December 30 - David Couch
Galatians 4:4-7
But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children. And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir through God.
Okay, think about this for a second… isn’t it kinda absolutely bonkers that when God the
Son decided to come to earth, He CHOSE to be a BABY??? God the Son had existed in full power for eternity far before the creation of the universe. (John 1:1, Daniel 7:13) Like, the incarnation probably could’ve started with the Messiah appearing in the clouds riding in on a warhorse as He decimated the principalities of the Roman Empire, but no, He chose to live a rather typical human life up until His ministry started about 30 years later. Not only did God choose to step down from Heaven to live in vulnerable human flesh, but with the flesh He also chose to live under the same law everyone else was under… and He followed it perfectly. Those facts sum up so well the incredible grace of God, which is poured out on the cross when Jesus, again, CHOOSES to pour out His blood of the spotless Lamb for the forgiveness of our sins… but what’s all this stuff about adoption?
If you’re like me, this language might have sounded new at some point (maybe even right now) in our faith journeys as we navigate what salvation actually is, but the truth is, our adoption as sons and daughters of God is the very gateway into sanctification. Sanctification is just a fancy word for the process of being made holy…being made Christlike, and I believe it is largely overlooked in our daily walks with Christ. There is so much talk of God’s grace in “getting saved” and less talk of the absolutely absurd amount of God’s grace in continually being renewed in Christ daily. It may seem like a daunting task to take on this whole “becoming holy” thing as our flesh is so susceptible to sin, but the good news is, our adoption takes care of that through and by the one and only Holy Spirit.
Heavenly heirship requires the type of holiness that we on our own could never achieve, but notice how Paul says that it is the Holy Spirit who cries out “Abba, Father!” from within us. In the same way which we are adopted into Christ’s family by the same Spirit who delivered Christ to Mary’s womb and likewise raised Him from the dead, we are made holy and sanctified and likewise allowed access to our Father in Heaven. All of this is not by our own strength, but by that of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit works through us by praying to the Father for the things we don’t even know to pray for (Romans 8:26), and when we find ourselves scrambling to get ready for the next semester, the Spirit is constantly crying out for our Heavenly Father even when we feel we cannot find the time to. Now that is the incredible grace of Jesus Christ.
Abba, Father, thank You for adopting us into Your holy Kingdom. Let us more fully acknowledge your Holy Spirit crying out from within us. Make us holy by your Spirit and by your Son who delivered Him to us on the cross. Allow us to seek the born-again sanctification which you freely offer to us daily and allow our spirits to both rejoice and mourn just as Your Spirit does. Make these things especially true as we move into a new semester with all that entails. Make our miraculous heirship visible to all who encounter us. We ask these things in the powerful name of your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.