Our Heavenly Father
Galatians 4:4–7 on the Gospel, Adoption, and a Relationship with the Father
Introduction
I am thankful for my dad.
A few weeks ago, I found myself changing the brake pads and rotors on my sister’s car with my dad. The brake pads were worn so thin, they were basically welding onto the rotors. My dad and I had a lot of work to do.
As we were working together, side by side, I found myself very thankful. We were working by one another, solving this problem together — and I really enjoyed it.
If you have a father in your life, find something your thankful for and tell him you love him. Not all children are blessed with an active and present father in their home.
According to data from the US Census Bureau in 2022, there are approximately 18.3 million children across America who live without a father in the home — that is about 1 in 4 children. Consider that number. 25% of kids in America will not be celebrating Father’s Day with their fathers.
UNICEF estimates that, worldwide, approximately 150 million children have lost either one parent or both — what we would call orphans. Many of these children want to be adopted; they want to cry out to someone, “Dad! Father!”
For believers, there was once a time when they too were fatherless. There was a period in their life when they were orphans. Do you remember what life was like before you were saved by Jesus? Before you were adopted into God’s family? Before you had a personal relationship with the heavenly Father?
That is what the Spirit will remind you of as we study Galatians 4:4–7. Apostle Paul tells us in this passage that it is faith in the gospel that enables sinners to be adopted into God’s family; it is adoption which grants believers a personal relationship with God, their Heavenly Father. As we study Galatians 4:4–7, we will examine (1) the redemption of the gospel, (2) the blessing of adoption, and (3) the reality of a relationship with the Father.
The Redemption of the Gospel
Paul’s letter to the Galatians centers around the truth that justification from sin is found by faith in Christ alone. False teachers had entered into the church and were teaching a false gospel that said adherence to the law via circumcision was required in addition to faith in Jesus. In the Galatians letter, Paul refutes this, making it clear that Christ’s death has brought in the age of a new covenant, where all believers (regardless of whether they were born as Jews or Gentiles) could enter into God’s family.
In this letter, Paul repeats the gospel, defends his apostolic authority, and then teaches that justification is by faith alone — there is no need to play religion, just believe in Jesus. Then we come to chapter four of Paul’s letter to the Galatians. Here, we see a beautiful passage where Paul stops to remind the Galatians what is at stake. Look at what Paul says in Galatians 4, verses 4–5:
“But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law…”
Paul here is speaking of the redemption which comes to us by faith in the gospel. God sent his Son at the perfect moment in human history, a point in time when people and nations were ready for the birth and ministry of Christ, when they were ready for the proclamation of the gospel.
What is the gospel?
We are all born into sin. From birth, the very inclinations of our hearts are away from God and towards disobedience. We fall short of the glory of God; in other words, in our sin, we refuse both our Creator and the purpose for which He created us for. This is the unsaved condition. We were enslaved to the desires of our flesh, to the kingdom of darkness, to rebellion and evil. We were fatherless, destined to an eternity separated from fellowship with God, instead awaiting infinite wrath from God as our deserved punishment. This was where you were; if you have not accepted Christ, this is where you are.
The good redemptive news which Paul is referencing in this passage is that God still chose to love you in that sinful condition. You were a dirty, rebellious, fatherless spiritual orphan; God the Father saw you and loved you. He loved you so much that God became a man — the Father sent His Son into this earth. Jesus lived a perfect life, taught, performed miracles. Though blameless, Jesus was betrayed, humiliated, tortured, and crucified. Innocent Jesus suffered an undeserved death and faced the wrath of God on behalf of us, guilty, sinful, and rebellious spiritual orphans. His blood paid the price of our guilt. When we believe Jesus died for us, His blood washes us clean and we are forgiven. We are justified by Jesus’ blood.
There is more to the gospel than just forgiveness though. Death could not hold Jesus down. Three days after dying, Jesus resurrected. He introduced a new nature that is free from the tyranny of sin. When you believe in Jesus’ resurrection, you too get access to this new nature. This nature is not inclined toward sin; its affections are for God. The new nature is the Spirit indwelling within you. You live a new regenerated life. By faith, you are redeemed.
Praise the good Lord for His good grace.
The Blessing of Adoption
What was this all for? Look at the rest of verse five:
“But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law so that we might receive adoption as sons.”
When you believe in the gospel, one of the things which happen in that moment is that you get adopted into God’s family. Your adoption into this new family means that:
- God has accepted you as His child, and…
- You have accepted God as your Father.
Adoption into this new family gives you all the rights and responsibilities that a member of that family has. As a legitimate child, you become the rightful heir to the family’s inheritance.
The Father is creator and owner of all creation. He gave His first child, Adam, the garden of Eden as a portion of his inheritance; instead of fulfilling his responsibility to his Father, Adam traded his inheritance for a moment of sinful pleasure.
The entire Old Testament is God’s progressive promise that restoration will come through the one true Heir, the Lord Jesus. The New Testament is the culmination of thousands of years of promise. Jesus came so that people could share in His inheritance. Paul says in his letter to the Romans:
“And if [we are] children, then heirs — heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ.”
When we put our faith in Jesus, the one true perfect Son of God, we share in His sonship. We share in Jesus’ inheritance when we become united with Jesus by faith in His death and resurrection. We become sons and daughters of God just like Jesus. In turn, God’s riches are poured out on us as His children.
The Reality of a Relationship with the Father
Our faith in the gospel enables us to be adopted into God’s family. What now? What is the practical outworking of this new relationship we have? Our adoption grants us a new personal relationship with God, our heavenly Father. Paul says, verses 6–7:
“And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’ So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.”
As a saved adopted believer, you now have the right to call God your Father; this is a privilege you once did not have. In our pain, suffering, and heartache, we can call out “Abba! Father!” and God will hear.
“Abba” is the most personal and intimate way we can address God. That is the word Jesus cried out when He was in agony in the Garden of Gethsemane.
Consider the weight of this truth. The eternal, all powerful, perfect King of the universe is accessible to you at any moment. He is personally available for you.
What does such a personal Father-child relationship like this even look like?
- God the Father will teach you. Through the Son’s Spirit inside of you, the Lord will guide you in what is right and wrong. He will illuminate things which were unknown to you. The Father will guide you through difficult trials to strengthen and test your faith. When God the Father teaches, you as His child must learn from Him.
- God the Father will discipline you. God does this out of love. If God sees that you are insistent on heading down a harmful path, He will lovingly correct you. Correction hurts, but it is done out of love. God’s discipline is always fair, and though difficult in the moment, will always yield the peaceful fruit of righteousness. When God the Father disciplines, you as the child must correct your ways.
- God the Father will love you. God the Father loves you and therefore desires what is best for you. God made His love known to you by sacrificing His son for you; God continues to make His love known to you by blessing you. When God the Father loves you, you as the child must receive His grace with thanksgiving.
- God the Father will provide for you. God will take care of your every need. He will give you all your necessities. Think about it: if evil men can give good gifts to their children, how much more will your perfect loving heavenly Father give to you. When God the Father provides for you, you must choose to remain in a state of peaceful confidence.
As a believer, God the Father will raise you and guide you and love you and discipline you. He will give to you all that His beloved children have coming for them. You must respond to your loving Father in love through faithful obedience, not because you have to, but because there was once a time when you couldn’t because you were a spiritual orphan, but now you can because you are an adopted child to the King of Glory.
What an amazing reality believers have a share in.
Conclusion
Together, we studied Galatians 4:4–7, where we examined (1) the redemption of the gospel, (2) the blessing of adoption, and (3) the reality of a relationship with the Father. This passage told us that it is faith in the gospel that enables sinners to be adopted into God’s family; it is this adoption which grants believers a personal relationship with God, their Heavenly Father.
It is indeed a sad truth that there are many children who do not have fathers present in their lives on Father’s Day. God has a special love for those kids. The good news is that all people have access to the ultimate Father through faith in the gospel.
I encourage you to utter a prayer.
Do not stand before your loving heavenly Father in silence. Cry out, “Abba! Father!” Give Him glory for Jesus’ death and resurrection. Thank Him for welcoming you into His family. Address Him as your heavenly Father.
Also See:
Historical Living Arrangements of Children by the US Census Bureau (2022).
On Understanding Orphan Statistics by the Christian Alliance for Orphans (2014).
“Regeneration and Sonship” in Bible Doctrines by Kevin Collins (2022).
“Adoption” by Laurie J. Braaten in Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible edited by David Noel Freedman (2000).
Christian Theology by Millard Erickson (2013).
Basic Theology: A Popular Systematic Guide to Understanding Biblical Truth by Charles Ryrie (1999).
5 Characteristics of a Godly Father by Kevin McConaghy (2020).
