Galatians 4:19-23 My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you, how I wish I could be with you now and change my tone, because I am perplexed about you! Tell me, you who want to be under the law, are you not aware of what the law says? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman. His son by the slave woman was born in the ordinary way; but his son by the free woman was born as the result of a promise.
We who are found in Christ are chosen by God to live eternally with him. We are chosen to be his people, intimately interacting with God forever as adopted children in his family. John rejoiced as he wrote: How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! (1 John 3:1) The Spirit of God has been given to us as a fulfillment of this promise that we are chosen, that we are his beloved. We are the fulfillment of the promise given to Abraham: Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you. “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” (Genesis 12:1-3) Through Abraham's seed, which is Jesus Christ, all peoples on earth will be blessed. That blessing is the gift of eternal life to anyone who believes the works of Jesus Christ: his life, his death, his resurrection. John 3:16 reads, For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Paul reminds the believers at Galatia of these realities. He is perplexed! How could they forget such an inheritance in Christ, such a marvelous rebirth through God's gift of grace? He asks if they need to be reborn in Christ all over again, until Christ is formed in them.
To clarify his concern, Paul points to Abraham, the father of faith. His two sons represent two approaches to fulfilling God's promise of blessing on Abraham: one was Abraham's attempt to bring a son through a fleshly plan; the other was God's provision to fulfill his promise to Abraham. Paul reminds these believers of their inheritance. Abraham's biological descendants are the chosen people of the promise. God chose Abraham from many. He knew Abraham was a man of faith, a man who would believe in the promises, the words of God, regardless of the circumstances. Abraham believed God was a God who kept his word, even as he tied Isaac to the altar to be sacrificed. We know the story leading up to this moment: “The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” (Genesis 22:7-8) Surely in his own mind, Abraham knew what he would do with the knife in his hands. He would hold back nothing in his allegiance to God, even his son of the promise, Isaac, whose life was necessary for God to biologically fulfill his promise to Abraham of making his progeny into a great nation. Through his actions, Abraham revealed he was definitely a man of faith, as with Job, Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him. . .. (Job 13:15) Yet Abraham also believed in the goodness and faithfulness of God in all situations: God did not make Abraham's promise to his son a lie. But his descendants failed to be faithful to God. Their allegiance was weak, even though they promised God many times they would follow his laws and regulations. Their dedication to God was not as powerful as their dedication to their own fleshly ways. They fell so far away that they even followed other gods. As Isaiah said, they went astray to their own ways, following their own desires and wishes, not God's desires and wishes.
We, who are found in Christ, are the children of the free woman, the woman God chose to bear the child of the promise. We are new creatures because of Jesus Christ, who is the complete fulfillment of the promise. His allegiance to God never wavered. He fulfilled all of God's commandments: He always did what the Father wanted him to do. He said, By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me. (John 5:30) And again in another place, he said, For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. (John 6:38) Because of his obedience, Jesus was perfectly pleasing to God. We who have placed our faith in him are also perfectly pleasing to God our Father. Our allegiance to God is Jesus' allegiance to God. We who abide IN CHRIST JESUS by faith are perfect for He is perfect. The Israelites failed to please God because of their sinful ways; Christ succeeded because of his righteousness. The Israelites were judged; Christ was blessed: “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” (Matthew 17:5) The Israelites were bound by time; Christ is forever. As the blind man in John 9:25 answered the complaints of the Pharisees about Christ, so do we say: I KNOW THIS: I WAS BLIND, AND NOW I CAN SEE. I was without hope, lost in this finite world; but now I have hope of eternal life with God. We are no longer slaves, bound hand and foot to this world; no, we are free, free to dance, to sing, to shout, for we will live forever in God's domain as children of God, children of the promise. Amen!
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