Who Is Your Mother?

Who is your Mother?

Galatians 4:21 – Tell me, you who want to be under the law, do you not understand the law? 22 – For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman. 23 – But one, the son by the slave woman, was born by natural descent, while the other, the son by the free woman, was born through the promise.

verse 24 – These things may be treated as an allegory, for these women represent two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai bearing children for slavery; this is Hagar. 25 – Now Hagar represents Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. 26 – But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother.

According to the allegory of the two mothers, which mother is yours?  The slave woman or the free woman?  Can you imagine?  This is the one instance in life where we get to choose who our parents are!  We could remain as children of natural descent, produced by human effort under the law – like Ishmael.  Or we could become children of God, born through the promise of God, produced by faith – like Isaac.

The heavenly inheritance does not go to both sons – it only goes to the son of the free woman.  This is powerful imagery one that has me thinking about the earlier chapters of Galatians when Paul described the gospel as not of human origin.  There is a heavenly power at work that is not human.  Jesus, born to Mary, did not have a human father.  Jesus, in His conversation with Nicodemus explained that we must be born again and Nicodemus tried to make sense of Jesus’ words by picturing himself entering the womb again to be born by natural descent.

Here’s some of what Jesus said to Nicodemus:  “If I have told you people about earthly things and you don’t believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven – the Son of Man. Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up. so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.” – John 3:12-15.

Pay attention to what’s going on in our world today.  Children born of natural descent believing exclusively in science and physical laws will persecute children of faith.  We will be tempted to deny that the second birth from above even exists as an option.  Don’t deny your baptism of the Spirit and return to being enslaved by the basic forces of the world!  Let’s lift up Jesus and believe in Him – Let’s remember that we can be children of the free woman and share in the heavenly inheritance today!