Do you realize that as Christians we have something much better than Adam and Eve ever had? They were God’s pure and innocent creatures, created in His image. But after the fall they took on a sinful nature and were separated from God because of their fallen, sinful nature. But now in Christ, we are not merely restored back to the innocence Adam and Eve once had. We have now, in Christ, become “born again” with a new nature and new Spirit. We now have the divine nature, the Spirit of Christ dwelling in us. We are now Sons and daughters of God in a new and unique way such as Adam never knew.

 “as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”

2 Peter 1:3, 4, NKJV.

With this in mind, ponder today’s text in the NLT translation…

Think of it this way. If a father dies and leaves an inheritance for his young children, those children are not much better off than slaves until they grow up, even though they actually own everything their father had. They have to obey their guardians until they reach whatever age their father set. And that’s the way it was with us before Christ came. We were like children; we were slaves to the basic spiritual principles of this world. But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. Godsent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children. And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, “Abba, Father.” Now you are no longer a slave but God’s own child. And since you are his child, God has made you his heir. Before you Gentiles knew God, you were slaves to so-called gods that do not even exist. So now that you know God (or should I say, now that God knows you), why do you want to go back again and become slaves once more to the weak and useless spiritual principles of this world? You are trying to earn favor with God by observing certain days or months or seasons or years. I fear for you. Perhaps all my hard work with you was for nothing.  

Galatians 4:1-11 (NLT) 

 Pastor Mike