“Clothed To Be Heirs” Gal. 3:23-4:7

St. John’s – East Moline 06/24/07

Intro.: In Montana sheepherders follow an old practice at lambing time. If a ewe dies, no other ewe will accept her lamb or adopt it. So the sheepherders find a dead lamb and remove its skin, and cloth the orphaned lamb in it. The orphaned lamb that was once rejected is now accepted by the mother of the lamb that died. She accepts it as her own because it is clothed with the skin of her own dear lamb.

In a similar way, we are now accepted by God and adopted by our Heavenly Father as His own dear children because we have been clothed with in the holy garments of His beloved Son who died for us. Robed in Christ, the Lamb of God, we are clothed to be Heirs of God.

All of us were once like that poor, starving, orphaned lamb. Conceived and born in sin, we were completely alien to God and unacceptable to Him. In our sin we were left to helplessly wander around without God and without hope in the world. St. Paul shows us that…

I. Clothing Ourselves With The Law Cannot Make Us Heirs Of God.

A. The Law tells us what we are to do and not to do. Summarized in the Ten Commandments, which by the way are more than just ten suggestions, it comes down to this simple formula: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind and strength – and love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matt. 22:37,39)

The Law tells us what kind of a person we should be in order to be accepted by God as one of His own. It says: “Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.” (Lev. 19:2) Unfortunately, as good as the law is, despite all of its demands and threats, it cannot make us into the people we should be.

B. The Law cannot make us holy and clothe us with a righteousness that will make us acceptable to God. Because no matter how hard we try we cannot keep it perfectly. In verses just before today’s epistle reading St. Paul writes, “All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.’” (Gal. 3:10)

We all need to stop trying to nuzzle up to God with nothing but our own best efforts or with the “I’m better than others” line, like the people described by the prophet Isaiah. If you want to know if you are the kind of person who should be accepted by God as one of His own then ask yourself, “Have I kept the law perfectly? Have I continuously done everything written in God’s law? Am I holy, truly holy, like the Lord my God is holy?” If not, then you are not the kind of person God should accept, but one who should be under a curse.

Trying to clothe ourselves with the law and the things we do will leave us as poor starving orphans rejected by God. The prophet put it so well when he wrote: “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags…” (Is. 64:6)

C. The Law can only serve to lead us to Christ. In our epistle we are reminded, “Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith.” (vv. 23-24) The law was like the slave who was assigned to keep a future heir in line during their childhood and prepare them for a life of sonship and all the blessings of their inheritance. In the same way the law cannot save us, but it prepares us for the justification through faith God has in mind for us. When we understand that the Law makes demands we can never fulfill we are led to realize our helplessness and our need for a Savior - a true Lamb of God who will lay down its life, so that we can be clothed for acceptance. Jesus is that Lamb of God.

II. Christ Clothed Himself In Our Sin And Faced Rejection For Us.

A. He became man to fulfill the law in our very flesh, as our epistle says, “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” (vv. 4-5) Jesus is the true Son of God and the rightful heir of every blessing, of whom God the Father said, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased..” (Matt. 3:17) Only He is truly holy as the Lord our God is holy! And only He kept the law perfectly, and continuously did everything written in it! He is the one God accepts as His own, the Lamb of God who laid down His life for us.

B. Christ took our curse upon Himself and died on the tree of the cross so that we could find acceptance with God, not on the basis of what we have done under the law, but because of what Christ has done for us. The Holy Spirit through St. Paul declares: “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.’” (Gal. 3:13) Jesus took our filthy rags upon Himself and was judged, condemned and punished on account of our refusal to love the Lord our God above all else, and our failure to love our neighbors as ourselves. Hanging on the cross he experienced the rejection we all deserve when cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34) Then He died our death under the law so that, we, the poor, starving, orphaned lambs, may be clothed in the fleece of His righteousness and be accepted by God as His dearly loved children. By grace through faith we can now draw near to the Lord because….

III. Clothed With Christ We Are Heirs Of God.

A. Through the gift of baptism we now wear the holiness and glory of the risen and ascended Lord Jesus. As St. Paul writes: “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” (v. 27) We now wear the robe of Christ’s righteousness to cover all our filthy rags, and it is all hidden: all the things we have done of which we are so ashamed, all the deep wounds and grievous hurts we have inflicted upon others by the words of our mouths, all the wicked thoughts that betray our evil hearts, all of it is hidden beneath this pure, white robe we received when we were baptized into Christ. All the Father sees is a holy child and heir of His kingdom.

B. Like the orphaned lamb we are now hidden beneath the Lamb the Father loves. There is no distinction based upon our status in the world or in the Church. It does not matter how long you wandered or how often you have tried called for His acceptance. It doesn’t matter how many or severe your sins or how long your list of spiritual achievements. In Him and there is no distinction, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (v. 28) One holy people dressed all alike as the children of God in Christ.

C. Because of Christ we are no longer orphans looking for someone to love and feed us. God accepts us as His children, as our epistle assures us “for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.” (v. 26) It then goes on to tell us that we have received “adoption as sons…and because we are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’” (vv.5b-6) Because Christ died and rose again to forgive us and clothe us with His righteousness we know that God “...is our true Father and that we are His true children, so that with all boldness and confidence we may ask Him as dear children ask their dear father.” (SC LP Intro.) In every time of trouble we can call upon Him; we can cry out, “Abba! Daddy! Father!” and know that He hears us, loves us, and will come to help us.

Because we are God’s true children through faith in His Son we are now heirs of the kingdom of heaven.

Even now we are blessed to receive the treasures of that kingdom. In this fellowship of the saints we live as brothers and sisters in the family of God. Here, in the kingdom of grace, we together receive the heavenly treasures of forgiveness, life and salvation. In the Word and Sacraments we receive a foretaste of what awaits us in heaven.

But the best is yet to come, when we not only hear through others the message of God’s love, but will stand in the midst of it, when we will not only touch Christ under the elements of bread and wine, but will behold Him face-to-face in our own resurrected and glorious bodies.

Concl.: All that God has to give he gives and will give to us because Christ took our sinful rags and gave us His glorious robe of righteousness. How beautiful you are dear saints of God! How wonderfully dressed for services, today! You are the children of God who have put on Christ! You have been accepted as God’s little lambs! You are fully clothed to be heirs of heaven! Amen.