"The Receipt" 12-24-21
Overview
The Receipt Left in Plain View
Picture the morning after gifts have been opened—wrapping paper everywhere, bows scattered, and tucked among the discarded scraps, a receipt that slipped out of the box. Receipts are usually meant to be hidden; the price is something we'd rather not display. Yet when God gave the world His greatest gift, He did the opposite. He left the receipt in plain view, and He left the price tags on.
Paul writes in Galatians 4:4-5, "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." The phrase "fullness of time" speaks of the perfect historical moment—a common Greek language, Roman peace, and Roman roads ready to carry the gospel to the nations. Every word in this verse carries weight. "God sent his Son" affirms Christ's deity. "Born of woman" affirms His true humanity. "Born under the law" reminds us that He took on the obligation to obey God's law as we must. And He fulfilled it perfectly. As 1 Peter 2:22 testifies, "He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth"; Hebrews 4:15 declares Him tested in every way "yet without sin"; and 1 John 3:5 confirms, "in him there is no sin."
To "redeem" means to buy back out of slavery, and at the cross the great exchange took place: Christ's perfect righteousness credited to our account, and our sin laid upon Him. The wrath of God for sin fell not on us but on the spotless Lamb. 1 Peter 1:18-20 reminds us we were ransomed "not with perishable things such as silver or gold... but with the precious blood of Christ." The price tag stays visible because the cost was the Son Himself. By any human accounting, God paid too much for the likes of us—but not in His eyes.
Through Jesus, God did not hand us an invoice still to be paid; He handed us a receipt of the victory already won. The debt is settled, the adoption secured, eternal life given. As you move through this season and beyond, delight afresh in that love. The price was staggering, the gift is yours, and the receipt remains in plain view for all to see.
Transcript
Would you open your Bibles this afternoon to the book of Galatians, the fourth chapter, please? 2s
If you're using a Pew edition of Holy Scripture, you'll find in front of you, you'll find 9s
that in the New Testament, page 167, Galatians, the fourth chapter for our study today. 13s
The wrapping paper was all over the floor, complemented by Bows that were, well, 24s
frankly, all over the place. 33s
The gift opening had come and it had gone a joyous time, and now it was time to clean up. 37s
I became the trash bags underneath the kitchen sink and starting to put into all of those 46s
bags, all of the wrappings and the bows of gifts that had been opened. 54s
And then as a few pieces of the wrapping paper were put aside and then into the bag, 62s
why there it was, there it was, a receipt. 70s
The little filum must have crept out of the box in the excitement of the opening and fluttered 83s
down to the floor, only to hide underneath all of that fancy sparkly paper. 90s
It was just a little tiny, little piece of paper hiding underneath all of the rest. 98s
But there it was now for all to see, including the recipient of the gift, there it was, the receipt. 107s
Receipts go back, well over 5,000 years. 122s
In fact, back then, the receipt was a clay tablet. 126s
Today, it's, of course, a lot of times electronically, but still there were those little pieces 131s
of paper that we are given. 136s
And in fact, 640,000 tons of paper each year comprise those little receipts. 139s
And there was one little prime example, right smack dab in the center of the room, the receipt. 151s
You ever done that? 162s
You ever done that? 166s
Left or receipt, right out in plain view, has God, has God ever left a receipt in plain view. 168s
Look when he pleased, at verse 4 of chapter 4 of Galatians, Paul writes this. 187s
But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his son. 193s
That word fullness, it means the perfect time. 200s
The Lord Jesus Christ was born at the absolute historically perfect time. 204s
Why? 211s
You look at history in the day. 211s
There was a common language, Greek. 214s
It was a time of peace brought about by the Romans. 218s
And the Romans had constructed amazing roads over which the gospel would go. 223s
It was the perfect time for the Savior of the world to be born. 228s
But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his son. 233s
And God left the receipt in plain view. 241s
The clerk was so friendly. 251s
I imagine her days were quite long this time of year. 254s
And never ending line of people coming forward with gifts. 259s
And yet she had a smile on her face for everyone that would come. 263s
A Christmas greeting, some small talk. 268s
And at the end, she said, what do you like a gift receipt? 271s
What do you like a gift receipt? 276s
Those were ingenious, ingenious invention. 279s
Wasn't it? 282s
The gift receipt. 283s
One wonders why it took so long for us to invent the gift receipt. 286s
It's kind of like, why did it take so long for wheels to be put on luggage? 292s
Why is it for decades that we carted those things around? 297s
What took so long for someone to say, we ought to put wheels on these? 302s
What took so long for people to come up with a little sticky notes that you could just write yourself a note 306s
and put it on the mirror. 312s
So you'd remember it in the morning. 314s
What took so long for the gift receipt? 316s
What you see? 322s
The ingenious nature of the gift receipt goes right out of the window 324s
when you leave the price tag on the gift. 330s
There's the statement of the receipt in boldness left right on the gift. 336s
You ever done that? 344s
You ever wrapped something and left the price tag on the gift? 347s
Has God? 357s
Has God? 360s
Look again, please, verse 4. 363s
But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his son, 368s
born of a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those who were under the law. 373s
God sent his son, that means that Jesus Christ is God. 382s
But then notice what it says, born of a woman, well, how else are you born? 389s
Why is that so important then that that is included? 393s
Born of a woman shows that Jesus was truly human, the two nature of Christ, divine and human. 397s
God sent his son, born of a woman, born under the law. 404s
The Lord Jesus Christ was under the obligation to obey the law of God like everybody else. 410s
God sent his son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those who were under the law. 419s
The Lord Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, lived the perfect life of obedience. 428s
He never sinned. 434s
How could he? He is God in the flesh. 436s
Scripture tells us, first Peter 2, he committed no sin and no deceit was found in his mouth. 440s
Hebrews 4, for we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, 447s
but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are yet without sin. 455s
First John 3, you know that he was revealed to take away sins and in him there is no sin. 462s
The Lord Jesus Christ satisfied the requirements of the law. 473s
Perfectly why, in order to redeem us, what does redeem mean? 479s
It means to buy us back out of our slavery in sin and the great exchange occurs. 485s
The Lord Jesus Christ gives us his perfect life. 495s
It gets credited to our account and he takes all of our sin upon us. 499s
It was affected at the cross when Jesus died for our sin in our place. 506s
The wrath of God for sin fell not on us, but it fell on the sun. 513s
The perfect spotless lamb of God and the great exchange his perfect life and he takes our sinfulness. 519s
The receipt is left in plain view by God. 532s
And God leaves the price tags on. 540s
Oh, such payment. 554s
Verse 4, 562s
But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his son born of a woman born under the law, 565s
in order to redeem those who were under the law, 575s
so that we might receive adoption as children. 579s
Us. 587s
The likes of us. 589s
First Peter, the first chapter. 592s
You know that you were ransomed from the feudal ways inherited from your ancestors, 595s
not with perishable things like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, 601s
like that of a lamb without defect or blemish. 608s
He was destined before the foundation of the world, but was revealed at the end of the ages for your sake. 611s
Jesus dies so that we might live. 623s
Jesus is raised out of the tomb so that we may be raised and live with him for all of eternity. 626s
God paid too much. 636s
He paid too much for the likes of us. 641s
But to him, his eyes. 650s
It wasn't too much. 656s
The receipt is left in plain view. 661s
The price tags are left on. 669s
God paid too much. 676s
But not in his eyes. 681s
Charles Wesley wrote 6,500 hymns prolific hymrider. 686s
And one of the hymns he wrote was, 697s
the hymns he wrote. 701s
Born to raise each child of earth, born to give us second birth. 712s
The gift of forgiveness of sins and life eternal through the Lord Jesus Christ. 722s
Through Jesus, God did not give us an invoice to be paid. 736s
He gave us a receipt of the victory one. 747s
Delight in the love of God for you. 759s
Delight a new in the receipt. 766s