Good Morning!
Linda and I walked out of the hotel in Beirut, Lebanon where we were staying during the week of the citywide evangelistic rallies each evening. It was in the middle of the day and we were interested in finding somewhere to eat lunch. The hotel was on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea so it was extremely busy with people vacationing from all around the Middle East. We had been told to stay in the hotel and not to wander away from it unless we had someone from Lebanon with us. We thought it would be okay to walk across the street and dine for lunch. But, when we walked out of the front doors and began walking down the sidewalk we noticed that people were staring at us. We were Americans...they were Arabs. Americans walking their streets was an unusual sight. Both of us felt uncomfortable to the point of being frightened somewhat. Linda indicated that she felt too uncomfortable to continue so we quickly walked back into the hotel until some of our team members could go with us. I have never felt this uncomfortable in all of my visits to foreign nations. Even in former communist nations, I felt safer. What is this all about? In Galatians, the writer makes us aware of the beginnings of this problem.
We know about and have been taught the events in Abraham's life when he knew God had promised him a son to be his heir. He wasn't sure at first how he was to receive that son. His wife was old and he was older...one hundred years old. AND, not many ninety-year-old women were having children! So, he decided that he would take Hagar, Sarah's servant, and have a child through her. So, Ishmael was born. It caused some strife with Sarah, so, God told Abraham to toss them out of his house and send them on their way. God assured Abraham that He would take care of their needs. Sarah delivered Isaac. HE was God's chosen son to continue the linage of Abraham.
I think this is a picture of God's future for the people who live under the law and the people who live under freedom. Hagar was a servant. She lived under the law. Sarah was the wife of Abraham and a part of the family and lived under the freedom of the family and NOT the laws of the servants. God has used this divide to illustrate His plan for all people. Those who live under the freedom of the Promise...Jesus is the Promise...we are FREE! We have liberty from God. But, those who live under the law and restrict others to be like them and obey their commands...are servants of the law and bound by the law. There is no freedom in the law.
The people of the line of Sarah are free. The people of the line of Hagar are servants to the law as she was. We know that the Arab nations came through the line of Ishmael. These nations have been at odds with the people of Isaac for centuries. AND, with the coming of Jesus...the Promised One...those who put their Faith in Him as their Savior are a part of the Promised One. This includes everyone who begins a relationship with God through Jesus.
During our week in Beirut, we saw hundreds of people come to Jesus Christ as Savior and become free in Him. These were Arabs coming to Jesus. During our evangelistic event in Amman, Jordan...many more people came to Faith in Jesus. The same is true when we shared the Gospel in Cairo and Alexandria, Egypt. The descendants of Ishmael are a part of "For God so loved the WORLD..." John 3:16a and are free to come to the Promised One, Jesus, for eternal life! That is the reason why we need to share the Gospel to everyone.
We are now heirs of Abraham through our Faith in the Promised One, Jesus. The following is the text of Galatians 4:21-31. Pay close attention to the final verse...v 31. "Therefore, brothers, we are not children of the slave but of the free woman."
"Tell me, those of you who want to be under the law, don't you hear the law? 22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave and the other by a free woman. 23 But the one by the slave was born according to the impulse of the flesh, while the one by the free woman was born as the result of a promise. 24 These things are illustrations, for the women represent the two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai and bears children into slavery—this is Hagar. 25 Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. 2 6 But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. 27 For it is written:
Rejoice, childless woman,
who does not give birth.
Burst into song and shout,
you who are not in labor,
for the children of the desolate are many,
more numerous than those
of the woman who has a husband.
28 Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. 29 But just as then the child born according to the flesh persecuted the one born according to the Spirit, so also now. 30 But what does the Scripture say?
'Drive out the slave and her son, for the son of the slave will never be a coheir with the son of the free woman.'
31 Therefore, brothers, we are not children of the slave but of the free woman."
?
If you live under the law it is what YOU do for God that makes you right before Him...But...
If you live under freedom by Faith it is what GOD has done for you in Jesus Christ that's makes you right before Him!
May God Bless You!
Don Betts
DBEA/campus320
DBEAWINNING.COM
TO GOD BE ALL GLORY!