Here are the notes from a talk I delivered a few Wednesdays ago for the Student Cafe at Montpelier Place....
Introduction:
· If you start to understand this book [the Bible] it will overwhelm you.
· Scripture has always been doing devastatingly powerful things and is still working today
· I want you (if you’re not a Christian) to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour through the power of this book.
Read Gal 4:4-9
(4) But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law,
(5) to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.
(6) And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!"
(7) So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.
(8) Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods.
(9) But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God….
Paul is a writing a letter to a church in Galatia
v8 Paul looks back to what the Galatians were before becoming Christians
1. Not knowing God-
They didn’t have any understanding
They didn’t want to find the real God.
2. Enslaved to things that are not gods- you have to worship something
· Not knowing God always leads to being enslaved to something else
· You’re enslaved to whatever you think God is
· Sin is worshipping everything as God that is not God.
· Enslaved= captured by something that makes you think gives you life (it tells you that it satisfies but never does). You have to serve that god because you believe in it’s preciousness and quality = drugs, alcohol, pornography, getting a good job, education, fashion/clothing, your sex life, food, family, reputation, the thoughts your friends have of you. Everyone serves a god like this.
3. What does the real God think? We worship tiny-created things and adore them as if they were amazing then reject Him- and He is amazing. He’s angry because of that.
We’re supposed to be loving Him and we love everything else in His place and so we are screaming ‘we hate you God’. God will send you to Hell for that. We all deserve to burn for offending spectacular beauty.
But God offers power to change.
Power to stop worshipping other ‘stuff’ as if it is God and to start worshipping Him because He is God.
Power to get things in perspective.
Power to be forgiven so that we can worship Him.
It’s all about Jesus…
God didn’t give up on the world or abandon it-he didn’t divorce His creatures-we’re made in His image
He became a man
He became like us:
1. Born of a woman: he was a real human-ate, coughed, got tired, and went to the loo, suffered in a world full of loneliness and hurt
2. Born under the law-obligated to obey it like us.
· To redeem those under the law:
1. You can’t obey the law perfectly-Jesus can and did.
2. Jesus offers His perfect obedience to you
What’s the point of it all? V5
· To love your Dad
· God wants you in His family –he’s got a birth certificate with your name on it.
· Jesus died for your ‘worship of other god’s’ so that you could know the pleasure of enjoying Him.
What happens if you accept? V6, 7
The Holy Spirit = God, lives in you to help you and comfort you
Then you can say ‘Abba Father’- shows an intimate connection
What was your Dad like? God is a million times better.
You become God’ Son and an heir.
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