Cast Out the Bondwoman and her Son

I would like to share with you a message my dad shared with our church a few weeks ago.  I am not quoting him word for word.  I took what I heard and then applied it to my own life, and will try to do it justice here.

"Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the slave woman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman."  Galatians 4:30

In the fourth chapter of Galatians, Paul gives us a wonderful analogy of law and grace from the Old Testament.  When Abraham was in his late seventies, and his wife Sarah in her sixties, God promised made a promise to Abraham.  God promised Abraham a son.  This son would be a miracle because Sarah was beyond child bearing years.  God promises Abraham that through this son, his descendants would be more numerous than the stars of heaven (Gen. 26:4). 

How wonderful Abraham must have felt, knowing that we would not die childless, and that God would use his seed to birth a nation.  However, several years go by, and there is no son.  So, Sarah decides she is going to "help things along."  As a result, Abraham and Sara's handmaid Hagar give birth to Ishmael.  There was nothing miraculous about Ismael's birth.  Ishmael was born as a result of human effort, not as a result of God's promise.   God does deliver a son to Abraham and Sarah, several years later, much to their surprise.  Sarah names her son Isaac, which means laughter, because the first thing Sarah did when she found out she was going to bear a son was laugh.   Ishmael is loved by Abraham just as much as Isaac even though Ishmael was not the son of promise.  Ishmael is 13 (Genesis 17:25) years old when Isaac is born.  When it is time for Isaac to be weaned, Abraham and Sarah decide to give a feast.  It is during the preparation of the feast when we read in Genesis that Ishmael mocks Isaac.  Sarah, hearing Ishmael mock her son, tells Abraham, "Cast out the bondwoman and her son."  Sarah knows she cannot have Ishmael in the picture; she understands that Isaac is the true son of promise.  Now Abraham, who no doubt loves Ishmael just as much as Isaac, must send him and his mother away.  Ishmael can have nothing to do with Isaac.  What hard ache Abraham must have felt, to have to do this to his son. 

Paul uses this Old Testament account to illustrate to the believers in Galatia the difference between human effort and promise, between slavery and freedom, between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant, between law and grace.  Law and grace cannot be together, because the law will always condemn.  The child of "law" is self righteousness.  Self-righteousness is: God, you can have most of the glory, but I'll take just a little bit.  God is not going to share his glory, he gets it all.  Our default setting is to rely on ourselves in our Christian life, in our jobs as the nurturers of our children and in the education of our children.  However, when we "lay our head down on our pillows at night" to quote from my dad, we know that the Lord is working all things for our good.  We know that old system of works is not for the Christian.  The Lord has done it all, and now we get to enjoy the blessings of our dear Savior.  We get to participate in good works that the Lord has ordained for us to do (Eph. 2:10). 

I may sound like I am against law, or that I feel like I can just sit back and "wait" for God to raise my kids for me.  I don't mean this at all.  I work hard every day, being the kind of mother and Christian the Bible instructs me to be.  However, I do not live my Christian life with a performance mentality because I know my "righteousness" is in Christ.  Again, this does not make me lawless.  I am accountable for my actions, and I will reap what I sow.  If I choose to be a poor mother, my kids will be negatively affected.   The only reason I am not a poor mother, however, is because of the grace of God.  God has given me new birth, he has transferred me "from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of his dear Son" (Col. 1:13).  He has given me the Holy Spirit, a love for His word, and a desire to raise my children to know and love Him.  So, I take great comfort despite my failures as a mother.  I know that God is sovereign.  I know He will bring to pass all that he desires.  I know he is working in me to "will and to do of his good pleasure" (Phil. 2:13).   And I know that my own worry about the job I'm doing as a wife and mother is self righteousness.  It is Ishmael peaking his head around the corner, mocking the freedom and grace I have in the Lord Jesus Christ.

 I would like to think this might encouraging you, as you are raising your children, some of you homeschooling them, as I do.  Your kids aren't going to always behave the way you want them to.  You are not always going to behave as you want to.  You don't always say the right words to your children, I certainly don't say what I should say to mine.  You will not always have the correct attitudes towards your children, I don't towards mine.  However, I have found after years of exposure to my dad's teaching, that the more I hear about the grace of God, the more I want to do the will of God.  Understand grace.  Know who you are as a Christian.  Know that the old system of law, of performance is over.  There is a new covenant and it is 100 times better than the old.  It is the only way to be a child of God.  Know that your efforts are not what saved you, and are they are not what keep you.   It is the faithfulness of God that keeps you, it is the grace of God that sustains us all.