Friday 16th December
Read Galatians 4:1-7
“What I am saying is that as long as an heir is under age, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate. 2 The heir is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. 3 So also, when we were under age, we were in slavery under the elemental spiritual forces of the world. 4 But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. 6 Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, ‘Abba, Father.’ 7 So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.” (NIVUK)
The woman and the dragon seem like unlikely symbols for Christmas. Yet even here, in Paul’s earliest letter, the first written pages of the New Testament – this conflict between the woman and the dragon takes centre stage. For what else could the dragon be but ‘the elemental spiritual forces of the world’ (v3) writ large and under the authority of the devil, the great accuser? We also find the woman in birth, awaiting the ‘set time’ to deliver a ‘male child’ (v4) who would in turn deliver His people from the authority and rule of the world in its many guises.
This cosmic conflict between the woman and the dragon flows through to today. “Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring – those who keep God’s commands and hold fast their testimony about Jesus.” (Revelation 12:17) (NIVUK). But as he wages war against the Galatians, seeking to deceive them and lead them away from the truth, Paul reminds them who they are. They are now children of God, redeemed and adopted as sons of God, united with God and protected by Him, sealed with the Spirit.
In a sense they, and we, have been taken out of time because the Son came at just the right time. We enter into the eternal, timeless dance of the Godhead, protected and secure. Did you see how Paul weaved that into the tapestry of history? The Son comes at the right time. The Spirit of the Son is sent into our hearts, and immediately cries out ‘Abba Father’. In this virtuous circle the dragon can gain no hold upon us. What a Christmas story indeed!
