Essentials Of The Faith / Sunday Morning Sermon Series / Galatians: A Grace-full Life
Grace...Promise or Deal Pt 2
Sermon Series: Galatians: A Grace-full Life
Title: : Grace...Promise or Deal Pt 2 Text: Galatians 3:15-29
Introduction: We are just a few short months away from something parents dread and our children can’t wait for....graduation. It is a rite of passage for parents and children. And is in a couple of ways, connected to our text.
Last week we learned that the Law was our tutor, teaching us where God places His lines for us not to cross. But when Christ came and grace was offered...we graduated...from works to grace.
Today, we will see that there is another connection between graduation and grace.
ILL: I remember when I graduated from college , my mother made the comment that when we walked into the auditorium, she couldn’t tell which one was me...because we all looked alike. And it was true. In most colleges, men and women wear the same color robes, caps and tassels. The purpose was to identify with our college...more specifically, our major.
OK...what’s the connection to our text? We, as sons and daughters of Abraham, as children of God are clothed in Christ. And when God looks at us, He sees Jesus. The point I am laboring to make, is that when we look at each other, we should not make distinctions.
· Our cultural backgrounds should make no difference.
· Our educational backgrounds should make no difference.
· Our socio-economic backgrounds should make no difference.
· Our skin color, height, weight, speech, age or any other physical trait should make no difference...
in how we relate to one another.
Just as graduation robes cover up whatever we are wearing that might give a hint to our individuality, being clothed in Christ covers whatever might highlight our differences.
And Paul will say that wearing the same robe, spiritually, makes our identity in Christ...and that make us one. It trumps every other characteristic that divides us. We are ONE in Christ.
Transition: Open your Bibles to Galatians 3:26 (pg. 888 in the Bibles under the chair in front of you.) For it’s there we will continue to examine Paul’s argument: Grace...is it a promise or a deal?
I. Galatians 3: 26, 27, 29 The Promise:
We are children of God
Read: Galatians 3:26-27, 29
· You have graduated from works and have joined the life of Promise...by placing your faith in Jesus.
· You have been removed from Satan’s family and are now a child of God...by placing your faith in Jesus.
· You have been released from the bonds that are represented by your race, age, gender, finances and looks and are now freed to wear Christ as your new identity...by placing your faith in Jesus.
This is true for everyone who has been baptized into Christ. So for those who haven’t been baptized...you are still stuck in your bondage. Now...that doesn’t sound right does it?
While some commentators say the ‘baptism’ mentioned here is water baptism, I disagree. While I believe baptism is an important step in the life of the Christian, it is not water baptism that places us ‘in Christ.’ Let me read a few related passages.
Read: Galatians 2:20; Romans 6:1-11;
Mark 10:35-38
Baptism, in these texts and in Galatians 3:27 is not water baptism...it’s death. Paul is saying that when you died to yourself and began to live for Jesus...through faith:
· you were clothed with the robe of Jesus
· and by God’s grace you became heirs of His promises.
Yes...water baptism represents your death and resurrection in Christ...but it is not what makes you a child of God...it is your actual dying and being born again by faith in Jesus that makes you ‘in Christ’ and a child of God. OK? I didn’t want there to be any confusion.
Transition: Here’s the kicker...everyone who is a Christian became a Christian in the very same, the exact same way...by God’s grace through faith in Jesus...everyone...there are no exceptions. And this is what Paul says makes us ONE in Christ.
II. Galatians 3:28 The promise: We are one
in Christ
Read: Galatians 3:28
We are one in Christ
· because we are sons and daughters of God
· when we died to ourselves and rose to life
· by faith in Jesus
· according to God’s grace
· expressed in His promise
· to Abraham.
That’s Paul’s argument in a nutshell. Make sense? Unity in the Body of Christ, Oneness in Christ, is so important to Paul that he gets very specific...but not exclusive. Paul says ‘there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female’...but that didn’t exclude the fact that there is also:
· neither rich nor poor,
· beautiful nor not so beautiful,
· educated nor uneducated,
· young nor old.
You get the idea. Paul is saying that those who are in Christ...are one, regardless of their differences, whatever they may be.
The most significant thing about you as a Christian, is that you are clothed in Christ...and that you wear the same graduation gown as every other Christian.
Please don’t misunderstand me or Paul. We are not saying that there are not significant differences in us as human beings...there are. And there is much we can learn from one another because of our differences.
BUT...what makes us different... should never separate us. Especially in the church. Remember, Paul is writing the letter to the Galatians because of a division in the churches there...Jewish and Gentile Christians were more interested in their differences than in what united them.
Paul says since we are all one in Christ, even with our differences, there is no need for the Gentile Christians to become Jewish by following the Law...because being a Jew is not superior to being a Gentile. And to bring it up to date...living by the Law/works/rules does not make you superior to those who live by grace.
Sadly, Christians still draw lines of separation today...in the church. They draw lines of:
· denomination (128 different Baptist groups)
· color (black churches, white churches)
· culture (Hispanic, Asian, Filipino, Portuguese...churches)
· worship styles (only contemporary, only traditional)
· age (no one in the worship team over 30)
· even economic status (you know where the wealthy attend church in this area)
Whenever we draw lines, we stab grace in the heart...and the blood that people outside the church see, will often keep them from wanting any part of the Church or Christianity.
Conclusion
John 17.
· Jesus’ high priestly prayer.
· His longest recorded prayer in Scripture.
· His prayer the night before he was crucified.
What could Jesus have prayer for?
· He could have prayed for His own strength.
· He could have prayed that His disciples would not desert Him.
· He could have prayed for any number of things.
But what did He pray for? What is the heart and soul of His prayer in John 17? Our unity...our oneness.
Jesus knew that His church could never have the kind of impact He wanted it to have, unless the world saw in the church and among God’s people, a oneness, a unity that transcends anything we can do on our own.
I firmly believe that the church has never given Jesus’ prayer in John 17 the seriousness consideration it deserves. Can I read it to you?
Read: John 17
Do you see it? Can you sense the immediacy in Jesus’ words?
· Our journey of faith is often trying, difficult and painful.
· We often experience discouragement, unanswered questions, relentless temptation, debilitating sin, doubts, ridicule and heavy burdens.
That’s why God has made you an heir of the Promise, a Child of God, and placed in His family by His marvelous grace.
· It’s a place where grace, love, forgiveness and mercy flow freely.
· It’s a place where we can find strength, comfort, help and acceptance.
ILL: Paul McCartney wrote a song with these lyrics ‘All the lonely people, where do they all come from? All the lonely people, where do they all belong?
God has given to all His children, through faith in Jesus...a place to belong.
Because we are one in Christ:
· We find our place in eternity, as sons and daughter of God.
Because we are one in Christ:
· We find our place in society, as brothers and sisters in the family of God.
Because we are one in Christ:
· We find our place in history, as part of God’s plan, children of Abraham by faith in Jesus.
Because we are one in Christ:
· We find our place in our community, as part of this local church.
Because we are one in Christ:
· let us choose the Promise over the Deal.
· Let us live by grace and not by works.
· Let us live ....as one!