The God of Jacob, part 2

Auto-generated from the audio — may contain errors.

0:00 The rest of us were here looking at this last week on the patriarchs, thinking as we celebrated the resurrection of Easter and thinking about the God of Easter, remembering that the God of Easter, this is the culmination of the identity of our God. The God of our people, the God of that is described in the scriptures, is first known

0:30 as the God of creation and life, and then the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and then the God of Christ in the church. And it's conspicuous to me that still even like in Acts, as Peter is announcing the effective resurrection of Jesus the Christ, he still refers to God as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. That this identity, this name for God, persists into the age of the church.

1:04 It's still applicable and helpful. It still describes and speaks to us about who our God is. And I like as we are living in this season of Easter, in the age and world where we are, to remember that we don't have a God in general, we have a God in specific. That our God is not just a God in general, our God is a specific God.

1:36 It ties to a specific story that emerges out of a specific people of which we are a part. That we are the continuation of a people in the world belonging to a specific God. That God created the world and imagined life. Demonstrated his character in the person of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He amended his character and his capacity and power in the person of the Christ.

2:10 Manifested his highest intent and goal in the cross and resurrection. And that God perpetuates rain and rule in the world now in and amongst and through you and I. That the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, when we understand who it is that we live under, we live more fully and free. And so we've been looking the last several weeks at the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

2:41 I'm going to wrap that up for us this week with a second week looking at what it means that our God is the God of Jacob. And so we're going to wrap up with our great name, Michelle, covered the life of Jacob last week right up. All the way through his return that you saw in that beautiful story of reconciliation. Jacob ends up having several kids, you know, and maybe the famous story where his son, you know, his boys sell one of his sons in just slavery.

3:17 And then he arises and becomes the deliverer that brings Jacob into Egypt to protect him from the famine, brings the whole family in. I should settle them in Goshen and the way that they describe Goshen in Egypt is this land that's beautiful for shepherds. You can imagine a Delta fertile land so that they're not in Canaan, but they are in beautiful fertile land. Perfect for shepherds. Well, the world is in the drought. God is providing and protecting them.

3:54 And where I want to look at the story of Jacob is right towards the end. Well, first let's look at one story here in Genesis chapter 28. Just a reminder that if you look back at the story of Jacob, it can be kind of bizarre because he gets the promise by like he makes a deal with Esau for the food, right? The British still told us about last week where he says, I'll give you the smell.

4:26 You're so hungry. Give me your birthright. And Esau just gives him the birthright for the stew, which is like really weird looking back on it. He must have been very hungry. I don't know. Maybe he thought that maybe Esau figured he was stronger and he beat Jacob up and take it back later. Like it's hard to know, but the way the story goes, Esau comes out looking kind of dumb. Like he trades his birthright for a meal. And then it gets weirder still because Jacob's mom helps him trick Isaac's dad into giving him the blessing.

4:57 Which is like really weird. And then he has that story where he wrestles, he says he wrestles with God and refuses to let God go until God blesses him. Which is like you wonder how Jacob has that capacity. Like what the life of Jacob is a little bit hard to pin down him as an example. You know? As well as thinking in what way, what do we learn by the fact that God identifies with this new Jacob who seems like kind of a trickster in scriptures. Sometimes he's called a deceiver. Which is like, I mean in all accounts it's hard to make deceiver a positive trait. Right?

5:34 Like what's going on with Jacob? Where our God, the God of creation and life, the God of Christ in the church, the God of Easter is also known, identified and named as the God of Jacob. And what gets me started down the road in recognizing it is Genesis chapter 28. Let's see if I have a verse number. I don't. So we'll skim and find where I was looking for. Oh. Verse 10.

6:06 He's like left because he like you get the feeling like he nabbed that blessing and then took off with the blessing. Right? And he runs by himself to get away from you saw who's going to kill him. Like like I get in the in my image in the head in my head is like think of Middle Eastern Nomad like in the like a long time ago. He's got like robes on. He grabbed something valuable and is running away from the camp. Right? And take it with me. He looted it.

6:39 And Jacob left her sheba and went toward her arm and he came to a certain place and stayed there in that night because the sun had sat and taken one of the stones of the place he put under his head and lay down in that place to sleep. And he dreamed and behold. There was a ladder set up on the earth and the top of it. He was reached to heaven and behold the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. And behold the Lord stood above it and said on the Lord the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac.

7:16 The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring. You're offering like the dust of the earth and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south. And in you your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed. This is it man. This is a promise that like he calls Abram out of her on right out of Mesopotamia calls him out with this promise.

7:48 I'm going to give you land. I'm going to give you more children than there are sand on the shore, stars in the sky. And through you the whole world will be blessed. And Abram is like I'll take that deal. I got nothing anyway. And at several points in the story Genesis 12, 17, 19, God is having to remind Abram of the blessing come back and make the promise over and over again because Abram though his deep to his deep credit he believed is just hard to believe. That God would give you something that's unreasonable, unmerited, unearned.

8:22 That you can't make happen on your own. It's hard to believe that you would be the blessing to the whole world. That you would be the king of land that you have no land in. It's hard to believe that but God comes back over and over and over again and tells Abram I'm going to give you land more often than the size and blessing. The whole world will be blessed for you. And Abram dies and he has one kid and one king, right? And he's buried into the cave, into his hope, the cave of Macapella where he put his wife.

8:54 And then Isaac has inherited everything from Abram. So when God comes to Isaac with that blessing, Isaac is standing on different grounds than Abraham. Abraham had nothing in God's promise from everything. Isaac has all that he needs. And God promises him everything. And Isaac says, I'll go with this instead of what I can make happen on my own. Isaac has this confidence that the promise of God is better than what he can take on his own.

9:27 That life with the God is better than life without him. So Abraham takes the gift from nothing. Isaac takes the gift, though he has everything, he believes the promise of God is better. So Isaac goes down into the cave of Macapella as well. So Abraham, Isaac, they're both laying there, along with their wives, in the cave the only thing that they possess. And then God, too Jacob, makes this promise. If there's a trait for us to emulate from Jacob, if there's a reason I could guess as to why God identifies God's self as the God of Jacob, it's because above all things Jacob recognizes that the promise of God is everything.

10:11 The promise of God is more important to him than food. The promise of God is more important to him than the reputation. The promise of God is more important than the love of his brothers than the favor of his servants. The promise of God is more important to him than his home. He will take the promise of God and run from his home, a threat of life. Jacob recognizes that above everything else, the promise of God is the most important thing he could get himself to. So he does.

10:49 This is the great virtue of Jacob. And it's worth just pausing for a moment and considering what's most important to you. As evidenced by the choices that you have made in your life. Jacob is a deceiver. He's a trickster. But when you look at the story of his life, it seems clear to me that of most importance to him is the promise of God.

11:24 I mean, he like sacrifices a relationship with his brother, really his dying dad. He tricks his dying dad. He has to leave his home on the run. Of most importance to Jacob is the promise of God. He promises to ask the question, what's the most important thing to ask? Your house, your job, your comfort, your money.

12:15 Some person, Jacob at different points, sacrifices, almost everything for the promise of God. I think that's compelling, you know. Look with me at Genesis chapter 49. We go down to the end of his life. Genesis chapter 49.

12:46 He's living in Goshen, beautiful land, surrounded by his sons and their children and their wives and his daughters and his sheep and his herd. He's gathered it all to him. He's a big deal. The Pharaoh knows who he is. The Egypt is the one that's protected from the famine. They're all settled there together, beautifully. And Joseph, the regents to the king, arguably the second most powerful man in all the world they could imagine or get to, recognizes that his dad is dying.

13:22 He's got two boys. Joseph wants the blessing of Jacob on his boys. And this isn't really pertinent to what we're talking about today, but it's just too pretty. I had to read it to you. In Genesis chapter 48, look at verse 15. And he, Jacob, blessed Joseph and said, the God before whom my father's Abraham and Isaac walked. And the God who has been my shepherd all my life long to this day. The angel who has redeemed me from all evil. Blessed the boys.

14:04 I have to say, it is a life goal to say something like that and mean it. Oh, I love that. I think that Jacob is old at this point, like old old, right? It lived long in the book of Genesis. We could speculate on why. And he's got great grandchildren, I imagine. I wonder what it is like to sit at the feet like that and get the encouragement or the blessing of someone who knows what matters.

14:46 I told the story once before, but I'll tell it again. My granddad, my dad's dad, he died this past year. He was somewhere around 80. And as we went to his funeral, the whole family got us a beautiful funeral service, really centered on the hope of the gospel, which was lovely.

15:16 Actually, the hope of the resurrection, which is really encouraging. And I was kind of cataloging several stories in my head. My granddad grew up in the Midwest, Iowa, Kansas. His dad was a pastor as well, and they grew up speaking German in his home. My granddad was the youngest of eight kids and the last one to live. He was the last one to die.

15:46 And one of the traits of my grandpa that was endearing to the grandson, but maybe not the others, is he didn't go almost any days without celebrating a happy hour, usually with a Miller light and peanuts. We always poured the Miller light in a glass, because he said he's classy. And he had the Miller light can, he'd pop it. Sometimes Miller high life light, depending on what his doctor would let him drink, which one had the right amount of calories that he was allowed to drink.

16:17 And so it was fun when I got to be old enough to have a beer with my granddad. And we had had a couple beers. The memory that popped up in my head was just a couple years ago. He was down at my folks for Christmas. And by now I had, I was old enough that I had beer that beers I actually liked. And so when he would come, we'd stock up on Miller light because that's what he drank. And I was not, now I love Miller light. This was a couple years ago when I was still pretentious about beer.

16:49 And I had a beer, I wanted to bring him. And I tried a simple beer, it's not a pretentious beer, it's just ancolite. I thought let me get him a light beer that's better than Miller light, you know. And I can remember when we were sitting on the couch in the media room in my folks house and I brought him this ancolite. We were drinking this ancolite together and we were listening to some hymns. He likes to listen to hymns. And we were just sitting there listening to him and he had the beer and I asked him what he thought about the ancolite.

17:20 It's like it's nice, Ben, but I mean I feel like I got to chew it, you know. I need a fork for the sand still light, you know. I was like, oh, this is funny, grandpa. Then he made me stop the CD because he was thinking about how much he likes sitting there having a beer with his grandson. And he started telling me about one of his favorite hymns. I can't remember how it goes right now, but he started to sing a little bit for me, a little bit in German, a little bit in English. And then talk about being welcomed home from Abram's bosom to the rest.

17:52 He starts to tear up. My granddad talks about how he's excited to make it to heaven because he knows he'll see his siblings and his parents. He's like, but most of all, I want to see this new Jesus that I have been working with for so long. He's tearing up. There is something beautiful about the reality that the faith of our people has been passed down from one generation to the next.

18:22 Look, sometimes they wrote it in Scripture, but it is not contained in Scripture. The story of our people is the story of our people that has been passed down from grandfathers to grandchildren, from grandmothers to grandsons over and over again through the generations. These stories are normed by the Scriptures, but they're not contained there. They happen little blessings like Jacob to Ephraim and Manasseh that says, May the God who has been with me my whole life be with you as well.

18:54 He recognizes that the promise of God is transferable. God set up some patterns around that all the way back with Abram that says, I care about you so I will extend my care to your children. And from one generation to the next through Israel and kings and judges and Rome and even the U.S. God is extending blessing from one generation to the next. The promise of God is where everything resides.

19:25 Because of that, look at where Jacob ends up. He says in Genesis chapter 49 verse 28, all these are the 12 tribes of Israel, Israel, Jacob's sons. This is what their father said to them as he blessed them, blessing each with the blessing suitable to him. Verse 29, then he commanded them and said to them, I am to be gathered to my people. Bear me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephraim the Hittite.

20:01 In the cave that is in the field at Mecpella to the east of Marm and the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephraim the Hittite to possess as a burial in place. And there they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife. There they buried Isaac and Rebecca his wife and there I buried Leah. The field and the cave that is in it were bought from the Hittites. When Jacob finished commanding his sons, he drew up his feet.

20:32 They go on and do it and if you keep going down, there it is. Verse 12, thus his sons did for him as he has commanded them. For his sons carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave at Mecpella to the east of Marm, which Abraham bought with the field of Ephraim the Hittite to possess as a burial in place. Do you know why he was insistent that they make the trip back? Joseph had to ask the Pharaoh for special permission to leave and he went with chariots and a whole team because Jacob believed that the promise of God was stronger than his death.

21:09 That when God gives him the land, he wants to be in it waiting. Says, this is my land that God has promised for me. I bury my hopes there. And though death take me, the promise will not be defeated. So he goes into wait in the grave with Abraham and Isaac for God to make good on the promise because the promise of God is everything. More than this life itself, it extends beyond the grave into the light to come. Paul talks about it. Look with me at Romans. He makes a mention of Jacob, but right before that he talks to us about the promise of God.

21:43 Look in Romans chapter 8 and 9. There's so much in Romans 8 and 9 that I've had to like really restrain. Look at chapter 8 verse 22.

22:13 For the creation was subjected to futility not willingly, but because of him who subjected it. In the hope that the creation itself would be set free from the bondage to decay and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. Where we know that the whole creation has been grown together in pains of childbirth until now. And only the creation and not only the creation, but we ourselves who have the first fruits of the spirit grown inwardly. As we wait eagerly for the adoption as children, the redemption of our bodies for in this hope we were saved.

22:48 Now the hope that has seen is not hope for the first thing I want you to see there is he is saying that we have this hope, this promise, this promise of God that is everything that is stronger either even than death. Then the bodies we walk around in though these bodies decay the hope is not put aside or beaten. It endures. This is why Jacob is in MacPella. Abraham is in MacPella. Isaac is in MacPella. And then go down verse 21. What shall we say then to these things?

23:18 If God is for us who can be against us? He did not spare his own son but gave him up for us all graciously. How could he not also give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? If God it justifies who is it who condends? Look down to verse 37. No in all things. We are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life nor angels nor rulers nor things present nor things to come nor powers nor height nor depth nor anything else.

23:56 And all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Remember when we talked about we in our Bible study this past week we just started talking about creation. But I mentioned it several weeks ago that when you look at the story of creation it's important to remember we get no explanation as to why God is the earth into existence. It's the force of his will and the power of his imagination that call the world into existence out of nothing. Why does he do it? The scriptures don't tell us the best answer we can get if he wanted to.

24:27 Right? And then when you look for a reason why he calls Abram out of Huron from the Hafirah people socially marginalized disenfranchises of the barren wine. There's no explanation given to why he calls Abram other than he wanted to. And he works with Isaac and not Ishmael. Why? I guess because he made the promise to Sarah but then he works with Jacob and not Esau. Why? I don't know if he wanted to.

24:58 The prerogative of God is the most powerful force in the universe and it is bent on your good. It's saying that God will work all things together for the good of those who love him. God has extended his prerogative out into your favor. What else matters? The God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob has said I send my son in order to ransom your eternity. New life, new heavens, new earth. What else matters? We are the we are children of the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob.

25:32 The God of Christ and the church. The God of Easter. What else matters? One of when I realized that being Christian meant not agreeing to a set of doctrines extracted from an encyclopedia of faith.

26:02 But when I realized that being Christian meant taking my place in a generation's long line of people believing the story of the God who made the world and spends all to redeem it. I knew I could give my life to it. I love that we are children of the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob. I hope you find ways to let the prerogative of God rest for you as well. Be all in all. Let's pray.

26:34 Hey Lord, thank you for the chance to be your children. We love you dearly because you have loved us. Be with us now. Remind us of your promise to us and teach us how to bet all on it. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.