God's Promise to Isaac

Genesis 26, 1 through 5.

Now there was a famine in the land, besides the former famine, that was in the days of Abraham.

And Isaac went to Gerar to Abimelech, king of the Philistines.

And the Lord appeared to him and said, Do not go down to Egypt.

Dwell in the land of which I shall tell you.

Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you and will bless you.

For to you and to your offspring.

I will give you all these lands, and I will establish the oath that I swore to Abraham your father.

I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and will give your offspring all these lands.

And in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statues, and my laws.

This is the word of the Lord.

Please be seated.

Good morning, Redemption.

My name is Jacob, and uh I'm one of the lay elders here at Redemption Church.

We're just gonna get this out of the way.

At some point, you're gonna notice I'm wearing Crocs.

Okay?

This was not intentional.

I actually forgot to put my shoes on.

I try not to wear these in public, but you know, it happens.

It happens.

I'm wearing socks too.

Crocs and socks.

Yeah.

It's a power move.

Bumble called it a power move.

I was like, you either if somebody does public speaking wearing crocs and socks, you either really need to listen to them, or you can disregard everything they say.

Um it's up to you what you want to do this morning.

Um but uh a couple of uh announcements that are worth mentioning, and then we'll jump into the text.

Uh next week, uh right after the service at 11 o'clock, we are having a membership meeting for new members.

So this is for people who are not members uh that are looking to become members here at redemption.

Uh if you're not a member and you've been coming a while, I I can't encourage you enough to to take the step.

Um membership is really the vehicle which we use to do discipleship here at Redemption.

Um so it's a wonderful way to get plugged in, uh meet people, and uh just really become more part of the body.

So that's uh the 20th.

And then later on the 20th, that's Sunday.

Nancy Pearcy, it's in the app.

You need you need to look at the app.

It's in the calendar on the 20th, I believe at 7 o'clock.

Love thy body.

Um I think we've we've heard a lot about it.

She's a disciple of Francis Schaefer, and uh supposedly it's really good stuff.

So check it out if you haven't been there.

Sign up uh if you haven't already.

But let me go ahead and pray and then uh we can get started.

Uh Father, I thank you so much that we can be here together as your people looking at your word.

And uh Lord, I just want this morning to go in a way where we all walk away thinking, wow, God's God's amazing because you are.

I pray that your spirit is working in our hearts as we hear your words.

I pray that you help me to be clear and succinct and to the point.

And Father, we just pray that we all leave to hear changed people because we've got to see you in a new way, or we've come to understand you differently.

Your name we pray.

Amen.

Okay, let's get going.

So we're gonna start in uh verse one.

We've got a lot to cover today, so we're just jumping right in.

Uh that's how guys with crocs roll.

So uh verse one.

Uh now there was a famine in the land besides the former famine that was in the days of Abraham.

And Isaac went to Gerar to Abimelech, king of the Philistines.

So a food crisis uh takes center stage again.

Uh in the previous passage, we saw a food crisis.

At least one person thought it was a food crisis, uh, where I uh Esau sells his birthright for a bowl of stew.

Um and in this passage, we get to see what Isaac does with the promises of God when, again, food is on the line.

This is also the first time in the book of Genesis that Isaac takes center stage.

And uh he is faced with a life and death situation, really.

Uh, famine is ravaging the land of Canaan, and he needs to make a decision to take care of his family.

Now, famine is one of those things that we're not used to in our society, which is wonderful.

I mean, looking at everybody today, you're all healthy, well-nourished.

Nobody got hit with a famine recently.

Some of you maybe a little too well-nourished, preparing for a famine.

I've got like a month right here.

I'm set.

I'm set.

Well, you know, really the closest catastrophe, you know, I was I was thinking, I was like, well, we don't really have famines.

We don't really know what that's like.

Um, but the closest catastrophe I can remember is, you know, when when COVID hit and everybody bought all the toilet paper.

Like that's the worst thing that's happened to us.

There's you know who you are.

You start working through them, aren't you?

Yeah.

You know, famine is horrible because the lack of food is is really just the first domino to fall uh as society collapses.

When there's no food, that's bad enough.

But when there's no food, people will also fight, people kill, and people steal.

And also during famine, you could see sharp rises in disease as people's immune systems become weak, and as people begin to eat things that shouldn't be eaten.

So Isaac and his family are in an incredibly, incredibly vulnerable place.

They live in a land that they do not own.

They are surrounded by people that are not their people.

They're outsiders and they're wealthy.

So they're easy pickings.

So this is a very dire situation that Isaac and his family are in right now.

So Isaac does as his father did back in Genesis 12, uh, and he starts to head to Egypt.

Moses even draws us back to that very event by saying, besides the former famine that was in the days of Abraham, this is the exact same situation that Abraham faced, and Isaac is doing the exact same thing that his father did.

So why Egypt?

Well, Egypt at that time was a little more, it was more famine-proof than the rest of the world.

Uh no rain wasn't as big of an issue because they could always plant their crops around the seasonal floodings of the Nile.

So there was always water to be used.

Um, so Isaac begins to pass through the band, uh the lands of Abimelech, king of the Philistines, which was on the way to Egypt.

Now, this is probably a different Abimelech than the one Abraham dealt with in chapter 20, but I'll let James cover that next week.

The point is, Isaac is leaving the land that has been promised to his father and to him by God.

He is following in the footsteps of Abraham and going down to Egypt.

Now, I think it's really important to note that in Genesis 12, when Abraham went down to Egypt, we're never told he did anything wrong.

Uh, we don't see enough in the text to show us one way or another whether Abraham going down to Egypt was a lack of faith in God.

The text just it doesn't say.

For all intents and purposes, this seems like the practical thing to do, right?

And so when Isaac begins to do what Abraham did, we actually don't get a hint that he's somehow being unfaithful to God.

He's he's just doing the thing we would all do.

When there's no food and your family's in trouble, you go to the place where there's food and safety.

So Isaac and family and his family are on the way down to Egypt and God appears.

Verse 2 and the beginning of verse 3.

And the Lord appeared to him and said, Do not go down to Egypt.

Dwell in the land of which I shall tell you, sojourn in this land.

So in the midst of this crisis, where Isaac's life and the lives of his family are in real jeopardy, God appears and tells Isaac, don't go to Egypt, but stay here as a sojourner in this land.

God is asking Isaac to trust him in the midst of tremendous hardship and to display his faith in God by remaining in a difficult situation.

Now, this is a completely new revelation of God in relation to his promises in the book of Genesis.

As I said before, God never told Abraham not to go down.

We'll see fast forward, spoiler alert.

Jacob also goes down to Egypt with his whole family.

Isaac is the only descendant of Abraham to never leave the land of Canaan.

Even when Isaac needed a wife, it was the servant who went to Nahor.

Back to where Abraham's family was from.

Not Isaac.

And if we look at the life of Jacob, we see that not only does Jacob end up in Egypt, but he also leaves to go to Nahor.

And we'll get there.

That's an episode of Jerry Springer right there, though.

Man, oh man.

Isaac never leaves, though.

Isaac never leaves.

In fact, we see it explicitly commanded by God on two occasions now, this one and to find Rebecca, that Isaac is never to leave the land of Canaan, but he is to remain.

This is fascinating.

And is unique only to the life of Jacob in the book of Genesis.

The only one who lives in the promised land his whole life without ever leaving it, but also never receiving it.

He's told to stay and endure the hardship without flame.

I spent a lot of time thinking and praying about this.

And do you know who I think Isaac is, if he were alive today?

He's just like one of the most boring Christians ever.

Let me explain that.

If he were like, like when you read the life of Abraham, like he comes from Ur and he fights in battles, and he's going to Egypt and he's interacting with pharaohs and all of this stuff, and you read Jacob, and that's incredibly drama-filled, and Joseph, and Isaac gets like a chapter.

And he he doesn't leave, just stays there the whole time.

If he were alive today, he would be the person that's just born into a Christian family, been a Christian as long as they can remember.

I mean, Isaac didn't even get to pick his own wife.

He's lived in the same place.

He doesn't have a passport if he lives now, because he never leaves the country.

He's never even been to Mexico, which is like where everybody goes, if you're from America, to go on vacation.

Like Isaac's never been to Mexico, doesn't have a passport.

For him, vacation is like, I don't know, going to Kansas.

I don't know.

So that I didn't mean to insult Kansas.

I'm sorry.

That was not intentional.

I was not in the notes.

Um so Isaac, he he for sure has his issues.

We're gonna see that in the next chapter.

Um but but what he is, is he is tremendously faithful.

And God is asking him to display his trust in God in a new way that nobody has ever done before.

He is asked to stay in the midst of a crisis and endure hardship for God's promises.

Tremendously faithful.

If you grew up as a Christian and you know you've you've been around the church for a while, I can almost guarantee you, you can correct me if I'm wrong afterwards, but I can almost guarantee you that at some point you've been in a group of people, most likely in the shape of a circle, and everybody shared testimonies, right?

Yeah, I'm not wrong.

I know I'm not.

You grew up in the church, that has happened at some point.

And I'm sure if if you have been a, you know, you had faithful parents, went to church, you kind of grew up, you you just always knew God, you know, you've been a Christian as long as you can remember, and you've been in that circle, and you heard people being like, you know, I was a gang member, now I'm a Christian, or you know, I used to be into drugs, now I'm a Christian.

Uh I was a prostitute, now I'm a Christian.

And and you're just like, I just here I am.

I've always been a Christian.

I don't have anything crazy like that.

You know, you went to college, you got a nine to five, maybe you're married or still single, waiting for a husband or a wife.

Now you're a member here at redemption, and you're like, I still don't have a passport either.

Like, that's you.

You're you're Isaac.

Well, I want to say that's that's not a boring life, that's a faithful life.

You are a testimony to all of us here of God's kindness and mercy and how He can He can live in the hearts of a child and just be faithful and and walk with you your whole life.

Now, do you know what God asks of all of us?

Not just the people that have been Christians their whole life, but new Christians too, everybody.

Do you know what God is asking you?

He is always asking us to do the same thing he asks Isaac.

He's asking you, no matter how hard it gets, no matter how hard it is, he's asking you to stay faithful to him in the midst of any hardship that you could possibly imagine.

Are times tough?

Is being a single Christian hard is being a married Christian hard it is.

Is being a Christian at your school or at your work hard?

God says, stay faithful to me.

No matter the amount of suffering that you are encountering, don't run away from it all.

I want you to trust me.

And you can be thinking, but how long, right?

How long do I have to endure this hardship?

How long do I have to endure hardship for being a follower of Christ?

When will being a Christian single get easier?

When will my marriage get re better?

God doesn't give Isaac a time frame.

He doesn't say, you know, Isaac, this whole famine thing, blown out of proportion.

Totally gonna blow over.

You're good.

He doesn't say, you know, you know, Isaac, and this is only gonna last a year.

You you've got enough food.

You'll you'll be fine.

Seriously, it'll be good.

No, no big deal.

He doesn't give him any time frame.

He asks Isaac to trust him in the midst of his suffering.

And ultimately, what God is showing us and what he's showing Isaac is something new of his character that Isaac and us could have never learned if God never asked him to stay.

God uses hard times in your life to teach you new things about him.

We're far too quick to look for an exit when we should be looking for new ways for God to reveal himself to us.

Isn't that cool that God teaches you through life?

Right?

I I mean we can we can read books and do all this stuff, but you know, there there really is nothing better than going through a tough time and then learning something new about God.

And you're like, that's what God was trying to show me the whole time?

Nothing beats it.

Now, God doesn't just stop at, you know, trust me.

Um what he does next is he reconfirms the covenant that he made with Abraham, except this time he does it with Isaac.

Again, this is a first in the book of Genesis.

We are learning something new about the covenant, and that's that God re-establishes it with individuals.

Verses uh three and four.

Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you and will bless you.

For to you and to your offspring I will give these lands and I will establish the oath that I swore to Abraham your father.

I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and will give you the and will give to your offspring all these lands, and in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed.

Let's uh let's put this into context because this is weird, okay?

I want you to imagine that you get some new neighbors that move in next door to you, okay?

Large family of immigrants that have come to Denver and they rent the home next to you.

So one day you're out in the backyard and you know, you see them in their backyard, and you start some small talk, you talk to the husband there, and you say, Hey, uh, you know, what uh what brought you to Denver?

And they're like, Oh, God told me to come here.

Oh, that's cool.

Okay, yeah.

And you're like, well, um, why did God tell you to come here?

Did he did he tell you to come here because of family or or a job or a church?

And he replies, no, God told me to come here because one day he's going to give the entire United States of America to me and my descendants.

Okay.

Your first thought would be: Denver should have never legalized medicinal shrooms.

This is just bad.

This is bad for society.

This is not good.

I I actually I met a guy like this once.

Um he wore crocs too.

Uh we I met a guy, we were in Jerusalem, and uh he lived on the roof of the hostel we were staying at.

Uh literally, he lived in a tent on the roof of the hostel.

It was a flat roof, but him and his family lived up there.

He was from Africa and he moved to Jerusalem uh because he believed that he and his just immediate family were the only people that were going to make it into heaven.

Because they lived in Jerusalem, and here's the kicker.

They observed the Sabbath, which was on a Thursday.

Okay.

Nobody else would make it because we all celebrate it on Saturday or Sunday.

So he supposedly found some real fine print buried in the contract that everybody else missed.

And uh, and I thought he was crazy.

He was crazy.

But now we we we don't know what's going on in Isaac's mind.

I'm sure he's human like you and me, and uh he's had his doubts, and at times maybe he thought, I'm I'm crazy for believing this.

But actually, Moses is very careful in his approach to this passage.

And if we're honest, he he doesn't seem concerned with what Isaac is thinking or feeling right now.

He doesn't address it.

It's not his point.

In fact, he's very careful in not making Isaac the center here.

If Isaac was your neighbor that moved in next door to you and you found out what you believed, you know, your first thought would be, how could you believe that?

That's where we're all going with this passage.

Whereas Moses is thinking, not how could you believe that, but who is this God that covenants with individuals?

Moses is far more interested in telling us what God is like.

The scandalous and outrageous part of this covenant is not necessarily that Isaac believes it, but it's that God gives it to him.

God says to Isaac some some crazy things.

He's already said this to Abraham.

But he says, Isaac, I want you to stay here and I'm going to be with you.

I'm not going anywhere.

I'm going to stay with you in the midst of this suffering and this hardship.

Isaac, just like I blessed your father, I'm going to bless you too.

Just like I promised your father offspring, I'm going to promise you offspring.

Just like I promised this land to Abraham, I'm going to give it to you and your children and their children and their children.

And Isaac, my ultimate goal is that every nation on the face of this planet will be blessed through your offspring.

I promise that to you too.

That is a big promise that covers every nation on the face of this planet.

A big God with universal designs and promises that end up encompassing all of time and humanity.

And God stoops down to a goat herder living in the desert and says, I'm going to reaffirm this covenant with you.

That's nuts.

You know, it's no different for any of us sitting here today.

The most scandalous part of our relationship with God is not that we believe it, but it's that God is good beyond our wildest dreams and enters into covenantal relationships with us as individuals.

That's crazy.

Now we don't receive the same promises as Isaac.

God is not promising any one of us here today land or children.

Rather, we are receiving the fulfillment of this promise through Isaac.

When God promises that every nation on the face of the earth will be blessed through his offspring, he's talking about Jesus.

Jesus is the offspring of Isaac and Abraham, and through him, we receive real spiritual blessings now.

And in the future, when he returns, we will see real physical blessings of the new creation.

We're no different.

Let me uh I'm gonna read here.

I'm gonna read 1 Peter chapter 1.

1 Peter 1 · chapter mention

I wasn't sure if I was gonna do it, but I'm gonna do it.

Uh verses 3 through 9.

I don't think we have it.

I didn't give it to Matt.

I wasn't sure if I was gonna read it, Matt.

Sorry.

You guys can go there in your phones or your Bibles.

1 Peter 1, 3 through 9.

You don't have to.

I mean, you could listen to me too.

But as we read this, um, you're gonna find, you know, the same language that that we see in Genesis is the same language that that Peter is using.

So uh 1 Peter 1, 3 through 9.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

How does Peter start?

Isn't God amazing?

According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ for the dead, from the dead.

Who's the catalyst?

God.

God, his mercy, he has caused us to be born again.

It's not really about us.

To an inheritance, the same language God uses with Isaac, that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

In this you rejoice.

Though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials.

Exact same situation Isaac finds himself in.

The promises have been given, the complete fulfillment is not there yet.

And Peter even says, You have to go through hard times now, too.

But guess what?

Verse 7 So that the tested genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold, that perishes, though it is tested by fire.

Peter's saying this precious, beautiful thing that is more valuable than any material blessing you could ever imagine.

This is what God is working on.

He's refining it.

May be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Though you have not seen him, you love him.

Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Look at this amazing God that stoops down to us, just a bunch of nobodies in Denver.

Really.

And he he covenants with us.

The unbelievable part of this message is not that we believe, it's that he covenants with us.

And and God saves it for a very specific time in Isaac's life.

It's probably the most difficult time of his life that God enters into this covenant with him.

Not when things are going good, it's when things are going bad.

Now, um, I don't know how it's possible, uh, but it actually gets better.

Um, after God reaffirms his covenant with Isaac, we learn that the covenant is always given because of another's obedience.

Verse five, God says, Because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statues, and my laws.

We learn here that Isaac is receiving the promise based on the obedience of his father.

The language Moses uses here is identical to chapter 22, uh, when God told Abraham to sacrifice Isaac.

Abraham believed that even if he were to sacrifice Isaac, the promises of God were more powerful than death, and that God would raise him from the dead.

And because of Abraham's obedience in this, this is what God says in 22 I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of the heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore, and your offspring shall possess the gate of your enemies, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed because you have obeyed my voice.

Exact same language.

It's another first in the Bible.

This is the first time in the whole of Bible, in the whole of the Bible, that we learn that the promises of God are given to individuals based on another's obedience.

Now, don't get me wrong here.

Isaac is being called to obey God.

Okay.

Isaac's saying, don't go down to Egypt, you know.

Isaac is calling Isaac to trust and believe in him.

Um just, you know, we're all we're all called to obey God, too.

Just let me get that out of the way.

Um, but God does not say, Isaac, I'm giving this to you because you're obeying me now.

He says, Isaac, I'm giving this to you because your father obeyed me.

Without a doubt, God makes it very clear here.

Abraham's obedience to God is the reason Isaac is receiving the promise.

The Jews at the time of Jesus understood this and believed this.

If if you read the Gospels, you will find that they hold Abraham much higher than Isaac.

In fact, the only time Isaac is mentioned in the Gospels is when Abraham's mentioned before him.

And he's always mentioned as Abraham's son.

Abraham is it, right?

They they got it.

It's his obedience.

That it's because of his obedience that the covenant is passed down through generations and generations.

And you you know, oh, this is so good.

We're gonna read John 8, and it's gonna be a long one, so buckle up.

But get your popcorn too, because this is a really fun passage to read.

So we we we we get dropped in on this argument between Jesus and the Jews, okay?

And and they keep holding up Abraham as like, hey, Abraham is it.

Nobody's greater than Abraham.

And and Jesus keeps saying, I'm I'm greater than Abraham.

I'm greater than Abraham, and like huge argument.

But um we'll land this plane in a minute, but we're gonna read this.

Um, I'm gonna start actually in chapter 8, uh, verse 39.

You can go there if you want, give you some elevator music while you get there.

All right, that's good.

So I'm actually reading from the NLT here only because like John gets a little, his language is hard to understand sometimes.

So uh NLT.

All right, verse 39.

Our father is Abraham, they declared.

No, Jesus replied.

For if you were really like the children of Abraham, you would follow his example.

Instead, you're trying to kill me because I told you the truth which I heard from God.

Abraham never did such a thing.

No, you are imitating your real father.

They replied, We aren't illegitimate children.

That's a pot shot at the virgin birth, right there, by the way.

Everybody knew Joseph wasn't the father.

No, uh, they replied, We aren't illegitimate children.

God Himself is our true Father.

Jesus told them, if God were your father, you would love me, because I have come to you from God.

I'm not here on my own, but he sent me.

Why can't you understand what I'm saying?

It's because you can't even hear me, for you are the children of your father, the devil.

Shots fired.

And you love to do the evil things he does.

He was a murderer from the beginning.

He has always hated the truth because there is no truth in him.

When he lies, it is consistent with his character, for he is a liar and a the father of lies.

So when I tell you, you just naturally don't believe me, which of you can truthfully accuse me of sin?

And since I'm telling you the truth, why don't you believe me?

Anyone who belongs to God listens gladly to the words of God, but you don't listen because you don't belong to God.

The people retorted, You Samaritan devil, didn't we say all along that you were possessed by a demon?

No, Jesus said, I have no demon in me, for I honor my father, and you dishonor me.

And though I have no wish to glorify myself, God is going to glorify me.

He is the true judge.

I tell you the truth, anyone who obeys my teaching will never die.

The people said, Now we know you're possessed by a demon.

Even Abraham and the prophets died, but you say, anyone who obeys my teaching will never die.

Are you greater than our?

It's in the text.

Are you sorry, I lost my spot?

Uh there we go.

Okay.

Are you greater than our father Abraham?

There's Abraham again.

He died, and so did the prophets.

Who do you think you are?

Jesus answered, If I want glory for myself, it doesn't count.

But it is my father who will glorify me.

You say he is our God, but you don't even know him.

I know him.

If I said otherwise, I would be as great a liar as you.

But I do know him and obey him.

Your father Abraham rejoiced as he looked forward to my coming.

He saw it and was glad.

The people said, You aren't even 50 years old.

How can you say, you have seen Abraham?

Jesus answered, I tell you the truth, before Abraham was even born, I am.

At that point, they picked up stones to throw it at him, but Jesus was hidden from them and left the temple.

Do you see the argument here?

The Jews are repeatedly saying, there's no one greater than Abraham.

We follow him.

It's because of his obedience and his faith that we are the promised children.

He is our Father.

Just as the promise was passed to Isaac because of Abraham's obedience, it's been passed to us.

Nobody greater than Abraham.

What Jesus says in response is too audio is crazy.

It's very audacious.

He tells them, actually, guys, Abraham rejoiced at my coming.

To which they say, you're not even 50 years old.

How could Abraham have rejoiced at your coming?

And Jesus says, Because I was around before Abraham was even born, I am.

In the Greek New Testament, I am is referring to Exodus chapter 3, when God says his name is Yahweh, which translates as to I am.

Exodus 3 · chapter mention

So what Jesus is saying here is, do you know who's greater than Abraham?

The one who gives the promises.

That's God.

That's me.

They weren't wrong in pointing back to Abraham and saying he's great.

They weren't.

But what they miss is there's a much greater Abraham standing in front of them.

A new person whose obedience will give them new promises.

Just as Abraham's obedience gave Isaac his promises.

They miss that Jesus is the promised offspring to Abraham and Isaac who will bless the whole world.

And here they try to kill him, but ultimately they they do kill him because of what he says.

Now here's the beauty of the book of the gospel.

It's consistent throughout the entire book.

By the book, I mean the Bible.

It's consistent throughout the entire Bible.

Just as Isaac received the promises of God based on Abraham's obedience, now we receive the promises of God because our Abraham has come.

Jesus.

Paul says in Romans 5.19, for as by one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, he's referring to Adam here, who sinned in the garden, so by one man's obedience the many will be made righteous.

He's talking about Jesus here.

Same covenant.

Same vehicle.

We receive it because of another's obedience.

You know what this is like?

This is it's really fun what we try to do as parents is we try to reward all our boys when when some of them, one of them does something really good.

We don't do it as much as we should, but you know, when I remember to do it, it's great.

I'm sure you've you've seen it.

He always wears something.

Spider-Man every Sunday.

Like he takes Spider-Man beanies and toys to bed with them.

Like he's all he's all about Spider-Man.

Well, Ethan, my six-year-old, has a little Spider-Man puppet.

JJ really wanted it.

And uh, you know, he was crying, he was upset, and we're like, well, you know, JJ, it's Ethan's.

You've got a ton of Spider-Man stuff.

Like, you're good.

You don't need this one more thing.

How greedy can you be as a two-year-old?

All two-year-olds are greedy.

And and so you're like, okay, you're fine.

You don't need it.

And we thought the matter was dealt with.

And next thing I know, JJ comes running into the living room.

He's got the Spider-Man doll.

And he is just over the moon.

He's like, Spider-Man, Spider-Man, Spider-Man.

And Ethan comes out after him.

I go, Ethan, did you give him the Spider-Man doll?

And he just kind of sheepishly nods.

He's like, Yeah.

And I was like, that's very kind of you, but you know you didn't have to do that.

And he's like, I know.

And immediately we're like, all right, everybody gets 20 extra minutes of TV and video games today.

And do you know what my boys did not do?

They they didn't come to be like, you know, Dad, technically, it should only go to Ethan.

You know.

He was kind of it was his kindness, you know, to JJ.

I I think I think we really need to earn this one.

That was not their response.

Their response was like, yeah.

Like you would have thought, you know, the lottery was one in our house.

They were, they, they were pumped.

You know, that that little instance, you know, was a was a slice of the gospel because my boys received something they didn't earn because of the obedience of another.

And our response should be the same as theirs.

Our response should be, you mean we get we get the rewards and promises of God because of because of Jesus' obedience?

You know, did Isaac respond with God like, whoa, whoa, whoa, God, pump the brakes here.

I think I need to do my part to get this covenant.

I know you want to give it to me because of Abraham's obedience, but I really think we should put a clause in here that I need to be obedient to.

I really want to earn this.

That's that's not how God's covenants work.

It's just not it.

Jesus is our Abraham.

We receive that covenant with joy because of Jesus' obedience to the Father who ultimately went and died on the cross for our sins.

You know, now, if there was only something we could do every Sunday where we remember the promises of God and receive them.

If only there was this really cool act that we could do where we could like come forward to the front or something.

And and I really wish there was like a physical demonstration that we could perform, you know, to remember the new covenant that Jesus made with us.

But it's I just don't think we have anything like that.

Some of you are like, what's he talking about?

Communion.

Let's uh let's pray and then uh we can take communion.

Father, thank you so much for your grace and and your kindness.

Thank you that we're we're just weak people.

We're always full of doubts, we're always going through struggles, we're always wandering from you.

And and in the midst of those hardships, you just keep bringing us back in.

I I pray this morning, Lord, that for anybody who's who's in a hard place, as they come up and take communion, that you reveal yourself to them in a new way.

Just as you did with Isaac.

I pray that you reassure them, give them comfort and hope that you're with them, that you will never leave them.

I pray, Lord, maybe for those that are here but don't believe in the gospel, they do not trust in Jesus.

I ask that your Holy Spirit push into their heart and show them the beauty of what it is to be redeemed by another's obedience.

For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you.

That the Lord Jesus, on the night when he was betrayed, took bread.

And when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, This is my body which is for you.

Do this in remembrance of me.

In the same way, also he took the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood.

Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me.

For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.