Galatians 4:4 says that in sending forth His Son, God had Him be “born of a woman, born under the Law.”
The seed of the woman (Gen 3:15) was finally here – God’s very own Son. And in being born into our world, He was automatically placed “under the Law” of God. The Law that we could not abide by, the Law that brought us under a curse for violating it (Gal 3:10).
The Son of God placed Himself under the Law, His Law as it were, so that He could fulfill it actually and perfectly, as only He could, and apply the benefits of that perfection to those held in bondage under the Law’s curse…that is, to all of us, not one excluded.
At the end of that perfect life, He paid for our sins by becoming sin for us, though He knew it not (2 Cor 5:21), and by being cursed on Calvary’s tree (Gal 3:13). He paid with His precious, blameless life. His life for ours. And in that glorious act, He redeemed us from the curse of the Law (Gal 3:13; 4:5).
And as the curse was lifted off of us, something else was placed on us: adoption as sons. The Son’s curse-lifting work redeemed us out of death and into life, life with our Father, our Abba (Gal 4:6).
This is why God sent forth His Son. This is why Christ had to be born of a woman and born under the Law. To redeem accursed sinners who lived in rebellion against God’s Law. And then to adopt those same sinners into an unbreakable union with God.
These glories are what the Holy Spirit continuously cries out in our spirit. This is His Christmas proclamation to us when we are tempted to wallow in guilt and despair over our sins, be anxious about the future, or think that we have to perform so that God will love us.
Receive His cries again and again this Christmas. Let your mind fill up with thoughts of His redeeming work. Let your heart be steadied and buoyed by all that you have and all that you are now and forever because God sent forth His Son.
