A Leap of Doubt - Gen. 28:16-22

Jacob doesn’t respond to God’s vision or His word with a declaration of faith. Instead he issues God a challenge. Although he sets up a memorial it’s only a temporary one. Though he knows that God is here Jacob declares that from his viewpoint this will only become God’s house if the Lord lives up to His end of the bargain. Jacob doesn't take a step of faith rather he takes a leap of doubt.

The cross of Christ assures us of the very same things that Jacob challanged God on. Jacob bargained with God by saying that if God would be present him and if God would preserve him and if God would provide for him then he would acknowldge the Lord.

The cross assures us that God is present with us.
The cross assures us that God will preserve us.
The cross assures that God will provide for us.
The cross moves us to present ourselves to God.

The cross however assures us that God is present with us here and now.

Perhaps Jacob thought that God would eventually leave or forget about him. Maybe he thought that since God is holy and he was not that at some point his sin would cause God to part ways with him forever. And maybe that’s the way some of us think.

At the cross Jesus was rejected by the Father so that we could be accepted. The cross and empty tomb provide the ultimate guarantee that God accepts us because at the cross Jesus removed all of the sin that would have been a permanent barrier between us and the God of heaven.

At the cross God wasn’t saying ‘if you remain faithful and true I’ll forgive your sins and eventually bless you with my presence’. No at the cross Jesus actually washed our sin away so that the Father takes us to Himself and is present with us now and forever. We serve, love and delight in God now not to try and get Him to be with us but because He is with us.

The other aspect of God being with us is that He delights in us right here and right now because we’re in Christ. That means that those who’ve placed their faith in Jesus Christ for forgiveness of sin and new life share the same destiny of Christ.

Do we believe that God is present with us because of what Christ did on the cross or do we think that God is with us only when we're good?

The cross assures us that God will preserve us on this journey.

Maybe Jacob thought that God would not or would choose not to give the guidance, wisdom and insight necessary to fulfill the call He placed on Jacob’s life. Maybe he’s hesitant to follow God’s ways and believes that he must rely on his old scheming deceitfulness to keep the blessings flowing. And maybe that’s how some of us feel.

The scripture teaches that those whom God has justified in Christ will in fact be glorified. This is why we can say that all things are working together for our good because that good is the ultimate good of being glorified and enjoying eternal life with the one who loves us and has freed us from our sins by His blood.

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

God’s purpose in predestinating those He loved before the world began was to conform them fully into the image of Jesus Christ so that in the ages to come we might stand perfectly free from sin, shame and guilt before the Father in absolute love, delight, acceptance and worship. And that’s the good that God is working out in our life right now through all of your troubles, pain and struggle with sin.

Are we willing to demonstrate our trust in God for the issues of our lives by walking before Him in holiness?

The cross assures that God will provide for our every need.

At this point in his life Jacob only seems to view God as someone who will take care of his physical needs and little else. He doesn’t seem to have any sense of God’s mission and though he’s struck by the vision it doesn’t draw him to seek and pursue the awesome, beautiful, infinite creator and sustainer of the universe. And maybe that’s how some of us think about God. We view Him mainly or only as the one we need to get along in this life. Our focus on survival or success can blind us to pursuing the supreme good, blessedness, majesty and wonder of the living God.

The cross assures however that God who provided for our eternal salvation will supply each and every need we have. Having been liberated therefore from an existence dominated by the getting this and that for the here and now we can fix our gaze on the great mission He’s called us to. We can actually become people of mission and not just materialism.

That’s what Paul was getting at when he told the Philippians that God would supply everything he needed according to His riches in glory. Paul meant that he was free to pursue God mission to spread godliness through the gospel of Christ because God would make sure that he had everything he needed to pursue that mission.

The cross is the sign that moves us toward mission. It tells us that we can begin looking at Christianity not only as a way to be get relief from pain, freedom from struggle and empowerment for success in this life. Instead we can begin to see biblical Christianity as the gateway into a life of significant and eternal purpose and mission as we give ourselves over to the great commission of making disciples who make a difference in our community, city and world.

Do we view the cross as our sign and symbol of mission and therefore desire to order and live our lives according to the mission Christ has given us?

Finally, the cross moves us to present ourselves to God.

Jacob may have had the mistaken idea that his life was his own to live and do with as he pleases. it seems that he's willing to acknowledge God has having a place in his life but not as the one who directs his life. And Jacob is willing to grace God with a tithe if God can live up to His word.

But the cross demonstates that God has lived up to His word completely. The cross assures us that Jesus Himself is with us now and will never, ever leave us. The cross assures us that the blessed Holy Spirit will keep and preserve us until the Lord returns for us or we go to be with Him. The cross assures us that our good and gracious heavenly Father will give us everything we need so that we can carry out the mission He's called us to.

And it's because we understand that the cross is the perfect expression of God justice and mercy that we're ready and willing to present our whole selves to God now.

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

To Him Who Loves Us..

Pastor Lance