Galatians 4:1-4
New International Version (NIV)
4 What I am saying is that as long as an heir is underage, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate. 2 The heir is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. 3 So also, when we were underage, we were in slavery under the elemental spiritual forces[a] of the world. 4 But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law,
Thursday, November 19
At the heart of the Christian idea of redemption is that God has only one Son, Jesus. He is the heir of God's Kingdom. But what Jesus did on the cross reveals the depths of God's love for us. Jesus gave up his rights as the only Heir and took on our slavery to sin by being born as a human. As a truly human man he died. But when Jesus, this God-man, died he did something unbelievable. He exchanged his place of honor as the Son of God for our place of sin and death. He took our sin upon himself and gave us the right to be called children of God and heirs of God's Kingdom! Martin Luther called this the "Happy Exchange". This is our redemption and as a redeemed child of God we can come before God, our true heavenly Father in prayer. Once Boaz redeemed Ruth she could always and forever claim her status as redeemed. She did not earn it. It was a gift paid for and given to her by Boaz, her redeemer. We are children of God and heirs of the kingdom of heaven. We can always and forever look to Jesus and claim our status as redeemed children.