The gift of motherhood
Motherhood is one of the greatest works in the creation of God. That came back to my mind when I recently thought about what I could give my mother and mother-in-law to my wife and mother-in-law. I like to remember the words of my mother, who often told my sisters and me how happy she was to be our mother. Having given birth to us, she would have completely rediscovered the love and greatness of God. I could only begin to understand that when our own children were born. I still remember how surprised I was when, with my wife Tammy, the pain of childbirth turned to an awesome joy as she held our son and daughter in our arms. For the past few years, it has been awe-inspiring to think of mothers' love. Of course there is a difference to my way of love and we have also experienced the love of our father in other ways.
Given the intimacy and strength of a mother's love, it doesn't surprise me at all that Paul incorporates motherhood into important statements about God's covenant with humanity when he... Galater 4,22-26 (Luther 84) writes the following:
“For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a maidservant, the other by a free woman. But the one of the handmaid was begotten according to the flesh, but the one of the free woman by the promise. These words have deeper meaning. For the two women signify two covenants: one from Mount Sinai, which gives birth to bondage, that is Hagar; for Hagar means Mount Sinai in Arabia, and is a parable of modern Jerusalem, living with her children in bondage. But the Jerusalem that is above is free; that is our mother.”
As just read Abraham had two sons: Isaac from his wife Sarah and Ishmael from his maid Hagar. Ishmael was born naturally. With Isaac, however, it took a miracle because of a promise, since his mother Sarah was no longer of childbearing age. So it was thanks to God's intervention that Isaac was born. Jacob was born to Isaac (his name was later changed to Israel) and so Abraham, Isaac and Jacob became the ancestors of the people of Israel. At this point it is important to point out that all of the wives of the progenitors could only have children through the supernatural intervention of God. The lineage chain leads over many generations to Jesus, God's Son, who was born human. Please read what TF Torrance wrote about it:
The chosen tool of God in the hand of God for the salvation of the world is Jesus of Nazareth, born of the womb of Israel - but he was not only a tool, but God Himself. He came in human form as a servant to our inner nature with his To heal limitations and its insubordination, and to triumphantly restore the living communion with God through the reconciliation of God with humanity.
We recognize Jesus in the story of Isaac. Isaac came into the world through supernatural intervention, whereas Jesus' birth resulted from supernatural conception. Isaac had been designated as a potential sacrifice, but Jesus was actually and willingly the atoning sacrifice that reconciled humanity with God. There is also a parallel between Isaac and us. The supernatural intervention in Isaac's birth corresponds in us to the (supernatural) new birth through the Holy Spirit. Through this, we become fellow believers of Jesus (Joh 3,3; 5). We are no longer children of bondage under the law, but adopted children, accepted into God's family and kingdom and have an eternal inheritance there. That hope is certain.
In Galater 4 Paul compares the Old and New Covenants. As we have read, he connects Hagar with the people of Israel under the Old Covenant at Sinai and with the Mosaic Law, to whom no family affiliation or inheritance in God's kingdom was promised. With the New Covenant, Paul refers back to the original promises (with Abraham), according to which God would be the God of Israel and Israel his people, and through them all families on earth would be blessed. These promises are fulfilled in God's covenant of grace. Sarah was given a son, born as a direct member of the family. Grace accomplishes the same. Through Jesus' act of grace, people become adopted children, children of God with an eternal inheritance.
Paul distinguishes between Galater 4 between Hagar and Sarah. Hagar connects Paul with the Jerusalem of that time, a city under Roman rule and the Law. Sarah, on the other hand, represents the "Jerusalem above," the mother of all children of God's grace, with an inheritance. This inheritance encompasses far more than any city. It is the "heavenly city." (Offb 21,2). of the living God” (Hebr 12,22), who will one day come down to earth. The heavenly Jerusalem is our home city, where our true citizenship resides. Paul calls Jerusalem, which is above, the Free One; she is our mother. (Gal 4,26)United with Christ through the Holy Spirit, we are free citizens and accepted by the Father as his children.
I thank God for Sara, Rebekah and Lea, the three tribal mothers at the beginning of the lineage of Jesus Christ. God chose these mothers, however imperfect they were, as well as Mary, the mother of Jesus, to send his Son to earth as a human being and who sent us the Holy Spirit to make us children of his father. Mother's Day is a special opportunity to thank our God of the Grace Covenant for the gift of motherhood. We thank him for our own mother, our mother-in-law and wife - for all mothers. Motherhood is truly an expression of God's wonderfully life-giving goodness.
Full of gratitude for the gift of motherhood,
Joseph Tkach
President
GRACE COMMUNION INTERNATIONAL
