Theme: Two Covenants (Gen 21:8-21; Isa 54:1)
21 Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not hear the law? 22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons: the one by a bondwoman, the other by a freewoman. 23 But he who was of the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and he of the freewoman through promise, 24 which things are symbolic. For these are the two covenants: the one from Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar — 25 for this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children — 26 but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all. 27 For it is written: “Rejoice, O barren, You who do not bear! Break forth and shout, You who are not in labor! For the desolate has many more children than she who has a husband.” 28 Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise. 29 But, as he who was born according to the flesh then persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, even so it is now. 30 Nevertheless what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.” 31 So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman but of the free (NKJV).
Last week we ended with Verse 19-20, we hear the heart of a true father: My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you, I would like to be present with you now and to change my tone; for I have doubts about you (NKJV).
Paul is bearing his heart to these Galatian believers. He truly loves them. He proved his love when he came and preached the Gospel of the Kingdom to them. He preached through the grace which God the Father had given to him. Paul was the instrument of God to labor to bring these Galatians to birth in Christ. The work of the kingdom of God is rooted in labor. It is labor such as a mother goes through in bringing the new life in her womb to birth. It takes time, it takes sacrifice, it takes determination, and it takes love for this new life. It takes love in order to lay down one’s own life for another’s life.
Let us dive into our verses for today, Galatians 4:21-31:
“Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not hear the law?” Paul concludes that some of these disciples had desired to come under the law. For the Jews, it would mean returning to the old ways. For the Gentiles, it meant giving up the freedom which they had received through Paul’s preaching and the coming gift of the promised Holy Spirit from the Father. Paul is clarifying the understanding of the law. The law is “bondage” and not “liberty,” such they had received by “grace through faith.” The same point that Paul makes in Ephesians 1:13. He tells us that the Spirit is the down payment of our inheritance of the promises that are in Christ.
When the law is properly read and understood, it reveals bondages that cannot be removed by natural means or assurances. It took the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit in Christ to bring forth the promises of blessing which had been made to Abraham.
Paul gives us a wonderful illustration to make his point.
“For it is written that Abraham had two sons: the one by a bondwoman, the other by a freewoman. 23 But he who was of the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and he of the freewoman through promise, 24 which things are symbolic. For these are the two covenants: the one from Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar — 25 for this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children — 26 but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all.”
What is the fundamental issue we are wrestling with here? It is bondage and freedom. The flesh always leads to bondage of some kind. I could write volumes about the bondage of the flesh. Most of the Old Testament revolves around the subject of bondage. When we read in Genesis 12-18, the story of the two sons unfolds. The two major religions of the world in this present time revolve around the parable that Paul gives to us in these passages.
Christianity has its roots in Judaism. Judaism immerged as Israel was growing and developing as a nation. Israel has its foundation centered in the son of the free women, which is Sara, Abraham’s wife. Isaac, who is the son of promise, was the son of Abraham and Sarah. Before Isaac, the promised son was given, Abraham and Sarah, by means of the flesh, tried to assist God. That always creates a problem whenever we, through the flesh, seek to help out God. Sara gave Abraham her Egyptian servant in order to bear Abraham, a son. She is the bondwomen, Hagar, and her son, Ishmael became enemies to Isaac and Sara. Islam came out of the Arab nations as Christianity was increasing in the middle-east within the Roman Empire around three to four hundred AD.
Today, as throughout Old Testament history, the Middle East is a hotbed of hatred and grappling for geography among many tribes with their origins in Abraham and the two women, the bond and the free. Jerusalem is the centerpiece of it all. As we have already looked at weeks back, Jesus is the Promised Seed that God had in mind as He blessed Abraham and His Seed which was to come thousands of years later in the Fullness of time.
What I want us to be clear about is that what Paul is using as a parable is as relevant to us today as it was when he instructed these Galatian believers. Two Thousand years later, things have focused a bit. Through the Jews, the promised messiah came in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, has created one new man by breaking down the wall of separation. Now there is no distinction. Jew, Arab, and all those coming out of the Gentile nations are made a “new holy nation” in Christ Jesus.
“Jesus answered them, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed” (John 8:34-36).
Back to Galatians 4:27-28, “For it is written: Rejoice, O barren, You who do not bear! Break forth and shout, You who are not in labor! For the desolate has many more children than she who has a husband. 28 Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise.” Verse 28 brings it home. Paul is speaking by faith to these Galatian believers, Jew and Gentile, “we are children of promise.” The law could never do what the promise has done.
Back to the parable, verse 29 But, as he who was born according to the flesh then persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, even so it is now. Those troubling these Galatian believers were persecuting those born of the Spirit by their words and enticements to come back under the bondage of the law. There can never be a compromise between the law and the Spirit. Many are confused about Jerusalem that is here on earth. Jerusalem served as a type and shadow of the real. No longer is Jerusalem in the middle-east involved in the redemption process. As Paul states, it is now Jerusalem above. All that is born of the Spirit are born from Jerusalem above, which is the mother of us all, verse 26. Jerusalem above is the mother of true freedom. Jerusalem beneath is the place of bondage and the flesh.
Verse 30 continues; nevertheless, what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.” There is no room for mixture, yet in the Lord’s church there is constant mixture over these two, the bond and the free. 31 So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman but of the free (NKJV).
Let’s dig a little deeper as we refer back to Galatians 4:19
My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you . . .
There are five areas of spiritual birth we should be familiar with in order to fully understand Paul’s concern for the Galatians whom he calls “my little children.” These are believers, which Paul is laboring in birth once again until Christ is formed in them.
Five areas of birth in the believer’s life that we must consider:
- Spirit birth, “unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God” – “unless one is born of water and the Spirit” (John 3:3-6)
- New identity birth, “translated from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God’s dear Son” (Colossians 1:13)
- New creation birth, “if any man be in Christ he is a new creation, old things have passed away, behold all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17)
- Son birth, “And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, Abba Father!” (Galatians 4:6)
- Inheritance birth, “And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. (Galatians 3:29)
Remember beloved, the goal is “Christ being formed in the believer.” Heaven is not the goal; Christ is the hope of glory. Christ rules from heaven in and through the believer. Amen