Galatians 4:4-7 But when the time had fully come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out,  “Abba, Father.’ So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.

A little boy was walking along a seashore with his mother. He started asking those kinds of questions that children ask their parents, the kind that can drive you crazy in no time at all. Pointing up to the beautiful blue sky he asked his mother, “Is God up there?”  “Yes” she answered. After thinking about it for a minute, the boy said, “Wouldn’t it be nice if He would put His head out and let us see Him?” In a sense, that is exactly what God did for us at Christmas.

This passage above, no doubt heard by many of you last Sunday, is the text I used on the first occasion I had to preach at Christmas time. I was in my first year of seminary and invited by my father to preach at my home congregation in Dallas the Sunday after Christmas. These words are a beautiful description of what God did for us at that particular point in history. He “put His head out” by coming into this world as Jesus, a man, so that we could better understand who He is and what He wants for us.

That phrase when the time had fully come tells us that God had selected the timing of this event very carefully. The conditions in the world at that time were just right for the Savior to come and fulfill all the prophecies of the Old Testament. And this was no accident — God knew all along that at this particular time He would send the Savior He had promised over and over again to His people. That is why the prophecies were worded as they were — they were pointing to what God had long since determined would happen. God had acted lovingly in the past, and continues to do so, as evidenced by what Paul describes here. God put His head out and let us see him.

But this portion of Paul’s letter tells us more than “the time was right.” He also tells us exactly what Jesus did. He was born as one of us–born of a woman. He shared our humanity to the fullest extent, even to the point of being subject to the commands of God — born under law. Being born under the law, He did what we were not able to do — He lived a life of perfect compliance to God’s Law. And why? …to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. Jesus came for you. His life of obedience was for your benefit. Everything He did was for you. The redemption was for your sake. That’s why the Christmas story is important for you. That is why Jesus was born.

Some translations say that we might receive adoption as sons rather than full rights. I think that makes the message of this passage easier to understand. Through faith in Jesus Christ, we are the actual children of God, not second-class citizens. And as children, we are the legitimate heirs to the riches God offers–eternal life and salvation. Being the children of God through faith means that our sins have been forgiven. Jesus took care of that. Having full rights as sons means that we stand righteous in the presence of our God because of the atoning work of Jesus Christ. His righteousness becomes our own, allowing us to stand blameless before our God.

Merry tenth day of Christmas.