Family Drama

INTRODUCTION:

If you have your Bibles you can turn them to Genesis 27. Today is our “Family Service” which means we have all of the kids worshipping along with us.

In view of that fact I thought it’d be good to address a topic that the whole family could relate with. Something the vast majority of us have experienced to one degree or another.

And our passage today just so happened to address that issues. I’ve titled the message “Family Drama.” But it could’ve easily been titled why are siblings the most frustrating relationships in your life.

We can all acknowledge that every family has problems, right? Every family. Every church family has problems. But when you read Genesis 27 it makes our problems look like a piece of cake.

This family is an absolute disaster. I mean, dysfunctional is an understatement. When you read this it’s easy to ask is there ANYBODY redeemable in this text? Has EVERYONE broken bad? There are no heroes at all.

They are dominated by selfishness.

Brothers selfishly cheating each other out of an inheritance and a blessing.

Parents playing favorites, pitting child against child and parent against parent.

This chapter is filled with lying and deceiving and manipulating and blaspheming and murderous rage.

They break all 10 of the 10 Commandments. They live without any love for God or for one another.

Yall ready? Going to be great fun!

I’ve been sharing how one of the ways to get the main idea of a text is to look for repeated words or themes. Sometimes it’s a phrase that gets repeated at front and end of a narrative.

In Genesis 27 the main themes are the themes of family and God’s blessing. (Blessing = 23X) It is God's blessing that defines who we are as the people of God. You are either under the blessing of God, or you are either under the curse.

God’s blessing is what divides the world. God’s blessing is also what often divides a family. Genesis 27 is all about getting God's blessings but in all the wrong ways.

So we’re going to learn about NOT to get the blessing of God through their negative example.

My Way Not God’s

The first way is in verses 1-5.

If you want the blessed life then it’s important you elevate wordly pleasures above God’s work.

Genesis 26:34–27:4 CSB

34 When Esau was forty years old, he took as his wives Judith daughter of Beeri the Hethite, and Basemath daughter of Elon the Hethite. 35 They made life bitter for Isaac and Rebekah. 1 When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could not see, he called his older son Esau and said to him, “My son.” And he answered, “Here I am.” 2 He said, “Look, I am old and do not know the day of my death. 3 So now take your hunting gear, your quiver and bow, and go out in the field to hunt some game for me. 4 Then make me a delicious meal that I love and bring it to me to eat, so that I can bless you before I die.”

Our passage opens with a little insight on Esau. Not only does his reject God’s design in marrying only ONE person instead of more than one. The multiple women he DOES marry reject faith in God and make life miserable for Isaac and Rebecca.

We know from Genesis 25 that Isaac practiced favoritism with his son Esau because he was a hunter and had a taste for wild game. He was a man’s man but it seems like he wasn’t a very godly man.

He exchanged his birthright for a bowl of stew.

All of that factors in to Isaac’s request here in verses 1-4.

Esau is NOT the child of promise. He has stepped OUTSIDE the blessing of God and design of God for how to live. In this way Esau is much like Ishmael. We even see those parallels with his use of a bow & arrow to hunt game.

The other big character in the opening verses is Isaac.

That last we saw Isaac he was living his best life, blessed by God and dwelling in Beersheba. Now we’ve fast forwarded who knows how many decades. He’s old, feeble, becoming blind and about to die.

The way Moses describes Isaac’s physical condition is also a way to suggest his spiritual condition.

In this passage Isaac is so old that his eyes will deceive him, his ears will deceive him, his taste will deceive him, and his touch will deceive him. He is deceived in all of these physical senses but he’s even more deeply deceived in a spiritual sense.

Isaac had some mountain top experiences with God. But with the passing of time came a drifting in his relationship with God.

He started well but like many men he is finishing poorly. Why? Because he’s chosen worldly pleasure over the Word of God.

He knows Jacob is the child of promise. He knows Esau sold his birthright and had chosen a lifestyle that rejected God’s design. But he chooses Esau for the blessing anyway.

Why? Is it because he likes Esau better than Jacob? We certainly get that idea in Genesis 25.

Another clue is this phrase translated “delightful meal that I love” in verse 4. It’s used two more times in the chapter.

It seems as though Isaac has grown quite fond of food in his older age. He’s begun to satiate his desires with the things of this world over against the will and Word of God.

Obviously there’s nothing wrong with a great meal. The question is one of priority and intensity when it comes to your desire. A growing appetite for the things and pleasures of this world will dull your appetite for the things of God.

Isaac was seeking after the blessed life by putting worldly pleasure above God’s Plan.

It’s a direct rejection of the Word and plan of God.

God, I don’t like your plan but I do want your blessing. So I’ll take your blessing but I’ll implement how I want and give it to whomever I want.

Like I said, there's no, there's no heroes in this story. But I want you to see this, that Isaac actually bears primary responsibility for the dysfunction in the family. Husbands, fathers, take note.

Creature comforts had become center place. This happens to several men in Scripture as they age. (David, Sampson, Solomon, Noah,

The blessed life comes from increasing your appetite for God’s word and decreasing your appetite for this world. That’s why I would encourage you, especially men, to begin fasting if you haven’t already done so.

Fasting can help us break the seductive power that food has over our hearts. It can alleviate the dulling of spiritual sensitivity our American diets can sometimes create. If not food, track whatever is dulling your appetites for God and remove it!

Screens, sugar and shows would be a good place to start. Eliminate what is distracting you from desiring God more deeply.

God’s Will World’s Way

But that’s not the only bad idea we see in this passage. Not only does Isaac put Worldly Pleasure over God’s Word.

We are now going to see Sarah accomplish God’s will through worldly methods.

Genesis 27:5–17 CSB

5 Now Rebekah was listening to what Isaac said to his son Esau. So while Esau went to the field to hunt some game to bring in, 6 Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Listen! I heard your father talking with your brother Esau. He said, 7 ‘Bring me game and make a delicious meal for me to eat so that I can bless you in the Lord’s presence before I die.’ 8 Now, my son, listen to me and do what I tell you. 9 Go to the flock and bring me two choice young goats, and I will make them into a delicious meal for your father—the kind he loves. 10 Then take it to your father to eat so that he may bless you before he dies.” 11 Jacob answered Rebekah his mother, “Look, my brother Esau is a hairy man, but I am a man with smooth skin. 12 Suppose my father touches me. Then I will be revealed to him as a deceiver and bring a curse rather than a blessing on myself.” 13 His mother said to him, “Your curse be on me, my son. Just obey me and go get them for me.” 14 So he went and got the goats and brought them to his mother, and his mother made the delicious food his father loved. 15 Then Rebekah took the best clothes of her older son Esau, which were in the house, and had her younger son Jacob wear them. 16 She put the skins of the young goats on his hands and the smooth part of his neck. 17 Then she handed the delicious food and the bread she had made to her son Jacob.

There's so much deception here. There's so much manipulation. There's so much twisting of the Word of God. There's a sense in which we're supposed to recall the events in the Garden of Eden.

Genesis 27:18–26 CSB

18 When he came to his father, he said, “My father.” And he answered, “Here I am. Who are you, my son?” 19 Jacob replied to his father, “I am Esau, your firstborn. I have done as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of my game so that you may bless me.” 20 But Isaac said to his son, “How did you ever find it so quickly, my son?” He replied, “Because the Lord your God made it happen for me.” 21 Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come closer so I can touch you, my son. Are you really my son Esau or not?” 22 So Jacob came closer to his father Isaac. When he touched him, he 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 those of his brother Esau; so he blessed him. 24 Again he asked, “Are you really my son Esau?” And he replied, “I am.” 25 Then he said, “Bring it closer to me, and let me eat some of my son’s game so that I can bless you.” Jacob brought it closer to him, and he ate; he brought him wine, and he drank. 26 Then his father Isaac said to him, “Please come closer and kiss me, my son.”

Isaac is the chief sinner in this passage, but Rebekah is not far behind.

Unlike Isaac they have their physical eyesight but they’re spiritually just as blind as Isaac and Esau!

They’re trying to secure God’s will (a good thing) but doing so in a dishonest and dishonorable way!

They mistakenly believe that they must take matters into their own hands, that God needs their help, even if that help is dishonest and self serving.

A righteous end does not justify unrighteous means! (Surely they knew this from their grandad and Hagar)

It is so manipulative. It is such an elaborative, really evil scheme spearheaded here by Rebecca.

You say, well, what should she have done? I mean, Isaac wasn't leading well. What should she have done? I don't know. Make maybe, maybe talk to her husband.

Do you ever notice in this passage that everybody seems to be avoiding talking to the right people, right?

There's, there's conniving and manipulating and scheming between the two pairs back and forth and yet never once do we see Rebecca saying, you know what, I'm going to go talk to your father about this.

We're going to sort this out right now. Never once do you see them go, You know what? This is crazy. This kind of havoc in this home is not acceptable. We're calling a family meeting right now and we're going to deal with this right now.

They never go to the right people. They never deal with things the right way. They are disunified at the very core.

Spouse Before Your Kids

By the way - as an aide - this kind of dynamic in a marriage/family doesn’t happen overnight. This is one more reason why you should never prioritize your kids over your spouse.

Never put your kids before your relationship with your spouse and never put your spouse over your relationship with God. It’s the two MOST COMMON sources of family drama.

Your kids NEED the safety and security putting your spouse first provides them. Your spouse will CRUMBLE under the weight of having to play the role of God under your life. And when they fail to do so you’ll find yourself angry or destroyed.

Getting Back to Point

To get back to the main point of this compromise - have you ever attempted to pursue God’s will in an ungodly way?

“It's God's will that I be happy. God wants me happy. God wants His people to be filled with joy. Therefore, it's okay for me to leave my spouse for another person.”

God wants our church to grow so it’s okay if we compromise the truth on this thing or that thing.

What a disastrous picture of a family in disarray, of people failing to trust God and to wait patiently on Him.

What's amazing is that God still used Rebekah and Jacob to achieve His redemptive purposes. Their lack of integrity did not hinder God, but it did bring about unnecessary suffering in their lives and in the lives of their descendants.

This, this will have a ripple effect that will move through generations. It is shocking to me that in spite of the sin, God still allows Jacob to receive the blessing.

But that’s exactly what happens. Genesis 27:27-29

Genesis 27:27–29 CSB

27 So he came closer and kissed him. When Isaac smelled his clothes, he blessed him and said: Ah, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field that the Lord has blessed. 28 May God give to you— from the dew of the sky and from the richness of the land— an abundance of grain and new wine. 29 May peoples serve you and nations bow in worship to you. Be master over your relatives; may your mother’s sons bow in worship to you. Those who curse you will be cursed, and those who bless you will be blessed.

“May God give you the dew of heaven.”

That's a picture of water. We've, we've already talked about wells in the past, but the idea of water, especially in, in wilderness, in barren wasteland, it is essential for life.

With lots of water you can have lots of grain, lots of grapes and lots of wine.

The blessing to have nations serve and bow in worship to you is an echo of the promise first made to Abraham but it’s also beginning to foreshadow what’s about to come in Genesis with Jacob and Joseph.

What’s crazy is that Jacob doesn’t deserve this blessing! He is deceiving his Father!

But God never blesses righteous people. He only ever blesses wicked sinful people because that’s all there EVER is in this world. I think that’s one of the key truths Genesis is bringing to bear.

None of us are worthy of God’s blessing because we’re all kinda like Isaac and Esau, Rebecca and Jacob.

God is demonstrating His grace, not because of their sin, but in spite of their sin.

But if we want to pursue the blessing of God in the RIGHT way instead of the wrong way. We need to pursue righteous ends through righteous means!

We must commit to accomplishing God’s will God’s way!

Do you know what that requires? It requires well-informed convictions and rock-solid character.

We need men especially who keep a close watch on their life and their doctrine. What they believe and how they live. Constantly assessing and addressing those two things.

Wordly Remorse Not Godly Repentance

The next worldly way to achieve the blessing of God is to trade godly repentance with worldly remorse.

Here, the pain just is unleashed on these pages.

Genesis 27:30–40 CSB

30 As soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob and Jacob had left the presence of his father Isaac, his brother Esau arrived from his hunting. 31 He had also made some delicious food and brought it to his father. He said to his father, “Let my father get up and eat some of his son’s game, so that you may bless me.” 32 But his father Isaac said to him, “Who are you?” He answered, “I am Esau your firstborn son.” 33 Isaac began to tremble uncontrollably. “Who was it then,” he said, “who hunted game and brought it to me? I ate it all before you came in, and I blessed him. Indeed, he will be blessed!” 34 When Esau heard his father’s words, he cried out with a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, “Bless me too, my father!” 35 But he replied, “Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing.” 36 So he said, “Isn’t he rightly named Jacob? For he has cheated me twice now. He took my birthright, and look, now he has taken my blessing.” Then he asked, “Haven’t you saved a blessing for me?” 37 But Isaac answered Esau, “Look, I have made him a master over you, have given him all of his relatives as his servants, and have sustained him with grain and new wine. What then can I do for you, my son?” 38 Esau said to his father, “Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father!” And Esau wept loudly. 39 His father Isaac answered him, Look, your dwelling place will be away from the richness of the land, away from the dew of the sky above. 40 You will live by your sword, and you will serve your brother. But when you rebel, you will break his yoke from your neck.

The traumatic trembling that ripped through Isaac's body and soul. indicated this collapse of his willful opposition to the Word of God.

It certainly was the pain of betrayal, the understanding of the deceit of his own flesh and blood, but there is built into this a recognition of his own defiance to the Word and will of God.

Commentator Donald Gray Barnhouse He observed this about this text. He said before a great work of grace. There must be a great earthquake Isaac had put his personal love of Esau ahead of the will of God. Down came his idol, and the edifice of willful love collapsed before the shaking power that took hold of him.

The arrogant pride, which had slyly planned to thwart God, toppled to the ground, broken beyond repair. When Isaac trembled exceedingly, all his desires were shattered. Isaac's submissive conclusion, yes, and he shall be blessed, declared that he had been defeated and that he accepted Jacob as blessed of God.

There is certainly recognition here. Esau sees it as well. But while Isaac surrenders to it, and I do think that that statement that he makes there in verse 33 is his recognition that yes, he was standing in opposition to the revealed Word of God, and now he acknowledges it. Now he confesses it. Now he accepts it.

But while Isaac surrenders to this truth, Esau fights against it. Esau tries to acquire the blessing of God here in this emotional plea through sorrowful tears. This is what Hebrews 12 is talking about. We looked at this a couple weeks ago, but I want to put it back on the screen. Hebrews 12, uh, verse 15 and 17, because I think some have wrongly, is that right?

There it is, uh, wrongly understood this verse. Notice what it says, See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God, that no root of bitterness springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled, that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal.

for you know that afterward when he desired to inherit the blessing, that's key, he was rejected for he found no chance to repent though he sought it with tears. Now listen, sometimes, um, the Old, the New Testament helps us properly interpret the Old Testament, okay? It's right that we look at how the New Testament authors understand the Old Testament passages.

What they say it means is clearly what it means. Sometimes though, there are some confusing passages in the New Testament. We need to go back to the Old Testament so we can get clarity on what the New Testament is trying to highlight and tell us. This is one of those instances. Some people read this verse and they believe it's saying that you can get to a point where you can no longer repent.

That is not what this is talking about. Here's what we need to see because this passage illuminates this truth for us, right? Here, Esau was not seeking repentance. He was seeking the blessing apart from repentance, okay? It's not that he couldn't repent, he didn't want to repent. He didn't want God, he wanted the blessings of God.

He was choosing the blessing over the blesser, and you can't have the blessing that way. You must choose the blesser over the blessing in order to get both the blesser and the blessing. Is that confusing enough? He, he could have repented. That's best. This is showing us here. What was it that he wept over?

He wept over the loss of the blessing. He wept bitterly over it. He wanted the world. He wanted the goods of the world. He wanted what he felt he deserved. He wanted, wanted what he felt was his by. Right. He desperately wanted, he just didn't want to get it God's way. He had every opportunity. Listen, if we could rewrite this script.

Esau. You say, well, what should he have done in this moment? Listen, he should have fallen on his face and accepted the revealed will and word of God. Jacob was the son through whom God is going to bring blessings of salvation to the world. And I acknowledge that. I accept that. I believe that that would've been the way he could have obtained the grace of God, but he failed.

He failed to obtain the grace of God. Why? One simple reason he wouldn't repent. He wouldn't repent. It's the greatest tragedy any human being can face. It is the failure to repent in the face of your sin.

And instead of getting a blessing, he gets an anti blessing. It's a curse. You say, what are we supposed to make of that? Here's what you're supposed to make of that. You're supposed to see here in Esau that he is just like Ishmael. He's just like Cain. He's a seed of the serpent. What makes somebody a seed of the serpent?

They will not repent of their sin and embrace the promise of God.

There can be, listen, there can be no enjoyment of God's presence, no spiritual revival in your life, no redemption for your soul without godly repentance. Worldly remorse and godly repentance are, are in direct opposition to one another. That's what we see this, this passage showcasing. Paul says it like this in 2 Corinthians chapter 7.

He says, For godly grief, produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. Foresee what kind of earnestness this godly grief has produced in you. This is true sorrow and brokenness, okay? Look at what it's doing inside of you. It's not about weeping over what you have lost or what you think you deserve.

But also, what eagerness to clear yourself, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what punishment at every point you have proved yourself innocent in the matter. Here's what it's saying. Listen, there is a kind of sorrow, a kind of remorse, but when you feel, yes, the pain of your sin because you've lost something near and dear to you, but it never leads to repentance.

It leads to anger. It leads to bitterness. It leads to malice toward others. It leads to discontentment in your soul. But there is a godly grief, and when you come face to face with your sin, when you feel the weight of your sin, when you're crushed by your sin, you break under that weight. And it produces this zeal to be made right, a longing to do whatever is necessary to make things right.

Real repentance produces confession, forsaking of sin, a desire for reconciliation with those that you have hurt because of your sin, a making restitution because of what your sin maybe has cost. It produces a separation from the world, and ultimately it produces a submission to the Lordship of Christ, and it leads to the filling of His Spirit within you.

Thomas Watson, a Puritan. He, he said this, I'll put this on the screen, he said repentance is a spiritual medicine made up of six special ingredients. I just want to list those for you, um, you can put all six up there. And I just, I just, this is, I thought this is really, really helpful. Just notice this.

Here's the, you're like, how do I, how, how do I experience true repentance? Here's, here's what he suggests. I think it's, it's really, really biblical and really helpful. You need sight of sin. You need to see your sin for what it actually is. You need to recognize that your sin is actually real, that you are in rebellion against a holy and righteous God, that He has determined what is right and what is wrong, and you're in violation of not only His law, but of His very character.

Secondly, you need sorrow for sin. You need to not just see it, you need to be sorrowful of it. You need a godly sorrow. You need to recognize that your sin is destructive to your relationship with God, and yourself, and with others. Third, you need confession of sin. You need to simply say to God what He says about your sin.

My sin is sin, and I'm confessing it before you. Fourth, you need shame for sin. It's interesting that this comes after, uh, Sight, Sorrow, and Confession. You say, why is it placed there? Because true repentance, listen, it doesn't just run away from the shame of sin, it actually kind of marinates in it a little bit.

Why? Why? Because you have to keep feeling the shame of sin so that you don't wander right back into your sin, right? You have to get to this place, even after you've confessed your sin, where you're like, this sin is ugly. It's gross. It's so destructive in my life. And I'm embarrassed by this sin. I don't want this sin.

In fact, that should lead you to this, a hatred for sin. You have to get to, you want to see true brokenness over your sin. Here's what you need to pray for as a Christian. You keep falling back into sin. You keep slipping back into habitual sin. Pray for this right here. God, help me feel the shame of my sin.

God, help me to hate my sin. Help me to hate the sin that put the nails in my Savior's hands and feet. Help me to hate the sin that separated me from my God, from the King of the universe. And that ultimately leads to a turning from sin. That's what repentance is. It is an actual 180 where you're turning away from sin towards God, towards holiness and righteousness.

He, he goes on, Thomas Watson does, and he says this, If any one of these is left out, repentance loses its virtue. Yes, and I would add that this is motivated by the truth, listen, that God extends the grace of forgiveness for sin. The reason we can repent and walk through this process is because we know our God is gracious to forgive.

Amen? Amen. Because we know our God, our King, He paid for that sin. Jesus hung on the cross. Our certificate of debt was nailed to the cross. And so we can work through this process knowing that God is gracious to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

George Swinnick said this, he said, Upon the two hinges of faith and repentance do all the promises of the Bible hang. That's true. You get no promises of the Scripture. You get none of the blessings of God, because you cannot have Jesus unless you believe in Him and repent of your sins. Repentance and faith, two sides to the same coin.

I love that. Two hinges upon which all the promises of the Bible hang. So let me just ask you, are you walking in sin today? I mean, today, did you walk in here knowing that you're walking in willful, deliberate sin?

And, and then secondly, I would just simply ask you, do you want to enjoy the blessing of God? For some of you today, you're in sin. You're dead in your trespasses in sin. And you're like Esau right now, who's standing, right, at this fork in the road. And God is saying, listen, you have a choice to make. Choose this day whom you will serve.

I'm standing here. My arms are open wide. My grace is available to you. But you need to be broken over your sin. You need to repent of your sin. You need to trust in me. You need to grab hold of my grace today by faith. Repent of your sin and believe. And if you do that, the Bible says, if you confess your sins, you believe that Jesus Christ rose from the dead, you shall be saved.

Trade worldly remorse for godly repentance. Choose the blesser over the blessing and get them both in the end.

God’s Salvation Thwarted by World’s Sin

Final worldly way to achieve the blessing of God. Trust that God's salvation can be thwarted by the world's sin.

Genesis 27:41–46 CSB

41 Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. And Esau determined in his heart, “The days of mourning for my father are approaching; then I will kill my brother Jacob.” 42 When the words of her older son Esau were reported to Rebekah, she summoned her younger son Jacob and said to him, “Listen, your brother Esau is consoling himself by planning to kill you. 43 So now, my son, listen to me. Flee at once to my brother Laban in Haran, 44 and stay with him for a few days until your brother’s anger subsides—45 until your brother’s rage turns away from you and he forgets what you have done to him. Then I will send for you and bring you back from there. Why should I lose you both in one day?” 46 So Rebekah said to Isaac, “I’m sick of my life because of these Hethite girls. If Jacob marries someone from around here, like these Hethite girls, what good is my life?”

Is it possible to believe that human sin is somehow stronger than the sovereignty of God, and therefore that God's blessing can only be achieved by human effort or human means.

This, this, this really is at the heart of this passage in so many ways because, again, everyone in the story sinned. Everyone in the family sought the blessing of God without bending the knee to God.

This, this little family was fraught with ambition and jealousy, envy, lying, deceit, coveting, blasphemy, malice, manipulation, stubbornness, and stupidity, and everybody lost because of it.

The family was blown to smithereens, so to speak. A grenade was lobbed in the middle, and everybody just goes doing their own thing, and there off goes Jacob for 20 years before he ever finds any reconciliation with his brother Esau.

And God's going to have to send him away to teach him some lessons.

And as we look at this story, I think we ought to be reminded again that this really is our story. It is the story of humanity. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. All apart from the grace of God are under the curse of sin and desperately need the blessing of salvation. Our hope cannot be in our own ability to achieve it.

This passage leaves us in this place wondering, how is God going to redeem these people? Will sin thwart God's salvation? No. Not their sin, not your sin, not all the sin in the whole world combined can prevent God's will from being accomplished. In fact, God uses sin to accomplish our salvation. What, what you meant for evil, God meant for good is a constant refrain over all the scriptures.

And here, what they so clearly meant for evil in so many different ways, God is going to take and use for the good of all humanity. He's going to accomplish the salvation of the world still through this deceiver, Jacob, the cheater.

God protects his life and uses his sin to bring about salvation, both his and ours. And this theme in Scripture finds its culmination at the cross of Jesus Christ, where Paul, or we're told, sorry, in Acts chapter 2, that the greatest display of divine power over human sin is put on display, where God uses the sinful, wicked deeds and plans of men to accomplish His good, saving purposes for humanity.

He uses their evil and ultimately brings about the salvation of the world. Christian, amidst our sin and our stupidities, the unstoppable plan of God is determined to bring us to completion, even when we resist it. This is what this passage is telling us. Paul in 2 Timothy 2, he actually highlights this.

This is a, the trustworthy saying. And he goes on to kind of deliver this saying. He says, if we have died with Him, we will also live with Him. If we endure, we will also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He will also deny us. Now I just want you to pause for a minute and just look up there for a second at these verses.

The first two lines express assurance, and the third line warns us. But when we read the fourth line, we're expected to see a corollary. That's what our minds want to see, right? If we are faithless. He will be unfaithful. That's what we're supposed to think. But in this shocking turn of events, we read, if we are faithless, what does it say, church?

He remains, what's that word? For He cannot deny Himself. God cannot and will not be anything but faithful to His unfaithful children. Isn't that good news? Even when they manipulate and fight against His will, His Word will prevail. We cannot achieve God's blessings the world's way. Only Jesus Christ achieves it.

That's what we need to see. That's the irony of this passage. Every person here is trying to achieve it, But only Jesus Christ can achieve it, and by His grace, and through faith in Him, we then receive it, because we receive Him. Instead, we must enjoy the blessing of God. How do we do that? Well, it's, it's really simple.

We treasure God's Word above worldly pleasures. We try to accomplish God's will, God's way. We trade worldly remorse for godly repentance. We trust that God's salvation can't be thwarted by the world's sin. God's plan has always been to rescue a people and bring them into his family. And if you are in his family today, listen, as dysfunctional as you and God's family can be sometimes, you can rest in this truth.

If we are faithless, He remains faithful. Father, we praise you, for you are faithful, even when we are not. God, if our salvation was left up to us, If we could achieve it in any way, shape, or form, God, we never would. We could never do it, Lord. We're, we're not capable, Father, of being perfectly obedient to your law.

We're not capable of erasing our sin. Lord, we are wholly dependent upon you being faithful, even when we are faithless. And we praise you, Jesus, that you are our faithful king. That you and you alone live the perfect life, that you died a substitutionary death, that you credit your righteousness to us as you receive the payment for our sin.

Our hope and our rest is found not in our own ability to achieve our salvation, but in the fact that by grace through faith we have received the precious gift of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. All the promises of God find their yes and amen in you, Jesus, and we praise you for that now. We want to honor you and lift our voices, so would you receive our praise, O faithful God?