Thinking back, growing forward

When we try and make ourselves right with God and cling to ritual and man-made efforts to earn God’s approval we’re yearning for a time in history that has passed, and is no more. The people in the Church of Galatia were being deceived into longing for something that doesn’t exist, when they already had something so much better. God’s Grace, and the promises of God that come by His grace, are infinitely better than the law and rituals that were there to lead us to Jesus. Now that He has come, and given His life for us, we must also look forward, live in the present, in gratitude for His grace, and strive towards the glorious future that He has promised to those who love Him.

Scripture

Galatians 4:1-7 BSB  What I am saying is that as long as the heir is a child, he is no different from a slave, although he is the owner of everything.  (2)  He is subject to guardians and trustees until the date set by his father.  (3)  So also, when we were children, we were enslaved under the basic principles of the world.  (4)  But when the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law,  (5)  to redeem those under the law, that we might receive our adoption as sons.  (6)  And because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!”  (7)  So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, you are also an heir through God.

Bible Study Questions

Think about who we were

The past is a lesson, something to guide us away from mistakes that were made, and to reveal to us the growth that has occurred. The people of Israel were restrained and taught by the law, it was how God raised them as a collective child. Was this way of guiding and growing His child permanent, or was it always meant to change as they grew?

Galatians 4:1-3 ESV I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything, 2 but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. 3 In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world.

Remember what God did

God’s timing is perfect, and so are His plans. Having raised his child, Israel, under the restraint and tutorship of the law, He then brought them into a new era, which event changed the history of Israel, and the world?

Galatians 4:4-5 ESV But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.

Praise Him for who we are now, and who He made us to be

Now that we have been adopted as children of God, with all the rights that were reserved for the legal heir, we have an unspeakably great privilege. What is this privilege and what doe the term “Abba Father” reveal about that privilege.

Galatians 4:6-7 ESV And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.

Mark 14:36 ESV And he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”

Remember the past, but don't live in it

The history of God’s plan of salvation to Israel and to the world reveals a principle that we should follow as we live our lives in service of the God who gave His only Son for us, to buy us back, to rescue us from the death and destruction that our thoughts and behaviours would have earned us. What is this principle?

Ecclesiastes 7:10 ESV Say not, “Why were the former days better than these?” For it is not from wisdom that you ask this.

Isaiah 43:18-19 ESV “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. [19] Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.

Rather remember what God has done

What value is there in looking back and giving thanks for what God has done in the past? How is the past different in the context of what God has done, compared to what we have done in the past?

Romans 5:6-11 ESV For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. (7) For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— (8) but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (9) Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. (10) For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. (11) More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Knowing that nothing is wasted

Knowing that God’s work in time is always perfect and always relevant, how should we think about the events and experiences of the present? Are they something to be avoided, should we live on our memories or embrace our daily lives?

John 6:12 ESV And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.”

Romans 8:28-30 ESV And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. [29] For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

Trusting that God's plans that are already established

How can we be sure that what’s happening now is not random, chaotic or unnecessary, even though we cannot comprehend it, and what should we looking forward to?

Proverbs 19:21 ESV Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand.

Isaiah 55:8-11 ESV For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. [9] For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. [10] “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, [11] so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

Romans 8:30 ESV And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

Philippians 3:13-14 ESV Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, [14] I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.