stitches. This, this temporary 00:04:25.029 --> 00:04:29.370 model is gone. We're not bound to it anymore. 00:04:30.529 --> 00:04:33.579 And the result. is where we pick up in Galatians 00:04:33.579 --> 00:04:38.240 3 this morning. Galatians 3, verses 23 -29 is 00:04:38.240 --> 00:04:41.339 where we'll sit because what Paul is going to 00:04:41.339 --> 00:04:43.360 show us is that because of our faith in Christ, 00:04:43.500 --> 00:04:46.740 if we are in Christ, we're no longer bound by 00:04:46.740 --> 00:04:50.579 those chains. We're also no longer divided or 00:04:50.579 --> 00:04:53.160 defined by those old boundaries. You know, in 00:04:53.160 --> 00:04:55.819 the Old Testament, you had the Jews, you had 00:04:55.819 --> 00:04:58.490 the Gentiles. And they did not like each other. 00:04:58.589 --> 00:05:01.230 They didn't mix. They didn't fellowship. They 00:05:01.230 --> 00:05:03.250 didn't worship together. They didn't even feel 00:05:03.250 --> 00:05:05.649 like each other worshiped the same God. They 00:05:05.649 --> 00:05:08.910 were separated. They were a part of two separate 00:05:08.910 --> 00:05:12.970 people. And then you had all these other different 00:05:12.970 --> 00:05:15.949 standards that divided even among the Jews. I 00:05:15.949 --> 00:05:18.230 mean, you had your priests and you had your people 00:05:18.230 --> 00:05:21.129 that were meant for doing the sacrifices. You 00:05:21.129 --> 00:05:22.689 had your people that were meant for the worship. 00:05:22.850 --> 00:05:25.250 And you had the people that did all of these 00:05:25.250 --> 00:05:27.310 other things. And so you had your different divisions. 00:05:27.509 --> 00:05:30.290 And what Paul is going to show us is that now 00:05:30.290 --> 00:05:34.389 in Christ, we are all one in one family. And 00:05:34.389 --> 00:05:38.569 I love what Chad said. We all have a seat at 00:05:38.569 --> 00:05:44.310 the table. Because we're adopted by God. We're 00:05:44.310 --> 00:05:48.949 brought in to his family. And family sticks together. 00:05:49.509 --> 00:05:51.930 If you're like me, you love the movie Lilo and 00:05:51.930 --> 00:05:55.629 Stitch. Ohana means family and family means anybody? 00:05:57.610 --> 00:06:04.069 Huh? Nobody gets left behind. Yeah. Ohana means 00:06:04.069 --> 00:06:06.829 family and family means nobody gets left behind. 00:06:07.350 --> 00:06:11.529 We're one. We stick together. We work together. 00:06:11.689 --> 00:06:16.430 We move together. And so in Christ, we're now 00:06:16.430 --> 00:06:18.870 unified. See, Paul begins with a reminder of 00:06:18.870 --> 00:06:21.470 what life was like before Christ because he needs 00:06:21.470 --> 00:06:23.269 to tell you, he has to paint this picture of, 00:06:23.329 --> 00:06:26.089 hey, if you ever start thinking about going back 00:06:26.089 --> 00:06:28.410 to that, just remember just how bad it was. And 00:06:28.410 --> 00:06:31.110 so this is what Paul says in Galatians 3, verses 00:06:31.110 --> 00:06:34.589 23 through 24. Before faith came, we were held 00:06:34.589 --> 00:06:54.459 captive. I want you to notice those words. Captive. 00:06:55.339 --> 00:06:57.839 Imprisoned. Doesn't sound very home -like, does 00:06:57.839 --> 00:07:01.079 it? It doesn't sound very comforting. Nobody 00:07:01.079 --> 00:07:03.560 wants to be held captive unless it's like... 00:07:03.660 --> 00:07:06.500 I was held captive by her beauty. Nobody wants 00:07:06.500 --> 00:07:09.660 to be imprisoned unless it's like I was a prisoner 00:07:09.660 --> 00:07:13.420 of the moment. Those aren't home -like words. 00:07:13.560 --> 00:07:16.060 They're not familial words. They're not things 00:07:16.060 --> 00:07:19.459 that bring comfort. But that was the case for 00:07:19.459 --> 00:07:25.620 the Jewish people. It was the case for the Galatian 00:07:25.620 --> 00:07:29.060 Christians, and it is true, the case for us. 00:07:29.699 --> 00:07:31.899 See, maybe you weren't enslaved to the Jewish 00:07:31.899 --> 00:07:34.759 law, but... You were enslaved to sin at some 00:07:34.759 --> 00:07:36.819 point. And maybe you're sitting here today and 00:07:36.819 --> 00:07:39.939 you feel like you're enslaved to sin. Maybe you've 00:07:39.939 --> 00:07:43.019 been enslaved by this need for approval of others. 00:07:43.379 --> 00:07:46.060 Maybe you've been enslaved by traditions. Maybe 00:07:46.060 --> 00:07:48.379 you've been enslaved by culture. Maybe you've 00:07:48.379 --> 00:07:50.620 been enslaved to addiction. Whatever it is that 00:07:50.620 --> 00:07:56.100 has had you captive or in prison, it held you 00:07:56.100 --> 00:08:03.569 captive. It had you in bondage. I love when Paul, 00:08:03.689 --> 00:08:06.110 or really anything in the Bible that starts kind 00:08:06.110 --> 00:08:09.550 of negative, says but. We got one big but here. 00:08:10.110 --> 00:08:17.209 But, let's look at verses 25 to 27. But, now 00:08:17.209 --> 00:08:23.189 that faith has come, we are no longer under a 00:08:23.189 --> 00:08:29.689 guardian. For in Christ Jesus, you are all sons 00:08:29.689 --> 00:08:35.259 of God. Through faith. For as many of you as 00:08:35.259 --> 00:08:38.259 were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 00:08:38.820 --> 00:08:42.440 See, there's some good news there, right? Before 00:08:42.440 --> 00:08:46.139 you were held captive, you were in prison, you 00:08:46.139 --> 00:08:48.879 had to do these things to be in good standing 00:08:48.879 --> 00:08:53.259 with God. But now that faith has come, now that 00:08:53.259 --> 00:09:01.179 you are in Christ, you have life and freedom. 00:09:02.960 --> 00:09:06.519 Through faith, God doesn't just free us from 00:09:06.519 --> 00:09:10.220 our sin. He doesn't just free us from imprisonment 00:09:10.220 --> 00:09:13.340 or from captivity. What God does is he brings 00:09:13.340 --> 00:09:17.059 us into the family. I want to paint the picture 00:09:17.059 --> 00:09:20.840 this way for you. I want you to imagine a child 00:09:20.840 --> 00:09:24.759 who has spent years in the foster system. They've 00:09:24.759 --> 00:09:28.100 had food, they've had shelter, and maybe even 00:09:28.100 --> 00:09:31.879 in their time in foster care, they've had... 00:09:32.169 --> 00:09:36.269 Good guardians. But they never had a permanent 00:09:36.269 --> 00:09:40.590 home because fostering is temporary. And so you 00:09:40.590 --> 00:09:43.870 may have food, shelter and clothes and good guardians, 00:09:43.950 --> 00:09:45.710 but that's only going to last for a little while 00:09:45.710 --> 00:09:48.129 before eventually you get picked up and brought 00:09:48.129 --> 00:09:50.649 to another home. And then you start all over 00:09:50.649 --> 00:09:53.470 again. And that home may not be as nice to you. 00:09:53.509 --> 00:09:55.289 It may not feed you as well. It may not clothe 00:09:55.289 --> 00:09:57.690 you as well. They may not be as good to you. 00:09:57.970 --> 00:10:02.870 And then one day. A family not only chooses to 00:10:02.870 --> 00:10:04.909 house you for a little while, they choose to 00:10:04.909 --> 00:10:11.110 adopt you. And suddenly, this foster child doesn't 00:10:11.110 --> 00:10:13.350 just have a place to stay and lay their head. 00:10:13.909 --> 00:10:17.409 They don't just have a roof over their head. 00:10:17.470 --> 00:10:19.809 They don't just have food on a plate. They have 00:10:19.809 --> 00:10:22.789 parents who love them that they can call mom 00:10:22.789 --> 00:10:26.730 and dad. They have siblings who look out for 00:10:26.730 --> 00:10:29.419 them. That they can call brother and sister and 00:10:29.419 --> 00:10:31.580 that they can hug when they need a hug and that 00:10:31.580 --> 00:10:33.919 they can lean on when they need a shoulder to 00:10:33.919 --> 00:10:37.440 cry on. They have a place where they truly belong. 00:10:38.379 --> 00:10:42.360 They have a family. See, that's what God has 00:10:42.360 --> 00:10:45.000 done for us in Christ. We're no longer the foster 00:10:45.000 --> 00:10:49.120 child. We're no longer under temporary guardianship. 00:10:49.120 --> 00:10:53.740 But now we have a home. He doesn't just unlock 00:10:53.740 --> 00:10:57.090 the door from our sin and say, all right. Good 00:10:57.090 --> 00:11:02.470 luck out there. I used to watch these videos 00:11:02.470 --> 00:11:05.269 all the time of people. They would capture or 00:11:05.269 --> 00:11:07.289 rescue animals, and then they'd release them 00:11:07.289 --> 00:11:11.909 back into the wild, which I learned that people 00:11:11.909 --> 00:11:13.350 are always like, the zoos should let all the 00:11:13.350 --> 00:11:15.529 animals go. And somebody said if the zoos did 00:11:15.529 --> 00:11:17.169 that, all those animals would just die because 00:11:17.169 --> 00:11:18.789 they don't know how to live out on their own. 00:11:18.909 --> 00:11:21.450 And that kind of makes me think about... What 00:11:21.450 --> 00:11:24.250 would happen if God looked at us and said, hey, 00:11:24.389 --> 00:11:26.370 you don't have to follow the Old Testament law 00:11:26.370 --> 00:11:28.750 anymore. Good news for you. And we're like, yeah, 00:11:28.950 --> 00:11:30.610 that's awesome. He's like, all right now, but 00:11:30.610 --> 00:11:34.809 just go and figure it out on your own. No, that's 00:11:34.809 --> 00:11:37.909 not good for us. And so what God does is he doesn't 00:11:37.909 --> 00:11:40.250 just say, good luck out there. I hope you make 00:11:40.250 --> 00:11:44.309 it. He brings us in and says, you are mine forever. 00:11:45.490 --> 00:11:49.299 You have a home here. You have a family here. 00:11:49.379 --> 00:11:52.580 You have a seat at my table. And not only does 00:11:52.580 --> 00:11:56.299 he welcome us into his home, he gives us his 00:11:56.299 --> 00:12:01.960 name. We get to bear the name, son, daughter 00:12:01.960 --> 00:12:10.120 of God. He clothes us with Christ. And here's 00:12:10.120 --> 00:12:13.360 the beauty. You see, adoption in the Roman world, 00:12:13.399 --> 00:12:18.389 it was... It was not this like second class thing. 00:12:18.889 --> 00:12:22.610 You didn't get adopted and it was like you were 00:12:22.610 --> 00:12:26.929 the other kid in the household. In Roman culture 00:12:26.929 --> 00:12:29.250 in this time, adopted children, they had full 00:12:29.250 --> 00:12:33.309 rights of children. So whatever your biological 00:12:33.309 --> 00:12:36.570 kids had, excuse me, whatever your biological 00:12:36.570 --> 00:12:40.850 kids had, your adopted kids had. Whatever your 00:12:40.850 --> 00:12:45.100 biological kids were privileged to, Your adopted 00:12:45.100 --> 00:12:49.440 kids had those same privileges. And sometimes 00:12:49.440 --> 00:12:53.419 the adopted kids even had more honor than the 00:12:53.419 --> 00:12:57.539 biological ones. You see, when Paul says we are 00:12:57.539 --> 00:13:02.799 now sons of God, he means we have the full privileges 00:13:02.799 --> 00:13:07.639 as heirs. We are now heirs to the kingdom of 00:13:07.639 --> 00:13:11.899 God. We now have full rights. To the kingdom 00:13:11.899 --> 00:13:15.259 of God. Full access to the kingdom of God. We're 00:13:15.259 --> 00:13:18.039 not limited. It's not this thing that, oh, no, 00:13:18.120 --> 00:13:22.179 no, no, no. That's only for the real kids. It's 00:13:22.179 --> 00:13:25.779 for all of us. The God of the universe. Think 00:13:25.779 --> 00:13:27.799 about this. The God of the universe is going 00:13:27.799 --> 00:13:31.200 to share his inheritance with me and with you. 00:13:33.379 --> 00:13:39.639 We are unworthy slaves. But God calls us his 00:13:39.639 --> 00:13:46.179 children. That's gospel. That's good news. That's 00:13:46.179 --> 00:13:47.820 the message we want to share with the world. 00:13:47.860 --> 00:13:50.340 That's the message I want to just kind of radiate 00:13:50.340 --> 00:13:53.940 in my life is that I'm not just a slave of God. 00:13:54.059 --> 00:13:58.259 I'm not held captive by his message. I am his 00:13:58.259 --> 00:14:01.820 child. I've been adopted into his family. I have 00:14:01.820 --> 00:14:04.700 a seat at his table. I have access to an inheritance. 00:14:08.360 --> 00:14:13.559 And what's so cool. is that not only does God 00:14:13.559 --> 00:14:18.639 promise this inheritance to us, Jesus isn't ashamed 00:14:18.639 --> 00:14:23.340 to share this inheritance with us. It's not like 00:14:23.340 --> 00:14:26.419 Jesus was reluctant to save us. I've got to tell 00:14:26.419 --> 00:14:30.360 you, I don't think the Lord of the universe would 00:14:30.360 --> 00:14:33.759 come down to earth and die on a cross if he didn't 00:14:33.759 --> 00:14:37.720 want to share his inheritance with us. Jesus 00:14:37.720 --> 00:14:40.659 wanted... to live with us as his brothers and 00:14:40.659 --> 00:14:45.700 sisters. And that is awesome. See, that is amazing 00:14:45.700 --> 00:14:49.539 grace. Paul goes further in verses 28 to 29. 00:14:49.700 --> 00:15:15.240 He says, To promise. See, Paul is, he's not just 00:15:15.240 --> 00:15:18.179 battling this false gospel of you've got to do 00:15:18.179 --> 00:15:20.980 these things in order to be right with God. What 00:15:20.980 --> 00:15:23.980 Paul is also fighting is division. Because the 00:15:23.980 --> 00:15:27.200 church is now divided over, well, we do have 00:15:27.200 --> 00:15:29.500 grace from God, but we also still have to maintain 00:15:29.500 --> 00:15:31.179 the law. And then others are saying, no, no, 00:15:31.179 --> 00:15:33.000 no, no, it's just Jesus. And they're like, no, 00:15:33.039 --> 00:15:36.000 no, no, but we have to follow these rules and 00:15:36.000 --> 00:15:38.559 Jesus. And then others are like. No, we really 00:15:38.559 --> 00:15:40.519 can just do whatever we want. And you've got 00:15:40.519 --> 00:15:42.980 all of these different things going around, these 00:15:42.980 --> 00:15:46.340 messages being spread, and there's a lot of division. 00:15:46.679 --> 00:15:49.039 And so Paul is saying, hey, hey, hey, you're 00:15:49.039 --> 00:15:56.120 all one. It's one family. It's one people. We're 00:15:56.120 --> 00:16:00.080 all children. We're all Abraham's offspring, 00:16:00.480 --> 00:16:04.120 heirs according to the promise. In this new family, 00:16:04.279 --> 00:16:08.799 the dividing lines are erased. There are no divisions 00:16:08.799 --> 00:16:12.120 among us, or at least there shouldn't be. There's 00:16:12.120 --> 00:16:15.539 no Jew. There's no Greek. There's no slave. There's 00:16:15.539 --> 00:16:18.000 no free. There's no male or female. And let's 00:16:18.000 --> 00:16:19.639 put it in a modern terms because we don't really 00:16:19.639 --> 00:16:24.360 struggle with that stuff. In modern terms, there's 00:16:24.360 --> 00:16:28.539 no rich Christian and poor Christian. There's 00:16:28.539 --> 00:16:32.679 no white Christian and black Christian. There's 00:16:32.679 --> 00:16:34.980 no Republican Christian or Democrat Christian. 00:16:35.799 --> 00:16:43.539 There's just Christians. Christ followers. Sons, 00:16:43.539 --> 00:16:49.039 daughters of God. We're all one. And so these 00:16:49.039 --> 00:16:52.580 dividing lines, they've been broken down. Paul 00:16:52.580 --> 00:16:56.059 has erased them. In Christ, those walls, those 00:16:56.059 --> 00:16:58.679 little circles or cups that we put ourselves 00:16:58.679 --> 00:17:03.080 in, they don't matter anymore. They don't define 00:17:03.080 --> 00:17:05.619 us, but here's the challenge in what Paul is 00:17:05.619 --> 00:17:09.140 saying. If Paul's words are true, then that requires 00:17:09.140 --> 00:17:14.079 us to live like it. And I'll tell you, I don't 00:17:14.079 --> 00:17:16.940 think the church, and I'm saying church universal, 00:17:17.279 --> 00:17:19.839 I don't think the church for the last 2 ,000 00:17:19.839 --> 00:17:24.099 years has done a very good job of this. And I 00:17:24.099 --> 00:17:25.740 know somebody said, well, the first century did. 00:17:25.859 --> 00:17:28.160 Well, if they did, Paul wouldn't have been writing 00:17:28.160 --> 00:17:31.289 this letter. We haven't always done a good job 00:17:31.289 --> 00:17:35.289 of this. We have been divided over trivial things. 00:17:35.470 --> 00:17:37.269 And there are things we've been divided over 00:17:37.269 --> 00:17:41.109 that matter, sure. But I've got to tell you, 00:17:41.130 --> 00:17:44.250 I still think at the end of the day, Jesus didn't 00:17:44.250 --> 00:17:48.210 pray so fervently in John 17 for nothing. Unity 00:17:48.210 --> 00:17:51.089 still matters. When we were at the New Day conference, 00:17:51.390 --> 00:17:56.230 we heard this amazing 15 -minute, I was so impressed, 00:17:56.390 --> 00:17:58.930 me, Chad, and Phil were sitting there like, how's 00:17:58.930 --> 00:18:01.049 this guy? No notes. He didn't have any notes. 00:18:01.150 --> 00:18:03.589 He was just talking. And he was talking about 00:18:03.589 --> 00:18:06.210 unity. And he's talking about Galatians. And 00:18:06.210 --> 00:18:08.730 he says, here's the thing. We're already united. 00:18:09.829 --> 00:18:11.650 It's just a matter of if we're going to act like 00:18:11.650 --> 00:18:16.809 it or not. We're already one. We're already a 00:18:16.809 --> 00:18:20.670 part of God's family. And that means when I look 00:18:20.670 --> 00:18:23.069 across the aisle on a Sunday morning, I don't 00:18:23.069 --> 00:18:25.670 look across the aisle and see that person that 00:18:25.670 --> 00:18:27.990 voted differently. Or I don't see that person 00:18:27.990 --> 00:18:30.250 who looks differently. I don't see that person 00:18:30.250 --> 00:18:34.190 who lives differently. I see my brother. I see 00:18:34.190 --> 00:18:38.549 my sister. Because adoption means we're all family. 00:18:38.670 --> 00:18:43.119 And family means unity. Maybe you've heard it 00:18:43.119 --> 00:18:45.819 before. I'm the second oldest of eight kids, 00:18:45.900 --> 00:18:54.220 so I've heard this a ton. You can pick on your 00:18:54.220 --> 00:18:57.119 brother and sister, but don't let anybody else 00:18:57.119 --> 00:19:00.119 pick on your brother and sister. You ever heard 00:19:00.119 --> 00:19:04.099 that? In our context, it was you can beat up 00:19:04.099 --> 00:19:06.019 your brother and sister, but don't let anybody 00:19:06.019 --> 00:19:08.519 else beat up your brother and sister. So if one 00:19:08.519 --> 00:19:11.000 person was fighting my brother, we were both 00:19:11.000 --> 00:19:16.410 fighting. We can discuss and we can have conversations 00:19:16.410 --> 00:19:20.349 and we can have civil disputes among us. That's 00:19:20.349 --> 00:19:23.289 what family does. But what the world needs to 00:19:23.289 --> 00:19:28.769 see is a family that is together. Because what 00:19:28.769 --> 00:19:30.730 the world sees, and I've talked about this before, 00:19:30.930 --> 00:19:34.609 one of the biggest things I hear from non -Christians 00:19:34.609 --> 00:19:36.970 as to why they won't be a part of the church 00:19:36.970 --> 00:19:41.990 is, well, y 'all can't even agree. on anything 00:19:41.990 --> 00:19:44.609 y 'all can't even get along so why would i want 00:19:44.609 --> 00:19:47.210 to be a part of that and what i'm challenging 00:19:47.210 --> 00:19:49.869 us today is to look at what paul says and say 00:19:49.869 --> 00:19:52.890 hey those are true words we need to live like 00:19:52.890 --> 00:19:55.730 it we need to be a church that is united we can 00:19:55.730 --> 00:19:58.210 talk and we can have discussions about things 00:19:58.210 --> 00:20:00.829 we disagree on but when the world looks at us 00:20:00.829 --> 00:20:02.829 and at the end of the day when the discussions 00:20:02.829 --> 00:20:05.329 are done we look at each other and we say we 00:20:05.329 --> 00:20:09.289 are still family and i don't walk out on family 00:20:10.569 --> 00:20:14.029 And my family better not walk out on me. You 00:20:14.029 --> 00:20:16.390 may disagree with me. I may disagree with you. 00:20:17.890 --> 00:20:21.349 But we're family. And at the end of the day, 00:20:21.450 --> 00:20:27.289 family works together. They live together. They 00:20:27.289 --> 00:20:31.109 stay together. When we were adopted into the 00:20:31.109 --> 00:20:34.670 family of God, we were adopted into a family 00:20:34.670 --> 00:20:37.690 that is going to stick together no matter what 00:20:37.690 --> 00:20:40.400 our differences are. Differences we can help 00:20:40.400 --> 00:20:44.539 and differences we can't. We're together. So 00:20:44.539 --> 00:20:48.279 here's the question. Because the Galatian Christians, 00:20:48.519 --> 00:20:50.220 they had their things that they were clinging 00:20:50.220 --> 00:20:53.420 to. They were either clinging to traditions or 00:20:53.420 --> 00:20:56.480 they were clinging to their identities. They 00:20:56.480 --> 00:20:58.480 were clinging to all of these different things. 00:20:58.519 --> 00:21:04.099 And Paul is saying, stop doing that. We're family. 00:21:07.339 --> 00:21:09.380 Take the walls down. And so my question to you 00:21:09.380 --> 00:21:12.819 is, what walls are we clinging to? What walls 00:21:12.819 --> 00:21:15.180 are we putting up? What labels are we still hiding 00:21:15.180 --> 00:21:23.019 behind? Because Christ, he tore those walls down. 00:21:24.599 --> 00:21:28.400 And I'll just say for myself, who am I to build 00:21:28.400 --> 00:21:30.940 back up a wall that the God of the universe tore 00:21:30.940 --> 00:21:37.200 down? So what walls are we hiding behind? See, 00:21:37.240 --> 00:21:39.339 Paul's whole letter to the Galatians is like 00:21:39.339 --> 00:21:43.339 this one big smackdown. Stop going back to slavery. 00:21:43.559 --> 00:21:46.099 Live as sons and daughters. Live as heirs. And 00:21:46.099 --> 00:21:49.000 the point today, well, that is the point. It's 00:21:49.000 --> 00:21:51.140 that you are free from your old life. You're 00:21:51.140 --> 00:21:55.500 not bound to the tradition and the laws of old. 00:21:55.640 --> 00:21:58.799 You are freed in Christ. You are sons and daughters 00:21:58.799 --> 00:22:02.440 of God. You are heirs of the kingdom. You don't 00:22:02.440 --> 00:22:09.559 forget that. I heard somebody say one time that 00:22:09.559 --> 00:22:12.660 he talks with his kids, and they're big on covenants 00:22:12.660 --> 00:22:15.140 in their house. And one of the things, like family 00:22:15.140 --> 00:22:16.799 covenants, and one of the things that he says 00:22:16.799 --> 00:22:21.299 with his kids is, you are fill in the blank last 00:22:21.299 --> 00:22:24.720 name. You are a, so for my family, you are a 00:22:24.720 --> 00:22:27.380 brilliant. And the kid says, I am a brilliant. 00:22:28.299 --> 00:22:33.299 And you say, you are bold. I am bold. You are 00:22:33.299 --> 00:22:37.380 strong. I am strong. You are kind. And so they 00:22:37.380 --> 00:22:39.480 do this thing, and it's one of those things of 00:22:39.480 --> 00:22:42.259 you remember who you are and what that means. 00:22:43.380 --> 00:22:46.160 And what Paul is saying here is you remember 00:22:46.160 --> 00:22:51.579 who you are. You are a child of God. And what 00:22:51.579 --> 00:22:54.160 does that mean? Well, it means you're united. 00:22:54.819 --> 00:22:58.160 It means you're free from the old ways. It means 00:22:58.160 --> 00:23:01.420 you are a son of promise. You are an heir of 00:23:01.420 --> 00:23:07.019 the kingdom. So we remember who we are. And what 00:23:07.019 --> 00:23:09.380 that means, we are sons and daughters of God. 00:23:09.599 --> 00:23:15.220 Don't forget it and don't live beneath it. Maybe 00:23:15.220 --> 00:23:17.359 today you're still standing outside the family, 00:23:17.420 --> 00:23:22.000 though. Maybe you are still living like a foster 00:23:22.000 --> 00:23:24.720 child in the world where you don't really have 00:23:24.720 --> 00:23:28.680 that final family. You don't have that final 00:23:28.680 --> 00:23:32.420 home. Maybe you're still wandering from home 00:23:32.420 --> 00:23:34.559 to home and never really knowing where you belong. 00:23:36.519 --> 00:23:40.940 The good news that Paul reminds us of is that 00:23:40.940 --> 00:23:44.460 the Father's offer is open to anybody. It's open 00:23:44.460 --> 00:23:46.680 to the Jew. It's open to the Greek. It's open 00:23:46.680 --> 00:23:48.900 to the male. It's open to the female. It's open 00:23:48.900 --> 00:23:52.799 to the slave and the free. It's open to that 00:23:52.799 --> 00:23:54.799 person that looks different, that lives different, 00:23:54.920 --> 00:23:56.559 that thinks different, that speaks different. 00:23:56.640 --> 00:24:00.500 It's open to them too. And so wherever you fit 00:24:00.500 --> 00:24:05.230 in this world, The gospel message, this offer 00:24:05.230 --> 00:24:09.990 is open to you. You can come home. You see, Paul 00:24:09.990 --> 00:24:12.549 says as many of you as were baptized into Christ 00:24:12.549 --> 00:24:15.869 have put on Christ. That's how we accept the 00:24:15.869 --> 00:24:20.390 adoption. I can't remember what movie it was. 00:24:20.730 --> 00:24:22.829 Maybe it was Free Willy. I love Free Willy, by 00:24:22.829 --> 00:24:26.710 the way. Great movie. There's a movie where there's 00:24:26.710 --> 00:24:30.269 a kid and... It's like, no, it wasn't free willy 00:24:30.269 --> 00:24:32.769 because he's just a foster kid. So anyways, there's 00:24:32.769 --> 00:24:37.890 a movie and the kid is, their mom gets married. 00:24:38.410 --> 00:24:41.490 And so he's got a stepdad, right? And the stepdad 00:24:41.490 --> 00:24:43.650 is just a really awesome guy. And he looks at 00:24:43.650 --> 00:24:46.089 the kid and he says, hey, I know your dad hasn't 00:24:46.089 --> 00:24:48.410 been around your whole life. How would you feel 00:24:48.410 --> 00:24:52.349 about me adopting you? Why would he have to ask 00:24:52.349 --> 00:24:56.369 permission? Well, because you can't just adopt 00:24:56.369 --> 00:24:59.400 somebody without their permission. And the same 00:24:59.400 --> 00:25:02.079 is true, I mean, God can throw out the offer. 00:25:02.160 --> 00:25:03.880 Hey, I want to bring you into my family. I want 00:25:03.880 --> 00:25:06.359 you to be a part of my heirs. I want you to be 00:25:06.359 --> 00:25:08.660 a son of mine or a daughter of mine. But we've 00:25:08.660 --> 00:25:12.079 got to accept it. And what Paul says we do to 00:25:12.079 --> 00:25:17.500 accept it is we trust, we have faith, and we 00:25:17.500 --> 00:25:21.500 put on Christ in baptism. And so wherever you're 00:25:21.500 --> 00:25:23.960 standing today, the offer for adoption is out 00:25:23.960 --> 00:25:27.660 there. It's just up to you if you're going to 00:25:27.660 --> 00:25:31.450 accept it. See, the Father is saying, I want 00:25:31.450 --> 00:25:35.930 you. I want you to be a part of my family. I 00:25:35.930 --> 00:25:38.930 want you to be a part of my home. I'm offering 00:25:38.930 --> 00:25:43.029 to give you my name. I'm offering my love to 00:25:43.029 --> 00:25:45.650 you. I'm offering a full inheritance to you. 00:25:46.289 --> 00:25:50.890 Will you say yes? Will you be a part of our family? 00:25:52.049 --> 00:25:56.029 And that's the invitation today. God is looking 00:25:56.029 --> 00:26:00.869 at you saying, come home. Be adopted. Be clothed 00:26:00.869 --> 00:26:05.710 with Christ. Be one in his family. Because at 00:26:05.710 --> 00:26:07.549 the end of the day, if we have nothing else, 00:26:07.690 --> 00:26:10.269 maybe you've heard this too, if you've got nothing 00:26:10.269 --> 00:26:14.609 else, you've got family. And I can make it through 00:26:14.609 --> 00:26:17.130 every hard day. I can make it through all the 00:26:17.130 --> 00:26:20.690 tragedy and trauma of life if I know that I've 00:26:20.690 --> 00:26:24.769 got family here. I've got family at any church 00:26:24.769 --> 00:26:30.440 I walk into because we're one in Christ. No matter 00:26:30.440 --> 00:26:32.740 how hard life gets, no matter how ugly it gets, 00:26:32.779 --> 00:26:35.640 no matter how dark it gets, I've got family. 00:26:36.900 --> 00:26:39.079 And if I've got family, I've got everything I 00:26:39.079 --> 00:26:42.079 need. So wherever you stand today, if you've 00:26:42.079 --> 00:26:45.559 just been outside of the family and you want 00:26:45.559 --> 00:26:47.359 to be a part of it, if you've been wandering 00:26:47.359 --> 00:26:49.960 from home to home and you want to have a final 00:26:49.960 --> 00:26:54.460 home, if you've been adopted and you've been 00:26:54.460 --> 00:26:58.839 acting like a redheaded stepchild, There is no 00:26:58.839 --> 00:27:03.660 better time than now to come home, to take your 00:27:03.660 --> 00:27:06.960 seat at the table, and accept the gift of being 00:27:06.960 --> 00:27:09.759 a part of God's family. If that's something you 00:27:09.759 --> 00:27:11.619 need or whatever you need, if it's just prayers 00:27:11.619 --> 00:27:15.599 this morning, just prayers. If you need anything, 00:27:15.740 --> 00:27:17.839 we're inviting you to come now as we stand and 00:27:17.839 --> 00:27:18.279 as we sing.