06/03/2007
New Clothes from the King (Gal 3: 26-29)
Intro: Common Ground:
Friends: What draws you to each other?
Usually it is something that you have in common. You have common interest in something - - could be a job (both salesmen, both farmers, both teachers)
It could be a hobby, you both fish, both play basketball, both watch same TV programs
It could be your lifestyle, both live on a farm, both have kids same age, both ex-military,
When it comes to Christians, we are so good at fellowship, at loving each other and caring for each other, and we have something extremely powerful in common with each other.
A few months ago, we had an association board meeting here, and after the meeting we were all in the fellowship area having refreshments, and I walked over to a group of people where Jim Andrews from the Camp was telling stories. I sat down and we introduced ourselves and Jim asked me if I do any hunting, I said I haven’t been hunting in years. He said, “I think you and I may have something in common – THE LORD” and he went back to telling his story.
The thing is – we do have the Lord in common, and that is enough. We seen each other several times since then, and we always have something to talk about – THE LORD
We have Christ in common, a mutual friend, a mutual Master. He draws us to himself, and he draws us to each other. And because of His love, we reach out to others, regardless of who they are.
Today our passage is about our common ground as believers and followers of Christ
Gal 3: 26-29 (NIV) 26 You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
I. SONS OF GOD
26 You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus
You are all children of God. Through faith in Christ Jesus, so the backdrop of Galatians is still there, justification by faith and not by works.
But that statement, sons of God, children of God. Does that statement have an impact on you?
To the Galatian Gentile believers it did, because that was a title reserved for the Jews before Christ came along
The Gentiles were considered outsiders when it came to God’s favor. Sinners, unclean
So to be called Sons of God reminded them that as believers they are equal in God’s eyes to Jewish believers. – no longer 2nd class citizens.
But what about us, today, does being called Sons of God, children of God, have an impact on us today.
It helps to contrast the title Sons of God with what we were before our adoption through faith in Jesus
The term children of God gets tossed around pretty loosely these days.
I hear people say, we’re all God’s children – Oh really? that’s not what God’s Word says
We are all God’s creatures, we were all created by God, and God loves the whole world, every single person in it, but that doesn’t make us all God’s children
Turn with me to the Gospel of John, chapter 8, and let’s see what Jesus had to say about this.
John 8 31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." 33 They answered him, "We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?" 34 Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. 35 Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. 37 I know you are Abraham’s descendants. Yet you are ready to kill me, because you have no room for my word.
38 I am telling you what I have seen in the Father’s presence, and you do what you have heard from your father." 39 "Abraham is our father," they answered. "If you were Abraham’s children," said Jesus, "then you would do the things Abraham did. 40 As it is, you are determined to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do such things. 41 You are doing the things your own father does." "We are not illegitimate children," they protested. "The only Father we have is God himself." 42 Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now am here. I have not come on my own; but he sent me. 43 Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. 44 You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me!
46 Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me? 47 He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God."
Basically there are 2 kinds of people in the world.
Everyone, everyone here has a spiritual Father.
Either you have placed your faith and your trust in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savoir, and are therefore a Child of God,
Or you have not, and you are a slave to sin and your father is that murderous, evil father of lies, Satan
That is a harsh reality, but speaking to all who have reached an age of accountability before God, it is either who you are now, or it is who you once were.
When you think about it like that, being called a Child of God is pretty amazing
If you belong to Him, God wants you to see yourself as His child.
He wants you to recognize your status as His family member
And no matter what else happens in your life
They can take everything else away from you, but never your identity as a Child of God
The world can try to hold you down, they could take your land, your house, all of that stuff that fills your house.
They can ridicule you for who your are and what you believe in, they can take it all, even your very life
But if you have a relationship with Jesus Christ, then you have everything you will ever need. You have the most important thing that can be attained in this life, your eternal salvation, and your identity as a Child of God
And He wants you to recognize the status of all other believers, whoever they are as members of HIS family
You are ALL Sons of God through faith in Jesus Christ
Then in verse 27 He goes on to describe more of what it means to be Sons of God
II. CLOTHED IN CHRIST
27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
Paul takes us back in our memories to the time when we were baptized.
Many of us here today have been baptized.
For some of us it hasn’t been all that long ago – for others it has been quite a while
But it is something that most of us will never forget
Do you remember feeling exhilarated? When you came up out of that water
And you feel supercharged, absolutely alive, brand new
Some of us had family and friends around us, and they cheered for us
They cheered for you because of what had happened inside of you.
We know that baptism is just something we do to tell everyone around us about something that has already happened in our hearts.
That we have given up our old way of life, that we have died to self
That we have met – in person – someone who makes us want to give up our old life
Because what he offers is so much better
We are a brand new creation. We are born again to a new life
A life lived for Jesus.
In Romans chapter 6 Paul talks about how our baptism identifies us with Christ
How we are buried with Jesus, baptized into death,
That our old sin self is crucified on the cross with Jesus
And if we share in His death, then we share in His life,
Our identification with the resurrected Christ, we are
Renewed, reborn, a new person no longer a slave to our sin
And in the same way that we take off our old wet clothes after our baptism
And we put on fresh clean clothes, we shed our old sinful self
That self-centered-ness, that bondage to sin, that ungodly appetite for the world
And we put on Christ Himself, we are clothed in Christ
Clothed in His righteousness, His purity, His perfection.
That brings me to the story of a country preacher in a place once upon a time, far far away. – I like those kind of stories.
I can’t take credit for this one, RC Sproul wrote a story called the Priest with dirty clothes, and this is not exactly how it goes, but it is how I remember it
This place was a Kingdom, and had a King, his son the Prince, and a country preacher.
The preacher, when he was called as a minister, was given his one set of fine preaching clothes. These clothes were nicer than anything he could have afforded, and you only get one set.
Word came one day that he was to have an audience with the King, an opportunity to preach a message in the Kings court, to the King himself.
He prepared the finest message he could think clearly enough to write, and when the big day came, he headed off for the Kings castle.
It was raining that day, and on the way his horse was spooked by a snake in the road, and the preacher was thrown from his horse into a mud puddle. He was covered in mud and filth, with no way to clean himself up before his appointment.
He couldn’t keep the King waiting, he had an appointment, and you don’t keep the King waiting. So he straightened himself up as best as he could and continued to the King’s castle
Of course he was stopped outside the throne room
He was told that he would not be allowed into the Kings presence in his filthy condition
This was his only chance, he had no way to clean his clothes, he only got the one set, and they were beyond any hope of becoming clean.
There was nothing he could do.
He was taken down a hallway to another room and he wondered what would happen to him
The King would not take a no-show lightly. Would he be imprisoned, would he be killed?
He was brought into a room and he realized he was in the chamber of the Prince. His heart was pounding, would the Prince judge him, would he meet his fate here, would he ever see his family again?
The Prince came toward him, taking off his own royal robes, He said,
Here put these on – you are expected before the King in a few minutes
The Prince traded clothes with the preacher. And they went together to see the King
The preacher was accepted in the court, well received, treated like royalty, he had put on the clothes of the Prince.
The Prince was still the Prince, he will always be royalty, he can easily overcome the preacher’s dirty clothes.
That is a picture of what Jesus does for us.
That story is based on the high priest Joshua in Zechariah 3, standing before the angel of the Lord (Jesus) in filthy clothes.
“See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put rich garments on you.”
We are clothed in Christ, we take off our old self, we put on Christ,
God sees the Righteousness of Christ when he looks at us
We are all equally filthy in our sinfulness when we stand before him on our own merit
We are all equally clothed in Christ after we trust Him as our savior
Christ is the great equalizer. He puts us all on the same level
We are one in Christ
III. ONE IN CHRIST
28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
In the world of our daily lives, there are many things that separate people and mark them as different from each other.
Skin color and ethnic background: I have a German heritage on my Fathers side, Welsh/Scottish/English/American Indian on my Mothers side
People from Africa look different than people from Europe who look different than people from Asia.
Some of us are Male and some Female, Some us of have more wealth than others
We have different jobs, some are managers and others laborers
some are teachers and others students
We live in different places, have different families, live in different houses, drive different cars
Many of these things bring with them a status of some kind, we place people with a certain status up here above others., some are kind of looked down on
But in Christ, there is no Jew of Greek, no male or female, no slave or free
Oh, we are still different from each other, I am still male, I am still German, I am still a pastor and a Father and a Husband,
But as a believer standing with other believers in Christ, none of that stuff matters,
The CROSS is the great equalizer. We are different but equal
The new focus is not on our differences, it is on Jesus, all eyes are turned to Him, all Hearts belong to Him. It is Christ and His glory that are important,
That other stuff seems so unimportant, so little next to Jesus and our relationship with Him
In the church, we have different roles, we serve Him in many different ways, but no person is more important than any other person.
We are all part of a body. Each part has its own function, each has his or her own role, and we work together, we need every part working for the whole body to function.
And no one is higher or lower than another. The only part of the body that deserves or should get any honor or glory is the head of the body, the head of the church, and that is Jesus Christ.
We are all one in Christ, and we are all heirs,
29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
All of the social barriers and prejudices that exist in the world are torn down, smashed on the rock of God’s love
There is no room for prejudice in the church.
You may have heard the story from the 60’s, when a young man with a peace sign
T-shirt and jeans with holes in them, bare feet, walked into a church one morning
Everyone was in their Sunday best, and the pews were full.
The young man walked down the center aisle, looking for a place to sit, and as he went, people’s eyes followed him, wondering what he would do, this strange young man in their church
Since every seat was taken, he came to the front, in front of the pulpit, and sat down on the floor to listen.
All eyes were on him as people wondered what would happen. One of the deacons, an older man in a nice pinstriped suit, started down the aisle toward the young man sitting on the floor.
Everyone knew what would happen, he would ask the young man to leave, after all, he didn’t have any shoes on, his hair was a mess, he looked as though he hadn’t had a shower in several days, we can’t have these distractions in our worship service.
The old deacon walked slowly, he used a cane because of arthritis in his knee. He got to the front, and slowly, slowly, he knelt down, then sat next to the young man with long hair so he wouldn’t be the only one on the floor.
Several others joined then on the floor, and there wasn’t a dry eye in the place as they stood up to sing a hymn. The level of worship was upped a notch by that one Christ-like act.
The church is a place for love and acceptance for everyone who walks through that door. And whoever walks through that door is welcome here, no matter who they are.
And if someone walks in as a visitor, we don’t tell them that the seat they are in belongs to so and so, we make room for them, we welcome them, we make them feel that they belong here, because if God draws them here, they do belong.
And God’s love and acceptance does not stay here when we leave today. He lives in us, so we take it with us.
How do you react when you meet someone and they are a lot different than you. Different clothes, different skin, different lifestyle, do you avoid them, shy away, judge them quietly in your heart?
After we leave here today and you are living your daily life this week, every time you encounter another person, remember that no matter who they are or what they look like, or what you think you know about that person’s heart, Jesus died for them. He loves that person just as much as he loves you – even if they don’t come to church, and it just may be that God sent you to that person to give them glimpse of his love through your actions.
Each person you come across is an opportunity to be the hands and feet and love of our Lord.
If you do not have a relationship with Jesus, we still have something amazing in common. God loves you just as much as he loves me.
The only difference between a believer and someone who is lost is their response to the gospel. God loves every single person here today, everyone in the whole world
Jesus died on the cross to pay for the sins of every person
Those who accept the payment, ask Jesus to forgive their sins, repent and live their life for him are transformed by the grace of God, renewed, re-born as children of God.
The gift of eternal life is free, but you must ask Him for it.
