Where do you find your identity? Where do you find your worth? Read this week’s motivation to find out.

 

Galatians 4:4-5

But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. (NIV)

 

• When the time had fully come – in God’s sovereign timing
• God sent His Son to us
• Born of a woman – virgin birth (Prophesy in Isaiah 7:14)
• Jesus was born under the Mosaic Covenant
• He came to redeem us (purchase) us from the Law
• That we might receive the full rights of sonship
• We are full heirs
• We are under His loving care
• We are adopted!

APPLICATION:

• We have been redeemed!
• We have the full rights as the children of God
• He cares for us and blesses us
• He disciplines His children

The beautiful, green hills of New Zealand, a country known for its sheep industry, are dotted everywhere with white sheep. During the yearly lambing season thousands of baby lambs are born. Unfortunately some lambs die at birth. Many mother sheep are also lost during lambing season-they die giving birth. In an attempt to save the orphaned lambs, the shepherds match baby lambs that have lost their mothers with mother sheep who have lost their lambs. It’s not as easy as it sounds, though—a mother sheep won’t accept a lamb and nurse it unless it is her own. How, then, do shepherds get a mother sheep to accept an orphaned lamb as her own? The process is as old as shepherding itself. The mother’s own lamb, which has died, is skinned, and the skin of the dead lamb is draped over the living lamb as it is placed by the adoptive mother’s side. The mother sheep then smells the skin and accepts the orphaned lamb as her own. (Taken from Youth Specialties Hot Illustrations)

 

Lambing season in New Zealand is a great picture of what Christ has done for us. Because of Christ’s blood, God accepts us as His own. Once we were orphans, but now we are God’s adopted children.

 

One of the greatest blessings for the believer is our adoption. “The New Testament word for adoption means ‘to place as an adult son.’ It has to do with our standing in the family of God; we are not little children but adult sons with all of the privileges of sonship.” (Warren Wiersbe: The Bible Exposition Commentary) We were once outsiders without any eternal hope, and now we are true sons and daughters in the Father’s household.

 

Warren Wiersbe goes on to say: “The expression the fullness of the time (Gal. 4:4) refers to that time when the world was providentially ready for the birth of the Saviour. Historians tell us that the Roman world was in great expectation, waiting for a Deliverer, at the time when Jesus was born. The old religions were dying; the old philosophies were empty and powerless to change men’s lives. Strange new mystery religions were invading the empire. Religious bankruptcy and spiritual hunger were everywhere. God was preparing the world for the arrival of His Son.” In God’s perfect planning He picked just the right time and place for the Savior to come to our rescue.

 

Ironically the Roman Empire itself helped prepare the world for the birth of the Savior. Roads connected city with city, and thanks to both the Greek and Roman conquests, the Latin and Greek languages were known across the empire. Christ’s birth in Bethlehem was not an accident-it was an appointment! The stage was perfectly set for the gospel to spread all throughout the known world. God had a plan from eternity past and He set the pieces in motion at just the right time.

 

All of this was done so that you and I could know our Abba Father in a new and rich way. All of this was so that we would no longer be slaves, but be sons and daughters. Not just friends of the King, or even distant cousins, but His treasured children.

 

In a powerful praise and worship song called, No Longer Slaves, the song says, “I’m no longer a slave to fear, I am a child of God!” There is amazing truth found in the chorus of this song. We are His children. We no longer have to fear death. We no longer have to fear failure or the approval of others. We are His child. What more could there ever be!

 

Pray that you would find your true identity in Christ. Our worth does not come from having a “good self-esteem”, but finding our esteem in Him. Pray that He will show you how much He truly values you as His son or daughter in Christ.

 

If you would like help in growing in your faith, or if you would like to know how to have faith in Him, then please contact us. (928)636-2949 or email me at pastorguy@cvgrace.com