Two Houses
By Doug Long
Two Houses
(By: Doug Long)
It is strange how things we do in life remind us of greater truths? There is a new reality show on TV right now that is pretty good. It is titled “Extreme Makeover Home Edition” What these people do is take a house and completely renovate it. Sometimes they add rooms to the houses, sometimes they completely change the interior of the existing rooms to make the house much more comfortable. At the end of the day the people have the same house, but it looks and feels quite different. The house is the same structure. It has the same foundation, the same walls, and the same roof. It also serves the same purpose, but the renovated one is better.
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The Old Testament and the New Testament have the same author. They are built on the same foundation, and they serve the same purpose. They are not in conflict with one another but the New Testament is better. You might think the statement I just made is pretty bold, but lets take a look at Galatians 4:22-28
Galatians 4:22-28
22For it is written that Abraham had two sons: the one by a bondwoman, the other by a freewoman. 23But he who was of the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and he of the freewoman through promise, 24which things are symbolic. For these are the two covenants: the one from Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar-- 25for this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children-- 26but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all. 27For it is written:
"Rejoice, O barren,
You who do not bear!
Break forth and shout,
You who are not in labor!
For the desolate has many more children
Than she who has a husband."
28Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise.
Paul is making a distinction between the two covenants, the old and the new. He tells us that that the Jews of the time, and I suppose today, are children of bondage. This isn’t to say that we should despise Jews, to the contrary we should love them and share the good news with them. He is rather telling us that we are free. We are not free for any reason though. We are free because Jesus came here, and through the blood sacrifice of his own precious body established a covenant that made us free. We should rejoice in our new house!
