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Truth #1 about Adoption: 

Adoption is at the Heart of the Gospel 

Galatians 4:4-7

⁴ But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, ⁵ so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. ⁶ Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” ⁷ Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God. 

Why and how is adoption at the heart of the Gospel?
Verse 4 - "But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law."


What does verse 4 mean?

• "Fullness" means fulfillment; the completion of God's redemptive purposes founded on the person of Christ (Expository Dictionary of Bible Words).
• Even before God created the world, He knew the exact point in time that Jesus would come to earth.
• When God set the stars in their place and put the planets in their orbits, He laid out their paths that at just the right time, they would announce the coming of the Messiah to the world.
• "God sent forth His Son" - Jesus Christ is the eternally divine Son of God sent forth from heaven. John 1:14 says, "And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth."
• "Born under the law" - Jesus was a Jewish man and adhered to Jewish laws.
• All of this together set the climate for Christ's birth and our redemption. Paul makes the point in Galatians that Jesus came to earth. 1) Jesus was born of a woman and born under the Law. 2) Jesus was born a man, like all other men, but at the same time He was fully God. 3) Philippians 2:4-8 says that Jesus emptied Himself and was born a man so that He could be our substitute. He was God and lived a perfect life . . . perfectly obedient to the Law that He had established.
• John MacArthur says, "He [Jesus] had to be fully God in order for His sacrifice to have the infinite worth necessary to atone for the sin of mankind. He also had to be fully man in order to represent mankind and take the penalty of sin upon Himself in man's behalf" (John MacArthur's commentary on Galatians).
• Adoption is at the heart of the Gospel as Jesus came to take our sin. He did this because He loves us just as we are.

How does Galatians 4 apply to me?

As we receive forgiveness from God, our relationship with God changes forever. Ephesians 2 says that we move from being objects of wrath, from being children of the devil, from being strangers, and from being those living in the kingdom of darkness to being in the family of God. The question is this: Have you been adopted into the family of God? Meaning, have you surrendered your life to follow Him? The Bible tells us that we are sinners and have fallen short of God's glory (Romans 3:23) and that the penalty for our sins is death. The good news is that God gives us the FREE gift of eternal life (Romans 6:23). As we realize this, we must confess that Jesus is Lord, and He will save us from our sins and adopt us as His sons and daughters. We are adopted, and you can be, too!