Genesis

August 25, 2014

Satisfaction Guaranteed?

Genesis 30.

Another day in the drama which is Jacob’s life…his love-at-first-site romance with Rachel has turned into a complicated soap opera where relationships serve only to further the selfish ambitions of the actors involved.

Each of the major players (Jacob, Leah, Rachel, Laban) are looking for satisfaction…we could call it meaning or significance or fulfillment…whatever. They are pursuing things, relationships, that they believe will give them satisfaction. And like a mirage, the closer they get to it, the less satisfying it is. The story feels very earthy with nary a mention of God. Everything seems very ordinary. And we’re tempted to ask the same question we asked last week, “Where is God in all this mess?” He’s still at work… through the mess…to bring about His purposes.

Even in the ordinary, the extraordinary is going on. We see God’s extraordinary grace at work in the provision of twelve children. He even remembers Rachel. Each child is a gift from the LORD. We see His extraordinary grace at work in providing exceedingly for Jacob to the chagrin of Laban. We see His extraordinary grace at work because through this very messy situation He will bring about the nation of Israel who will carry forward His redemptive purposes. Our day-to-day activities may seem very ordinary, but when God is at work it’s always extraordinary.

Jacob and crew are neck deep in the mess that they’ve created…many of us are in the same boat. We are neck deep in the messes we’ve created. Can’t blame anyone else. Some of us are still looking for satisfaction in things or people that cannot satisfy…anytime we attempt to find fulfillment, satisfaction, meaning in life apart from a relationship with Jesus, it’s a mirage. It’s destined to bring disappointment, despair, depression. Just ask Robin Williams. World famous comedian. Academy award-winning actor. All around good guy…but it wasn’t enough. Any pursuit that doesn’t have a kingdom focus…“seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness”…will leave you empty. But one that starts there…“and all these things will be added to you” satisfies at a soul level. You may feel like you’ve blown up your life, made such a mess of things that you wonder whether or not there is hope this side of eternity. The good news…there is. God is not done. He’s not done with Jacob’s story, and He’s not done with ours. He can and does work through our messes. Jacob, Leah, Rachel, Laban. His grace abounds. And we can experience His grace knowing His amazing love for us.

May we be a people, who, in the midst of our messes, is able to trust Jesus to work through our messes to bring about the incredible destiny He has for us, and may that spur us on to love and good deeds, finding satisfaction in Him and loving in crazy ways.

Until next time…stay salty.

This post is based on our Genesis series. Download the podcast at: Central Christian Church Main Service, or follow us on twitter: @ccclancaster

August 23, 2014

August 23 – Weekend Passage

Genesis 30

 

The Sons of Jacob

30 Now when Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, she became jealous of her sister; and she said to Jacob, “Give me children, or else I die.” 2 Then Jacob’s anger burned against Rachel, and he said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?” 3 She said, “Here is my maid Bilhah, go in to her that she may bear on my knees, that through her I too may have children.” 4 So she gave him her maid Bilhah as a wife, and Jacob went in to her. 5 Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son. 6 Then Rachel said, “God has vindicated me, and has indeed heard my voice and has given me a son.” Therefore she named him Dan. 7 Rachel’s maid Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. 8 So Rachel said, “With mighty wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister, and I have indeed prevailed.” And she named him Naphtali.

9 When Leah saw that she had stopped bearing, she took her maid Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife. 10 Leah’s maid Zilpah bore Jacob a son. 11 Then Leah said, “How fortunate!” So she named him Gad. 12 Leah’s maid Zilpah bore Jacob a second son. 13 Then Leah said, “Happy am I! For women will call me happy.” So she named him Asher.

14 Now in the days of wheat harvest Reuben went and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.” 15 But she said to her, “Is it a small matter for you to take my husband? And would you take my son’s mandrakes also?” So Rachel said, “Therefore he may lie with you tonight in return for your son’s mandrakes.” 16 When Jacob came in from the field in the evening, then Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must come in to me, for I have surely hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” So he lay with her that night. 17 God gave heed to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son. 18 Then Leah said, “God has given me my wages because I gave my maid to my husband.” So she named him Issachar. 19 Leah conceived again and bore a sixth son to Jacob. 20 Then Leah said, “God has endowed me with a good gift; now my husband will dwell with me, because I have borne him six sons.” So she named him Zebulun. 21 Afterward she bore a daughter and named her Dinah.

22 Then God remembered Rachel, and God gave heed to her and opened her womb. 23 So she conceived and bore a son and said, “God has taken away my reproach.” 24 She named him Joseph, saying, “May the Lord give me another son.”

Jacob Prospers

25 Now it came about when Rachel had borne Joseph, that Jacob said to Laban, “Send me away, that I may go to my own place and to my own country. 26 Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, and let me depart; for you yourself know my service which I have rendered you.” 27 But Laban said to him, “If now it pleases you, stay with me; I have divined that the Lord has blessed me on your account.” 28 He continued, “Name me your wages, and I will give it.” 29 But he said to him, “You yourself know how I have served you and how your cattle have fared with me. 30 For you had little before I came and it has increased to a multitude, and the Lord has blessed you wherever I turned. But now, when shall I provide for my own household also?” 31 So he said, “What shall I give you?” And Jacob said, “You shall not give me anything. If you will do this one thing for me, I will again pasture and keep your flock: 32 let me pass through your entire flock today, removing from there every speckled and spotted sheep and every black one among the lambs and the spotted and speckled among the goats; and such shall be my wages. 33 So my honesty will answer for me later, when you come concerning my wages. Every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats and black among the lambs, if found with me, will be considered stolen.” 34 Laban said, “Good, let it be according to your word.” 35 So he removed on that day the striped and spotted male goats and all the speckled and spotted female goats, every one with white in it, and all the black ones among the sheep, and gave them into the care of his sons. 36 And he put a distance of three days’ journey between himself and Jacob, and Jacob fed the rest of Laban’s flocks.

37 Then Jacob took fresh rods of poplar and almond and plane trees, and peeled white stripes in them, exposing the white which was in the rods. 38 He set the rods which he had peeled in front of the flocks in the gutters, even in the watering troughs, where the flocks came to drink; and they mated when they came to drink. 39 So the flocks mated by the rods, and the flocks brought forth striped, speckled, and spotted. 40 Jacob separated the lambs, and made the flocks face toward the striped and all the black in the flock of Laban; and he put his own herds apart, and did not put them with Laban’s flock. 41 Moreover, whenever the stronger of the flock were mating, Jacob would place the rods in the sight of the flock in the gutters, so that they might mate by the rods; 42 but when the flock was feeble, he did not put them in; so the feebler were Laban’s and the stronger Jacob’s. 43 So the man became exceedingly prosperous, and had large flocks and female and male servants and camels and donkeys.

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB © The Lockman Foundation (www.lockman.org)

August 18, 2014

Looking for Love

Genesis 29

In this tangled tale of romance, lies, deceit, love at first sight, spurned affections, costly misguided pursuits…it’s easy to ask, “Where is God in all this mess? Is He still in control?”

This story should serve as a warning for us who claim to follow Jesus of what happens when we live as if His presence and His prerogative have no impact on and really have no business in our lives. We live in the here and now with no thought of eternity. The daily pressures of life have pushed out any sense of connection to the God of the universe. We are missing out on the incredible destiny He has in store for us. A destiny He wants us to realize every day…to play a part in His redemptive plan for the nations, to impact the valley for His kingdom.

So where is God in all this mess? He is still seated on the throne. He is still working out His purposes…even in situations where our bad choices would seem to threaten them. Jacob is at the right place at the right time to be introduced to his kinsman. Although not his choice, God provides the right girl on his wedding night. He doesn’t override Jacob’s decisions…he allows him to make mistakes and reap the consequences. [God is not mocked…we reap what we sow.] God’s presence is evident in His orchestration of events, His love and grace are demonstrated in the boys He gives to an unwanted wife, seeking Leah’s affections as earnestly as she did Jacob’s.

And in our mess…when the world seems to be breaking apart at the seams – war in the Middle East and Eastern Europe, Ebola outbreak in Africa, border challenges, unrest in Missouri, the unthinkable in a nearby church, not to mention our own struggles with health or finances or safety or whatever…God is still on His throne. He hasn’t lost control of His world, but He’s allowed us to make our foolish decisions, starting with our initial defiance. Wanting to write Him out of the script, we face the consequences of our own sin and rebellion. But God is still at work. He’s able to bring about His purposes in spite of our transgression. His presence is still with us. His love and grace demonstrated in His relentless pursuit of us…pictured so perfectly on the cross, price was no object in securing what He desired.

So whether you feel like you’ve been duped like Jacob, spurned like Leah, pursued like Rachel or came out on top like Laban, the gospel is good news for you. God’s not done. He delights to bring life from death, order from chaos, beauty from ashes, to restore what the locust has eaten. He’s a God who can and wants to transform your life.

Until next time…stay salty.

This post is based on our Genesis series. Download the podcast at: Central Christian Church Main Service, or follow us on twitter: @ccclancaster

August 16, 2014

August 16 – Weekend Passage

Genesis 29

Jacob Meets Rachel

29 Then Jacob went on his journey, and came to the land of the sons of the east. 2 He looked, and saw a well in the field, and behold, three flocks of sheep were lying there beside it, for from that well they watered the flocks. Now the stone on the mouth of the well was large. 3 When all the flocks were gathered there, they would then roll the stone from the mouth of the well and water the sheep, and put the stone back in its place on the mouth of the well.

4 Jacob said to them, “My brothers, where are you from?” And they said, “We are from Haran.” 5 He said to them, “Do you know Laban the son of Nahor?” And they said, “We know him.” 6 And he said to them, “Is it well with him?” And they said, “It is well, and here is Rachel his daughter coming with the sheep.” 7 He said, “Behold, it is still high day; it is not time for the livestock to be gathered. Water the sheep, and go, pasture them.” 8 But they said, “We cannot, until all the flocks are gathered, and they roll the stone from the mouth of the well; then we water the sheep.”

9 While he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep, for she was a shepherdess. 10 When Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother’s brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother’s brother, Jacob went up and rolled the stone from the mouth of the well and watered the flock of Laban his mother’s brother. 11 Then Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted his voice and wept. 12 Jacob told Rachel that he was a relative of her father and that he was Rebekah’s son, and she ran and told her father.

13 So when Laban heard the news of Jacob his sister’s son, he ran to meet him, and embraced him and kissed him and brought him to his house. Then he related to Laban all these things. 14 Laban said to him, “Surely you are my bone and my flesh.” And he stayed with him a month.

15 Then Laban said to Jacob, “Because you are my relative, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall your wages be?” 16 Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. 17 And Leah’s eyes were weak, but Rachel was beautiful of form and face. 18 Now Jacob loved Rachel, so he said, “I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.” 19 Laban said, “It is better that I give her to you than to give her to another man; stay with me.” 20 So Jacob served seven years for Rachel and they seemed to him but a few days because of his love for her.

Laban’s Treachery

21 Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife, for my time is completed, that I may go in to her.” 22 Laban gathered all the men of the place and made a feast. 23 Now in the evening he took his daughter Leah, and brought her to him; and Jacob went in to her. 24 Laban also gave his maid Zilpah to his daughter Leah as a maid. 25 So it came about in the morning that, behold, it was Leah! And he said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? Was it not for Rachel that I served with you? Why then have you deceived me?” 26 But Laban said, “It is not the practice in our place to marry off the younger before the firstborn. 27 Complete the week of this one, and we will give you the other also for the service which you shall serve with me for another seven years.” 28 Jacob did so and completed her week, and he gave him his daughter Rachel as his wife. 29 Laban also gave his maid Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as her maid. 30 So Jacob went in to Rachel also, and indeed he loved Rachel more than Leah, and he served with Laban for another seven years.

31 Now the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, and He opened her womb, but Rachel was barren. 32 Leah conceived and bore a son and named him Reuben, for she said, “Because the Lord has seen my affliction; surely now my husband will love me.” 33 Then she conceived again and bore a son and said, “Because the Lord has heard that I am unloved, He has therefore given me this son also.” So she named him Simeon. 34 She conceived again and bore a son and said, “Now this time my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” Therefore he was named Levi. 35 And she conceived again and bore a son and said, “This time I will praise the Lord.” Therefore she named him Judah. Then she stopped bearing.

 

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB © The Lockman Foundation (www.lockman.org)

August 4, 2014

Unexpected Encounter

Genesis 28

The story’s simple, yet profound. God’s grace. His amazing grace. Jacob has no hope of earning it…all his scheming, all his wrangling, all his attempts to secure what God had promised, God’s blessings through his own efforts…seem to have backfired. Alone in a dark wilderness, Jacob got what was coming to him.

And then God showed up…everything changed. The ordinary became extraordinary. Any place becomes Bethel…any rock a sacred pillar. Have you had that kind of encounter with God yet? Abraham and Isaac’s faith weren’t enough…Jacob had to have his own encounter with God. That may be one of the most difficult things as a parent…I want so much for my boys to share my faith. But it’s not until it becomes their faith that their faith journey with God begins. And as a parent I don’t get to dictate what that faith journey looks like…only God does.

Likewise for students, your parents’ faith isn’t enough…you have to have your own encounter with God. You have to experience the ordinary becoming extraordinary.

When God shows up, He not only transforms us…death to life, son or daughter of the King… but He also transforms our earthly journey from a touring expedition into a sacred pilgrimage. After encountering God’s presence, Jacob’s life is never the same. Although he is on the same journey, he is now more spiritually aware. Just by becoming aware of God’s presence our chartered paths are transformed. We are on the adventure of faith, a wild, dangerous, unpredictable ride…going where we never thought we would go, doing what we never thought we would do.

Initial God encounters happen when we have a collision with Jesus. He is the link between the earthly and heavenly, the physical and spiritual. He is our only means of being restored to our Creator God. Only He could crush the head of the serpent. He lived a perfect life, died a bloody, horrible death, and was raised again the third day proving that He had conquered both sin and death…so that we too might conquer sin and death through faith in Him.

Having believed, God encounters should be a daily occurrence…the ordinary becoming extraordinary. But for too many of us, the wonder and mystery, the danger in following Jesus has become routine. We no longer see the extraordinary. It’s just any place and any rock. God wants so much more for us. He wants us to encounter Him afresh and experience life He called us to…this wild, crazy adventure of faith. He wants us to see every person we meet as an eternal soul that will spend eternity either with Him or apart from Him. He wants us to join Him on His rescue mission…pulling folks out of the fires of hell.

May we experience the extraordinary life we have with our Creator God in new and fresh, powerful and transformative ways this week.

Until next time…stay salty.

This post is based on our Genesis series. Download the podcast at: Unexpected Encounter, or follow us on twitter: @ccclancaster

August 2, 2014

August 2 – Weekend Passage

Genesis 28

Jacob Is Sent Away

28 So Isaac called Jacob and blessed him and charged him, and said to him, “You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan. 2 Arise, go to Paddan-aram, to the house of Bethuel your mother’s father; and from there take to yourself a wife from the daughters of Laban your mother’s brother. 3 May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, that you may become a company of peoples. 4 May He also give you the blessing of Abraham, to you and to your descendants with you, that you may possess the land of your sojournings, which God gave to Abraham.” 5 Then Isaac sent Jacob away, and he went to Paddan-aram to Laban, son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau.

6 Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Paddan-aram to take to himself a wife from there, and that when he blessed him he charged him, saying, “You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan,” 7 and that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother and had gone to Paddan-aram. 8 So Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan displeased his father Isaac; 9 and Esau went to Ishmael, and married, besides the wives that he had, Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebaioth.

Jacob’s Dream

10 Then Jacob departed from Beersheba and went toward Haran. 11 He came to a certain place and spent the night there, because the sun had set; and he took one of the stones of the place and put it under his head, and lay down in that place. 12 He had a dream, and behold, a ladder was set on the earth with its top reaching to heaven; and behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 13 And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie, I will give it to you and to your descendants. 14 Your descendants will also be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and in you and in your descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed. 15 Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” 16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” 17 He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”

18 So Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on its top. 19 He called the name of that place Bethel; however, previously the name of the city had been Luz. 20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will keep me on this journey that I take, and will give me food to eat and garments to wear, 21 and I return to my father’s house in safety, then the Lord will be my God. 22 This stone, which I have set up as a pillar, will be God’s house, and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You.”

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB © The Lockman Foundation (www.lockman.org)

July 28, 2014

Family Feud

Genesis 27

What do you want so bad that you’ll sin to get it?

From the reader’s perspective, this entire episode is a tangled web of lying and deception. We could ask, “Whose fault is this mess?” Isaac the failed leader of his family and despiser of God’s Word? Rebekah the crafty manipulator and deceiver of her husband? Jacob the liar, the cheater, the swindler? Or Esau the unbeliever? All are to blame. The sad thing is…three of these characters are believers. Isaac, Rebekah and Jacob are all recipients of the Abrahamic Covenant. They are children of the King of the Universe. They should know better. Esau is the only one acting in character…he’s acting like an unbeliever. We shouldn’t expect him to act otherwise, but the others behave even worse. Ultimately the failure of each character is their failure to trust God…that He could bring about what He had promised regardless of the circumstances. Too big a deal to trust God with. Have to take care of this one themselves, do what’s right in their own eyes regardless of the consequences.

No one is unscathed in this episode…except the LORD whose redemptive plan would move forward and whose purposes are realized despite the sin of the players involved. Jacob is the guy. God still works through imperfect people to accomplish His will. Our sin doesn’t thwart His purposes…His plan for us remains, but we still have to endure the consequences of our sin.

The deeper story is God’s grace…where sin abounds, grace super-abounds. Rebekah says, “Let the curse fall on me.” Think about that statement… That’s what Genesis 3.15 is all about, that God would one day send the Head-crushing Seed of the woman, to defeat the serpent giving His own life in the process. The innocent dying for the guilty. What Rebekah says with careless defiance, Jesus will echo with deep compassion, grace and mercy. He took on our curse…all our lies and deception, our murderous rage and defiance, our unbelief…so that we might take on His righteousness.

I don’t know which character you most identify with today…but know that the gospel is good news, not just for those who haven’t trusted in Jesus yet, but it’s good news for us every time we act out of character…like a child of the world rather than a child of God. May God’s grace spur us on to love yet more and more this week and to let go of our own questionable means to accomplish His ends.

Until next time…stay salty.

This post is based on our Genesis series. Download the podcast at: Family Feud, or follow us on twitter: @ccclancaster

July 26, 2014

July 26 – Weekend Passage

Genesis 27

Jacob’s Deception

27 Now it came about, when Isaac was old and his eyes were too dim to see, that he called his older son Esau and said to him, “My son.” And he said to him, “Here I am.” 2 Isaac said, “Behold now, I am old and I do not know the day of my death. 3 Now then, please take your gear, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me; 4 and prepare a savory dish for me such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, so that my soul may bless you before I die.”

5 Rebekah was listening while Isaac spoke to his son Esau. So when Esau went to the field to hunt for game to bring home, 6 Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Behold, I heard your father speak to your brother Esau, saying, 7 ‘Bring me some game and prepare a savory dish for me, that I may eat, and bless you in the presence of the Lord before my death.’ 8 Now therefore, my son, listen to me as I command you. 9 Go now to the flock and bring me two choice young goats from there, that I may prepare them as a savory dish for your father, such as he loves. 10 Then you shall bring it to your father, that he may eat, so that he may bless you before his death.” 11 Jacob answered his mother Rebekah, “Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man and I am a smooth man. 12 Perhaps my father will feel me, then I will be as a deceiver in his sight, and I will bring upon myself a curse and not a blessing.” 13 But his mother said to him, “Your curse be on me, my son; only obey my voice, and go, get them for me.” 14 So he went and got them, and brought them to his mother; and his mother made savory food such as his father loved. 15 Then Rebekah took the best garments of Esau her elder son, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob her younger son. 16 And she put the skins of the young goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck. 17 She also gave the savory food and the bread, which she had made, to her son Jacob.

18 Then he came to his father and said, “My father.” And he said, “Here I am. Who are you, my son?” 19 Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn; I have done as you told me. Get up, please, sit and eat of my game, that you may bless me.” 20 Isaac said to his son, “How is it that you have it so quickly, my son?” And he said, “Because the Lord your God caused it to happen to me.” 21 Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come close, that I may feel you, my son, whether you are really my son Esau or not.” 22 So Jacob came close to Isaac his father, and he felt him and said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” 23 He did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau’s hands; so he blessed him. 24 And he said, “Are you really my son Esau?” And he said, “I am.” 25 So he said, “Bring it to me, and I will eat of my son’s game, that I may bless you.” And he brought it to him, and he ate; he also brought him wine and he drank. 26 Then his father Isaac said to him, “Please come close and kiss me, my son.” 27 So he came close and kissed him; and when he smelled the smell of his garments, he blessed him and said,

“See, the smell of my son Is like the smell of a field which the Lord has blessed; 28 Now may God give you of the dew of heaven, And of the fatness of the earth, And an abundance of grain and new wine; 29 May peoples serve you, And nations bow down to you; Be master of your brothers, And may your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be those who curse you, And blessed be those who bless you.”

The Stolen Blessing

30 Now it came about, as soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had hardly gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting. 31 Then he also made savory food, and brought it to his father; and he said to his father, “Let my father arise and eat of his son’s game, that you may bless me.” 32 Isaac his father said to him, “Who are you?” And he said, “I am your son, your firstborn, Esau.” 33 Then Isaac trembled violently, and said, “Who was he then that hunted game and brought it to me, so that I ate of all of it before you came, and blessed him? Yes, and he shall be blessed.” 34 When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried out with an exceedingly great and bitter cry, and said to his father, “Bless me, even me also, O my father!” 35 And he said, “Your brother came deceitfully and has taken away your blessing.” 36 Then he said, “Is he not rightly named Jacob, for he has supplanted me these two times? He took away my birthright, and behold, now he has taken away my blessing.” And he said, “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?” 37 But Isaac replied to Esau, “Behold, I have made him your master, and all his relatives I have given to him as servants; and with grain and new wine I have sustained him. Now as for you then, what can I do, my son?” 38 Esau said to his father, “Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, O my father.” So Esau lifted his voice and wept.

39 Then Isaac his father answered and said to him,

“Behold, away from the fertility of the earth shall be your dwelling, And away from the dew of heaven from above. 40 “By your sword you shall live, And your brother you shall serve; But it shall come about when you become restless, That you will break his yoke from your neck.”

41 So Esau bore a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him; and Esau said to himself, “The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob.” 42 Now when the words of her elder son Esau were reported to Rebekah, she sent and called her younger son Jacob, and said to him, “Behold your brother Esau is consoling himself concerning you by planning to kill you. 43 Now therefore, my son, obey my voice, and arise, flee to Haran, to my brother Laban! 44 Stay with him a few days, until your brother’s fury subsides, 45 until your brother’s anger against you subsides and he forgets what you did to him. Then I will send and get you from there. Why should I be bereaved of you both in one day?”

46 Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am tired of living because of the daughters of Heth; if Jacob takes a wife from the daughters of Heth, like these, from the daughters of the land, what good will my life be to me?”

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB © The Lockman Foundation (www.lockman.org)

July 21, 2014

Like Father, Like Son

Genesis 26

The hero in our story today follows in the epic footsteps of his famous father. The covenant promises that the LORD made to Abraham are firmly in the grip of his son Isaac who shares the faith and character of his father.

When your entire life is wrapped up in one promise, when you’re life is spent looking for the fulfillment of God’s promise to you, how do you live? Abraham never stopped thinking about it. He left a legacy of faith for his son…faith and obedience. The promised passes to Isaac because of Abraham’s faithfulness and fidelity. It reminds us of the awesome responsibility that we have to pass on a spiritual heritage to our children. It wasn’t because of Isaac’s Sunday school teacher or youth group leader that he was receiving the promises, but because of his father. It should sober us as parents. That doesn’t mean that youth leaders or mentors or others don’t have a role to play…in fact, they can have a huge impact on the spiritual journey of the next generation, but the primary responsibility still rests with parents.

Abraham has taught Isaac how to worship, how to make decisions, how to listen to God. And he does. He actually does better than his father. But Isaac has also picked up from Abraham how to deceive and to fear. Isaac chooses wisely when his wife is barren, but not when he has to protect himself. He has the faith of Abraham – the exact same faith. He trusts God – most of the time. He has some maturing to do.

Isaac picked up some of Abraham’s bad habits…stretching the truth being highlighted here. Our kids are always watching… we’re hoping that they won’t make the same mistakes that we did, but unfortunately they often do…we do. Same with each generation. Especially with the “Do as I say, not as I do” mentality. How many of us get onto our kids for speeding when we model that behavior so well for them? Or how about their condescending tone with their siblings when they hear the same thing when we interact with our spouse? Our kids unwittingly pick up many of our habits…both bad and good.

What about you? As a parent, are you leaving a spiritual legacy for your kids? Are you intentional about building into them a life of faith? Could you say, like Paul, follow my example as I follow the example of Christ? Abraham had an incredible promise to pass on to his son…great nation, great land, blessing to all nations, and ultimately the Head-crushing Seed of the woman, Jesus. And though we may not be passing on the Abrahamic Covenant to our children, we have a promise. The hope of redemption. The resurrection of our bodies. The return of our King, Jesus. The new heavens and the new earth, a return to paradise. Life forever with our Creator God. Are we living like it? Are we preparing the next generation? Are we making choices that we want them to make? As a teenager, are you making wise choices in what habits you’re emulating from your parents? Are you walking in faith?

May God give us the grace to do so this week.

Until next time…stay salty.

This post is based on our Genesis series. Listen online at:http://www.centralchristian.org, or follow us on twitter: @ccclancaster

July 19, 2014

In the Image of God

A reminder from Genesis…

“Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule … over all the earth’ God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” Genesis 1.26-27

Who am I? Where do I come from? Why am I here? Great thinkers have wrestled with these questions for millennia. How I answer those questions will determine how I live my life, my worldview, how I interact with others.

If I accept what the culture says about the meaning of life, then I’m just 1 of 7 billion+ other human beings on planet earth evolved from goo over the span of billions of years. I am the product of time and chance. Life has no meaning beyond the here and now, so the best I can hope for is to eat, drink and enjoy, do what feels good, regardless of the consequences. After all, there’s no such thing as God or divine law or eternal consequences. Other human beings are tools to be used for my pleasure or to further my ends, or they are obstacles to be squashed.

But if I accept what the Bible says about the meaning of life, then I’m of infinite value because I bear God’s image. I have an incredible destiny and have tremendous potential because I have been made in His likeness to reflect Him to His creation (what it means to “rule”). As an image-bearer, I am loved with an unfathomable, incomprehensible love by Creator God. It means also that others have infinite value as fellow image-bearers, and that I’m to love them as such.

When Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit, their rebellion, their sin, as we see in Genesis 3, marred the image…it didn’t erase it. It separated us from Creator God, resulting in our death and put our destiny and potential in serious jeopardy. And if not for this amazing God, our story would end in despair. We would never reach our potential and could never fulfill our destiny. We would be forever separated from our Creator. But He wasn’t done yet. Even in the midst of our rebellion, He made a promise and provided a way that we could be rescued and our relationship with Him could be restored, our destiny and potential realized…through faith in the Head-crushing Seed of the woman, the Redeemer of Genesis 3.15, who we know as Jesus.

As a pastor, I see so many folks who have believed the lie that their lives have no purpose. That’s why drugs and pornography and prostitution and abuse and all manner of other awful things that we do to ourselves and others are so rampant. Those caught up in these things fail to see their own worth and refuse to acknowledge another’s. It’s the predictable consequence of accepting the philosophy that says “You’re an accident.”

What you believe matters. You were made in the image of God.

Pastor Matt