Lesson 399 - Junior

Memory Verse

"Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself"  (Galatians 5:14).

Notes

Sons of God

To be a Christian means to be a follower of Christ, to be Christ-like. But there is much more to being a Christian than our life here on earth. When we give ourselves wholly to the Lord we become heirs of eternal life. "If ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise" [GAL:3:29]). That promise meant eternal life for Abraham and all who would have faith as Abraham had. "He looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God" [HEB:11:10]). He was looking for a "better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city" [HEB:11:16]).

When we are saved by faith we are born into the family of God. "As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name" [JHN:1:12]). "As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are sons of God" [ROM:8:14]). When we are born again we are "joint-heirs with Christ" and shall some day be glorified together" [ROM:8:17]).

The Glories of Heaven

The night before Jesus was crucified, when His spirit was heavy because of the suffering He knew lay before Him, He put aside His own troubles and prayed long and earnestly to the Father for His disciples. At the close of His prayer He said: "Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world" [JHN:17:24]). He wants us to enjoy with Him greater glories than we shall ever see on earth.

Another time Jesus said: "in my Father's house are many mansions: . . . I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also" [JHN:14:2-3]).

All these promises are to the sons of God, those who have been born into the family of God, and have been made righteous through faith.

Servants

In today's lesson the Apostle Paul was trying to explain that when people were worshiping under the Law, before they were saved by faith, they were as servants. They could not be heirs of the promises of God until they became sons of God, even though they were Israelites. Jesus came in "the fullness of the time," the time that the prophets had said He would come, to fulfil the Law, to give Himself as a ransom for sin, so that no more animal offerings would need to be made. He came to free people from the bondage of trying to observe all the forms and ceremonies that had been commanded in the Law of Moses. "For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins" [HEB:10:4]). Observing the ceremonies of the Law had not changed their hearts.

Through Christ's death they could receive forgiveness for sins the moment they repented and believed on Jesus, and they would not have to offer fresh sin offerings every year as they had done under the Law. The Blood of Jesus would wash away their sins and give them power to go and sin no more. It would be possible for them to live without sinning, if they truly followed Jesus.

Turning Back

Paul had been brought up to be very strict in matters of the Law, and it had been hard for him to believe on Jesus, and to understand that His teachings were greater than the Law. After he was convinced and converted to Christ he worked that much harder to make the Gospel plain to others. Then after all his hard work, some of the Galatians were turning back to the works of the Law, and were quarrelling among themselves. Paul told them, "If ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another" [GAL:5:15]). And he asked: "How turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desires again to be in bondage? Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain" [GAL:4:9-11]). They were again making themselves only servants after they had become sons of God with great privileges and blessings.

Loving the Truth

When Paul had first preached the Gospel to these people they had loved him very much. When a person is first saved, the love of God so fills his heart that he loves everybody. But if one is not careful to read the Bible and pray faithfully, Satan may try to snatch that love away. When the ministers preach the truth of God's Word, the enemy may whisper, "You do not need to be so strict. It is not necessary to walk so carefully before the Lord." The Apostle Paul asked these people who had once loved him and the truth he preached, "Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?" [GAL:4:16]).

If a person is truly born of God and continues in the love of God, he wants to know the will of God; and he will be obedient to faithful ministers who are watching over him to see that he lives so as to be ready to go to Heaven. "If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land" [ISA:1:19]). Do you sometimes feel that people are too strict when they show you what a Christian should do? Do you dislike the person who holds up the true Christian standard? Does that person become your enemy for telling you the truth? If so, you should look into your own heart and see if the love of God is still there, which you felt when you were first saved. Have you lost that "first love"?

The Old and New Covenants

In order to illustrate the great difference between a son and a servant, the Apostle gave an allegory of Abraham and his two sons. God had promised Abraham a son through whom Jesus would come to be a blessing to all the world. It was twenty-five years from the time the promised was given until Isaac was born, and during that long waiting period Abraham wondered just how God would fulfil the promise. In those days men sometimes had more than one wife, so when his first wife, Sarah, had no children, she suggested that he also take Hagar, a servant in their home, to be his wife. But Ishmael, the son who was born to them, was a son of a servant (hence a servant) and was not the son of promise for whom Abraham was waiting. When Isaac was born, the prophecy was fulfilled; and through him (the free-born) the promise was passed on to posterity.

Paul used the difference of the birth of the two sons as a comparison of the difference between the Old Covenant (the Law given on Mount Sinai) and the New Covenant (justification by faith). The Law had been hard to keep, even in form. The laws of the Sabbath were particularly strict. The people were even forbidden to build a fire on the Sabbath [EXO:35:3]). One time a man was picking up sticks on the Sabbath, and he was stoned to death [NUM:15:32-36]). Under the Law the principle was "Do or die."

The Apostle Peter told some people who were trying to force the disciples to worship according to the Law: "Why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved" [ACT:15:10-11]).

Anyone who tries to be a Christian and live as the Bible teaches, without being born again, has a very hard time. He is in bondage. But when he is born again and becomes a son of God, he enjoys blessed freedom. "If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed" [JHN:8:36]). He has God-given power to overcome sin, and live a happy Christian life in the strength he gets from Heaven.

Why should anyone want to go back to the bondage of trying to keep the Law when he has been so gloriously saved from sin through the Blood of Jesus? But there are people even today, as the Seventh Day Adventists and the British Israel people, who are trying to bring others back into the bondage of the Law. When people go back to keeping the Law (or trying to keep it), they ignore Jesus, and therefore cannot be saved. The Blood He shed to redeem mankind does not do that kind of people any good. "There is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved" [ACT:4:12]).

The fact that we are free after we are saved does not mean we are at liberty to commit sin. We are free from sin, and have power to live without committing sin. The law that the Lord wants us to keep is, "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself" [GAL:5:14]). "Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law" [ROM:13:10]). When Jesus puts His love into our heart when we are saved, we love Him supremely, and also love our fellow men. We would not want to do anything to displease God or to hurt others. In that way we fulfil the law of God.

Questions

1. What is a Christian?

2. What was Abraham looking for when he was on earth?

3. Who are the sons of God?

4. What are some of the promises given to the sons of God?

5. How was the Blood of Jesus of more value than the blood of bulls and goats?

6. How were the Galatians making themselves servants after they had been made sons of God?

7. Some of the Galatians did not love Paul any more. Why not?

8. How do you feel when someone tries to tell you how to be good?

9. What is the only Name through which we can be saved?

10. What is the "fulfilling of the law"?