Daily Devotional for Saturday, January 25

Sarah's Marriage Corresponds to the Heavenly

"But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all;' Galatians 4:26.

God knew from the beginning that Jesus was going to come to earth and be the solution to the world's sin problem. ''And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: and I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed" (Genesis 12:2, 3). When God made this promise to Abraham, He knew that it was going to come to pass. He assured Abraham and Sarah of the certainty of an offspring, but they were not as confident in God's plan (Genesis 17:17; 18:12).

Unlike the carnal relationship earlier between Abraham and Hagar that resulted in Ishmael, God's divinely appointed promise of a seed through Abraham was fulfilled with his wife Sarah. She first bore Isaac to him, but many generations later the Promised Seed of Abraham was born, which is Jesus Christ. Abraham would be the father of many nations, and Sarah would be the mother of many nations. In the Bible, Hagar represents the carnal, and Sarah represents the spiritual. Paul had already confirmed that Abraham is the father of all that are children of faith, not just descended Jews (Galatians 3:7). Because of Sarah's position, Paul indicated that she "is mother of us all" (Galatians 4:26), which includes both Jews and Gentiles. Paul once again reminded these congregations that it is about a spiritual relationship and not by keeping the Law.

In the book of Romans, Paul summed up the carnal versus the spiritual struggle that we all face, "For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace" (Romans 8:5, 6).

CONSIDERATION

Are you carnally minded or spiritually minded?

Chris Floyd