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. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ”Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.

Galatians 4:4-7 (ESV)

Have you ever waited for the perfect time to surprise someone? It is the best feeling. Maybe, they were having a bad day and you brightened it by your actions. Maybe, you were planning the perfect date to sweep her off her feet. Or a time to give your kids the day they will always remember. How much planning and work did that take? Hours? Days? Weeks? All of that time given to planning and then trying to keep it a secret.

God waited thousands of years to send his Son, but he didn’t keep it a secret. After Adam and Eve committed the first human sin, God gave Eve a promise that her seed would crush the head of the serpent. This is the first glimpse of the Gospel given to man. From then on, God would give his people glimpses and pictures of the Messiah to come. Whether that glimpse was physical like Abraham sacrificing a ram provided by God instead of his son or a practical picture like the Sacrificial Law. Sometimes, God would come right out and tell his people what the Messiah was going to be like as seen in the Prophetic writings of the Old Testament. Then, when the time was right, God sent his son into the world. He knew that this would be the time Christianity would spread like wildfire across the world and relatively safely. He sent Christ so that we would be freed from the bondage of sin and be adopted as sons and daughters in Christ. Now that we are adopted, we are counted as heirs in Christ of God. We can cry out to God “Daddy!” Because he is our loving father.

This week, share the love of Christ with someone around you, so that they too may become sons and daughters of the Most High.