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We Are Children Of The Free

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Galatians 4:1-6, 21-23, 27-31

[1] Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all;
[2] But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father.
[3] Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world:
[4] But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
[5] To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
[6] And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.

[21] Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law?
[22] For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman.
[23] But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise.

[27] For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband.
[28] Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.
[29] But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.
[30] Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.
[31] So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.

Paul was talking in reference to the free and bond that we are not bound to the natural part of ourselves; for we are children of the free, which was given by the death of Jesus Christ! I am so thankful for living a brand new life now not under the same form of bondage that I was once under before. For my life was once miserable and without purpose; yet the love of God entering into my life has restored what was once seemingly gone forever (at least to my point of view).

Genesis 21:8-14, 15-19

[8] And the child grew, and was weaned: and Abraham made a great feast the same day that Isaac was weaned.
[9] And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, which she had born unto Abraham, mocking.
[10] Wherefore she said unto Abraham, Cast out this bondwoman and her son: for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac.
[11] And the thing was very grievous in Abraham’s sight because of his son.
[12] And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called.
[13] And also of the son of the bondwoman will I make a nation, because he is thy seed.
[14] And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread, and a bottle of water, and gave it unto Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and the child, and sent her away: and she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beer-sheba.

[15] And the water was spent in the bottle, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs.
[16] And she went, and sat her down over against him a good way off, as it were a bowshot: for she said, Let me not see the death of the child. And she sat over against him, and lift up her voice, and wept.
[17] And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is.
[18] Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine hand; for I will make him a great nation.
[19] And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went, and filled the bottle with water, and gave the lad drink.

Reading about this lets me know that even though that Abraham had to send away the one that was not given by the promise of God that God did not leave Ishmael in life without a purpose. We are not without purpose in life, and we are not without a promise to achieve something in God! And if we can just learn to cease attempting to always do things our way (as Sarah tried to here) we would not put ourselves in our own bondage!

Genesis 22:1-2,7-13

[1] And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.
[2] And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.

[7] And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?
[8] And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.
[9] And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.
[10] And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.
[11] And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.
[12] And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.
[13] And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.

God will make a way when there seems to be no way! God will also move for us in magnificent ways if we will take great steps of faith. Abraham was definitely taking a great literal step of faith here, and at times I often wonder if anyone is left in the world with this amount of faith! We must strive to aim for this kind of faith and willingness, to heed to the voice of God even as to the willingness and humbleness of a child to do something when instructed.

Galatians 5:24-26

[24] And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
[25] If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
[26] Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.

Those that are saved have given up their sins and have received forgiveness by Jesus death, to which brought the atonement. No matter how powerful our affections and lusts for this world are, the death of Jesus is above all of the sins that we have!

Here are some other scriptures that are some food for thought to add to this message:

Leviticus 17:11

[11] For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.

Matthew 16:24-28

[24] Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
[25] For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.
[26] For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
[27] For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.
[28] Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.

To deny = to destroy our natural desires

To take up = to take up the spiritually living being inside of us

To follow = to stay and continue in

Romans 12:1

[1] I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

We need to present to God the forgiven soul, and we are not there, we must pray and get there!

The Hardest Part of God’s Word: Doing It

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Mark 12:1-12

[1] And he began to speak unto them by parables. A certain man planted a vineyard, and set an hedge about it, and digged a place for the winefat, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country.
[2] And at the season he sent to the husbandmen a servant, that he might receive from the husbandmen of the fruit of the vineyard.
[3] And they caught him, and beat him, and sent him away empty.
[4] And again he sent unto them another servant; and at him they cast stones, and wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully handled.
[5] And again he sent another; and him they killed, and many others; beating some, and killing some.
[6] Having yet therefore one son, his wellbeloved, he sent him also last unto them, saying, They will reverence my son.
[7] But those husbandmen said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance shall be ours.
[8] And they took him, and killed him, and cast him out of the vineyard.
[9] What shall therefore the lord of the vineyard do? he will come and destroy the husbandmen, and will give the vineyard unto others.
[10] And have ye not read this scripture; The stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner:
[11] This was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?
[12] And they sought to lay hold on him, but feared the people: for they knew that he had spoken the parable against them: and they left him, and went their way.

As using the parable, we have to use the comparison of the continual sending of persons and the rejecting of it as the way we turn away from the warnings and word of God. We must (I am saying must a million times and even with emphasis) begin to hear the Word of God to help us improve our lives, character and to avoid trouble and the effects of persecution!

Mark 12:15-17

[15] Shall we give, or shall we not give? But he, knowing their hypocrisy, said unto them, Why tempt ye me? bring me a penny, that I may see it.
[16] And they brought it. And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? And they said unto him, Caesar’s.
[17] And Jesus answering said unto them, Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s. And they marvelled at him.

Using the coin as an example was showing Jesus could avoid being tripped up by worldly politics to continue on the message of being separated. We must remember (as witnesses of God) to keep a love in our hearts and to show separation by what we render unto God each day by how we live.

Matthew 5:21-22

[21] Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:
[22] But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.

It is a scary thing to consider and know just how much damage that we do with our very words!

Recognizing Our Bondage

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In Galatians 4, Paul explains the difference between a slave and a child. He wanted to make sure the Galatians were enjoying the path made by Jesus Christ. The epistle to the Galatians shows other missionaries were in conflict with Paul at that time. The Jewish-Christians from Palestine had visited the congregations of the Galatians after Paul’s visit there and was trying to teach that what Paul had taught prior to them coming was not complete. They were trying to persuade some of the Galatians that salvation required observance of the laws of the Torah, which included circumcision. Paul writes to rebuke and to persuade the Galatians in this letter. Paul communicates in this letter that Christianity, with its emphasis on faith in Christ, is antithetical to religion which approaches God based on good works. He also argues that nothing can be added to Jesus’ sacrifice for our sin, nor circumcision or any other external religious forms.

Galatians 4:1-3

[1] Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all;
[2] But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father.
[3] Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world:

When we were in bondage of the elements of the world, as an heir I differed not from a slave, or in other words anyone else in bondage. When I was saved, I was set free from the bondages of sin, and brought forth from the slavery of being lost (and being in bondage to the world as well). That should excite anyone that has a relationship with God if you really begin to think about it long enough! If we cannot begin to learn to live as children of God and mature to be the people God wants us to be, we will continually be as slaves to sin!

Acts 15:8-11

[8] And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us;
[9] And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.
[10] Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?
[11] But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they.

Galatians 4:4-7

[4] But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
[5] To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
[6] And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
[7] Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

Jesus Christ was sent to redeem, we receive the redemption and adoption as sons, and if a son, then an heir of God through Jesus Christ.

Galatians 4:8-9

[8] Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods.
[9] But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?

When we did not know God, it was our instinct to turn to which by nature were things other than God. So how in this world could we begin to turn back to what we were before after we start to know God or are known by God? I do not know about you, but I have no desire to go back into the bondage I was freed from!

Galatians 5:1

[1] Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.

Do not walk back into what you came out of!

In Paul’s letter to the Romans, he emphasizes in the passage below:

Romans 8:15-17.

[15] For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
[16] The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
[17] And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

We are accepted, and the victory comes when the kingdom is fully realized!