My Little Children

Known by God

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Right after Paul wrote, “you are no longer a slave but a son” (Galatians 4:7), he asked the believers in Galatia a hard question. Why would God’s children go back to being slaves?

Before. “But then, indeed, when you did not know God, you served those which by nature are not gods” (4:8). Many of the Galatians had once served idols, gods that were not real.

Now. “But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God” (4:9). Through Jesus they had come to know the true God.

Known by God. Paul says it is even better to say they “are known by God.” God knew them first. He knows you too: your name, your thoughts and your needs.

Loved and known. Paul wrote the same thing to the church in Corinth: “But if anyone loves God, this one is known by Him” (1 Corinthians 8:3).

Turning back. Paul asked, “how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage?” (4:9).

Weak and beggarly. Weak means having no power to save. Beggarly means poor, with nothing to give. Rules kept as a way to earn God’s love are like that.

Special days. “You observe days and months and seasons and years” (4:10). They were starting to think that keeping special days would make them belong to God.

Paul’s worry. “I am afraid for you, lest I have labored for you in vain” (4:11). Paul had worked hard to teach them, and he did not want that work wasted.

A place at the table. Going back to rules to earn God’s love is like a child in a loving family trying to earn a seat at dinner every night. The seat is already hers.

Why people go back. Old habits can feel safer than trusting God. But God’s children are safest close to their Father, not under a list of rules.

Our sin. We have all sinned, and no list of rules can take sin away.

Jesus. Jesus died on the cross for our sins and rose again (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). Everyone who trusts Him is known and loved by God.

What to do. When you feel that you must earn God’s love, remember that He already knows you and calls you His child. Obey Him because you are loved.

Galatians 4:8-11 follows straight from “you are no longer a slave but a son.” Paul turns from teaching to a direct appeal: sons should not walk back into slavery.

Before Christ (4:8). “But then, indeed, when you did not know God, you served those which by nature are not gods.” Most of the Galatian believers were Gentiles who had served idols.

Known by God (4:9). “But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God.” Paul corrects his own words. Our knowing God rests on His first knowing us, choosing us and calling us.

The same truth. “But if anyone loves God, this one is known by Him” (1 Corinthians 8:3). To be known by God is to be personally loved and claimed by Him.

Weak and beggarly. “How is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage?” Any system used to earn God’s favor is too weak to save and too poor to give life.

Old and new slavery. The Galatians had once served idols; now they were being drawn to use the law as a ladder up to God. Paul calls both bondage.

Days and seasons (4:10). “You observe days and months and seasons and years.” Keeping holy days was not the problem. Trusting them to make a person right with God was.

Eike (4:11). “I am afraid for you, lest I have labored for you in vain.” “In vain” is eike (say: AY-kay): for nothing, empty, without result. Paul feared his work among them would come to nothing.

A father’s fear. Paul’s fear is the fear of a spiritual father, not of a boss. He loved them.

Why people go back. Rules feel measurable and safe. Grace asks us to trust a Person rather than our own record.

Sin and grace. No calendar and no rule can deal with sin. Christ died on the cross for our sins and rose again (1 Corinthians 15:3-4); faith in Him is the only way to be right with God.

Application. Watch for times when you start to measure your standing with God by your performance. Then turn back to the truth: you are known by Him and loved as His son or daughter.

Until Christ Is Formed in You

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Paul did not only correct the believers in Galatia. He loved them the way a parent loves a child.

Become like me. “Brethren, I urge you to become like me, for I became like you” (4:12). Paul lived freely as God’s child, and he wanted them to live that way too.

When Paul was sick. “You know that because of physical infirmity I preached the gospel to you at the first” (4:13). Paul first told them about Jesus while he was sick.

A warm welcome. They “received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus” (4:14). They did not turn away from a sick man. They welcomed him.

Ready to give anything. Paul said they would have given him their own eyes if they could (4:15). That was a way of saying they loved him and would have given him anything.

Telling the truth. “Have I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth?” (4:16). A real friend tells you the truth, even when it is hard to hear.

The wrong kind of attention. “They zealously court you, but for no good; yes, they want to exclude you” (4:17). The false teachers flattered the believers to pull them away from Paul.

Stay safe. Some people give a child lots of attention to pull him or her away from parents or church friends. If someone wants you all to themselves or asks you to keep secrets, tell a parent or a grown-up you trust.

Like a mother. “My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you” (4:19). Paul felt like a mother waiting for her baby to be born.

Christ formed in you. God’s goal is for Jesus to be seen in His children: His love, His kindness and His trust in the Father.

God does it. We cannot make ourselves like Jesus by trying harder. God works in us by His Spirit, day by day.

Paul’s wish. “I would like to be present with you now and to change my tone” (4:20). He wished he could talk with them face to face.

Our sin. Every one of us has sinned and needs God to change us.

Jesus. Jesus died on the cross for our sins and rose again (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). Everyone who trusts Him is God’s child, and God keeps shaping that child to be like Jesus.

What to do. Thank God for the people who tell you the truth in love. Ask Him to make you more like Jesus this week.

In Galatians 4:12-20 Paul speaks to the Galatians the way a parent speaks to children he loves.

Become like me (4:12). “Brethren, I urge you to become like me, for I became like you.” Paul, a Jew, had lived among Gentiles without using the law as a ladder to God. He asks them to stand where he stands, in Christ alone.

The first visit (4:13-14). “Because of physical infirmity I preached the gospel to you at the first. And my trial which was in my flesh you did not despise or reject, but you received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus.” They welcomed a weak, sick messenger as if he were Christ.

Lost joy (4:15). “What then was the blessing you enjoyed?” Once they were so glad that they “would have plucked out your own eyes and given them to me.” It is a picture of complete devotion.

Truth is not hostility (4:16). “Have I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth?” Love sometimes means saying what someone does not want to hear.

Flattery that isolates (4:17). “They zealously court you, but for no good; yes, they want to exclude you, that you may be zealous for them.” The false teachers used warm attention to cut the believers off from Paul so that they would depend on them.

Safety. The same pattern can harm young people today: someone showers you with attention and asks you to pull away from parents, church or friends, or to keep secrets. Tell a parent or a trusted adult.

Good zeal (4:18). “But it is good to be zealous in a good thing always, and not only when I am present with you.” Faithfulness should not depend on who is watching.

Odino (4:19). “My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you.” “Labor in birth” is odino (say: oh-DEE-noh), the pains of a mother giving birth. Paul uses a mother’s picture for his love.

Christ formed. The goal of the Christian life is not rule-keeping but the likeness of Christ taking shape in the believer. That is God’s work through His Spirit.

A parent’s heart (4:20). “I would like to be present with you now and to change my tone; for I have doubts about you.” Paul longed to be with them in person.

The gospel underneath. Every change in us rests on what Christ has done: He died on the cross for our sins and rose again (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). Faith receives it, and the Spirit shapes us.

Application. Value the people who tell you the truth in love. Be careful with anyone whose attention pulls you away from the people who care for you.

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Complete all sections to finish!

Read each section and answer the questions correctly.