The Foundation - PART 57

The section on separating the wheat from the tares continues. Consider this. If we were to go back to the grass roots of our faith and remove all of the Biblical foundations that form our beliefs and values, we could readily accept the false imaginations of others that would be flaunted as truth because we would not know the difference.

This scenario is in fact the case for many believers today who have come to enjoy God's freedom but then later, at the encouragement of certain individuals, become later subject and confined to the law. The question is why? It could be because as a young Christian believer, you are not yet aware of what is recorded in the scriptures concerning the law. Let's review this point.

The scriptures declare that Abraham had two sons. The first son was born of a slave girl named Hagar. The second son was born of Abraham's wife Sarah, and as such, presented as being a free woman. The child of the slave girl was born in the ordinary course of nature. However, the second son born of the free woman was the child born in fulfillment of the promise. God's promise. Of course, all of this is allegorical, for these two women represent the two covenants.

The first covenant was given from Mount Sinai and represented by Hagar. The children born thereafter, being brought up under the confines and dictates of Sinai law, are born into the bondage of slavery. The law. Note that the word Hagar in Arabia stands for Mount Sinai, and is representative of the earthly Jerusalem which like Hagar was in bondage together with her children.

Conversely, Jerusalem which is above (that beautiful city of God) is free and the mother of us all. If you are struggling here, you might want to go back to earlier blogs where the discussion focuses on the generational history of the promised seed of the Christ. This will allow you some time to reflect and digest the scriptures before proceeding. Remember, as you read the scriptures, that living under the law was not always the case. God made them male and female - as one man and one woman - so that they could fellowship and converse freely with God.

As we move on, we know that Sarah was barren and without children. That is, until God stepped in. Of course, God stepped in at the appointed time which is important to remember. As the author of salvation, it was God that opened Sarah's womb. In so doing, He brought the prophetic scripture from the back burner to the front burner. The scriptures state, "Rejoice, O barren woman who never bore a child. Break into a shout of joy, you who have never known a mother's birth pangs. For she, the deserted wife shall have more children than she who lives with the husband."

Like Isaac then, the good news is that we also are children born in the fulfillment of promise. Abraham's son by Hagar may have pursued his fleshly desires, and likewise persecuted Isaac but it does not negate the fact that Isaac was the son of promise born by the power of the spirit. The difficulty is that this understanding from the scriptures still raises questions today.

Still, regardless of what people might say, the scriptures remain true. What does the scriptures state concerning this ongoing conflict? First, drive out the slave girl (Hagar the law) along with her son. The scriptures state this, not because Hagar is being condemned or discriminated against but rather because God was making it clear that neither Hagar or the offspring would share in the inheritance bequeathed to the son born of the free woman. The child of promise into which the seed of promise was to be lodged, and continually progressed through the generations that would follow.

Indeed, the promise would continue until the fullness of time in God's clock, at which time the Holy Spirit would bring His own two seeds of promise (male and female seed) together in the womb of the surrogate mother Mary. So, you see believers, that we are not the slave woman’s child. In fact, our mother is the free woman.

So it is in this context that we are no longer subject to the law. The scriptures state that Christ has set us free. Stand fast in your freedom, and do not become entangled in that yoke of bondage. You are not under law. Christ has taken care of the law by burying it deep in the blood He shed. The same God who dwelt on earth as a son ... it is His sacrificial death that has made captivity captive. Remember too, that you have been bought with a price and there fore we ought to glorify God in our mortal bodies. Which, by the way are now members of the body of Jesus the Christ. The bone of his bone and flesh of His flesh. Blood, Water, Spirit. Refresh ourselves with the assurance that you and I can walk in the glorious liberty as the sons of God. For he who has been set free by the Son of God (God Himself as a Son) has been set free for eternity. Free indeed.

Stand in the Offering Plate. Welcome to the new covenant.