Grace, Not Works

Introduction

In the previous verses Abraham has died and was buried in the land of promise. Now we move to his son Isaac who is not the main character long. Already here tonight we will look at the birth of his children. In the story of Abraham we spent the better part of 10 chapters moving towards the promise of offspring. The children we see tonight though are not without trouble as we will see.

In all of this story what comes to the forefront is grace. Grace is something that we get and so not deserve in a good sense. When nobody in the class had time to study for a test and the teacher moves it so that you can study before it, that is grace. It is still grace even if you don’t utilize that extra time to study. Or if you are speeding and get pulled over but the officer only gives you a warning. Here we get off without a ticket, even though we deserved a ticket. This is what we are talking about tonight.

The amazing thing about God is how much he gives us grace, and it is never something that we work for. It is never deserved by us, yet he still gives it.

Lets read our verses this evening and then begin to see how Gods grace is at work.

Genesis 25:19–28 ESV

These are the generations of Isaac, Abraham’s son: Abraham fathered Isaac, and Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean of Paddan-aram, the sister of Laban the Aramean, to be his wife. And Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife, because she was barren. And the Lord granted his prayer, and Rebekah his wife conceived. The children struggled together within her, and she said, “If it is thus, why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the Lord. And the Lord said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you shall be divided; the one shall be stronger than the other, the older shall serve the younger.” When her days to give birth were completed, behold, there were twins in her womb. The first came out red, all his body like a hairy cloak, so they called his name Esau. Afterward his brother came out with his hand holding Esau’s heel, so his name was called Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them. When the boys grew up, Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field, while Jacob was a quiet man, dwelling in tents. Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.

This passage opens up a new section of the book with the characteristic “these are the generations of”, does anyone remember our fancy Hebrew word for this? Toledot.

We see a brief genealogy connecting everything together and are told about the marriage of Isaac and Rebekah. One detail that we are given here is that she is barren. This was something that was an issue in Sarah’s life and now is an issue in Rebekah’s life, more than that this is a characteristic found in the elect line that God has chosen to work through. The interesting part about this is that instead of all the things that Abraham did, Isaac goes to God in prayer about this issue for 20 years! We see that the Lord listened to his prayer and granted him a child.

This was not a normal pregnancy though Rebekah felt it and asked God what was going on. Here God tells here that there are twins in her womb and they will be divided and one will be stronger and the older will serve the younger. This is a countercultural statement made by God but God does not answer to the culture.

Rebekah then gives birth to the twins and they are vastly different right out of the womb. The older of the two whose name is Esau is red and hairy, then the second whose name is Jacob comes out holding the heel of Esau.

They grew up and remained very different, Esau was a outdoorsman and Jacob was not. Jacob preferred to stay inside. There is another interesting thing that distinguishes then, Jacob loved Esau more because of the game that he hunted where Rebekah loved Jacob more, perhaps because of the word from God earlier.

This ending foreshadows conflict that will happen within this family and between these brothers.

We will begin to see this conflict arise next week but our focus of tonight is on the grace of God in this story. We are going to look at three things as we dive in, the grace of God in answered prayer, election, and despite human favoritism. So lets pray and then we can dive in.

The Grace of God in Answered Prayer

Look again at verse 21. Genesis 25.21

Genesis 25:21 ESV

And Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife, because she was barren. And the Lord granted his prayer, and Rebekah his wife conceived.

Prayer plays an important part in the story of Genesis. Previously we say Abraham’s servant pray about finding Rebekah and now we see Isaac praying for Rebekah and in both instances the prayer is answered. Isaac could have turned to many things but he turned to prayer and I think there is something for all of us to learn in that.

Where we see God at work here though is that he was gracious to answer that prayer. God showed undeserved favor to Isaac in answering this prayer. Think about it God does not have to answer our prayers, he doesn’t even have to listen to them! But he does. Even when we are running from him he will listen. This is undeserved favor.

Prayer is an important aspect of the Christian life and I encourage you to spend time in prayer. Set reminders, keep a list, do something to deepen your prayer life. We have a gracious God who gives us the opportunity to pray, we would be foolish not to take part in this blessing. Listen to what it says in James about prayer.

James 5:16 ESV

Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.

The prayer of a righteous person has great power. The prayer of a Christian has great power.

When we pray we do not change God’s will, what we do is get a chance to take part in it. This is a big act of grace right here! We get to take part in God’s will through prayer, what a privilege.

How to pray

Being youth I do want to take a moment to briefly teach you how to pray because for some it can be a confusing thing.

All prayer is, is a conversation with God. Start off with him.

When we think about the content of our prayers we can spend a lot of time in this but I recommend you start off with thankfulness and then move to the things that you want to ask him for help, guidance, or healing for.

Then conclude with simply saying it is in Jesus’ name I pray Amen. When we pray it is to God through Jesus. All amen means is “truly” or “so let it be”.

So here is a short simple prayer that follows this:

God I thank you for this day and I thank you for who you are. Please help me to know what the right choice is in this situation and please help this sick relative. In Jesus name I pray, amen.

It is as simple as that.

The Grace of God in Election

First we saw how God is gracious in prayer and how we can take part in it too. Now we turn to his grace in election. Election is Gods choosing when it comes to salvation. In our passage here we see that the older will serve the younger, God chose Jacob and not Esau for this. It was not because of anything they had done though, they were not even born yet when this took place.

Paul talks about this in Romans 9.10-16 where he says this

Romans 9:10–16 ESV

And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls— she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means! For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.

They had done no good or bad and God chose to save and use Jacob. Is this not just? of course it is just because it is God. He can show mercy to whoever he wants and he can withhold it from whoever he wants, he is God after all. It is all based on God.

Gods undeserved favor rest on Jacob, not because of anything that he did but because God chose to give it to him.

The Grace of God Despite Human Favoritism

The final way we see Gods grace at work tonight is how it goes forth despite the favoritism being shown in this passage. Even though Isaac was showing favoritism to one son and it was not the son chosen by God, God will continue in his purpose of Grace. He will not be thwarted by sinful man, God will continue to show undeserved favor even when man thinks there is a reason to show favor.

See what is taught in Proverbs 19.21

Proverbs 19:21 ESV

Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.

We come up with a lot of plans and ideas but it is the purpose of the Lord that will come about, this is such a gracious act because I cannot imagine if our plans could trump the Lords purposes. Everything would be in chaos.

Conclusion

So why have we spent a whole night talking about grace? It is because it is by grace that we are saved. We could never hope to be saved if God had not showed us undeserved favor. We do not deserve salvation, we do not deserve forgiveness. We are dead in our trespasses and sin, we are enemies of God. There is nothing in us that could do anything towards our own salvation. Yet God shows us grace.

The greatest work of grace is Jesus dying on the cross for our sins. While we were still sinners Christ died for us, that is grace. God electing us for salvation, that is grace. It is all a work of grace.

The Bible says that is is by grace that we have been saved through faith. Faith is how we are to lay hold of this gracious offer of salvation and to be forgiven of our sins. When God regenerates us, when he gives us a new heart, and we put our faith in him he has given us all of his undeserved favor.

What a privilege that we get. Tonight I am going to pray and then we are going to have a closing song. If God is pulling at your heart you respond.