The Story of Sarah and Hagar (Gal. 4)
• This story is an allegory = a story with a lesson.
• The lesson is how God works (the nature of grace).
• The characters are real, but also symbolic:
 Abraham is us = the seed bearers!
 His seed (the life of Christ) is what we are planting.
 There are two mothers – Sarah and Hagar.
 There are two sons – Isaac and Ishmael.
Two Mothers = Two Systems
• Hagar = Flesh (Self-effort = Man’s Work)
• Sarah = Spirit (God’s Grace = God’s Work)
• Hagar gives birth to Ishmael (son of bondage)
• Sarah gives birth to Isaac (son of Promise)
• Hagar, the natural, is servant to Sarah, the spiritual.
• The lesson of the story:
Natural things must be midwives, not mothers.
Two Mothers Produce Two Sons
• Ishmael = is the result of our own effort
 Our plans
 Our resources
 Our abilities
• Ishmael can be born without the activity of God!
• Ishmael is the son of bondage = the curse.
 Cut off from the Spirit
 Not God’s work or plan!
Two Mothers Produce Two Sons
• Isaac = can only be birthed by an act of God!
• He is the result of:
 God’s plans
 God’s resources
 God’s power
 God’s abilities
 God’s purpose,
NOT MAN’S!
Isaac is the “Son of the Promise” (Galatians 4:23)
• What is the “Promise”?
• The Promise is God’s Promise to our father Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3:
 “I will make you a great nation.”
 “I will bless you.”
 “[I will] make your name great.”
 “I will bless those who bless you.”
 “[I will] curse those who curse you.”
 “And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”
This Promise is the Multiplied Blessing which God has Promised to All the Families of the Earth!
It is God’s Promise that through the Multiplied Seed of Abraham, Every Family on Earth Would have the Potential to Receive the Blessing which God Promised Abraham Through His Covenant with Him!
The Significance of This Promise
1. This Promise was God’s Covenant with Abraham.
2. It is, therefore, eternally binding.
3. It clearly states God’s purpose in making salvation available to every family on earth!
4. It is, therefore, a defining statement of God’s redemptive work ultimately completed in Christ.
5. We, brethren, are the fulfillment of this Promise.
• We are the uncountable stars in the heavens!
• We are the as the sand on the seashore!
Even More So, Paul Declares that
We, Like Isaac, Are the Children of the Promise (Galatians 4:28)!
Paul is saying to the Galatians that,
“What was Covenant ally true regarding Isaac is also true concerning us!”
The Promise Applies to Us!
• It’s Blessings.
• It’s Conditions (the way it works).
Remember what the Promise Is and How It Works?
• The Promise is God’s Promise to our father Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3:
 “I will make you a great nation.”
 “I will bless you.”
 “[I will] make your name great.”
 “I will bless those who bless you.”
 “[I will] curse those who curse you.”
 “And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”
One Key Thing Paul wanted the Galatians to see About the Promise and How It Works:
It is Totally a Work of God and Totally Not a Work of Man!
The repeated phrase that God uses in this covenant is: “I will.”
Paul says to the Galatians:
“You foolish Galatians, did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by the hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?... Even so, Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. Therefore, be sure that it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham.” (Galatians 3:1-6)
How do we know who are those who are “of faith”?
It is those who have received the Spirit (Galatians 3:5)!
This is the Work of God to Fulfill the Abraham Covenant: that through the Cross of Christ, Men Might be Redeemed and Receive the Spirit of God.
This is what we are called to reproduce.

Ishmael Persecutes Isaac!
• Abraham loved Ishmael.
•
• Ishmael was his son.
• We also love Ishmael.
• Ishmael is our son!
• Ishmael and Isaac cannot live in the same house!
• Abraham had to send Hagar and Ishmael away.
Why Giving Birth to Isaac is so essential for the Church:
Genesis 24:63-67
63 “Isaac went out to meditate in the field toward evening; and he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, camels were coming.
64 “Rebecca lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac she dismounted from the camel.
65 “She said to the servant, ‘Who is that man walking in the field to meet us?’ And the servant said, ‘He is my master.’ Then she took her veil and covered herself.
66 “The servant told Isaac all the things that he had done.

Why Giving Birth to Isaac is so essential for the Church:
Genesis 24:63-67
67 “Then Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent, and he took Rebecca, and she became his wife; and he loved her; thus Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.”

Rev Alice Mwangi