Good day dear friends.
In my post this week, we will conclude our consideration of Galatians 4 looking at the illustration Apostle Paul used from Abraham’s family history to depict the superiority of grace to the law (Galatians 4:22-31)
"Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise..., therefore, brothers, we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman." Galatians 4:28 and 31 New International Version
The complete story spans six chapters in the book of Genesis (chapters 16 to 21). The summary of the events is as follows: God had promised a son to Abraham and Sarah but before the promise was fulfilled, Hagar (Sarah’s bondservant) gave birth to a son named Ishmael for Abraham. Sarah later gave birth to Isaac, the son God promised. This meant that there were now two sons in Abraham’s household. One was the son of promise while the other was not. Sarah discovered much later that Ishmael was treating Isaac with contempt. I can understand how Ishmael would have felt-he was the older son and yet his younger brother probably was being shown preference. Sarah did not take any chances, she didn’t want any competition for Abraham’s inheritance so she asked Abraham to send Hagar and Ishmael away (Genesis 21:10). Eventually only Isaac inherited God’s promise, he was after all the true heir, the son of promise.
In the Galatians’ setting as in much of the early church as we find in the book of Acts, “Judaizers” (Jews who wanted everyone to stick to the law) persecuted the church of Christ with great intensity and Paul likened it to what Ishmael did to Isaac (verse 29). The Galatian Christians were saved by grace in Christ Jesus and they needed to be encouraged. They needed to be reminded that they were the children of promise, sons of the free woman, and they were the ones who had God’s inheritance (verses 30 & 31).
What was true of the Galatian Christians is true of us believers in Christ Jesus now my friends. Several teachings abound today that seek to influence us to forget the realities of the benefits of God’s grace in Christ and suggest to us that we need something extra. Sometimes we are faced with seemingly difficult external circumstances and even sometimes internal pressures that almost obliterate our confidence and obscure our view.
This is what the Holy Spirit says to every believer in Christ through Paul’s epistle to the Galatians: God’s covenant with you is not the earthly type that originated from Mount Sinai and only produces bondage. It is the heavenly type originating from Jerusalem above and it produces liberty. You are not an offspring of the slave who eventually got cast out of the household. You are a child of promise. You own God’s inheritance, it is yours!
2ndSamuel 9 verses 1-13 tell the story of David’s encounter with Mephibosheth. He was Jonathan’s s only surviving son but he was crippled in both feet. After David had been crowned King, he wanted to show kindness to any surviving member of Saul’s household and Mephibosheth was mentioned to him so King David sent for him. When the King told Mephibosheth what he had in mind-how he wanted to restore to Mephibosheth all the land that belonged to Saul and how Mephibosheth was going to eat at the King’s table, his response was almost like “No, it can’t be me!” (2nd Samuel 9:8). Many Christians today are like him. Our response to God’s revelation of His grace appears to be that of incredulity. Don’t be like Mephibosheth, don’t call yourself a dead dog when the King has given you a seat at His table by grace!
My song for the week is “In Christ Alone” by Newsboys.
Remember it’s all by His grace. Remind yourself over and over this week and always. You are not a victim, you are not a cast-away, and you are not a slave. You are a son in God’s family. Enjoy your day and have a wonderful week.
No comments:
Post a Comment