Sunday 11:03:13

John Newton, the reformed slave trader who came to Christ spectacularly in a storm that almost took his life, and later wrote the hymn, Amazing Grace, said once, "My memory is nearly gone; but I remember two things: That I am a great sinner, and that Christ is a great Savior." I can tell you in my own life, that I am a great sinner. The longer I live, the more sin I find. Not just more sin, but deeper sin. I find that sin has had a corrupting effect on my mind, my heart, my desires. There is a constant pull within me away from God and toward selfishness. But, since I have become a believer, God has begun to show me the devastating effect of sin in my life. And now, he is restoring what has been twisted and broken in me. We are talking about the impact that Jesus has in lives - not just the moment of salvation, which is glorious and impacts our destinies, but also the way that Jesus saves ALL of our lives. He is transforming our lives - to undo the effects of sin in our lives and restore us to what God had intended all along - to make us more like Him. We are going to talk about Jacob, the son of Isaac, grandson of Abraham. Jacob was a twin. his brother, Esau was born first. Jacob was born a schemer, a deceiver. Gen 25:25-26 The birthright belonged to Esau, but Jacob schemed him out of it. Gen 25:29-31 In Gen 27 – the account of Jacob impersonating Esau to steal his father’s blessing – Jacob schemed and took his blessing. Why does Jacob scheme – he wants to get ahead. He is selfish. He doesn’t mind hurting other people, and lying to get what he wants. He has no faith that he’ll be taken care of – his brother would receive his father’s estate. He would be mostly left out. He operated in fear – not in faith. We operate out of fear all the time – we all have fears – fears that our children won’t do well, fear of being alone, fear of not having the money we’ll need, fears that people won’t like us. Your fears reveal the areas in your life where you do not trust God. Your fears drive you to take on yourself the things that God wants to do in your life. What was Jacob’s fear? What did he do with it” Isaac told Jacob not to intermarry with the Canaanites (Gen 28:2), likely because they worshipped different gods. He told him to go to Paddan Aram, where his mother was from, north of Beersheba where they lived, in Mesopotamia. Jacob would take this journey as a young man to find a wife. Big and scary trip – as a young man, he stayed around his father’s tents, now he would take a journey far away. At this point, God had not revealed himself to Jacob. Genesis 28:10-22 vv. 10-11 vv. 12 – Stairway – a bridge between heaven and earth – between God and Jacob. This was a foreshadowing of Jesus Christ – he would be the bridge between heaven and earth – between God and man. The mediator between God and men. The OT is full of foreshadowing God’s plan to redeem us. Here, the meaning is God was offering to be Jacob’s God. He would send his angels as ministers to Jacob. vv. 13-15 – God’s promise to bless and work through Abraham passed to his son Isaac. It would now pass from Isaac to Jacob. God promised: 1. Multitude of descendants 2. All people would be blessed by him (Jesus would be one of his descendants) 3. God would be with him 4. God would protect him The gods of this day were local deities, supposedly having rule over certain areas. God rules over all the areas of your journey. vv. 16-19 – Jacob recognized that he had met God. He set up his rock-pillow as a memorial of worship and consecrated it with oil – like an offering. vv. 20-22 – IF you will be with me, protect me, give me food and clothes, and return me to my father, THEN you will be my God, and I will give you a tithe. Even though God revealed himself to Jacob spectacularly, he still did not trust God. He was worried about having food and clothing. He will continue to scheme to gain and to protect his stuff. He does not yet trust God. Jacob – “you are the God of my father and grandfather, but I’m not sure you’re my God.” This is the journey that everyone of us must take. Will I follow the faith of my parents or take some other way. There is a deeper question here, do I trust God to watch over me and protect me or do I trust my own abilities? Here’s the great grace of God. He SHOULD say, take it or leave it. I am the only true God, where do you think everything in your life has come from – ME! You are the one that cannot be trusted, I am known as “the faithful one.” God, in his grace and patience, goes on the journey with us, willingly proving His goodness to us. What areas of your life do you fear? Lack of money? Fear for your children? Fear of loneliness? Fear of rejection? You are trying to do it all on your own and it’s getting worse. If you are not turning to the Lord in those areas, they are driving you to do crazy things. God offers to go on the journey with you. “Trust me, I will take care of you and watch over you.” Turn it over to him. Trust him. Let it go. Romans 14:23b, “Whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.”