Keys to Christian Living
Genesis 21:1-21
Introduction
During World War I, one of our American Airmen took off from an airfield located in Kobar, Arabia. Little did the pilot know that while the plane was on the ground a large rat had crawled up and inside the cockpit.
While in the air the pilot became aware of the rat’s presence when he heard some gnawing behind him. He immediately realized that the sound he was hearing was the sound of a rat. Alarmed at what could turn into a disastrous situation, the pilot remembered that rats could not live in high altitudes. So the pilot did the smart thing and pointed his airplane up and climbed to altitudes where breathing was difficult. After some time at the high altitude, the knowing stopped. When he landed on the ground he found that that the gnawing rat had died.
The gnawing rat represents well the many gnawing struggles that we face daily in our Christian walk. Many, if not all, the gnawing struggles that we face on a daily basis can be dealt with much like the pilot dealt with the gnawing rat. It can be dealt with by climbing to greater altitudes in our Christian walk.
Our last two studies in the book of Genesis have revealed to us what happens when we don’t move to higher altitudes in our Christian living. We saw the gnawing struggles bring Lot in chapter nineteen to a destructive demise. We saw the gnawing struggles bring Abraham to a point of jeopardizing God’s eternal plan and the purity of his marriage. Fortunately, God’s is faithful when we are not faithful and he intervened in Abraham’s situation, but even more importantly, he demonstrated his forgiving attitude to a saint that had gone astray.
Now, one could take a fatalistic view of the journey of faith when we observe the lives of Lot and Abraham. If our journey of faith is going to be characterized by both high points and low points, then why try? Why not take the “ka sha ra sha ra” attitude and say, “What eve will be will be?” The answer is simple; God does not want us to take that type of approach to our Christian living. Yes, we will have low points, and yes the Lord will forgive us, but God has given us everything we need to live the Christian life that he has called us to live.
The Christian life is a life of gnawing struggles, but many of those gnawing struggles can be eliminated if we will just rise to higher altitudes in our Christian walk. We can avoid the mishaps of Lot and Abraham if we have a basic understanding of the Christian life. We can spend more time at the high points and less at the low points by having some fundamental knowledge of Christian living and appropriating it.
Chapter twenty-one of the book of Genesis gives us some fundamental truths concerning the Christian walk. When we begin to understand the truths and how they can move us to higher altitudes in our Christian living, then we will see more high points instead of low points.
It is hard to believe that a chapter that declares the birth of a promised childe and the expulsion of a problem child can give us some fundamental truth concerning our Christian walk, but it does. There are three keys to Christian living that I would like to share with you, keys that are found in the first twenty-one verses of this chapter. From God’s standpoint the keys deal with the promises of God, the precepts of God, and the power of God. From the standpoint of the child of God the keys deal with trust, obedience, and yielding.
This study is designed to be very practical in nature. Some may have left the last two studies of Lot and Abraham with the question of how. How do I avoid Lot’s demise? How do I avoid the foolishness of Abraham? The answers to these questions are crucial. If we are going to have more high points than low points in our journey of faith, then we must learn to appropriate the first key, which is to rely on the unfailing nature of the Promises of God.
I. Rely on the Unfailing Nature of the Promises of God
Since the beginning of our study of the life of Abraham we have been anticipating the promise of God to Abraham concerning an heir. The Lord told Abraham when he called him that he would be a great nation. This is all fine and dandy, but Abraham’s wife was barren and they were on up in their years. Still, the Lord promises to both Abraham and Sarah that she would give birth to a son, and through Abraham’s offspring would come kings and nations, but more importantly, through Abraham’s offspring would come the Savior of the world, Jesus Christ.
For ten chapters we have been anticipating the promise of a child. These ten chapters of the life of Abraham represent twenty-five or so years in the life of Abraham. The Lord gave them a promise and they would have to wait for God to fulfill that promise. The day of God’s fulfillment has finally come. Chapter twenty-one records the Lord’s promise being fulfilled.
The scene is set for us in the first two verses, “Then the Lord took note of Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as he has promised. So Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the appointed time of which God had spoken to him.” It is amazing that within these two verses we have about a nine or ten month period of time. Sarah who was barren was now fertile and she conceived and gave birth to a son in her old age. The fact that she was fertile illustrates once again how Abraham’s foolish actions of the previous chapter jeopardized the plan of God, but thanks be to God he intervened. In the beginning of chapter twenty-one we find divine visitation taking place, but for different reasons.
A. The Divine Visitation
There is a verb that is used in verse one that we need to take note of to really grasp what the Lord is doing in these two verses. The Hebrew verb that is used in verse one is “paw-kad.” In English we translate that verb “take note” or “visited” or “gracious.” The verb “paw-kad,” as it is used in this context, as the idea of divine intervention for the purpose of good. God is intervening in the life of Sarah for the purpose of blessing her with a son.
The same verb “paw-kad” is used one other time in the book of Genesis. In Genesis chapter fifty, verse twenty four, Joseph uses “paw-kad” to announce that the Lord would visit his people in Egypt and deliver them from the bondage of slavery. Both cases speak of divine intervention for the purpose of good. In both instances the destiny of God’s people was changed.
We find “paw-kad” used to describe how the Lord intervened in the Life a Hannah, another barren woman, and caused her to conceive and give birth to Samuel. “Paw-kad” is used in the first chapter of the book of Ruth to describe how the Lord had visited his people provided for them bread, a visitation that would send Naomi and Ruth back to Israel, a visitation that would bring Ruth and Boaz together in marriage. In all these cases the Lord is intervening in the lives of his people for the purpose of good, and this divine intervention for the purpose of good would alter the destiny of God’s people. This is true of God’s visitation to Sarah, to Israel in Egypt, to Hannah, and to his people during the time of Ruth. At the heart of the divine visitation in these two verses is the unwavering nature of the promises of God.
B. The Unwavering Nature of the Promises of God
The reason for the visitation is stated three times within the two verses. Listen to these verses again, “Then the Lord took note of Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as he had promised. So Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the appointed time of which God had spoken to him.” We are told in verse one “as he had said” and “as he had promised.” We are told in verse two “God had spoken to him.” When you see something repeated, especially three times within two verses, you need to take note of what is being repeated because the repetition stresses the importance of what is being said.
Why did God visit Sarah? Why did she conceive and give birth to a son? The answer is found in the repetition; God said he would do and therefore he did it. The repetition of the spoken word of God as the reason for such visitation reveals the total reliability of the word of God, the total reliability of the promises of God. If God said he would do or will do something, then you can be assured that he will.
The Lord did exactly what he said he would do concerning Abraham and Sarah. He said that he would give them a son, and he did. He said that he would do it at his appointed time, not man’s, and he did. He said that Abraham and Sarah would have a son in their old age, and they did. God’s promises are absolute.
The first key to Christian living is learning to trust and rely on the sure promises of God. Most of our gnawing struggles can be overcome by simply trusting in the word of God and the promises of God. We move to a higher altitude when we put our confidence in God’s word.
Think about how this key could have prevented Abraham from giving into some of his gnawing struggles. If Abraham would have trusted in God’s promise to take care of him he could have avoided the sojourn into Egypt. If Abraham would have trusted in the Lord and his timing, he could have avoided having a child with his wife’s servant Hagar, a child that will become a problem in the subsequent verses. If Abraham would have trusted in the promises of God he would not have gave into the foolish actions of the previous chapter. You can see from Abraham’s life just how important it is to trust in the promises of God.
It is relying on the promises of God that calms our fears. It is relying on the promises of God that bring joy to our sorrowed heart. It is rely on the promises of God that bring confidence when circumstances dictate otherwise. It is relying on the promises of God that bring peace to a troubled heart.
A good illustration of relying on the promises of God is found in a discussion that Jesus had with his disciples in John chapter fourteen just before he went to the cross. Jesus told his disciples, “Let not your heart be troubled, believe in God, believe also in me. ” Jesus gives us a command in verse one, “Let not your heart be troubled.” This is a command, but the command is a passive command. In other words, it not something we do as much as it is something that must be done to us. God is the only one who can calm a troubled heart, therefore, our role in fulfilling this command is found in the exhortation to believe in God and his son Jesus Christ. When we trust in Jesus we have the promise of heaven. When we trust in Jesus we have the promise of salvation. When we trust in Jesus we have the promise of his return. And trusting in these promises can bring calm to a troubled heart.
A practical way of relying on the promises of God is to view the promises of God as a checkbook. When you come across a promise, sign that promise by faith, then present that signed check and God’s great bank of grace, and you will come away enriched with a present help in a time of need Relying on the unwavering promises of God is crucial in rising to higher altitudes in your Christian living. The second key and just as important for climbing higher in our Christian living deals with how we respond to the requirements of the precepts of God.
II. Respond to the Requirements of the Precepts of God
Abraham and Sarah’s response to the fulfillment of God’s promise shows us the second key to Christian living. In their response we see how important it is that God’s people respond to God’s faithfulness by means of joyfully obeying his precepts. In verses three through five we see the expression of obedience as well as the expression of joy demonstrated on the part of Abraham and Sarah.
A. The Expression of Obedience
The expression of obedience is the first thing we see, “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, ads God had commanded him. Now Abraham was one hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.”
Before we focus on the expression of obedience that we see in these verses it would be wise to look at the repetition that is found in these three verses. In these three verses we see repeated the phrase “his son” and the name “Isaac” repeated three times. The repetition points us to the fact that the Lord had done exactly what he said he would do. It stressed the fact that God has been faithful to his word.
It would also be wise for us to remember the significance of the name Isaac at this time. The name Isaac means, “to laugh,” and it takes us back to chapters seventeen and eighteen of the book of Genesis. It was there that the Lord reaffirmed his promise of a son to Abraham and Sarah. When the Lord told Abraham as well as Sarah about the promised child they both laughed because of their age. The Lord then told Abraham that he was to name the son Isaac.
In response to God’s faithfulness, Abraham does exactly what the Lord commanded him to do back in chapter seventeen; he names his son, Isaac. This is Abraham’s response to God’s faithfulness. He responds to God’s faithfulness in fulfilling his promises by obeying the requirements of God’s precepts.
Not only do we see the expression of obedience revealed in the naming of Abraham’s son, but we also see it revealed in the circumcision of his son, “Then Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him” The Lord commanded Abraham back in chapter seventeen as well that he needed to circumcise the males of his household for this was a sign of the covenant between God and Abraham and Abraham’s descendents.
Verse four goes on to tell us exactly what Abraham was doing in these verses. If you look at the end of verse four you will see what he was doing for there it says, “as God had commanded him.” Abraham was responding to the requirements of the precepts of God. Now, look back in verse one with me; notice the last phrase of verse one, “as he had promised.” The phrases are very similar grammatically, and for a reason. The Lord was faithful to his promise as we see in verse one, and therefore, Abraham in response to God’s faithfulness would be faithful to God’s precepts in verse four. We see Abraham’s response to the requirements of the precepts of God in verses three through five. In verses six through eight we see the attitude in which they obeyed God’s precepts. They joyfully obeyed the precepts of God.
B. The Expression of Joy
The joyful expression of Abraham and Sarah’s response to God’s precepts is found in Sarah’s declaration in verse six, “Sarah said, ‘God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh with me.’” There is a play on the name of Isaac here. It means, “to laugh.” Sarah doesn’t see the name Isaac as a constant reminder of her doubt concerning the promises of God, but instead she joyfully declares that the birth of Isaac would be constant reminder of God’s faithfulness to his promises, and the constant reminder of his faithfulness will be a source of joyful obedience.
I want you to think about something for a moment. If Abraham and Sarah responded to God’s faithfulness to his promises with joyful obedience and devotion, how much more should God’s people who live on fulfilled side of the cross respond to God’s faithfulness with joyful obedience and devotion? All of God’s promises are fulfilled in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We who are Christians should respond to that faithfulness by joyfully obeying the precepts of God. In responding to the requirements of God’s precepts we in essence tell the Lore that we love him for all that he as done. It is paramount that we trust in the unwavering promises of God, but just as important, we must also joyfully obey the precious precepts of God.
There is a third key to Christian living revealed in these verses, a key that is just as important as the first two keys. In fact, you cannot truly rise to higher altitudes apart from appropriating all the keys. The third key is found in verses nine through twenty-one, and there we see the need for Christians to remove the impediments to the power of God.
III. Remove the Impediments to the Power of God
A little problem arises as Abraham and Sarah are celebrating the arrival of God’s promised son. We see the problem arising in verse nine, “Now Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, mocking.” The problem is going to come from Ishmael, Abraham’s son from Sarah’s servant, Hagar. It is sad that this problem would not have happened had Sarah and Abraham trusted in the promises of God.
Seeing that a problem might arise, Sarah makes a demand of Abraham, “Therefore she said to Abraham, ‘Drive out this maid and her son, for the son of this maid shall not be an heir with my son Isaac.” At issue in her demand is the heir. Therefore, the only real solution and protection of Isaac in being the heir is by getting rid of Hagar and Ishmael.
This demand would disturb Abraham because Ishmael was still his son. But the Lord would confirm the need to remove Ishmael from the scene. God had already promised that Abraham’s descendants would be named through Isaac. To protect this promise the Lord would have Abraham remove the threat to the promise. The blessings of God would come through Isaac, therefore, the Lord would have Abraham remove the impediment to that blessing, and that impediment was Ishmael.
Abraham does exactly what the Lord told him to do and sends Hagar and Ishmael walking. But don’t think for a moment that God has abandoned Hagar and Ishmael. Don’t think for a moment that the Lord does not care of them. In verses fifteen through twenty-one we see once again the Lord being faithful to his promises. Back in chapter sixteen the Lord told Hagar that he would take care of her and Ishmael, and that he is doing in these verses, he is keeping his promise to them. Furthermore, God’s care for Hagar and Ishmael show how much the Lord loves the outcast, rejected, and the outcast.
So the Lord has Abraham remove the threat to the blessings of God that would come through Isaac. But how does this situation translate into the third key to Christian living? How does this situation reveal the need for God’s people to remove the impediments to God’s power in their life? The answer to these questions is found in the New Testament.
In the fourth chapter of the book of Galatians, Paul is going to use the twenty-first chapter of the book of Genesis and the two children of Abraham, Isaac and Ishmael, as an allegory to illustrate an aspect of the Christian life. In the fourth chapter of Galatians, verse twenty-two Paul says, “For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the bondwoman and one by the free woman. But the son of the bondwoman was born of the flesh, and the son by the free woman though the promise. This is allegorically speaking…” Now, move down a few verses and we read starting in verse twenty-eight, “And you brethren, like Isaac, are children of promise. But as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so it is now also.” Paul is referring to Genesis twenty-one where we find Ishmael “mocking” Isaac. The conflict between Isaac and Ishmael is an allegory to the conflict between the flesh and the Spirit.
What is the solution to the conflict between flesh and the Spirit? Paul goes on to tell us by quoting from the tenth verse of chapter twenty-one of Genesis, “But what does the scripture say? ‘Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the free woman.” These were the words of Sarah, and Paul likens the removal of Ishmael with the removal of the flesh. Why the removal of the flesh? If you go on to read chapter five Paul speaks about walking in the Spirit verses walking in the flesh. If you are going to walk in the Spirit, that is, if you are going to walk in the Power of God, then, you must remove the impediments to the Spirit of God in your life. What is the impediment to the Power of God in our lives? The impediment is the flesh, that which belongs to the old nature.
If you are going to live the Christian life successfully and move to higher altitudes in your Christian experience, then you must yield to the Spirit of God in your life. You must yield to the power of God in your life. You must also remove the impediments of the power of God, which is all that belongs to the flesh. I encourage you to read chapter five of Galatians so that you can understand that which is of the flesh and that which is of the Spirit.
On June 12, 1979, a man made aviation history when he flew his pedal-powered aircraft across the English Channel. He took of from England and flew for three hours some fifteen feet above the water, until he finally made his destination some twenty-miles later in France. As amazing as this feat was, man-powered flight will never be practical because man cannot put out the needed power to maintain extended flights.
In the same way, no one can truly live the Christian life in his or her own strength and power. The only way we can live the Christian life and climb to higher altitudes in our Christian experience is through the enabling power of God that comes from the Spirit of God. It is only by the enabling power of the Holy Spirit that one can live the Christian life. We must remove the impediments and yield to the power of God in our lives.
The keys for Christian living are grounded in the promises of God, the precepts of God, and the Power of God. Christians must trust the promises of God, obey the precepts of God, and yield to the power of God if they are going to climb above those gnawing struggles of life. When you rely on God’s promises, respond to God’s precepts, and yield to God’s power, then and only then, you will be successful in your daily Christian living.
For many of you Christian living is impossible! It is impossible because you have never become a Christian. The first key for you is to trust Jesus Christ as your Lord and savior. Then and only then will you be able to live the Christian life.
