But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir. (Galatians 4:4-7 NIV)
My wife and I were supposed to have a baby born on Christmas Eve. That was the due date! But it didn’t happen that way. Some of you know that we planned to visit my family in Minnesota for Thanksgiving. But God had other plans. Suddenly, the day we were supposed to leave, we ended up in the hospital, and soon our daughter was born, 33 days ahead of schedule. Surprise! I’m glad we didn’t go on our trip. We had plans, but God had other plans. Surprise!
It didn’t work out that well for Mary. Our experience last month has made me better appreciate what Christmas was like for Mary. We changed our travel plans and had our baby close to home. Not Mary. Mary actually ended up going on her trip. She traveled 70 miles from Nazareth to Bethlehem. It was at least a four-day journey. It’s ironic how we say that, isn’t it? None of us have ever walked 70 miles in our lives, yet we say, “Yeah, it was just a four-day trip.” And Mary was pregnant with a baby. There’s no mention of a donkey. Do you think that was her plan?
How did it happen that her baby was born on a trip to Bethlehem? Something must not have gone according to plan. People back then knew how long pregnancies lasted. They knew how children are born. Mary would have had a clear idea of when her baby would come. So why did she end up giving birth in Bethlehem? I bet it was a surprise. I bet Mary and Joseph planned to go to Bethlehem and come back to Nazareth before the baby was born. Just like we had planned to go to Minnesota and come back in time for our child’s birth. Why would they have gone on a long trip across the country if they knew the baby was coming? Have you thought about that?
It must not have gone according to their plans. They got to Bethlehem, and suddenly, “Surprise!” I bet they were both surprised to realize their baby would be born in such a far-away place. As a husband, I feel for Joseph. That first Christmas must have been terrifying. Knocking on doors, but no place to stay. Feeling like the worst husband in the world. They couldn’t even have the baby in the car. They didn’t have a car! And Mary? A young, first-time mother facing childbirth in a stable. “Silent night, holy night,” we sing. I bet Mary would say, “That’s not how it went!” There was panic. Worry. Pain. Surprise! I bet Jesus’ birth didn’t go according to Mary’s plan.
Isn’t that our lives? Surprise! One surprise after another. We make plans. Not all of us are planners, but we all make plans. We all have expectations for how things in life should go. “The baby’s not due until December 24th. So we should be able to go on our trip and make it back by November 25th. That gives us a whole month. That gives us plenty of time!” Not. Surprise! How often does your life go according to your plan? How often does it feel like, “Surprise!”
So how well do you deal with surprises? If we’re honest, don’t surprises bring out the worst in us? When life doesn’t go according to our plans, we get discouraged. And discouragement brings a bunch of sins with it. Anger. Frustration. Selfishness. Doubt. Complaints. If you want proof that we’re all sinful by nature, just watch how people deal with broken plans. I don’t handle it well. “God, what are you doing? God, you’re not supposed to do this! God, why don’t you listen to me! Ahh!” I wonder how much of that there was on that first Christmas night. Surprise!
Except, here’s the truth: Jesus’ birth wasn’t a surprise. Oh, it was certainly a surprise to Mary and Joseph. It was certainly a surprise to the shepherds in the fields. But it wasn’t a surprise to God. Listen to what Paul wrote to the Galatians: “When the set time had fully come, God sent his Son…” He writes it so matter-of-factly. When was Jesus born? “When the set time had fully come…” The truth is that God’s people had been waiting and waiting for thousands of years for the Messiah to be born. When did he finally come? “When the set time had fully come…”
Know what that means? It was all perfectly planned. Even the stable and the manger and being far away from home… It was all perfectly planned. God wants you and me to know that our salvation wasn’t a spur of the moment thing. It wasn’t like when you forget to get a present for that person, so you jump on Amazon, look around for about 30 seconds, then click, and it’s done. No! Not God. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). From the very beginning, God had a plan to save us. Nothing that happened at Christmas was a surprise to God. What seems like a surprise is God’s perfect plan.
Like the place: Bethlehem. Mary and Joseph lived in Nazareth. Why would their Baby be born in Bethlehem? Because God said so. 700 years before Jesus’ birth, the prophet Micah wrote that the great Ruler would come from Bethlehem (Micah 5:2). Those who were paying attention to God’s Word knew it. When the wise men showed up in Jerusalem and asked where to find the king of the Jews, King Herod didn’t have a clue. But the people who studied the Old Testament did: “In Bethlehem in Judea…” (Matthew 2:5). Caesar Augustus thought he was decreeing a census to show how powerful he was. Actually, Caesar Augustus was just a pawn that God was using to get Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem at just the right time. Surprise? No! It was God’s perfect plan.
Just like Mary herself. As she was growing up, she had no idea about God’s plan for her until one day—surprise!—the angel Gabriel showed up. But it was not a surprise. At the same time as Micah was predicting the place, Isaiah wrote: “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14). Long before Christmas, God had declared his plan. Long before Christmas, God had chosen Mary. Sure, Mary was surprised. Joseph was surprised. But not God. It was not a surprise to God!
Why? Why did God plan all this out from the beginning of time? To save us. “When the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law.” We are under God’s law. Think of the Ten Commandments. We’re supposed to keep them. Do we? Not even close. The disappointments and surprises of life show what’s really in our hearts. Like little children who throw a fit when they don’t get their way, when we don’t get our way, all the sin in our hearts bubbles over. This is what the law does: It convicts us, “so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God” (Romans 3:19). The law of God says one thing to all of us: “Guilty.” Every one of us is guilty to God for our sins.
So Jesus came. “God sent his Son, born of a women, born under law, to redeem those under the law.” Jesus lived under the law for us. He kept every one of those commands for us. “You shall have no other gods.” Perfect. “You shall not misuse the name of the LORD.” Perfect. “Honor your father and mother.” Perfect. “You shall not murder.” Perfect. “You shall not commit adultery.” Perfect. “You shall not steal.” Perfect. “You shall not give false testimony.” Perfect. “You shall not covet.” Perfect. Everything we haven’t done, Jesus did perfectly in our place.
And then he redeemed us. To “redeem” means to “buy back.” Because of our sins, we were the slaves of sin and death and the devil. But Jesus “redeemed” us. How? He bought us back, not with gold or silver, but with his holy, precious blood and with his innocent suffering and death. When Jesus died on the cross, his disciples were surprised. But God wasn’t. Jesus directed history so that he was crucified on the very day of the Passover, the day when God’s people were saved by the blood of a lamb. Even the cross was not a surprise! It was God’s perfect plan.
And this is what God wanted most of all: “That we might receive adoption to sonship.” Jesus did all of this so that you could be adopted as God’s child. Who are we to deserve that? What grace! God moved heaven and earth to make you his child. Here’s what that means: “Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, ‘Abba, Father.’ So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.” Do you hear what that says? You are the child of God and the heir of eternal life!
That should be a surprise. But not with our God. This is the whole story of the Bible. It’s a hostage rescue story. The whole story of the Bible is the story of God getting his children back. Of God setting his children free. It’s so unexpected. So upside-down. But it’s not a surprise. Actually, to God, nothing is. It’s all part of his plan. To get you back, God sent his Son into the virgin Mary. God coordinated world history so that Mary would end up in Bethlehem. Jesus lived thirty-three years perfectly keeping God’s law. Then Jesus died on a cross to pay our debt and rose from the dead to win eternal life. And he says: “It’s yours. It’s all yours!” Surprise!
So think about this: If God over thousands of years perfectly planned out every detail of your salvation, do you think he’s planned out your life? If God over thousands of years moved heaven and earth to save you, do you think he has a plan for getting you home to heaven? Absolutely. For every surprise of life, when you believe in Jesus, you can put a “not a” in front of it. It might seem like you’re walking a long way, but it’s not a surprise. Just ask Mary. It might seem like terrible timing, but it’s not a surprise. Just ask Mary. It might seem like you’re in the wrong place at the wrong time, but it’s not a surprise. Just ask Mary. What seems like a surprise is always God’s perfect plan. Our Father has a perfect plan for each of us his dear children.
“When the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.” When you see that Baby born for you and then live for you and then die for you, you realize you can trust God’s plan. In everything. No matter what. That sudden diagnosis? It’s not a surprise, not to God. It’s part of God’s plan to get you home to heaven. That heartache? It’s not a surprise, not to God. God wants to draw you closer to him. That big disappointment? It’s not a surprise, not to God. God is teaching you to stop putting your hope in the wrong things. That pain or disaster? It’s not a surprise, not to God. God is calling you to repent of your sins. Why? Because he wants to bring you home. To your home. To heaven. To him. To our God, what seems like a surprise to us is always God’s perfect plan. “When the set time had fully come, God sent his Son.” Not a surprise!
(To listen to this sermon on my Upside-Down Savior podcast, please click HERE. To watch this sermon on my Upside-Down Savior YouTube channel, please click on the link below.)
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