Galatians 4:1-31

Children of Promise

It is usually a bit dicey for us to take things from the Old Testament and treat them as allegories. There is only one great exception to this rule; that would be when the New Testament writers (under the direct inspiration of the Holy Spirit) have specifically given permission to do so. The passage before us today contains my favorite instance of the New Testament treating an Old Testament event by giving it a figurative interpretation.

Abraham had two sons. (Actually, he had eight if you count the sons of Keturah but they do not figure into the redemption story and are rarely considered.) Ishmael was born to the slave woman Hagar and came in the natural way. Isaac was born to Sarah and was a miraculous child because Sarah was both barren and well beyond the age of child bearing. 

God told Abraham that he would have a son to be his heir. Abraham and Sarah considered that in the natural this was impossible. Sarah came up with the idea of having Hagar substitute for her. Because Hagar was her slave any children born to her by Abraham would belong to Sarah. Thus, they figured out how to make God’s promise come to pass. The problem is that we cannot make God’s promises come to pass. Only God can fulfill His promises. As Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3, “Flesh can only give birth to flesh.” 

Isaac was a type of Christ, the One to come. In Genesis 22 we see the powerful scene where Isaac is willing to be a sacrifice to God because it was his father’s will. He even carried the wood on which he was to be sacrificed up the hill to the place of sacrifice in the region of Moriah which is today known as Jerusalem. There is more to the type, but we’ll stop there.

Consider that Isaac was born in am impossible way to a woman who was barren and ninety years old! Jesus was also born in an impossible way to a young maiden who had never been with a man. But Paul doesn’t draw this conclusion. He says, “Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise.” We were not born in the natural way, nor were we brought into the kingdom by any natural means. We were born of the Spirit, or if you prefer, born again of the Spirit. 

Beautiful. Powerful. So why would we ever want to go back again to those “weak and miserable principles” of the way of the flesh. Let us be done with trying to fulfill God’s promises for Him as if He needed our help. We are not children of the slave woman but of the free woman. We are children of promise.