Godly Social Order - Corinthians
The Birth of Glory
Professor: Dr. R.J. Rushdoony
Subject: Sociology
Lesson: 30-49
Genre: Lecture
Track: 30
Dictation Name: RR274J17
Location/Venue:
Year:
Let us worship God. Let us go even unto Bethlehem to see this thing which has come to pass. Which the Lord has made known unto us, for unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. And the government shall be upon his shoulders and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, glory be to God in the highest and on earth, peace, good will toward men. Let us pray.
Almighty God our Heavenly Father we come into Thy presence again joyfully. WE thank thee that unto us a son is given, that the king of glory has come, that he is our Lord, closer to us then we are to ourselves. Our mainstay, our refuge, our shelter and our hope. How great Thou art oh God and we praise Thee. May the joy of this blessed season be in our hearts throughout the year and the years to come that we may ever know how great Thy love is for us and how great the sacrifice of Thy son. Give us joy in our worship; hearing ears that we may hear Thy word and rejoice in it and be instant in Thy service. In Christ’s name, Amen.
Our scripture lesson is from Galatians 4:3-5. The Birth of Glory. Galatians 4:3-5, The Birth of Glory.
“Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world:
4But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
5To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.”
Our text is a very important one in any study of the incarnation of the birth of Jesus Christ. Paul begins by saying when we were children. Meaning thereby in the infancy of faith as a church. All history moved towards the key and pivotal event, the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, the messiah. This was the goal of the ages and yet like children even the most devout believers have failed to understand the meaning because they saw it in terms of Israel’s purpose, not Gods. Paul says we were kept in bondage under the rudiments of this world. We have failed to understand the most elementary lessons of history, of God’s purpose and plan he says. Our vision is too commonly limited to this world and our purposes here. God as he deals with us has in mind His purpose, both in time and in eternity.
Remember: eternity is forever and God prepares us, he trains us here both for time and eternity. We are trained, we are led, and we are made to suffer a variety of things in order to learn God’s lessons. We shall serve Him through all eternity as well as here in time. And our experiences and suffering here have as their purpose our education and discipline for an eternity of service. The birth, life and death of our Lord shatter man’s belief in the self-sufficiency of this world and of our experiences here. It was a miraculous birth both in continuity and in discontinuity. Christ was born of a woman in continuity with the world of Adam and Eve, but he was also virgin-born like Adam and Eve a special creation to mark a new beginning, a new human race, a discontinuity. The humanity of the first Adam moves in terms of its will to be its own god. In terms of its own supposed ultimacy. Whereas the last Adam came with angelic songs to indicate a totally different world, a totally different orientation, God’s kingdom. Now the word translated as rudiments or elements meant among other things the letters of the alphabet. It was used to mean a basic training. So Paul is saying that you were in bondage as it were to the ABC’s. You have not gotten beyond that. Before one came to the full comprehension of the meaning of Christ’s coming one was like a child, accepting and believing without fully understanding. Then God sent his son in the fullness of time, at the appointed and predestined time, into the world. This verse, verse four, presupposes the preexistence of Jesus Christ, as God the Son he eternally exists.
It was important for Paul to stress this point. There is more to Jesus than what men saw in history. It also presupposes God’s predestination as governing all of history. Time does not move in terms of an imagined and independent natural order but always and only in terms of God’s eternal purpose and decree. The fullness of time is the completion of time and totally governed. It means that God’s sovereign purpose always rules in history. It is God’s instrument! Not a fact of nature. Time must be seen as God’s creation, of Jesus Christ Paul tells us, he was born of a woman and born under the law. To be born of a woman placed him in continuity with Eve, with fallen humanity. To be born of a woman meant that he was born in to the world of sin and death so that despite his miraculous birth he was like Adam to be subjected to temptation. He could also be subject to death because he was while very God of very God also truly man. He was born under the law so that sin for Him as for Adam bore the penalty of death. The law is both life and death; for man it is both as Psalm One makes clear. Because man in Adam has only known the law as a witness of death does not alter the fact that the law is a life giving instrument of God. The purpose of his coming is stated in verse six: that he might redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. The privilege and the status of son-ship is ours through Jesus Christ.
Christ redeems us from the curse of the law into life under the law. This life in the law set forth very tellingly for us in Psalm 1:3: “And he shall be the man who lives faithful to the law like a tree planted by the rivers of water that bringeth forth it’s fruit in its season, his leaf also shall not wither and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.” Psalm one and sermons on the two ways, the way of obedience and the way of death, were very common in the early church. Life in Christ is life in the law; it’s the way of blessing. Paul thus is concerned that we know the meaning of Christ’s coming, not only must we be like Jesus Christ in our obedience but we must believe that God the Son became incarnate but we must know why. Our life depends on it. The world does not move in its own way and purpose however much it tries but totally in terms of God’s decrees. The law spells death for the sinner, life for the righteous in Christ. This world is under judgment and until its ready to receive its King it will continue to witness to the triumph of sin and death. John 1:14 tells us that the word was made flesh and dwelt upon us and that we beheld it’s glory, the glory as the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. As Paul states it in Second Corinthians 4:6: “For God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness has shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” Christ’s birth, Paul says, was the open manifestation of His glory and grace.
We must therefore always remember that God having chosen us to receive His grace will preserve us for His purposes throughout all eternity. Let us pray.
Bless us oh Lord our God in faithfulness to Thee. Teach us as members of Thy son’s new humanity to walk in way of faithfulness; to know that we are called throughout all eternity to serve Thee and whatever the trials and tribulations of our lives here the purpose is that we be eternally Thy servants. Bless us; make us faithful, in Christ’s name, Amen.
Are there any questions now about our lesson?
As you can see here as in Corinthians and everywhere else, Paul sees the Old Testament and New Testament revelations as a unity, a total inseparable unity. And this is why to divide the Bible into varying dispensations is so wrong. If there are no questions at this time let us conclude with prayer.
Our Father we give thanks again for the joy of this blessed season. We thank Thee that unto us Thy Son is born, is given that we might as members of His new humanity serve Thee in thankfulness all the days of our life. Make us ever faithful and joyful. And now go in peace, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost, bless you and keep you, guide and prosper you, this day and always, Amen.