The Faith of Our Fathers: Session 2 – Isaac – A Son and an Heir

Notes:

Isaac – A Son and an Heir    See Session Slides Here

Gen.15:2-4. The key relating to Isaac is sonship. He was the long-promised, long-awaited son of Abraham and Sarah. But in a period of doubt Abraham almost appointed Eliezer, his servant, as heir. But this was not acceptable to God. God promised a son. God builds with sons, not servants.

After justification (Abraham) we have been placed alongside Christ Himself in the matter of sonship (Isaac). He is our Elder Brother, Heb.2:10-11; Rom.8:29.

  • Sons are heirs. Everything Isaac had he inherited from Abraham, because he was his son: ‘And Sarah my master’s wife bore a son to my master when she was old; and to him he has given all that he has’ (Gen.24:36). ‘The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together’ (Rom.8:16-17).
  • We are heirs of the Father and joint-heirs with Christ Himself, giving us a title to our spiritual inheritance. ‘And Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac’ (Gen.25:5).
  • Next chapter (Gen.16): The birth of Ishmael to Abraham through a bondwoman.
  • Another lapse of faith; another attempt to pass the inheritance to a servant.
  • See the significance of this – Gal. 4:21-28. Two covenants: law and grace.
  • You will never inherit the promises by law; only by grace, i.e. not as servants; but as sons.
  • Many Christians have a servant mentality; i.e. they think they can merit blessings through service. This produces a servile spirit, which manifests itself through striving and fear.
  • Once justified, our position is that of sons of God. Our blessings are based on this, John 8:35.

Gal.4:29-5:1. So Ishmael was born to Abraham from his unsanctioned relationship with Hagar, Sarah’s maid.

  • He was not a son in a covenant sense; he was illegitimate, characterized by his lack of discipline.
  • A father does not chasten an illegitimate son for he has no vision or plans for him.
  • On the other hand he has an interest in his true sons and has a purpose for them. He will ensure this purpose is not thwarted by their misbehavior and will therefore lovingly correct them, Heb.12:7-8.
  • We are free from a servile spirit. When we are disciplined we know it is from a Father Who loves us.

 Servants. God’s OC people were under the of the law, depicted by the pedagogue in NT times, Gal.3:23-24; Gal.4:1-2. But there was a specific time when the child was officially adopted into his father’s family. He was no longer a ‘child’ but a ‘son’. The Cross was the time when God’s people became sons, Gal.4:4-5.

This was characterized by:

1) Freedom from the pedagogue (law), ‘…after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor’ (Gal.3:25).

2) Intimacy with the Father, ‘you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus’ (Gal.3:26).

We are dead to the law and alive to the Spirit

  • Those with a servant mentality marry themselves to the law; those who are sons are led by the Spirit, Rom.8:14-15. For the believer the Holy Spirit has taken the place of the law, Gal.5:18.
  • It is not good that those who are now of sons should relate to the Father through the law, Gal.4:9-11
  • A servant mentality is not only characterized by laws but also by dependence on law-givers. People with a servant mentality always need someone to tell them what to do.
  • The less we understand what it means to be sons the more we will behave like servants.

 The status of sonship is characterized by intimacy with the Father

  • Under the NC there is a new level of intimacy based on a new kind of relationship. There is no human mediator between us and God, Heb.8:11.
  • The status of sonship is characterized by intimacy with the Father. The Spirit helps us to feel like sons, even like Jesus Himself, in the presence of the Father.