Sarah/Hagar. Promise/Law

Sarah

Sarah was not always Sarah, of course. We are first introduced to her as Sarai- which in Hebrew means princess. Her name was changed when God made a promise to Abram that he would bless the entire world through his lineage.

Sarah had traveled alongside Abram throughout his entire journey of faith; and she too was part of God’s plan for Israel.

Hagar

Hagar was Sarah’s handmaiden- in other words her personal slave who helped her with anything she needed. She was Egyptian by birth. Sarah insisted that Hagar give birth to Abraham’s child; but during the pregnancy she became hostile to Sarah and caused lots of conflict.

Ishmael

Ishmael was Abraham’s son born by his relationship with Hagar.

The Lexham Bible Dictionary Ishmael in the Bible

After Sarah sees the “son of Hagar the Egyptian” (

Isaac

Abraham’s son born by Sarah and the fulfillment of God’s promise to give Abraham descendant like stars in the sky. Isaac’s name means “he laughs” from Sarah’s response to God’s promise. Isaac would go on to be the father of both Jacob and Esau and through Jacob the nation of Israel would begin.

Perhaps Isaacs greatest Biblical moments come at the expense of others as Abraham almost sacrifices him and as Jacob cons him into giving him Isaac’s blessing.

So Paul turns to this story of 2 women and their children in Galatians 4 to impart some wisdom to us about Jesus’ work on the cross and the redemption of mankind. He separates these 2 pairs into the slave woman and her son- the flesh and the wife and her son- the promise.

Through this comparison and contrast Paul shares some deep truths about the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.

Jesus’ Sacrifice was always the original plan

It can be tempting to view Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross as God’s back up plan from the OT law; but that is simply not true.

From the very beginning God planned for Jesus to be our atonement.

1 Peter 1:19–21 “but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.”

Ephesians 3:9–11 “and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord,”

So you can see that God had this all lined up from the onset. It’s not as if God instituted the law and tried that for a few generations and said well that didn’t work; let’s try something else.

No, God knew that Christ was the answer- the law was given so that man would see that as well. The law was given so that man’s inability to be righteous on our own would be seen.

Think of it in terms of Sarah and Hagar- Sarah was always Abraham’s wife and always God’s chosen one to the extend the promise of faith. Even when Hagar entered the picture it did not change anything about Sarah being God’s plan to extend Abraham’s legacy.

Works are not Good Enough

Paul tells us that the child born to Hagar was of the flesh.

Remember, Abraham and Sarah got a little impatient and took matters into their own hands- they decided that God needed a little help, and they were in the position to provide that assistance. This has continued to this day- I can do it; I can take care of this on my own.

Friends, none of us can save ourselves- that is impossible. There will not be a moment in your life when you can cover your sin debt by trying harder or doing more- if so than Jesus died in vain.

Hagar came into the picture because of the flesh.

Imagine a child trying to build a tower out of blocks. They want to build their tower all the way to the ceiling. But no matter how hard the child tries the tower always falls. Why? Because of the amount of perfection it would take to construct such a tower with perfect balance, and no kind of movement that would cause it to shift or fall. One slightly off perfect move sends the entire thing tumbling down. This is the same for us when we try and save ourselves through works and the law.

Romans 3:20 “For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.”

Evangelist Fred Brown used three images to describe the purpose of the law. First he likened it to a dentist’s little mirror, which he sticks into the patient’s mouth. With the mirror he can detect any cavities. But he doesn’t drill with it or use it to pull teeth. It can show him the decayed area or other abnormality, but it can’t provide the solution

We are children of promise

The last thing that Galatians 4 tells us that we are not children of the slave woman, but children of the free woman- we are children of promise.

Well, how is someone a child? Can you will yourself into being a child- nope. Can you declare yourself someone’s child? No. Can you work yourself into being someone’s child- no. The only way that a child is a child is because of the action and the will of the parents. A child is a child because of their parents and we are children of promise becasue of the action of our Father in Heaven. As John 1 says:

John 1:12–13 “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”

Philippians 3:9 “and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—”

The law is also like a flashlight. If suddenly at night the lights go out, you use it to guide you down the darkened basement stairs to the electrical box. If you had old wiring, when you point it toward the fuses, it helps you see the one that is burned out. But after you’ve removed the bad fuse, you don’t try to insert the flashlight in its place. You put in a new fuse to restore the electricity.

In his third image, Brown likened the law to a plumbline. When a builder wants to check his work, he uses a weighted string to see if it’s true to the vertical. But if he finds that he has made a mistake, he doesn’t use the plumbline to correct it. He gets out his hammer and saw. The law points out the problem of sin; it doesn’t provide a solution