Free as Sons

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These are the notes I took from a sermon I listened to by David Platt tonight. It was entitled "Free as Sons", mainly coming from Galatians 3-4, given 12/23/09.


Re-cap on Gal 1-3
God's pleasure in us is not based on our performance for Him but it is based in Christ.
Salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.
Justification is God's gracious act of declaring us righteous before Him based on the righteousness of Christ. I am ALWAYS justified aka not guilty before Him because He ALWAYS sees me through Christ!
Knowing God by J.I. Packer- read it :)

Adoption is a higher blessing than justification in that it goes one step further in placing us into His family where He loves us! He is no longer just our Judge, but He comes off the judgment seat after declaring us not guilty to personally take off the handcuffs and tells us to come home with Him and be His son--forever. Justification makes us right before God; adoption makes us loved by God.

My whole outlook on life, my worship, my prayers should all be based on the picture of God as my adoptive Father. Anything short of that is well, short.

The word "sons" is used in this passage (Gal 3-4) because in that culture at that time, it was through sons that the inheritance was passed from generation to generation.

1. God sent His Son so that we might receive the position of sons (4:4-5)
     a. Adoption requires someone to come at the right time.
It was the right time theologically, politically, religiously, socially, linguistically for Jesus to come. There is also a perfect timing for Him to return!
     b. Adoption requires someone to come with the right qualifications.
Jesus was fully divine, fully human, fully righteous. His purpose was to redeem us to the glory of the Father.
God chose us! He chose me! (Eph 1:4) He set His affections on me and determined to adopt me before the creation of the world! Woa! I was an object of His wrath, an orphan who had rejected (and often still does reject) my Father. We're not ideal prospects for adoption. Praise Him for His resolve in our lives! God came to get me and bring me into His family!

2. God sent His Spirit into our hearts that we might experience the privileges of sonship (4:6)
My status with God as a son happened at the point of justification & adoption, but I know that I'm his son based on the affections He showers on me today and every day.

Privileges:
a. We live with a new identity before God
- baptized into Christ- immersed into Him (3:27)
- clothed with Christ- He envelops us
- united in Christ (3:28)
- belong to Christ (3:29)

b. We enjoy intimacy with God
"Abba"- connotation of intimacy, not infancy. We are held captive daily by His love now rather than held captive by sin or by the law (Exo. 19). We no longer approach Him with fear and trembling because we are ashamed and condemned before Him; now, we can approach Him with confidence. We can walk in on a daily basis as sons!
Do I still have the faith of a servant, living by a checklist of things to please my Master, or do I have the faith of a son who knows that his Father is always going to love him, accept him, and protect him? How much my prayer life would change if I had the faith of a son! How much my perspective on all of life would change! 
Do I have intimacy with God?

c. We are heirs of God-- children forever!
We all struggle with identity- whose we are. But we are His sons forever. Rom 8-- there's nothing that we can do to take away His love from us as His sons. As co-heirs with Christ, we will be hated by the world, and we do get to share in His sufferings as well as His glory.