Our Sense of Self Worth

Okay, well, morning folks. It is lovely to see you. My name is Graham. I'm the pastor here of the church.

Now, I get that it's hot, says the guy in the jumper, but this is really worth our best time and concentration today.

This is an incredible passage if we've got the eyes of faith to tune in and see what it's saying to us.

So let me encourage you to come expectantly to Genesis chapter 26.

Genesis 26 · chapter mention

You can grab a Bible round about you or your own, or you can scroll on your phone.

But so important that we have God's word open in front of us, Genesis chapter 26.

Genesis 26 · chapter mention

And so with that in mind, let me try and get us into both the challenge and the comfort that God is going to hold out to us today in his word.

Now, here is British tennis player Emma Raducanu.

Now, back in 2021, she became a household name when she won the US Open as an 18-year-old rookie.

And if you've followed her career since then, you'll know that she's kind of struggled both mentally and physically with the demands of the game of tennis.

And so she said this in an interview with BBC Sport this week.

If anybody read it, I thought it was a fascinating insight into the personality of a sports person.

She said this.

She said, I very much attach my self-worth to my achievements.

If I lost a match, I would be really down.

I would have a day of mourning, literally staring at the wall.

I feel things so passionately and intensely.

Now, on the one hand, part of me kind of loves that drive in her.

But on the other hand, I may be saying this as a father, I really feel for her.

Because no 18-year-old, or she's now, what, 20, should live with that kind of outrageous burden and pressure on their lives, right?

Let alone in life, as opposed to the game of sport.

Now, I take it, though, when she uses that phrase in yellow there, she says,

It's my self-worth.

I take it short for the thing that she perceives that gives her life meaning and purpose.

Okay?

It's kind of one of the buzz phrases of our day, our self-worth.

And for her, that thing is winning.

Which you have to say is fine when you're winning.

But what happens when you don't win?

I've got a friend called Andy.

In fact, Andy was preaching here a couple of weeks ago.

Andy's the chaplain at Hearts Football Club down in Gorgate.

I remember hearing him say, not so long ago, that in his role as the chaplain of that football club,

none of the boys want to talk about the big things in life when things are going well, right?

When things, when they're winning, when they're performing well,

nobody's thinking about the existential questions of life.

But all it takes is for the team to start losing,

and for contracts to be up for discussion,

and for injuries to set in,

and all of a sudden the questions come flying out.

So let me ask you, with that in mind,

where does this morning, where does your sense of self-worth come from?

You see, here is the stunningly unique thing

that the Christian faith has to say into our world today,

that's the polar opposite of what you'll hear every single day

as you live your life in this world,

when it comes to the whole issue of identity and worth.

The Christian faith, the Bible consistently says

that in order to understand ourselves,

we need to first begin by looking away from ourselves,

and to the God who made us,

and who created our hearts

to be eternally satisfied in knowing him.

And so here is where,

if you wondered where on earth we're going with this this morning,

here is where Emma Raducanu connects with Genesis 26.

See, the first readers of Genesis,

and this is what we've got to understand,

as Moses writes this book of Genesis,

the first readers of this first book of the Bible

are the generation who are wandering in the wilderness.

Right?

The Israelites, the people who God has rescued from Egypt.

Right?

Remember that story,

Let My People Go,

that famous line?

I was going to say that Will Smith made famous

in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,

if you know that scene.

Yeah?

Let My People Go.

They're out of Egypt.

They're now journeying towards the promised land,

the land where God said he was taking them.

So these guys are the first readers of Genesis.

Now that's critical for understanding the book as a whole,

and it's crucial for understanding the message of chapter 26,

because as that generation journey to where God has taken them,

right,

they have got all sorts of questions,

spoken and unspoken in their minds.

Who is the Lord?

Is he good for his word?

Can we trust him?

Or actually,

is he just a bogus salesman

whose words aren't worth the bit of paper

that they're written on?

How do we know that we're not staking all of it

on an old wife's tale?

Right?

Always love it.

Is atheist Richard Dawkins right?

Is Christianity just a fairy tale for those afraid of the dark?

Always love how Christian professor John Lennox

responded to that claim in a moment with a bit of love

and a bit of humor when he said,

actually,

you think Christianity is a fairy tale for those afraid of the dark?

Can I just say,

atheism is a fairy tale for those afraid of the light?

It's what we do with the truth,

isn't it?

Like a beach ball,

the Bible says,

we suppress it.

We hold it underneath.

We don't really want to think about truth

and the claims it has on our lives.

You see,

they're wondering,

asking,

who are we?

Where are we?

Where are we going?

And you understand that those are not just postmodern questions.

Right?

Human beings have been asking them ever since we were created.

And this chapter is meant to give them,

and it's meant to give us,

a big piece of that puzzle.

Kind of reminded me this week,

if you remember that game show catchphrase.

Yeah?

They always had that scene at the end

where the big thing was you had to kind of guess the picture

that was behind the puzzle pieces.

And you just got that music,

didn't you?

Do-do-do-do-do-do-do.

Vump.

And you saw a big piece of the puzzle reveal the picture.

Now,

that's exactly what's going on in chapter 26.

Have a look at the text with me,

and this will become clear, I hope.

You see,

the bookends are the clue to the purpose of this chapter.

So,

if you scan your eye in the text,

over verses 3 and 5,

and then again,

you kind of get the repetition of it at verse 24,

it's all about promises.

It's all about what God is promising to do and to be,

for this man called Isaac.

As God affirms the promises that he made to Isaac's father,

Abraham,

and as they get passed down this family line.

There are four Ps,

if you want to think about it like this.

Four Ps underlined on the screen.

They are promises of his presence.

Okay?

God is saying,

that's what he says there.

That's the,

I will be with you language.

God is saying,

my presence,

and a people.

That's the,

I will multiply your offspring as the stars of the heaven language,

and a place.

I will give you these lands.

Right?

Isaac,

as he hears this,

I think is probably at the southwest corner of this bit of geography called Canaan,

which is the promised land where God is leading his people,

which as we'll see,

is pointed to something far greater.

And,

slightly stretching it a little bit,

it's a program.

Through your line will come one through whom I will bless the peoples of the world.

Now,

what's strange here in terms of timeline,

is that chapter 26 likely comes before chapter 25 chronologically.

Okay?

So,

before these two boys,

Esau and Jacob are on the scene.

So,

you kind of think about it like this.

This is like when a character in a film has a flashback,

to a key moment in the past,

which kind of explains the present.

It's kind of what's going on here in this chapter.

Because,

in the present,

do you remember what we saw last week?

Are the last words of chapter 25.

Look at it there.

The very last phrase.

What did Esau do?

He despised his birthright.

Yeah?

So,

being the firstborn

meant nothing to him.

This was a bit like when

a bit of junk mail comes through your letterbox.

You take one,

look at it,

scrumple it up,

and throw it in the bin.

This is how this guy

reacted to

the promises of God.

And it's almost as if

Moses is saying,

in this chapter,

with that as the backdrop,

do you see what Esau threw away?

Do you see what he threw away?

Do you see what he thwarted?

Do you see what meant nothing to him?

And I'm begging you,

don't make the same mistake.

Do you see how glorious these promises are?

How good God is for his words.

Don't make the same mistake.

And so,

here's what I hope we see

as we journey through this real quick

as disciples of Jesus

in terms of our identity

and our worth.

That who you are today,

and who I am today,

and who we are today,

and who the church is today,

is a community that is formed by,

and fortified with,

and standing to inherit

the unchanging promises of God.

And it's my prayer today

that we would leave,

as we gaze at Jesus,

we would leave here with zero doubt

about God's ability

to deliver on his promises.

And so, as we get there,

and that's where we're going to

kind of finish today,

here's two lessons I think we learned

from this chapter about

the people who are journeying

with faith.

Here's the first one.

Don't be frightened

by what's around you.

So, in the text,

do you see

how there's a famine

facing Isaac?

Do you see that straight off the bat,

chapter 26?

And he thinks to himself,

I'm going to do what my dad did,

and I'm going to head to Egypt,

because in Egypt,

there's help,

and there's food.

But God says,

I want you

to stay here.

So, Isaac's got a choice

to make at this point,

doesn't he?

Will he be obedient,

or will he do the thing

that he thinks makes sense to him?

Will he live by faith,

or will he live by sight?

Which is the question

that faces every single generation

of God's people,

isn't it?

Now, the cultural air

which you and I breathe

every day

goes right against the grain of that.

That if it feels right to you,

then how on earth

could your heart be wrong?

And you spend enough time

in God's words,

and you learn that your heart

is the last thing

that you want to trust.

And actually,

the person of faith

says

that God's word

is the good compass

by which I'm going to sail by.

So, Isaac settles,

do you see,

in this place

called Gerar.

But as he settles there,

do you also see

how he begins

to lose

his nerve?

So, the men of Gerar

inquire about Rebecca,

his wife.

She was attractive

in appearance,

which I take it

is Moses channeling

his understated,

polite Brit.

She's drop-dead gorgeous.

That's what we're meant

to understand here.

And Isaac,

when he gets wind of this,

oh man,

what a spineless fool he is.

Yeah?

And he's making

the same mistake

that Abraham,

his father,

made.

Rather than standing

by his wife

and believing

that the Lord

will protect them both,

what does he say?

She's my,

she's my sister.

Now,

why,

I can't get my head

around that,

why that would be

the first thing

coming into your mind

to play that card.

Yeah?

If we were giving him

the benefit of the doubt,

now,

I'll come on in a minute

just to say that I don't,

okay?

But if we were giving him

the benefit of the doubt,

knowing how the birds

and the bees work,

this could be him,

because Rebecca

is key to this whole

offspring thing,

yeah?

This could be him

trying to protect her

and preserve her life.

But this is where

I'm kind of landing.

That he's pretty much

a coward at this point.

Abimelech says,

verse 9,

why did you do that?

And he says,

lest I die

because of her.

Now,

it's a half-truth,

isn't it,

that Isaac's kind of told?

But in this moment,

I think his heart,

as it reacts,

is revealed.

And it's so often

the case,

this is what the Lord does,

is we find ourselves

reacting,

not in the big things

of life,

but in all the little

details that come our way.

He's revealing

and he's prodding at

and he's forming

our character.

Now,

do you see this

in your own heart?

I see this all the time

in mine.

Right?

The little half-truths

that we tell,

the little exaggerated stories,

the little things

that we think

aren't actually

that big a deal

in God's eyes.

And to be honest,

no one else

kind of sees it.

You know,

kind of doing that

rather than kind of,

you know,

doing what we tell the kids

to just be honest,

honest being the best policy.

Do you see that

in your life?

My heart instinctively

wants to do an Isaac

at certain points in time

and just save

my own skin.

And those little times

when we do that

in our lives,

I take it they're revealing

something big

about what's going on

in our hearts.

What Jerry Bridges

called respectable

sins.

Right?

The little things

that we do

that we think

no one else sees.

They're not one

of the headlines.

They're just one of

these little

respectable things.

We've got to remember

that God sees that.

I take it we need

to recapture something

of what the church

leaders from the past

called Coram Deo.

Okay,

how's your Latin

this morning?

Okay,

Coram

meaning always.

Deo meaning God.

Always

before God.

So God

sees everything

that's going on

in our lives.

There's nothing

that's hidden from him.

He is the all-knowing

one.

And we should live

our lives

every single detail

knowing that we want

to praise him

with every single

little detail.

Always living

before

the face of God.

So why do we

cop out?

Right?

Why is it when

the person at

your workplace

and on the school run

asks you what you

did at the weekend?

There's part of you

that's tempted just

to kind of duck

the question

and ask about

something else.

Why is it

that church leaders

around the country

so many of them

are kind of

fudging what the

Bible says

about sexuality?

Why is that

going on?

The answer is

because the fear

of man

is bigger

in our minds

and greater

in our hearts

than the fear

of the Lord.

Now you've got to say

what is the

antidote to that?

I take it

it's just that

we need to pray

and humble ourselves

and repent

and seek

a big view

of God.

Now here's where

I don't often do

this in sermons

but I'm going to

do it here

okay

just pull someone

out in a good way.

Do you know what

Jackson was telling

me the other day?

And friends

the Lord teaches

me so much

through you

in ways that

you just will

not be aware

of but he does.

He said this

he was talking

about how one

of the options

that he looked

at to getting

back to Canada

in the summer

was the boat.

I said Jackson

how long

is that going

to take you?

Eight days.

Eight days

right?

Waking up each day

just looking

at the sea.

Waking up the next

day just looking

at the sea.

I said why

would you choose

that over just

not flying?

And he said

this phrase

and it's just

in my mind

at the minute

he said I just

wanted to

experience the

distance.

yeah I

wanted to

feel the

the grandeur

of the sea

and how

small I

am

in comparison

to all

of creation.

And we've been

reminded this week

haven't we

that the Atlantic

Ocean

is a

is a beast

it's big

and how much

greater than

the God

who created

all of the

things that

we see

and that phrase

has been

pinging around

my mind

asleep

like a

ball in

a pinball

machine

because it

reveals that

my my view

of God

is way too

small

and my

fear of

man

is way too

big.

You begin

to read

Isaiah

and the

prophets

and that's

the message

to their

generation.

Why regard

man in

whose

nostrils

is breath?

The nations

are but a

drop in the

bucket in

comparison

to him.

And I

take it to

be increasingly

growing in

our understanding

of the

holiness

and the

grandeur

and the

magnificence

of God

as we

immerse

ourselves

in the

word of

God

is an

incredibly

healthy

thing

for our

hearts

to do.

And that's

why Isaac

has totally

lost his

nerve

here.

And that's

the message

to this

generation.

Wandering,

worrying about

what's around

them,

tempted to

conform to

the idols

and just be

like everyone

else around

them.

Moses is

saying don't

be frightened

by what's

around you.

And secondly

he's just

saying don't

be doubtful

of what's

ahead of

you.

Now verse

12,

when we're

told that

Isaac sowed

in the

land,

I take

it that's

just code

for he

started to

walk by

faith again.

Right?

He started

to do the

thing that

God had

told him

to do.

And what a

year this

was if you

caught that

in the

text.

Imagine

getting this

family Christmas

letter through

the post.

How was the

year gone?

Well we had

a bumper

crop,

our wealth

increased,

our flocks

and our

herds,

their numbers

went through

the roof and

because of

that we had

to hire a

whole heap

of servant

workers.

Pretty good

year for us.

Right?

No wonder

the people

in the land

envy them

as he puts

that out on

Instagram saying

hashtag blessed.

But I think

that's what we

need to see is

exactly what's

going on here.

Right?

This is more

than just Isaac

has got the

Midas touch.

Do you

remember what

those four

Ps,

remember some

of the blessings

that God said

he would give

his people

because of his

promise to

them?

Right?

People

and lands.

Do you

see how

the author

is trying

to tell

us

that God

is beginning

to make

good

on his

promises?

So much

so that

verse 16

Abimelech

says you

need to

leave,

you need

to get

away because

people are

too envious

of you

because you're

getting too

big.

right?

And again

as we fast

forward to

the Exodus

stories,

exactly what

you see is

they begin

to grow

and multiply.

What does

Pharaoh say?

No,

we can't

have this.

Abimelech

says you're

too big and

despite opposition

that comes as a

result of the

wells that they

dig,

verse 22,

do you see

how the

well that they

finally settle

at,

what does he

call it?

Rehoboth

meaning the

Lord has

made room

for us.

In other

words,

the Lord

has provided

like he

said he

would.

Abimelech

even says

so,

verse 28,

we see that

the Lord

has been

with you.

So there's

another P,

do you see it?

We see that

God is with

you,

we see the

presence P.

So to

see the

message to

this generation,

you can put

all your

eggs in

the God

fulfilling his

promises basket.

No need to

split your

risk,

no need to

open different

bank accounts

just in case

one of them

goes under.

No,

no,

no,

you can put

all of it,

stake it all

on God

fulfilling his

promises.

So don't

mistake,

don't make

the same

mistake

that Esau

made.

Don't be

scared of

what's around

you.

Don't be

doubtful

of what's

ahead of

you.

And here's

what I want

us to see

sitting where

we do

in 2023

at this

point in

salvation

history.

I want

us to

understand

that we've

got so

much more

reason to

trust that

God will

make good

on his

promises.

promises.

And the

reason that

we do

is because

of Jesus.

Because he

came from

this family

tree.

We've seen

one baton

pass from

Abraham to

Isaac.

Way down

this family

line is

going to

come Jesus.

Now do you

see how God

makes these

promises?

Who does he

make them

to?

Let me

just stretch

us for

just 5-10

minutes as

we bring

this to a

close.

He makes

them to

offspring.

Yeah?

And the

New Testament

tells us

that that

offspring

is singular.

So there's

one person

that's going

to inherit

and make

way for

these things

to come to

pass,

these covenant

blessings.

Because God

said to

Abraham,

walk before

me and be

blameless.

Right?

Only the

person who

is going to

fully fulfill

God's side

of the

covenant

bargain is

going to be

the one who's

going to

inherit these

four Ps.

Only Jesus

walked before

the Father

and was

blameless.

Right?

Only he

lived the

perfect life

so as to

inherit these

blessings.

We couldn't

do that.

No chance

we could do

that.

See,

part of

this

covenant

bargain

that God

made with

Abraham and

is being

passed down

is that

there would

be blessings

for obedience

and there

would be

curses for

disobedience on

man's part.

But the

wonderful thing

about the

story of

Abraham is

that God

is so

committed to

getting his

people the

blessing that

he says,

I'm even

going to take

those curses

on myself.

And that's

what Jesus

did as he

dies on the

cross.

He is

taking the

curses that

we deserved

on himself.

Do you know

something I'd

never seen

before until

this week?

Love this.

Genesis chapter

three.

As sin

enters the

world,

and as

God says

there's a

curse now,

you will

feel the

effects of

sin.

What is

one of the

symbols of

the curse

in terms of

the ground?

It's

thorns,

isn't it?

Thorns and

thistles.

Scottish people

kind of don't

talk about

the thistles.

Thorns.

And what do

you see

going on

as Jesus

goes to

the cross?

What is he

wearing on

his head?

A crown of

what?

A crown of

thorns.

Do you

understand

that Jesus

is taking

the covenant

curses that

his people

deserved on

himself?

That's what

he does as

he goes to

the cross.

He hangs

on a tree.

So there's

another sign

of the

covenant

curses.

He takes

them in

our place.

And with

that in

mind,

as you

see here,

Isaac the

coward,

when faced

with the

decision that

it's either

your bride's

life or

it's yours,

and he

says,

I'm

picking

mine.

You cannot

help but

think of

Jesus as

he goes to

the cross

with his

bride in

mind.

His bride

being his

people,

and he's

faced with

the exact

same question.

It's either

your life

or it's

hers.

It's either

your life

or it's

your people's.

Isaac made

his call,

and Jesus

also makes

his call,

but he does

the opposite

of what

Isaac does.

He says,

it's me

instead of

her.

And there,

as he dies

on the cross,

he is

uniting

himself to

the death

penalty that

every single

one of us

deserved.

and in

turn,

we are

united

because of

our faith

to these

blessings

that only

he deserves.

And that's

why I love,

we started

with it

today,

that chorus

that kind

of captures

the language

of Ephesians

1.

Ephesians

1 starts

about how

God has

blessed us

with every

spiritual

blessing in

the heavenly

places.

He has

what to

us?

He has

chosen us

He has

redeemed us,

He has

justified us,

and He has

adopted us

as His

sons and

daughters.

Not because

of what

we've done,

but because

of our

covenant

King who

died on

the cross

for us

and shares

with us

His life.

And in

Him,

those four

Ps are

ours.

A people,

Christians all

over the

world,

today,

do you

know,

just love

the fact

that there's

a small

number of

us today,

but how

many different

countries and

how many

different continents

are represented?

Maybe we

can chat

about that

at the

picnic.

Global

people that

Jesus has

gathered for

Himself,

His presence,

it's one of the

blessings that

we have,

is God's

Spirit,

not living

over us,

but living

in us.

A place,

God is leading

us home

to

Himself.

And that's

why the

Spirit living

inside of

us testifies

with us

that yes,

that's

true,

sealed us

with the

Spirit,

wonderfully

true,

partially

now,

but all

of these

things are

going to be

fully amplified

in God's

new creation,

the place

where He's

taken us.

So who

are we?

Where are

we?

Where are

we going?

Come to think

of it,

who is

the Lord?

Well,

here is my

plea to us,

dear brothers

and sisters

in the

faith,

is not

to do

an Esau,

but to

be firm

in God's

ability to

deliver on

His promises.

And by

God's sheer

grace,

we have been

scooped up

and this

is our

story.

Whatever is

going on in

your life

today,

here's what I

want you to

know as we

bring this

to a close,

that right

here,

however you're

feeling,

whatever you're

facing,

whatever sin

is weighing

you down,

dear brothers

and sisters,

let's come

back to

Jesus and

remember that

in Him,

this is our

self-worth.

Now,

here's the

thing,

just as we

close,

just for one

minute,

to kind

of bring

us back

to the

centrality

of where

I think

this is

meant to

lead this

first generation.

Put your

hands up

this morning

if you

turned on

a light.

This is

going somewhere,

trust me,

okay?

Yeah?

I turned

on a light

this morning.

Now,

as far as I

can see,

there are

two types

of light

switch in

the world

that I

know of.

You've

got your

classic on

and off,

you've

also got

your

dimmer.

You can

kind of

phase in and

phase out

the light.

And I

think this

passage,

as Moses

writes us,

he's getting

us to think

about both

of those

lights.

Okay?

First of

all,

as he asks

us to examine

our hearts

and see where

we're at,

first of

all,

think about

the on

and off

switch.

When it

comes to

your faith

in Jesus,

are you on

or you off?

Are you in

or you out?

Are you trusting

in the promises

of God or not?

And I

think about

the dimmer.

See,

the thing

about the

dimmer is

it can

be on,

but it

can be

really,

really low.

And I

think the

challenge that

comes to

us that

are on

is as it

concerns both

our obedience

to and our

confidence in

God's promises

and having seen

how committed

he is to

bringing them

to completion

in Christ

is that

when it

comes to

the dimmer

of light

of our

faith,

the challenge

here is to

turn it

up.

Turn it

up.

Okay,

whatever that

looks like in

your life just

now,

in terms of

your witness

at work,

turn it

up.

In terms of

maybe your

church attendance,

you know,

I pray that

for many of

us,

the Lord

would be at

work in

our life,

that church

would stop

being something

that we go

to and

you would

come to

the centre

and realise

that it's

something that

we are part

of.

Yeah?

Turning it

up.

You know,

the way that

we raise our

children,

turning it

up as we

thought about

it today,

whatever this

looks like

in our

lives,

I think the

challenge of

this passage

is to turn

it up.

Turn it

up.

I know

not why

God's wondrous

grace to me

he has made

known,

nor why

unworthy

Christ in

love

redeem me

for his

own,

but I

know whom

I have

believed,

and I'm

persuaded

that he

is able

to keep

that which

I've

committed

unto him

against

that day.

Let's pray,

will we?

And so,

Father,

it's our

prayer this

morning,

that by

your grace

that you

would just

increase

our

appetite

for

and our

assurance

of

what you

have won

for us

in the

person of

your son,

Jesus.

Lord,

thank you

that there

is just

simply no

one like

him.

Father,

who else

would die

for his

enemies?

God,

you

have to

be with

us.

And so,

Father,

as we

contemplate your

outrageous, unmerited

love for us

that's seen

there,

oh,

Father,

would you,

by your

spirit,

increase our

desire for

not just

the blessings,

blessings, but

our desire and

our hunger and

our affection for

you.

So,

Father,

be with us as

we continue on

this morning.

I thank you for

my friends here.

I thank you for

the role which

we have in

each other's

lives.

And Lord,

may we

together spur

one another on

towards love

and good deeds.

And in

Jesus'

strong name

we pray.

Amen.

Amen.