Abraham - Two Sons, Two Natures

You've been blessed with all spiritual blessings in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. You were born rich. Now, this is a good thing to know because the Christian life means drawing upon the resources of God, not drawing on my resources. I don't have any.

Gracious Father, we do bring to you the worship and the love of our hearts. We realize that we don't know how to worship you as we should or how to love you as we should. But you see our hearts and you know our heart's desire. Help us now to love you even as we study the word of God. We're listening to your word speak to us, and we know that you speak to us from a heart of love. And so may we receive your word now and then act upon it. Make us to be better Christians, better people, because we've studied your word together today. I pray in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.

Isaac was a very important baby. Isaac was proof that God keeps his promises, and Isaac is a picture of what God does in the life of the believer. Genesis 21. And the Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as he had spoken. For Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him. And Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac. Then Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. Now Abraham was one hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. And Sarah said, God has made me laugh, so that all who hear will laugh with me. She also said, who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? For I have borne him a son in his old age. So the child grew and was weaned, and Abraham made a great feast on the same day that Isaac was weaned.

Now as we look at this passage, we've got to remember that there's more to it than just a happy birthday feast and a happy birthday occasion. Paul tells us in Galatians 4 that this whole scenario is a picture of law and grace. Remember, Sarah represents the covenant of grace, the Jerusalem which is above. Hagar represents the covenant of law, the Jerusalem on earth, Mount Sinai. Hagar was a bondwoman. She gave birth to a son who was in bondage. Sarah was a free woman. She gave birth to a son who was free and who was the heir. 

Let's notice some facts about Hagar. If you are tempted to put your Christian life under the rule of law, you learn about Hagar and you will change your mind. First of all, Hagar was Abraham's second wife. That's important. God did not start with Hagar; he started with Sarah. Remember Sarah represents grace. God did not start with the law. The law was something that was added. Look at Galatians 3:19. What purpose then does the law serve? It was added because of transgressions. God didn't start with the law in the Garden of Eden. God didn't start with the law with Abraham, or Isaac, or Jacob. The law was not given until the time of Moses, and it was added. Hagar was his second wife. 

Now there was a purpose for the law. The law was a schoolmaster to prepare the way for the coming of Christ. The law reveals the righteousness of God, the holiness of God. The law kept the nation, as it were, in check. It didn't change them, didn't always control them, but it checked them. They knew that they belonged to God through the covenant. We'll go into that in more detail in our next study, but Galatians 4:28 is a key verse. Galatians 4:28. Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise. Did you get that? Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise. 

Abraham had two sons. His firstborn was Ishmael, born of the flesh. His second born was Isaac, born by the power of the Spirit of God. Now these two sons illustrate the fact that you and I have two natures: an old nature that we got with our first birth and a new nature that we received with our second birth. I trust that you have been born from above, born again. I trust that Isaac has come into your life. Now you were born with Ishmael; I was too. We don't have to teach children how to be stubborn or how to lie; they do this naturally. Why? They are born like Ishmael; they're born of the flesh. Now God made it this way, but God also made a way for us to be born again. And Isaac is a picture of the born-again believer. 

What I'd like to do in this study is look at Genesis 21, especially verses 1 through 8, and see the comparisons between Isaac and the believer today. We are like Isaac; we are children of promise. Well, the Lord visited Sarah, just as he said he would. Now they had doubted that, you'll recall. They had tried their own scheme, and Abraham had married Hagar, and Hagar gave birth to Ishmael. But this wasn't God's way. You see, when God has something he's going to accomplish, he has his own way of doing it, his own reason for doing it, and his own time in doing it. Notice what it says here: at the set time. We try to run ahead of the Lord. Abraham and Sarah tried to run ahead of the Lord, and of course they suffered for it, and their people are still suffering for it. 

So Isaac is born. Comparison number one: we are like Isaac, that is, we who have been born again are like Isaac because our birth is miraculous. Look at his miraculous birth. It was God's work, not man's work. You see, God rejects the firstborn. When you go through the Old Testament Scriptures, you'll find that God rejects the firstborn and he chooses the second born. He rejected Cain and he chose Abel. He rejected Esau and he chose Jacob. He rejected Ishmael, Abraham's firstborn, and he chose Isaac.

And by the way, he has rejected my first birth. There's nothing about my first birth, my flesh, that I can give to God. I know that in me, that is in my flesh, said the apostle Paul, dwells no good thing. That's pretty negative. No good thing. Not some good things; no good thing. The flesh profits nothing, said the Lord Jesus, John 6. How much? Nothing. Having no confidence in the flesh, says Paul in Philippians 3. Here are three negatives now: no good thing, the flesh profits nothing, no confidence in the flesh. My first birth, God has rejected. He says you've got to be born again. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; it always will be flesh, and it will get what God has ordained for flesh: judgment. But that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. You must be born again. 

Now he was born because they believed the promise. He was born through the power of the Spirit of God. Abraham was as good as dead; Sarah was as good as dead. When you and I are as good as dead, then God can do something for us. You know, so often when you talk to unsaved people about being saved, they say, well yeah, I want to be saved. I do want to go to heaven. I don't want to go to hell. And so I'm starting to read my Bible and I'm starting to go to church. Well, these are all good things. But remember you are dead. And it's not until you believe the word of God, believe the promise of God, trust the Savior, that you are born from above. His birth was miraculous. It's rather interesting we're going to discover that Sarah is a picture of grace. Over in Galatians 4, we're going to read that. Hagar is a picture of the law; Sarah is a picture of grace. Now when you think of Abraham, you think of faith. How was Isaac born? By grace through faith. Faith, that's Abraham. Grace, that's Sarah. Isaac's parents were faith and grace. How are you and I born from above? For by grace are you saved through faith. His birth was miraculous. 

There's a second comparison now: his birth was joyful. They called him Isaac, which literally means laughter. The laughter that came into their lives. He was a joy bringer into their home. Now salvation brings joy. Abraham was joyful when he got the word. You remember in Genesis 17:17 how he laughed and said, can a baby be born to people as old as we are? It was the laughter of joyful faith. Sarah initially laughed in unbelief, but now she's laughing with joy. God has made me to laugh, she says, so that all who hear will laugh with me.

This sounds like Luke 15. The coin is lost and the woman finds the lost coin, and she rejoices, and she calls her friends in and says, rejoice with me; God has helped me find my coin. The sheep is lost; the shepherd goes and finds the sheep, and when he comes back home, he calls all of his friends together and says, rejoice with me; I've found my sheep which was lost. The boy comes home in the parable of the prodigal son, and the father kills the fatted calf, and they have a big party out on the lawn, and they rejoice together because the boy has come home safe and sound. And Luke 15 tells me that while people are rejoicing on earth, the angels are rejoicing in heaven. The night, the day, the morning that you were born from above, there was joy. Oh, I hope joy came into your heart and came into the hearts of your loved ones. Salvation brings joy. 

Abraham took Isaac and circumcised him. Now here's the third comparison: he was sealed as a son of the covenant. He was circumcised. Now God commanded this to be done. Abraham was always quick to obey the commands of God. You and I, when we were born from above, were sealed by God so that we know we are children of his covenant. Ephesians 1:13. Ephesians 1:13 says, In him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of his glory.

Notice the sequence here: they heard the word of truth. This word of truth was the gospel of their salvation. They believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. Having believed, they were sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise. And having received this seal, they have the guarantee that they belong to God, that they have an inheritance with God, and that one day they shall be completely redeemed and delivered from the bondage of sin. That's tremendous. When little Isaac was circumcised, God was saying, this boy belongs to me, he always will belong to me, the inheritance is his, and I have claimed him. That's what happened when you were saved. The Holy Spirit came into your life. You have been sealed to the day of redemption. There was no question that Isaac belonged to Abraham and Sarah, and Isaac belonged to God. 

Well, as a fourth comparison, in verse 8 of Genesis 21, the child grew. I like that. Children are supposed to grow. We're not supposed to remain babies. What a tragedy it is when professed Christians don't grow. Peter writes—the last thing Peter writes—but grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever. 2 Peter 3:18. Paul wrote to the Corinthians and said, I want to feed you some meat, but I couldn't feed you meat. I fed you with milk. For now you're not able to receive it; you're still carnal, you're acting like children. You criticize, you envy, there's strife, there's division, there's selfishness because you're not really growing up. Christians need to grow. How do we grow? Well, Peter tells us that. 1 Peter 2:2. As newborn babes, desire the sincere, the unadulterated milk of the word, that you may grow thereby. How do you grow? Through the word of God.

Here is Sarah nursing her child. Verse 7. Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? The mother is nursing the child. Now when you're born into God's family, you need to be nursed and nurtured and helped to grow. That's what the church is all about. The church is the place where little babies can come and grow and become men and women of God. His growth is an example to us. Well, the word of God is milk, and meat, and bread, and honey. The word of God is the only nourishment we need for spiritual growth. As we worship the Lord together and as we encourage and exhort one another, we grow. Are you a growing Christian? 

Well, there is another comparison I want to make between the believer and Isaac, and that's his weaning. Verse 8. The child grew and was weaned. Most children were weaned at about the age of three or four. Weaned away. Some of the saints have never been weaned. We like to hold on to childish things. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 13:11, When I became a man, I put away childish things. Some Christians are still running around with the toys; they're still playing with their little teddy bears and their security blankets. They're still playing dolls when they ought to be out there fighting the battles of the Lord. They've never been weaned.

David gives us an interesting statement in Psalm 131. Lord, my heart is not haughty, nor my eyes lofty; neither do I concern myself with great matters, nor with things too profound for me. Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul like a weaned child with his mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me. Now a child doesn't like to be weaned; the child thinks that the mother hates him, hates her. The child thinks that the mother no longer wants to care, but the mother cares. The mother wants the child to grow up and to be on his own two feet and feed himself and be a man, be a woman, and not be a baby. 

Some Christians are still babies. Their hearts are not quieted within them; they're upset about everything, they criticize everything. They don't have any peace down inside. Some believers need to be weaned away from preachers and teachers and Sunday school teachers. I want to be a help to you, don't misunderstand me. I've pastored three churches and I've taught Sunday school classes with hundreds of people in them. I want to be of use to God's people, but I don't want you to depend on me.

I recall when I resigned from one of the churches I'd pastored, God had led us into another ministry, and a lady came to me and said, "Oh, what am I going to do when you leave?" And I said, "Well, you'll find out, and you better find out soon. You can't build your Christian life on the preacher, the Sunday school teacher, the radio or TV speaker. You've got to be weaned away so that you can feed yourself the word of God. You can't live on milk continually; you've got to have some meat, you've got to grow some teeth, get some bread of the word and some meat of the word, make a good sandwich, and the honey of the word, and grow up in the Lord." 

Well, there is another comparison in verse 10. The son of this bondwoman—that's Ishmael—shall not be heir with my son, namely with Isaac. He was born rich. Not only born miraculously and born with joy, born to be sealed, born to grow, born to be weaned, but he was born rich. By the way, when you were born again, you were born rich. You've been born again unto a living hope, to an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, that fades not away. You've been blessed with all spiritual blessings in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. You were born rich.

Now, this is a good thing to know because the Christian life means drawing upon the resources of God, not drawing on my resources; I don't have any. Ishmael was born a slave; my first birth made me a poor slave. My second birth made me a son of God who was born rich. We've been brought into the family of God, and all the resources of God are available to us. 

Well, Isaac tells us what it's like to be born again. Maybe you've never been born again. Maybe you're like Ishmael; all you have is your first birth. Well, you don't have any inheritance; you don't have any of these blessings we've talked about. Why don't you put your faith in Jesus Christ and be born into God's family, and like Isaac, experience a miracle and bring joy and have the delight of drawing upon all of the riches and the wealth of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

And now our Father, apply this word to our hearts. Help us to walk by faith. Help us to stay in your will. Forgive us, Lord, when we have sinned. I pray that you'll help us to be a blessing to other people. Give us wisdom. Help us to walk in wisdom toward those who are without. Give us that tact and that grace that we need that we might be good witnesses to others. I pray in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.