Last week we saw Paul pleading with the Galatians to not
turn back to their old life style. He did not want them to trade in one sin for
another. He was afraid they would just put aside one idol and embrace another.
We to have idols in our lives. They can be hard to see and
they may even look like a good thing, but we need to be asking the Holy Spirit
to show us our idols. Once we find them we need to work on removing them from
their throne and put Jesus back where He belongs.
We need to toss them idols and follow Jesus. Everything else
will follow if our eyes are on the one true King. If we are following Jesus, we
will be loving God, loving Others, and being a witness.
As we dig back into Galatians chapter four we find Paul is using
the Old Testament story about Sarah and Hagar and their children Isaac and
Ishmael to wrap up his discussion about Law and Faith.
Paul uses the slave woman Hagar and her son to show that
following the Law is slavery. Abraham’s wife, Sarah, and their son represent
faith and freedom.
Galatians 4:21
“21 Tell me, those of you who want to
be under the law, don’t you hear the law?”
Paul is using this story to compare and contrast those who
are slaves to the Law and those who are free from it through their faith in
Jesus Christ. The legalistic Jews and false teachers have continued to try to
enslave the Galatians telling them that they need to keep the Law. If the
Galatians had truly listened to the Law, remembering their faith they would
have known that it contradicts what they were already taught by Paul. If they
truly understand what the false teachers were saying about the Law, I mean
really understood the ins and outs, they would never want to adhere to the Law.
It was a burden that no one could bear.
Galatians 4:22
“22 For it is written that
Abraham had two sons, one by a slave and the other by a free woman.”
The Jews took a huge amount of pride in being direct
descendants of Abraham. It seems at times that being related to Abraham was the
most important part of their faith as if that in itself granted salvation. They
thought being a child of Abraham was the be all to end all. Sadly, those who
prided themselves on being children of Abraham seemed to forget that Abraham
had another son. They were descendants of Abraham through Isaac but they would
conveniently forget about Ishmael and his descendants.
If being a descendant of Abraham was what made the Jewish
people special, they would be no better that the Ishmaelites or Arabs. The
difference was that one group was born to a wife and free woman and the other
group was born to a slave. One group was born to the Promise and the other was
born through sin.
Galatians 4:23
“23 But the one by the slave was born
according to the impulse of the flesh, while the one by the free woman was born
as the result of a promise.”
Ishmael was the product of Abraham, Sarah, and Hagar taking
matters into their own hands. He was conceived in sin and born in sin.
Romans 9:7-9
“7 Neither are they all children
because they are Abraham’s descendants. On the contrary, your
offspring will be traced through Isaac. 8 That
is, it is not the children by physical descent who are God’s
children, but the children of the promise are considered to be the
offspring. 9 For this is the statement of the
promise: At this time I will come, and Sarah will have a son.”
Abraham and Sarah had received a promise from God that He
would give them children.
Genesis 16:1-4
“16 Abram’s wife Sarai had not borne any
children for him, but she owned an Egyptian slave named Hagar.2 Sarai
said to Abram, “Since the Lord has prevented me from bearing
children, go to my slave; perhaps through her I can build a family.” And Abram
agreed to what Sarai said. 3 So Abram’s wife Sarai
took Hagar, her Egyptian slave, and gave her to her husband Abram as a wife for
him. This happened after Abram had lived in the land of Canaan 10 years. 4 He
slept with Hagar, and she became pregnant. When she realized that she was
pregnant, she treated her mistress with contempt.”
Instead of waiting on God they sinned by doubting God’s
promise.
In Paul’s recounting of the story of Abraham, Sarah, and
Hagar; Ishmael represents the people who place all their hope of salvation in
what they are to accomplish on their own. They put their salvation into things
like the Law, or being able to earn their way into heaven. Sadly, we know too
many people who believe that they do enough good to get into heaven. Which is
exactly why we need to be witnesses to the world. We need to share God’s saving
grace to those who know they need a savior and to those who do not yet realize
they need Jesus.
Isaac, on the other hand, was the result of a miracle from
God.
Hebrews 11:11
“11 By faith even Sarah herself, when
she was unable to have children, received power to conceive offspring, even
though she was past the age, since she considered that the One who had
promised was faithful.”
God was able to turn Sarah’s dead womb into a living womb
capable of carrying her son. Abraham could not do it. Sarah could not do it. It was the miracle that was promised by God, and only He could do it. Isaac
represents those who put their faith in God. Those who have faith in the work
of Jesus. Those who trust in the promises of God. Those who have simple life
saving faith.
Galatians 4:24-25
“24 These things are
illustrations, for the women represent the two covenants. One is from
Mount Sinai and bears children into slavery—this is Hagar. 25 Now
Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present
Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children.”
These two women, Hagar and Sarah, represent the two
covenants. The first through Hagar is that of the Law and the second through
Sarah is of Grace. Paul begins with Hagar and points out that her and her
children are slaves. They are slaves to the Law and slaves to the world. They
are trapped trying to earn their way into heaven.
“The law, even when kept to the best of a person’s ability,
is nothing but a prison, a death row cell where one waits for eternal
execution.” – John MacArthur
Why isn’t the Law enough? Besides not being able to perform
it perfectly, we were not made to know and love the Law. We were created to know and love God.
As parents we like to celebrate our children’s
accomplishments. But we don’t tend to celebrate when our children learn the
most basic household rules? While that may be nice, that is not what gives us a
sense of joy and fulfillment. What we truly love seeing is those first smiles
and giggles, I remember those first big open mouth baby kisses, and now I love
seeing how my children are growing in their faith, their accomplishments, and I
am look forward to seeing who they will become as adults. My fulfillment as a
parent comes from watching them grow into who they were created to be, not that
they have learned to turn off the light when they leave a room, flush a toilet,
or pick up after themselves.
God is just like a parent. He is not looking for us to
blindly follow rules. He does not get enjoyment out of us coming to church on
Sunday if our heart is not in it. What He is really looking for is to know us.
He longs for us to Love Him above anything and anyone else. He longs to see that Love come alive in our
words and our actions.
Those who embrace the Law failed to see that the cross of
Christ was the end of the old covenant and the beginning of the new covenant.
They failed to believe that God the Father accepts them simply on their faith
and were stuck trying to earn their way into glory.
We need to be praying for our friends and family that
believe this way. We need to write their names on our prayer lists, asking for
God to break down the barriers that are preventing them from seeing the truth.
We need to ask for the Holy Spirit to open their eyes so that they will see that
Jesus loves them. We want them to realize that God loves them more than He
cares about what they do. We need to pray that they realize they cannot earn
God’s love and they cannot earn the gift of salvation, it is something that is
available to them by simply having faith.
Love is not something you earn; it is something that is
given. And that is especially true for God’s love for you.
Galatians 4:26
“26 But the Jerusalem above is
free, and she is our mother.”
The Jerusalem above, or the mother of God’s children is
free. Anyone who believes in God’s promise, the promise made to Abraham, the
promise that brought Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob salvation by having faith, and
that promise that brings us salvation through our faith in Christ Jesus, sets
us free.
John 8:36
“36 Therefore,
if the Son sets you free, you really will be free.”
Through Jesus Christ, the Seed of Abraham, you are truly 110%
set free from the bondage of your sin. That means you are set free from the sin
you have committed and the sin you will still commit. Through Jesus there is
nothing left to hold you back, tie you down, or get in your way. Following
Jesus opens doors for you to be His Witness.
Galatians 4:27
“27 For it is written: Rejoice,
childless woman, who does not give birth. Burst into song and shout, you who
are not in labor, for the children of the desolate are many, more numerous than
those of the woman who has a husband.”
Paul is applying this verse to Sarah. While she spent the
majority of her life as barren she would ultimately give birth to a son whose
decedent would be the One and Only perfect Man to walk this earth. It was
through her child that eventually God would bring salvation to a lost and
broken world.
Galatians 4:28
“28 Now you, brothers, like
Isaac, are children of promise.”
Paul is reminding the Galatians that through the promise
given to Abraham and their faith in Jesus, they are true children of God. Not
little children that need their hands held, but as true co-heirs with Christ.
It is one more way Paul is reminding them that they need to be living in faith
and turning away from the burden of the Law.
Galatians 4:29
“29 But just as then the child born
according to the flesh persecuted the one born according to the Spirit, so
also now.”
When Isaac was young, both Hagar and her son Ishmael mocked
and humiliated him. Sarah was furious and had Abraham cast both Hagar and
Ishmael out into the wild. The child of the flesh was persecuting the child
born to the Spirit, or Promise. In the Galatian church the true believers were
having their beliefs attacked by the false teachers. Today, Christ followers
are persecuted all around the world. What we see in this country is minor to
what our brothers and sisters are facing around the world. Those trapped in sin
attack those who have faith.
Galatians 4:30-31
“30 But what does the Scripture say? Drive
out the slave and her son, for the son of the slave will never be a coheir with
the son of the free woman. 31 Therefore, brothers, we
are not children of the slave but of the free woman.”
Hagar and Ishmael represented the world and all its
trappings. They had to be cast out. Law and Grace cannot be mixed. Salvation
through works conflicts with salvation based on faith. It is only through faith
that one is saved, which is exactly what Paul means by ‘we are not children of
the slave but of the free woman.” He and the believers in Galatia are no longer
bound to the world in sin, instead they have been set free by their faith in
Jesus Christ.
Paul used this story of Abraham, Sarah, and Hagar to explain
the difference between being a slave and being set free. If you are a slave to
sin, the Law, trapped in bondage of any sort you cannot share in the
inheritance that has been promised. The inheritance of life and eternity in
glory is freely given to any who choose to Follow Jesus.
It does not matter who you are. Male, female, Jew, Gentile,
rich, poor, addict, sober, young, old, or somewhere in between. You can share
in God’s inheritance. All who trust in Jesus as their Lord and Savior become
children of God, Heirs with Jesus, bondage no longer holds you down, sin is no
longer keeping you away from the King, the Law no longer applies to you.
Instead you have God’s Grace, Freedom in Christ.
You have a choice to make. Are you going to live as a slave
or are you going to be free and follow Jesus? Is something in this world going
to hold you back or are you going to be set free? Once you have been set free,
how are you going to spread the Word? How are you going to share God’s love?
Thanks for reading!
Robert
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