08/19/2026
Genesis 21:8-11
Isaac and Ishmael -
Spirit and Flesh
In Galatians 4:28-29 Paul makes it clear that Ishmael represents the believer's first birth (the flesh) and Isaac represents the second birth (the Spirit).
When you trust Jesus Christ, you experience a miracle birth from God. This is the second birth.
Abraham represents faith, and Sarah represents Grace, so Isaac was born "by grace ......through faith". (Ephesians 2:8-9)
This is the only way a lost sinner can enter the family of God.
Isaac was born rich. Isaac was an heir of all that his father owned, And God's children are heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ.
We are rich beyond measure!
Finally, Isaac was born free, while Ishmael was the son of a slave. Freedom is the key and one of the key blessings in the Christian life. Of course, Christian freedom does not mean anarchy; for that is the worst kind of bo***ge. It means the freedom to be and to do all that God has for us in Jesus Christ.
"No man in this world attains to freedom from any slavery except by entrance into some higher servitude", said Phillips Brooks and that higher servitude is a personal surrender to Jesus Christ.
Real Liberty comes from willfully replacing a destructive Master with a noble one - God! We are always bound by something whether it be habits, desires, or sin.
No one is more free than the child of God who delights in God's Will and does it from the heart.
That is true freedom!