Galatians 4:28-29 "Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise. (29) But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now."
In this 4th chapter, Paul used the account of Abraham, Sarah, and Hagar to show
the difference between works of the flesh and being obedient to the Spirit of
God. Let's look at just a quick review of those events. God had promised a son
to Abraham, but the child had not been conceived. Abraham and Sarah decided
that maybe God meant for them to take care of the situation, so Sarah gave her
handmaid to Abraham. Maybe God meant for the promised son to come through
Hagar. You remember a son was born to Hagar and his name was Ishmael, but he
was not the promised son from God. God intended to, and did, show His power in
spite of the weakness of Abraham and Sarah. Isaac, the promised son, was born
to Sarah when she was 90 years old and Abraham was about 100 years old.
Though the flesh was weak, God manifested His omnipotent power by giving that
promised son to Abraham. In time, Isaac grew and Abraham made a great feast
when Isaac was weaned. It was on that day that Ishmael began to mock and taunt
Isaac, the promised son. Hagar and Ishmael were sent away at that time.
Let's look at this through spiritual eyes for a moment. We live in the
flesh and we still must contend with minds that are tainted with carnality. The
flesh (Ishmael) still taunts and mocks the promised, spiritual being (Isaac).
There is a warfare that goes on inside us every single day. Only the power of
the Holy Spirit can enable us to overcome the flesh. Our minds can overtake our
spiritual understanding. Our minds can tell us that there is no need to pray
and no time to study God's Word. Our minds can taunt us into thinking we
can figure things out on our own. But the truth remains that without Jesus
Christ, we have no ability to be true conquerors in this world. We must rely
upon the Spirit to overcome the natural tendencies of the flesh. The good news
is that though the flesh does try to persecute and taunt the Spirit, we are children
of promise. God has promised and has given to us new life in Christ Jesus. Let
us walk after the Spirit and not after the flesh; for, there is now no
condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus who walk after the Spirit and not
after the flesh. (See Romans 8:1)