God Sent Forth His Son • Galatians 4:4-7 • Sunday, December 28, 2025

From Slaves to Sons: Understanding Your Divine Adoption

Have you ever stopped to count how many roles you fill in a single day? Mother, father, sister, brother, employee, friend, neighbor—the list goes on. Each role comes with its own expectations, responsibilities, and relationships. But there's one role that transforms all the others, one identity that changes everything: you are a chosen child of God.

The Fullness of Time

The apostle Paul wrote something profound in his letter to the Galatians: "When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son." This simple phrase carries extraordinary weight. God wasn't rushing. He wasn't improvising. He was orchestrating history itself.

Think about what had to align for Jesus to enter the world at exactly the right moment. Parents needed to be in specific places—Zechariah and Elizabeth to bring forth John the Baptist, Mary and Joseph to welcome the Messiah, faithful servants like Simeon and Anna positioned to recognize Him. The Greek language had spread across the known world, creating a common tongue for the gospel message. Roman roads crisscrossed the empire, making travel easier than ever before. Political structures, cultural conditions, and countless individual lives all converged at precisely the right moment.

God waited for the fullness of time. Not a moment too soon, not a moment too late.

Everything had to be perfectly arranged for the gospel to spread as effectively as possible, even under opposition.

The Ultimate Role Change

When that perfect moment arrived, the most dramatic role change in history occurred. The Son of God became the Son of Man. The King of Glory took on the identity of a suffering servant. The One who set the law submitted Himself to the law.

Why? Two powerful words: "to redeem."

We needed redemption because we were trapped. Slaves to sin. Bound by the law we couldn't keep. Imprisoned by our own failures, weaknesses, and faults. No matter how hard we tried, we couldn't work our way out. We couldn't overcome our own inadequacy. We were stuck in a role we desperately needed to escape but couldn't—not on our own.

Only a perfect life could pay the ransom. Only a sinless sacrifice could break the chains.

Only total holiness and righteousness could purchase our freedom. Jesus became what we needed Him to be so we could become what we were created to be.

Chosen, Not Just Born

Here's where the transformation gets personal. Through Christ's redemption, we receive adoption as sons and daughters of God. This isn't just a nice metaphor—it's a radical identity shift.

Consider the story of a young boy named Charlie who was adopted. When asked to write an essay about his life, he focused on one overwhelming reality: he felt privileged to have been chosen by his parents. Not just born into a family by chance, but deliberately selected, wanted, and loved. He used the word "chosen" over and over again because it captured something profound about his identity.

That's exactly what God has done for you. You were outside the family because of sin. You had no hope of changing your status on your own. But through Jesus Christ, through the waters of baptism, through faith, God chose you. He selected you. He wanted you. He adopted you into His family.

Your role changed 180 degrees—from slave to son or daughter, from outside to inside, from unloved to completely loved.

Speaking to Your Father

Because we are sons and daughters, God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying out, "Abba, Father." That word "Abba" is intimate, personal, affectionate. It's not a formal title for a distant deity. It's "Dad." It's "Daddy." It's "Papa."

When you pray, you're not approaching a harsh judge or an indifferent force. You're speaking to your Father—the One who loved you enough to give up His own Son to bring you home. The One who chose you. The One who made you His heir.

And if you're a son or daughter, then you're also an heir. Your inheritance is nothing less than everlasting life, everything Christ has prepared for those who love Him. The kingdom of God belongs to you.

Living as Adopted Children

This identity transformation should fundamentally change how we live. When we understand that we're no longer slaves but beloved children, our motivations shift.
Psychologists have discovered that what troubles children most isn't their parents' anger—it's disappointing them. The most crushing words a child can hear are, "You disappointed me." When you know you're loved, when you know you've been chosen, when you understand the price paid to bring you into the family, the last thing you want to do is disappoint the One who gave you everything.

This is the heart of Christian living. Not grudging obedience to avoid punishment, but joyful response to overwhelming love. We want to please God in what we do, in what we say, in how we work, in how we fulfill every role in our lives—not because we're earning our adoption, but because we're already adopted.

Do we want to disappoint our Heavenly Father who loved us so much? Who gave us so much? Who blessed us beyond measure? Who redeemed us and gave us life?

Your New Identity

You are no longer a slave. You are a son. You are a daughter. You are chosen. You are loved. You are an heir of the kingdom.

This isn't just one role among many—it's the role that defines all the others. When you're a mother who knows she's God's daughter, motherhood looks different. When you're an employee who understands he's an heir of the kingdom, work takes on new meaning. When you're a friend who remembers she's been chosen by the Creator of the universe, friendship deepens.

Live your life as an adopted child of God. Let that identity shape everything you do. Glorify the One who changed your role and made you His own. You've been chosen. You've been redeemed. You've been brought home.

And that changes everything.

(Content generated by PulpitAI from sermon transcript)