Gospel Freedom (Galatians 4:8-31)

You can go ahead, grab your Bibles and open up to Galatians chapter four. Galatians four will be starting in verse eight this morning. Galatians four beginning in verse eight. As you’re turning there, you can picture, perhaps remember for yourself, the build up and the excitement as you’re heading towards your wedding day. I worked with a lot of couples recently, as you know, and one of the things that young couples about to get married are most excited about, and I remember for myself, this is what I was most excited about, is that you don’t have to say goodbye anymore, like there’s just not that. And that’s it all right? I’ll see it, and especially if you were a long distance, like Amy went to school in Grand Rapids, I was at school in Deerfield, and so a goodbye was for a month or two, and it was just agonizing. So finally, at last, you come together. You’re united in a covenant of marriage, and then that’s it. You don’t have to leave go to your own home anymore. It’s this wonderful, wonderful thing. Now, imagine that happens. All this build up, all this excitement, the big day, everything like that. We’re so excited we have to say goodbye anymore. And then after just a few days, maybe after the honeymoon, or something like that, you just start going back to your own place again. You start saying goodbye with all the agony of it. And you’re thinking, why would anyone do that? It would be absurd, like you finally get the joy and the freedom and the intimacy that you were longing for, and then you go right back to the way it used to be, which wasn’t good. That’s exactly what the Galatians are in danger of doing, exactly what the Galatians are in danger of doing, if we’re honest, what we’re so often tempted to do as well, like we left the old behind. We’re no longer under the crushing burden of law. We’re free from the slavery of having to earn our salvation. So let’s go back to it. That doesn’t make any sense, like Not a chance. And so that’s really our idea. This morning, our big idea. I’m gonna give it to you up front, and we’ll unpack it as we go. The big idea is this, God knows you so you’re free. God knows you so you’re free now, free from what exactly we get these three freedoms that we’ll see free from three burdens that I’ll unpack as we go through it. So let me look at the first part here, kind of contrasting two religions from verses chapter four, verses eight to 11. Paul writes, formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who, by nature, are not gods. But now that you know God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable forces? Do you wish to be enslaved by them? All over again, you are observing special days and months and seasons and years, I fear for you that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you so formerly back then. In other words, this is before the wedding day. Still they were enslaved. Because, as we’ve seen throughout Galatians, apart from grace, we are all in slavery. And in slavery to what? Well, it says it right here, to to not gods, to idols, is what we normally call them. And you can think of what this would have looked like for the Galatians. They would have been a pagan people prior to coming to Christ. And so what does this look like? It looks like keeping the commands of all the gods that you’re trying to serve and making sacrifices to them so that they’ll come over onto your side, these not gods. And so you can imagine, if you were a farmer back then, as most of them would have been, you know, you got to make your sacrifice to the weather God so that you get a good crop that year. And you know, need some more strapping young lads to help you in the field. So you’re gonna pray to the and make sacrifices to the fertility god. And maybe there’s, you know, the young woman in the village is making is making sacrifices to Aphrodite or somebody like that, so that she looks good and somebody wants to marry her, all that kind of stuff. Like, that’s the slavery that we’re talking about. It’s worth noting that nothing’s changed whatsoever. I mean, yeah, maybe it’s not carved wood and metal images that we’re making sacrifices to at this point, but not sacrificing the weather God for a good crop. But how many sacrifices have you even made of time and energy, perhaps your family’s well being in order to be more financially successful? How many sacrifices of time and money have people made for the sake of their children and the perfect family that they want to have? Or how many sacrifices have we made to beauty in the hopes that the opposite sex will be attracted to us? And it’s slavery. It’s slavery because it doesn’t work. And it can’t work. You just have to keep going with it. So you’re making sacrifices to the weather God, hey, you could have the greatest crop ever. You know what happens next year? You start all over again. You’re on the brink of famine, just like that, again, again. Nothing’s changed. By the way, everything can be zooming along, and business can collapse in an instant, overnight, AI takes your job. You’re done. You got a whole find a whole new field. At this point, you can sacrifice all you want to love and beauty. You may still be single, childless, and at the end of the day, age is going to show. I’m just, I’m sorry about that. Some of you are not there yet. Some of us are there yet it shows in the end. Okay, so we just have to keep giving and giving and striving and striving, and you can never rest secure knowing that your deepest needs are finally and fully met. That’s the slavery Paul’s describing. But remember, Paul’s not worried that the Galatians are going to revert back to paganism. That’s not the argument of the letter. He’s worried that they’re going to rely on law keeping like the Jewish law instead. And Paul says that’s the same thing. There is no difference between paganism and Jewish law reliance in this time, because there are still no guarantees. You still have to keep giving and giving and striving and striving, because it all depends on your performance. You can’t rest secure knowing that your deepest needs are met, which means you are enslaved to the basic principle of the world. Paul calls it here, the weak and miserable forces of the world. What is the basic principle of the world? You need to save yourself, earn it, take care of the problem on your own. There’s a much better option that Paul describes right there in verse nine, to know God, or better still, I love it. He interrupts himself because he’s like, I didn’t say that quite right, did I better still to be known by God that is as profound a truth as exists in this world. Couple things to note about that. First of all, it means that we do not automatically know God. We are not born into this world knowing God in this sort of way with this sort of relationship. We must come to know him at a certain point. Maybe it’s before your memories really kick in. You’re raised in a Christian home. Maybe some of you, and we’ve heard some stories in the baptismal about this. You know, it came like a flash at one point, like Paul on the road to Damascus, but we must come to know Him. It isn’t true of anyone initially. That’s why there’s so much emphasis on faith in the book of Galatians, as we’ve seen through the weeks, because we reach a point where we must choose to follow Jesus, choose to trust. I think that word trust is key. That’s what faith means. It’s not mere belief, like it’s only intellectual. It certainly isn’t blind belief, either, but it is a settled relational trust. It’s actually a little bit like the trust between a man and a woman on their wedding day as they walk down the aisle together, and you’re going, I know you because I know who you are. I am giving myself to you. That’s what faith looks like for the Christian. But then note second, this is what Kyle said for us just two weeks ago. I’ll quote him exactly. He said, more important than our love for God is God’s love for us, and that’s what Paul’s saying here, too. You know God? Yes, God knows you. And here’s the thing, knowing God being known by God. This isn’t like he’s got awareness that you exist. Oh yeah, Brandon, I think I know him. He’s the talks too fast, that one, right? Yes, amen, that’s him. Okay, that’s not the point here at all. He was already aware of my existence. Having you know made me that kind of thing. No, we’re talking about relational knowledge. That’s how the word know is used in Scripture. I’ll give you the most obvious example. It happens early on in Genesis. Adam knew Eve, and nine months later, Cain arrived. That’s the relational meaning behind knowing in Scripture and that physical intimacy that’s described, there is nothing compared to the spiritual intimacy that we can have with Almighty God. He knows us, which means, if you try. If you have faith, it’s because he’s chosen you, because he set his love on you. It’s because he, as we talked a lot about last week, adopted you into His family. That’s the relational piece. And remember who this is. We are talking about, the God of the universe, your Creator, your King, your judge, even is willing to enter into a relationship with you, and that despite your sin and shortcomings, can I just encourage you that if you haven’t yet, today would be a great day to get to know Jesus better still to be known by him as you commit to him, surrender and trust. Now, that’s all true and important, as I said, probably the most important information in the world. It’s just not Paul’s point here. This was kind of incidental to his argument. His argument is, if you used to be a slave, and now you’ve been adopted as a child, an heir of God. If you used to be not known by God, and now you’re known by God. Why would you go back like I have decided to follow Jesus. No turning back, no turning back and the Galatians are go turning back. That sounds okay. We should consider, how could you go back to being a slave, like why would Amy? I could think of reasons why, but one with the analogy. Why would Amy move back to Grand Rapids after we got married again? Distance from me, that’s why. But picture someone else. It makes no sense, and yet, here they are. They’re back. He says, to observing days and months and years. You know, they’re keeping Sabbath, they’re keeping festivals. It’s the Jubilee Year, and it’s scrupulous law, reliance, it’s external, formal religion. It’s just checking boxes. So you can, as somebody, put it to me this week, and I loved it. I’m gonna use it for the rest of my life. So gonna use it for the rest of my life so that you can earn your Jesus points. You know, Jesus points are right? You gotta stay in the black. You gotta get enough of those. You don’t end up in the red because you haven’t done it. That’s, that’s what it is. So you’re going back to checking boxes and earning your Jesus points instead of that free and joyful intimacy that you could have with a father. And again, this is like an orphan who’s been adopted like I chose you. Again, I set my affection on you. You’re in the family now, not just crawling up into dad’s lap to experience his warm embrace, but trying to show off to impress him, so that he’ll choose me, because that’s what it used to look like in the orphanage. Prospective parents would show up and you best behavior that’s done with that’s done with You’ve been chosen, you’ve been adopted. You’re loved already. Consider another example. Remember the prodigal son. He wished his dad were dead, so he said, Dad, drop dead. But if you’re not going to drop dead, at least give me my inheritance now. And the dad doesn’t. He goes off and he squanders it on wine and prostitutes, and then eventually he comes to his senses because of a famine. Comes back to his dad. As he gets back, he’s got his speech all set, and he says, I know I’m no longer worthy to be called your son. Just make me a hired hand, not a slave, but same idea. I’m gonna go back to earning it. I lost your love. You earned it. Okay, that makes sense, doesn’t that? That’s how you’d come back. That’s how I’d come back. But what does dad say? Like he doesn’t listen to the son’s speech, you’re my kid. You’re my son. I love you. You’re back in the family. Now, here’s the ring, here’s the robe. Let’s have a party. And the son goes, no, no, thanks. Actually, I really would prefer to be a hired hand, because otherwise you’re gonna want to, like, make conversation. I have to have dinner with you everything. Like, no, no. Like, that doesn’t make sense. John Stott put it well. He says it’s one thing to say, I do not deserve it, adoption, it is quite another to say, I do not desire it, and yet, that’s where the Galatians are. No wonder Paul’s worried that his efforts have been wasted, that he’s been scattering the seed of the gospel, just for the birds to eat the seed and the floods to wash it away. Aren’t you just so glad you’re not as foolish as the Galatians. You know where this is going, don’t you? Because of course, we are, at least we always are tempted to be like you. Can see the Galatian tendency in your heart every time you rate your standing before God on your performance that day, I didn’t have my quiet time this morning. Got rushed, read an email, panicked, didn’t read the Bible, didn’t pray. God must love me less. But you know what? I didn’t. Been born today. So that’s a good day. God must love me more. I shared the gospel in that conversation with the person at the restaurant yesterday. I’m being elder now, like, Who do I talk to? Come on. Oh, but I was short with my kids. So that’s that’s done. I’m out. Come on, I’m in the dog house again. You see how tempting that mindset is and the slavery that comes with it. Of course, I love what David Platt said about this. This isn’t Satan’s only strategy. Satan loves to get us to do bad things. But he says, What if one of Satan’s strategies isn’t to get you to do the wrong things, but to get you to do the right things in the wrong way for the wrong reasons to check boxes and earn your Jesus points, because that’s how we justify ourselves so often. I know I’m a Christian. I know I’m right with God. I pray. So you wanna know who else prays often, and frankly, more religiously than you do? Muslims, okay? But I worship, so do Hindus all day, every day, all right? I see what you’re doing here. Let’s do what’s I study the Bible, so do Jehovah’s Witnesses, and they know it better than you. I evangelical. I’ve gone on missions trips. You met the Mormons. They’re doing better than you, way better than you. They’re knocking on doors. You’re not knocking on doors. None of those things are bad. I certainly hope you are praying and worshiping and reading your Bible and evangelical and going on missions trips, unless that’s the basis of your standing before God, in which case, it’s damnable in the most literal sense, what is the basis of your relationship with God? If your answer is anything other than this, he knows me, then it’s wrong. You are enslaved to the basic principle of the world. Again, what do you do? Feel really guilty. Try harder not to try so hard in the future, I would not put that burden on you friends. Just stop and preach the gospel to yourself. He did it all. We get it all because of what he did. And then do what you do, all those very good things, not to get your Jesus points, but just because you want intimacy with your father, you want to read the Bible because I just want to know what dad has to say to me. I want to pray because I want to talk to my father. I’m going to memorize scripture, not because that will impress other people, because I need that word from him stored in my heart. You understand why I call this section two religions. There are two very different ways of approaching God, earn it or receive it. And here’s the very good news, if you’ll hear it today, God knows you, which means you are free from self salvation, free from self, salvation, from that performance mindset, from earning it. Why? Because Christ earned it for you and is willing to give it to you when you come to Him in faith. Second, two ministries, let’s keep reading verses 12 to 20. I plead with you, brothers and sisters, become like me, for I became like you. You did me no wrong, as you know, it was because of an illness that I first preached the gospel to you. And even though my illness was a trial to you, you did not treat me with contempt or scorn. Instead, you welcomed me as if I were an angel of God, as if I were Christ, Jesus Himself, Where then is your blessing of me. Now I can testify that if you could have done so, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me. Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth, those people are zealous to win you over, but for no good, what they want is to alienate you from us, so that you may have zeal for them. It is fine to be zealous, provided the purpose is good and to be so always and not just when I am with you, 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. We can see throughout this section we get deeply personal emotional language. When I read Paul speaking here, I’m hearing like a parent who’s watching their child succumb to chemical addiction. It’s like that level of desperation, like come back and in fact, he’s drawing on the strength of the relationship. Ship that exists between them, and especially how it came about, how Paul first encountered the Galatians. We get our first command in verse 12. This is the first time we’ve had an imperative in the book of Galatians so far, become like Paul. Who became like them? And what does that mean? How did Paul become like them? Well, and how should they become like Paul? Paul is no longer under the law, and as a Jew, even so, even though he’s a Jew, he came to Christ, he’s now no longer under the law. So it makes no sense for former pagans to then put themselves under the law for the first time, become Jewish. Go ahead and become a Christian, and skip all that stuff. It’s like Paul saying the shackles are off and the Galatians are going, Are you going to use those? Can I have them? That makes no sense at all. Now there is an important principle here for our mission, for what we do as Christians, as we evangelical Our hope is that people become like us, not in every which way. Of course, there are plenty of areas where you think, no, don’t actually become like me here, but become like us in that we’re saved, loved, adopted, chosen. Guess, I want people to become like me in those regards. That’s the aim. That’s the end. That’s the goal we’re aiming at. The means is by becoming like them. We want them to become like us, so we become like them. It’s exactly what Jesus did, isn’t it? Jesus became like us human, so that we could participate in the divine, so that we could become Christ like Paul eats with the Gentiles, enters into their lives. That’s what we do. Also we become like those we’re trying to reach. Now, within reason, of course, we don’t compromise the gospel. We don’t compromise our ethics. Well, they all love to get drunk. I guess I gotta get drunk with them in order to read. No, of course. Of course not. That’s not what we’re talking about. But otherwise, we meet them where they are, like you can imagine, if you have a Muslim next door neighbor, as I do, you want to reach him, you know? So I invite him over for beer and a sausage pizza. Some of you know why that’s a bad idea, because a Muslim doesn’t drink and doesn’t eat pork. So I’m not I’m making him become like me in the externals, the stuff that doesn’t matter. It’s not going to work. How much better to see if he’ll have a karak chai with me at Kawa house down the street from us. I’m meeting him where he is now. That’s what Paul is talking about. In fact, it is a mark of legalism, a sort of works based religion that Paul’s talking about here, condemning here to insist like people become like us externally first. And the stuff that doesn’t matter, politics is often one of these, right we gotta vote a certain way on some of the key issues. If you’re gonna come to Jesus, no, you come to Jesus, and then yes, your your ethics will change in some areas. Absolutely, as he makes you more like himself, it might be things like somebody sent me this. This is I’m winging it here. Oh, I hope this is spirit. Ivan. Help me out, man, if this is the spirit or not, Ivan sent this to me, but it’s really funny. Yesterday, he said it was a guy evangelizing to another guy, different generations. And so he kind of said, you know, like inviting him to Christ. And the guy said, like, can I, you know? Like, what about my sin and stuff? And he says, you know, you come, God loves you unconditionally, unconditionally. And the guy says, “What if I wear my hat in church? And the guy said, well, then you’ll go to hell.” Like, that’s what. We’re not that. Okay, that’s that same kind of legalism that we’re we’re talking about here, things like alcohol or whatever. Can I say? This is even worse than the joke I just told, like, I hang out in bars a lot. You know? I hang out in bars a lot, partly because I need to go somewhere to write. It’s a nice place to do it, because that’s where sinners hang out. People who need Jesus hang out in bars. And I’ve gotten to know a lot of them, and some of them have come to church and stuff that’s meeting them where they are is what Paul did, and then Paul shares how he became like them. It started with a sickness. We have no idea what it was, but he’s there because of a sickness, an illness of some sort. It was a trial to them, but they didn’t treat him with contempt or scorn. Literally reads. They didn’t spit him out. I have to tell you this. The Greek word for spit out is ektuo which I love. That’s just like the greatest onomatopoeia in any language ever. They didn’t do that. Now, why would they have done that? Because sickness was a sign of judgment. Paul’s a marked man. If he’s sick, the gods are against him. And if the gods are against somebody, you want to kind of back off, make sure you’re standing on something that doesn’t conduct electricity, in case he gets zapped. And so that’s what they’re doing here. They’re spiritually. Quarantining themselves from the sick, except the Galatians don’t do that. Instead, they welcome him in as if he’s an angel, the word angel meaning messenger here, and actually, maybe even as if he were Christ Himself, because that’s how you welcome an ambassador. If an ambassador from the King comes, you welcome him like it’s the king. That’s what they did. I got a brief aside here again. This is another missional lesson for us. This all happens because of Paul’s sickness. Don’t waste your trials. Don’t waste your illnesses. There are missional opportunities. If you get a bad diagnosis, you get free reign to talk about Jesus. Does somebody come to you like, Oh, I am so sorry to hear and you go, I know it’s bad, but I’m going to be okay, because I know my God, and He knows me better still, and I know what he can do with this. If I die, I’m going to be with him, not because of what I did, but because what Jesus did for me. And I know what he can do, even in this trial, because he took the worst trial humanity has ever seen, the murder of the Son of God, and he turned it into the salvation of many. I’m trusting that God’s gonna do something in my life too. I just shared the gospel right there, by the way, in the process of talking about my illness, and you know what they’re gonna say? Well, I’m a little offended. I wish you wouldn’t talk about Jesus. No, they’re gonna go, great, like, whatever you want to say, you got a cancer diagnosis. And if they are offended, I wish you wouldn’t talk about that and you just play the cancer card. Well, this bothers me a little bit. You know what bothers me? Chemo. Okay? So yeah, and they’ll be like, it’s fine. All right, keep talking. No big deal. The Galatians love Paul so much they would have willingly sacrificed for his sake. Would have plucked out their eyes, even so they’re loving Him the way Jesus loves us, denying themselves, taking up their cross, sacrificing, but now, now they’re withholding their blessing. Now they’re quarantining from Paul, like what could have happened? The only thing that explains this change is their defection from the gospel, because Paul’s the same and Paul’s preaching the same message he’s always preached. Something’s changed on their end. What changed on their end? Well, it’s the agitators. It’s Paul’s opponents, the Judaizers. They’re in Galatians. In fact, they’re probably the ones that are calling Paul an enemy. And now the Galatians are going, yeah, maybe he is an enemy. And so here’s where we see the two ministries, because what the opponents are doing is just in such marked contrast to what Paul does. Paul says they’re both zealous for the Galatians. But why? What’s motivating the zeal? FF, Bruce, in his commentary on Galatians, he talks about this, this word zeal. It’s kind of like courtship, almost like it’s good to have somebody you know want to be with you. You can picture a young woman who’s, you know, got some guys after her. It’s good to be courted depending on the intentions of the guy. Are they honorable or dishonorable? If this is the guy who loves you and so wants to be in that relationship with you, okay? Or is this a guy who just wants to use you and then will spit you out? Not everyone who pays you a lot of attention has your best interests in mind. We probably all met very charming salesmen who made us feel really good about ourselves and who did not love us nearly as much as they love their commission. That’s the point Paul is making here, these opponents. They want the Galatians to be zealous for them, so they’re using their ministry as a platform for personal promotion. That’s a temptation in ministry. Bigger church probably means bigger salary. Certainly means more respect, more followers on social media. You get book deals and conference invites. These are personal temptations for someone like me. Kyle good word for Jake and Reeve, those who are starting a ministry to hear. It’s a word for all of us, though, who are in Christ, because it may not look the same if you’re not in pastoral ministry, but it’s there. You think anybody serving on a music team has ever done it for dishonorable reasons? You know you’re up front spotlights on you sometimes, literally, people afterwards they’re like, Wow, you’re so talented. Feels good. Feels good to hear that go the other way too. Though sometimes you’re in the ministry that nobody sees you can be doing that for the wrong reasons. Also get that martyr complex going. You know, some people you’re like, oh yeah. And I mean, I was here until 10 o’clock last. Night cleaning up so we’d be ready for explore hour this morning. Wow. Like you are so godly. I’m up front. They clap afterwards. I know they’re not clapping for me, but still, they’re clapping afterwards and and you, you’re just serving. That feels good too, doesn’t it like this is a good word for all of us. The opponents want the Galatians to glorify them. Paul wants the Galatians to glorify Christ. That’s the difference. And he’s willing to suffer to see it happen, which is where he goes to this image of labor. I’m in labor, not to birth you, but to birth Christ in you. I think he goes with this image because, I mean, is there any love like the love of a mother for her child? Paul’s saying, that’s what I feel for all of you, that Jesus might be formed in you. And we read this, we have to pause and ask each one of you needs to ask yourself this. Do you have this zeal for anyone in your life right now? Like, who comes to mind when you hear me say, I am in labor, that Christ would be formed in you? And if you don’t have an answer to that question, why not? Kyle just told us, like, this is our job as Christians. We were told to make disciples. This is what discipleship is. Need more information. We got a workshop coming up. There you go. Great. Plug, all right. I mean parents for sure, though, like, I hope this is every prayer every day for your kids that we would be laser focused on Christ formation within them. And I worry that’s not always what we’re focused on, but instead we’re focused on worldly success and vicarious success, frankly. But this is a good word for all of us. Of course, there are two ministry paths before us. And one commentator kind of put it like this, the two ministry paths are personal gain or purposeful pain, purposeful pain, we can choose the latter. Why? God knows you so you are free from self promotion. You’re free from having to build a platform and get the plaudits and applause. Why? Because Christ won us the only accolade we really desire in the depths of our hearts, which is the Father’s Word to us, well done, good and faithful servant. Lastly, then two kids. Rest of the passage in chapter four, verses 21 to 31. 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 according to the flesh, but his son by the free woman was born as the result of a divine promise. These things are being taken figuratively. The woman represents two covenants. Women represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children who are to be slaves. This is Hagar. Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children, but the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother. For it is written, Be glad, barren woman, you who never bore a child, shout for joy and cry aloud. You who were never in labor, because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband. Now, you brothers and sisters like Isaac are children of promise. At that time, the son born according to flesh persecuted the son born by the power of the Spirit. It is the same now. But what does scripture say? Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman’s son. Therefore, brothers and sisters, we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman. There is a poignant irony at the start of this section, the Galatians are going back to the law, but they’re not even paying attention to what the law says. We have to remember the word law in Hebrew Torah is what Paul’s thinking of here. It doesn’t just refer to the commands, some of which we looked at in Exodus. It’s the whole story, which includes the whole book of Genesis, has very few commands in it, has a whole lot of stories in it. And one of the stories is about Abraham, Sarah Hagar and their kids, Isaac, Ishmael. And so Paul takes them there and gives this complicated, nuanced argument from history with a fair bit of poetic license, which we have to talk about, which he even acknowledges. But it starts simply enough, Abraham. Abraham’s featured prominently in Galatians. So far, we want to be Abraham’s kids, and that’s kind of the question. How does one become a descendant of Abraham? Is it by faith, or is it by the law? So a lot of what we did in chapter three, well, Abraham had two sons, Ishmael and Isaac. So not every. Who’s a physical descendant of Abraham is a spiritual descendant of Abraham, because Ishmael is excluded. There’s only one true seed. We talked about seed for a while, right? Only one true child of the promise that’s Isaac. So the son born to the slave woman, that’s Ishmael. So born to Hagar. This is Sarah’s handmaiden. Sarah is not able to get pregnant so very common back then. She says, don’t you sleep with my servant instead, and we’ll kind of get a kid that way. And that’s how it happens, and that’s how Ishmael is born. That means he’s born according to the flesh. What does that mean? It means solving the problem in the flesh, taking care of things on your own, not trusting the promise, but relying instead on human ingenuity. But Isaac, of course, is born according to the promise. There’s only one way this could happen, and that’s a miracle. It’s only if God does it, and God did it. Sarah gets pregnant. Isaac is born. Bad things happen as a result of this complicated family. At this point, Sarah doesn’t care much for Hagar. Hager gets a little snippy with what would be her mistress. Is still like treating her like she’s the underling. At this point, it’s all really nasty. Turns out you’re supposed to be one man, one woman. That’s kind of the lesson there two women too many in a family situation, so bad things start to happen. It’s just a reminder, human initiatives produce human results. It’s exactly what you get here, all sorts of very human things which should make us nervous about trying to do things on our own, about trying to save ourselves on our own, taking matters into our own hands. That’s the argument that’s being made. All right. Then we get to verse 24 and it gets way less clear what’s going on. Paul even tells us he’s taking liberties with the text. This is not Biblical Exposition, the way I try to do it, week in and week out. Instead, Paul is using Sarah and Hagar like parables, almost. And so he’s trying to make connections that will startle the Galatians awake. Sarah and Hagar, he says, represent two covenants, the Mosaic covenant made at Sinai, and then the New Covenant really based on the promise given to Abraham. Sarah is this one? Hagar is this one? Here’s the thing. Hagar has zero connection to Moses and Sinai, and so that’s where the Liberty is taken, but we can see where it’s going. So how is Hagar like Sinai? Well, it’s interesting. Sinai is in Arabia, by the way, because the Ishmaelites, the descendants of Ishmael, are the Arab peoples, so they’re in Arabia also. But that’s not the real connection. The real connection is that both Hagar and the Mosaic Covenant are associated with slavery, the slavery we’ve been talking about, the slavery of having to earn your own salvation, in which case, it’s also like present day Jerusalem, for Paul, first century Jerusalem, where law reliance is being practiced. You want to get saved, you rely on the law. Now there’s a lot of irony here. We just did Exodus. When did God make the covenant at Sinai, right after he delivered them from slavery. So it’s really weird to connect Moses with slavery in this way, and yet we understand it, because that’s definitely where it leads. They’re enslaved to the law. But Sarah the free woman, she represents the New Jerusalem, the heavenly city which people enter, no longer as slaves, but as children heirs, who’ve been set free from relying on the law by grace. And it’s the quote from Isaiah that really allows Paul to use Hagar the way he does, because we get this contrast between a fertile and a barren woman, and that’s a good contrast. Sarah’s barren decades and decades and decades, no kids. Hagar one time, one kid. So she’s fertile like that’s the contrast there. Now this Isaiah quote is originally about Jerusalem, and it’s about the return from exile. In fact, Jerusalem was both the barren woman and the fertile woman, used to have lots of kids, and now there’s nobody there, because they’re all in Babylon and Persia and stuff. But don’t worry, you’re gonna come back from exile and you’re gonna have lots of kids again. But Paul’s reading it the way we read the Old Testament here, over and over and over again, through the lens of Christ, in whom every prophecy finds its fulfillment. And so it’s not coming back to Jerusalem that’s not the freedom from exile that we’re longing for, the return from exile that we’re longing for. We’re talking about returning to God Himself, hence the New Jerusalem where we go. And so there’s the difference. Us now look at the descendants, if we’re funneling this through Christ. I mean, Sarah was barren. She had just one kid, and now her descendants, spiritually speaking, are more than the sand on the shore and the stars in the sky, as God promised Abraham, because it includes the Gentiles, all of us who come to God through faith in Christ. We want that, don’t we that kind of fruitfulness. So how does it come? Not through human effort or ingenuity, not through our strength or our skills, it comes in weakness and helplessness, like once we know we’re helpless. That’s when we seek our ever present helper. I can’t do it. I need Jesus to do it for me. That’s salvation, sure, but that’s also, you know, parenting and serving and evangelical on down the line. Apart from me, you can do nothing. Jesus says so we abide in the vine and draw life and strength from its only source. It’s not all rainbows and unicorns, though we’re going to experience persecution as a result, in the same way that Ishmael bullied Isaac, which is why they eventually get sent away. By the way, if you’re reading this and you’re a little bit uncomfortable, like I know this story, and Sarah doesn’t seem as innocent as Paul making her out to be correct. Now we’re not preaching through Genesis right now, you can go back and listen to that sermon, get the the original story. But again, Paul’s using it figuratively. This isn’t a comment on Sarah and Hagar. It’s a comment on law versus grace, but if you live by grace, you can expect persecution from those who rely on works, especially if they call themselves Christians, because that’s what’s happening here in Galatia. Why? Because grace threatens religious people. That’s why the people who loved Jesus were prostitutes and tax collectors, and the people who hated Jesus, and ultimately conspired in his murder were the Pharisees, the scrupulous law keepers, because it undermines our identity. If the whole point is I’m doing more, I’m doing better than you, and then that slate gets wiped clean. It’s offensive. It eliminates our reason for boasting. So one test to know whether or not you’re under Grace really, or if you’re relying on the law, is, how do you treat those who differ from you? If your identity is secure, you can be gracious to them, and if not, you will be cruel to them. But Paul’s point here is the Galatians must drive this idea out like they got, to banish this idea from their minds and pulpits this teaching that seeks to enslave them. Even you may have voices in your head or on the podcast you listen to, telling you that it’s up to you. Plug your ears, preach the gospel to yourself instead, because the argument in some there in the last verse, verse 31 right in Christ, we are not enslaved, but we are free. Children adopted and loved in the capital C, child of the promise Jesus Christ. Like which kid do you want to be in this scenario? I got good news for you. God knows you. So you’re free from self reliance. We are saved by God’s initiative and power through no effort or ingenuity of our own. We are free from self reliance and free to rely on Christ. Look self salvation, self promotion. Self Reliance is truly slavery, the performance mindset produces in us only pride and guilt, sin, exploitation of others, but knowing that we are known frees us from all of that, so that we can live freely and serve fruitfully as beloved children, the true son became a slave. You know what Paul says in Philippians two, Jesus did not consider equality with God something we use to his own advantage. Rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a slave. The true son became a slave so that slaves like you and me could become true sons and daughters. That’s such good news, because of that because of what Jesus did, God knows you, so you’re free enjoy it. Let’s pray, Lord, we are grateful for the freedom that we can know in Christ, Jesus. We remember that we are not automatically your children. We do not automatically know you and are not automatically known by you in relationship with you. There must come a moment in our lives where we choose to trust you, because you have chosen that we would trust you. God, I pray that even now, you would be bringing some of the men and women in this room to that place of choosing. God, that you would reveal yourself to them, that they might know you, that you would set your love on them, that they might be known by you. For the rest of us, Lord, for those of us who are known by you, who know you and love you, would you increase our joy and freedom in Christ that we might live zealously for Your glory and for the sake of those that you’ve put in our lives to reach with the gospel. We pray this in Christ’s name. Amen.