MPC, 7th May 2000.Galatians 3:15-29 - The Brady Bunch
Phil Campbell MPC, 7th May 2000.
Galatians 3:15-29
15 Brothers, I speak in terms of human relations: even though it is only a man's covenant, yet when it has been ratified, no one sets it aside or adds conditions to it. 16 Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his family. He does not say, "And to families," as referring to many, but rather to one, "And to your family," that is, Christ.
17 What I am saying is this: the Law, which came four hundred and thirty years later, does not invalidate a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to nullify the promise. 18 For if the inheritance is based on law, it is no longer based on a promise; but God has granted it to Abraham by means of a promise.
19 Why the Law then? It was added because of transgressions, having been ordained through angels by the agency of a mediator, until the family would come to whom the promise had been made. 20 Now that mediator did not bring about the one family; whereas God is one.
21 Is the Law then contrary to the promises of God? May it never be! For if a law had been given which was able to impart life, then righteousness would indeed have been based on law. 22 But the Scripture has shut up everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. 23 But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed. 24 Therefore the Law has become our tutor until Christ, so that we may be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. 26 For 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, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's family, heirs according to promise.
New American Standard Bible Translation, with "family" replacing "seed." Words not in original greek text shown in italic text.
If you've ever seen the Brady Bunch on TV, where Mike Brady and his three sons marries Carol and her three daughters, and they live happily ever after, you'll know it's just FICTION. Because real life is never quite that easy, is it. I mean, they have their ups and downs in the TV show, Marsha doesn't know what to wear to the formal, that sort of thing. But you get the overwhelming impression if you watch it, that blending a family like that is EASY. And FUN. But real life's not like that. I was talking to my mate Darrell a while back who's the DAD of a blended family. Two families broken by divorce. And now remarriage; taking on the challenge of being dad to three new children. At the same time as being dad to three boys of his own. And Darrell said to me, it's TOUGH. He said, I've figured out that BLENDING A FAMILY takes at least three or four years. He's been at it for three years already. And he can just see the light at the end of the tunnel. Because it's hard work... bringing together TWO FAMILIES with TWO HISTORIES, with TWO SETS OF EXPECTATIONS; two families that had their own ways of doing things, their own family traditions, their own family rules. In the TV version, Mike Brady just says, YOU DON'T DO THAT ANY MORE. You're a BRADY NOW. And the kids say, Gee, you're right. And that's that. But in real life it's much harder.
Now have you noticed that's the KEY ISSUE Paul's dealing with here in Galatians. Because it's all about blending two very different families into ONE FAMILY IN CHRIST. Christians from the Israel family... who have called God their father as long as they can remember, all the way back to Abraham. And Christians from the GENTILE FAMILY... who all their lives Jews have been taught to call UNCLEAN. Because they didn't have God's old testament law. They're ring ins. Without any of Israel's LAWS AND RULES. Who have heard about Jesus, who have TRUSTED IN JESUS; without any of the background of being JEWISH. And we saw last time, Paul's saying to these Christians in Galatia, whatever you do, whatever the pressure, don't be sucked back to the Old Testament LAW. He says, being PART OF THE FAMILY is all about TRUSTING JESUS... not about living by the law.
They're DIVIDING OVER IT. Jewish ones are saying, you've got to hang on to the Old Testament Law. The non Jews are confused. And Paul sums it all up in verse 27 to 29. Right at the bottom of the page. God's Family is ONE FAMILY. And to BE ONE, all the old dividing lines have got to go. Verse 27. "For ALL OF YOU who were baptised into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither JEW NOR GREEK, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's family, heirs according to promise.
So different. Yet now all the same. All - whether Jewish or Gentile - all counted as part of the family of Abraham. A Brady Bunch family, made up of all kinds of people. The opposite ends of the scale. But all one in Christ Jesus. A BRADY BUNCH FAMILY, this family that's come together, and Paul says, EVERYONE IS ON THE SAME FOOTING. And it's NOT THE OLD TESTAMENT LAW. It's bigger than that. And it goes all the way back to a PROMISE GOD MADE TO ABRHAHAM.
LAW - OR PROMISE?
Now again, that's the big question. The family of God... SURELY, the bottom line is KEEPING THE LAW. That's what's being said - and it's still being said today. I've heard it said. We NEED TO PREACH THE LAW MORE. Not just this Jesus stuff. Well, that's exactly what Paul's up against here. And if you come back to the start of the passage, verse 15 and 16, he wants to start with an analogy. An illustration.
Now I know if you 've been watching Anthony Mundine during the week, you'd be forgiven for thinking that these days a CONTRACT'S NOT WORTH THE PAPER IT'S WRITTEN ON. A huge contract with the Dragons, and he just WALKS AWAY FROM IT. Well, contacts aren't meant to work that way. And that's Paul's point in verse 15. Once you've made a promise, once you've signed the contract, once it's ratified, it's BINDING. No new conditions. No setting it aside. That's how man made contracts are meant to work. And the point is, God ENTERED INTO A CONTRACT WITH ABRAHAM AND HIS FAMILY... way before the Old Testament LAW came along. And that contract's still binding.
Verse 15. Brothers, I speak in terms of human relations. Even though it's only a MANS COVENANT, yet when it's been ratified, no one sets it aside or adds conditions to it. Except Anthony Mundine. He's saying, a contract is a contract. So what about the contract God made with Abraham. The PROMISES GOD MADE... to Abraham... and his FAMILY. Even more than a human contract, it's CAN'T BE SET ASIDE... or ADDED TO. And for people who want to say you've got to take on THE LAW to be a CHRISTIAN, the argument goes like this. God promised blessing to Abraham and his family... LONG BEFORE THE LAW CAME ALONG. And a promise is a promise; you can't change the contract.
It's the contract God made back in Genesis chapter 12. Where if you follow the story from the start, the GOOD WORLD GOD MADE has come under the CURSE OF SIN; because Adam and Eve decide to run things their own way without God. And the whole world is under that curse until God singles out ABRAHAM... in Genesis chapter 12. And says to Abraham, I'm going to give you a FAMILY. And through that family, there'll be BLESSING AGAIN.
In other words, if you want a part of God's blessing, if you want to live with God in the way the world was always meant to, there's where you find it. You need to be somehow come to be part of the FAMILY OF ABRAHAM. To which the Jewish Christians were saying, you GENTILES aren't part of it. Unless you TAKE ON THE LAW.
And Paul says, you've missed the point! Follow verse 16. . He says "Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his FAMILY. He does not say, "And to FAMILIES," as referring to many, but rather to one, "And to your FAMILY," that is, Christ. He says the promise to Abraham, the promise to undo the curse of sin, it's a promise that was pointing forward to CHRIST.
And the FAMILY OF BLESSING he's talking about, is the family IN CHRIST. Like verse 28 says. Whatever you were - now you're ALL ONE IN CHRIST JESUS. And God didn't promise a splintered, divided, some in the in group some in the out group type of family. Or a we'll do it this way and you do it that way type of family. ONE FAMILY. Integrated. God's promise was ONE FAMILY. So BE ONE.
At which point I guess the JEWS in Galatia are still saying, that's FINE. As long as these GENTILES follow the FAMILY RULES. Which means following the Old Testament LAW. But they've missed the point.
Look again. And keep an eye on that diagram in the talk outline. Because to make one family out of people who have HAD the law and people who HAVEN'T HAD the law, one side has to change. And Paul spells out who it is. See if you can follow it in verse 17 and 18. Paul says "What I'm saying is this: the Law, which came four hundred and thirty years later, doesn't invalidate the covenant previously ratified by God, so as to nullify the promise. Because if the inheritance is based on law, it is no longer based on a promise; but God has granted it to Abraham by means of a promise. "
You know, you meet people, don't you. They'll say to you, I don't need to worry about this FAITH stuff. I just keep the ten commandments. And don't hurt anybody. That's what GOD WANTS FROM US. Well, Paul wants to say... WRONG! The way to be right with God is to be JUSTIFIED BY FAITH. We saw it last time. And the fact is, God started blessing Abraham and his family 430 years BEFORE THE COMMANDMENTS EVEN CAME.
It's like he's saying, which is FUNDAMENTAL? Which was FIRST? And like you can see on the little time line there, you've got Abraham's family going on for 430 years before Moses and the law. And the LAW when it came, it didn't change the PROMISE. Didn't NULLIFY IT. The ground rules were the same. God makes a promise. You hang on to it. Full stop.
What I am saying is this... verse 17 - the law, which came 430 years later, doesn't INVALIDATE a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to nullify the promise. For if the inheritance is based on LAW, if being in the family of God depends on KEEPING THE LAW, then it's no longer based on a promise. But God has granted it to Abraham by means of a promise.
And yet we've had generations of Australians, generations of Presbyterians, who think KEEPING THE OLD TESTAMENT LAW is the way to God's BLESSING. It's been TAUGHT AT OUR BIBLE COLLEGE. It's been preached in our churches. Maybe you've been brought up on it. And yet Paul says, the inheritance isn't based on LAW. It's based on THE PROMISE.
And so comes the question, well, are you saying it's like THE LAW is somehow AN ENEMY of the PROMISE? That there's something WRONG with the commandments of God? To which Paul says, NO... but it was never God's INTENTION that the LAW OF ISRAEL was going to bring his FAMILY OF BLESSING TOGETHER. Moses was just the MIDDLE MAN FOR ISRAEL.
Follow verse 19. He says, the law was ADDED BECAUSE OF TRANSGRESSION. Given to Israel to DEFINE what SIN LOOKED LIKE. Ordained through angels through a mediator; Moses. Until the FAMILY WOULD COME to which the promise had been made. But can you see, Moses, the middle man between God and Israel, he was never going to be the MEDIATOR OF THE COMBINED FAMILY that came later. God is ONE. God wants ONE FAMILY. But the law was just for Israel. Back then. And not THE CHRISTIAN FAMILY NOW.
It's a complicated couple of verses; especially in the NIV translation. But on the sheet it's cleare. Verse 19 and 20. Why the Law then? It was added because of transgressions, having been ordained through angels by the agency of a mediator, until the family came to whom the promise had been made. 20 Now (that) mediator MOSES is not for (the) one family; whereas God is one.
And it's exactly because GOD IS ONE that DIVISION IN HIS PEOPLE IS NOT ON. The law was there to define sin - until JESUS CAME. And brought the ONE FAMILY OF BLESSING TOGETHER from ALL KINDS OF PEOPLE. All the nations. And now the law of Israel is over and done with. Moses came and went. Did his job. Mediator of Israel. Which was a stepping stone on the way to Jesus.
Which is exactly what Paul goes on to say in verse 21 to 25. Read it...
21 Is the Law then contrary to the promises of God? May it never be! For if a law had been given which was able to impart life, then righteousness would indeed have been based on law. 22 But the Scripture has shut up everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. 23 But before faith came, we JEWS were kept in custody under the law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed. 24 Therefore the Law has become our tutor until Christ, so that we may be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.
Keeping Commandments was never MEANT TO BE the way to RIGHTEOUSNESS. Just a tutor for Israel until Christ. And NOT BEYOND. And so as Paul struggles to bring together ONE FAMILY out of these TWO FACTIONS, that's what they have to see. That with the coming of Jesus, it's the END OF AN ERA. And the start of a new one. It's the end of the sort of DIVISION there was between JEW AND GENTILE. And time for ONE FAMILY. Under CHRIST. Instead of UNDER LAW.
I wonder how well we've seen that? See, again, I think this is still a live issue. I actually heard a preacher say the other day say, "If we want to see revival we've got to preach THE LAW MORE. And not just CHRIST." I want to say to him, YOU NEED TO READ GALATIANS MORE. Because you've got it WRONG. And I know in our own denomination, there are people who want to say, OUR CHALLENGE IS TO BRING PEOPLE UNDER GOD'S LAW AGAIN. To which I want to say, OUR CHALLENGE IS SIMPLY TO BRING PEOPLE TOGETHER UNDER JESUS. Which is a very different thing.
It's funny, isn't it, some of us have been brought up with all these rules. What you can and can't do on a Sunday. Can you mow the lawn? Can you go to the footy? Can you hang out the washing? And yet there are people who come to faith in Jesus these days who have been brought up with NONE OF THAT STUFF. Do you reckon it's up to us to PUSH THEM INTO THE MOLD? Paul says NO!
And he leaves us in verse 26 and 27, I guess with a word or REASSURANCE to the family members who've been added in, without the background of all the Jewish stuff. He says, don't go back there!. No matter what anyone else wants to tell you about taking on the law, being circumcised. The rules are, there are NO EXTRA RULES. Other than FAITH IN CHRIST JESUS. Verse 26, back where we started... For 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. And that's WITHOUT DISTINCTION. ONE FAMILY. Just the way God promised. One family, under GOD'S PROMISED BLESSING. Verse 28 and 29. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's descendants, heirs according to promise.
IMPLICATIONS
Now friends, we've dug some tough ground this morning. But if nothing else made any sense to you, just stick with those last two verses. Because they sum it all up. And we maybe need to be REMINDED of what he's saying. Bringing together a blended family is never easy. But if you belong to Christ, that's what you're part of. ONE FAMILY. That mustn't be DIVIDED. Over petty squabbles. You might be a JEW. You might be a GREEK. Which means, before, you'd never even TOUCH ONE ANOTHER. But all that's changed. You're ONE. You might be a SLAVE. You might be FREE. Opposite ends of the social spectrum. But all that's changed. Because in Christ, you're ONE. Male, female, rich, poor, Mitchelton, Keperra, 8am, 9.30am; seats sideways, seats longways; Paul says REMEMBER THIS... you're ONE FAMILY. And you're not defined by LAW ANY MORE. You're defined by TRUST IN JESUS.
Bringing together any sort of blended family is TOUGH GOING. No matter what the Brady Bunch tells you. Especially a CHURCH FAMILY. At Presbytery the other night, we heard from a white South African pastor; talking about his church back home. He was asked if it was a MIXED RACE CHURCH. He said, the Apartheid days are OVER. Finished ten years ago. And he said, we'd LOVE to have a BLENDED CHURCH. But out of their seven hundred members, ALL BUT TWO OF THEM... are WHITE. It's hard to overcome all the HISTORY. Of being separate.
I wonder if there are some ways we're up against the same sort of pressures? A bit more subtle maybe? But it's easy for division to grow, isn't it. And there are some things we need to work at. As our church GROWS. Because there are people who might say, well, these new people in the 9.30 service, some of them aren't even PRESBYTERIANS. Don't want THEM. Or these YOUNG PEOPLE who want things DIFFERENT. Don't want THEM. Or even just the fact that things change, there are new people you don't know... and you just feel too tired to be BOTHERED knowing them. Let alone bringing them into the FAMILY.
Even in small ways, and I'm going to say this at our later service too, you need to TAKE ADVANTAGE of opportunities to GROW AS A FAMILY. Like morning tea between services. Say hello to people you don't know. Be A FAMILY BUILDER. Someone said, well, the 9.30 people don't ever say hello to the 8 o'clock people. Well, you be first. Be a FAMILY BUILDER. Because God's plan was ALWAYS to bring together ONE FAMILY of blessing. A Brady Bunch family made up of all kinds of people. Not under law. But under Jesus. Sometimes people like you. Sometimes very different. But all of us one... in Christ Jesus who we serve. Let's make sure we LIVE IT.