Shadowlands: Patterns - Jacob's Ladder
Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 5 viewsNotes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
Today we continue our Advent series in the Shadowlands: How the old testament prepares us for Advent.
Last week we began by looking at a key scene in the New Testament.
And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.
Here we have Jesus, Post-Resurrection, coming up to two of His disciples on their journey.
He asks them a question about why they are so sad.
They respond by asking if he had heard of what just happened, Jesus of Nazareth was crucified!
Some of the women found an empty tomb, what is going on?
So Jesus unpacks the Old Testament from Genesis to Malachi all the things concerning Him.
Last Sunday we took a 30,000 foot overview of the Old Testament and showed in different patterns, promises, and Presence of Christ.
Today, we will be looking at specific pattern of Jesus in the Old Testament.
So what is a pattern of Jesus?
A Pattern is a person, place, thing, or an event, that is true and factual, and it historically happened, but all of it is a Shadow or Substance of Christ Himself.
Last week I hit on David and Goliath. David is a type of Christ.
David is the unexpected hero who faced off against the greatest foe and won victory for His people.
Jesus is the unexpected hero who faced off against sin and death, and won a victory for His people.
This week we are going to look at an event that really happened, that gives us a shadow of Jesus to come.
But before we look to that, I want us to remember why Jesus needed to come in the first place.
Illustration: Country Music.
Music. We fall in love to it, remember loved ones with it, remember why we no longer love certain people because of it.
Music brings life to song and gives it a beat.
If you are like me, you’ve also gone through a bunch of different phases with music. I went through a goth/metal stage, a pop stage, a ska stage, an 80’s stage, and finally landed in my true stage of neo soul music. Motown R&B for the 21st century. I feel like I’ve found who I am musically and I was just born 20 or 30 years too soon.
But regrettably, I also went through a country stage. Even more regrettably I’m stuck with my oldest son going through the same stage, probably at the same time I did in my youth.
Now I must be careful at this point because Christian is controlling the slides and this could get awkward for me real quick!
But, I share this because he had his playlist cranked up on the property and a country song came on that caught my attention.
The song is called: Where I come from by Alan Jackson.
As I listened to the lyrics I resonated with the chorus until one part.
It reads as follows: Where I come from It's cornbread and chicken - I’m down with that.
Where I come from a lotta front porch sitiin' - I personally would prefer a front porch swing, but we’re still good.
Next is where we start beginning the head scratching part.
Where I come from tryin' to make a livin' - Well yes it rhymes, but I’m pretty sure that is where everyone comes from. I don’t think that is just where Alan comes from.
Then we have the last part.
And workin' hard to get to heaven - Where I come from.
I looked at Christian during that part and yelled. Blasphemy!
Which he thankfully agreed or we were going to have to sit down and start dissecting the theology of Alan Jackson which wouldn’t be fun for any of us!
While yes it is just a song, it does reflect the thought process of mankind since just after the beginning of time.
Though Christianity has spoken against this and completely rejects this line of thinking, many who claim Christianity still believe this.
Perhaps you still believe this.
Maybe not outright and you would say that you didn’t if pressed, but your actions and thought process still reflect this age old heresy.
The reason why this is such a difficult idea to kick is that we are surrounded by it every day.
Every fabric of our existence is based off of the ability to earn what it is we need to survive.
We have to earn money to buy food, to buy clothes, we have to earn our jobs.
We have to earn our spouses, mine was especially hard to get: But worth it!
Not only are things hard to earn, they are hard to keep.
I can go back to spouse here again!
But we can add jobs, friends, money, respect, love, ect ect.
So, it naturally flows that we would do the same for Heaven.
Matter of fact, every religion out there is based on this concept of earning heaven.
Even Christian cults have some aspect of earning your eternity.
But Christianity is the only religion that is different, that is the opposite of what we would expect.
Christianity is that of Christ.
Jesus earned our Salvation.
Jesus earned our Eternity.
Jesus did the work that we kept failing at.
Jesus then gives us everlasting life through Himself instead of through our works.
The reason Jesus came 2000 years ago in a lowly manger to a virgin teenager was to accomplish what we couldn’t achieve.
Our faith, our hope, our destiny, no longer is this unbearable weight that is crushing us.
We no longer have to lie to ourselves by whispering sweet nothings disguised as daily aspirations into our own ears.
We no longer have to look ourselves in the mirror and try to convince ourselves why we are good enough.
Jesus is good enough. Jesus did achieve for us, Jesus handled the weight of our sin and failure and bore the wrath of God due to us.
If you could receive any gift this Christmas season, receive the gift of Christ.
The gift of true freedom, true purpose, true meaning.
You’ve heard it said, Jesus is the reason for the season.
May this be the year that you embrace not just the cliche, but the fullness of its meaning.
To help us emphasize this meaning we look to the Old Testament in Genesis Chapter 28
We will read together verses 11-17.
Open your Bibles or turn them on if that is your preference to the first book of the Bible.
These are the words of our God.
And he came to a certain place and stayed there that night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place to sleep. And he dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it! And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring. Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed. 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.” Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” And 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.”
These are the words of our God.
This scene is affectionately known as Jacob’s ladder.
That moment when Jacob saw into heaven through a dream and saw how heaven and earth was connected.
How heaven reached down and reached back up.
But one thing was noticeably missing in these scene.
That of Jacob, of humanity, climbing up and down the ladder.
Jacob even being used at all is one of the most scandalous ideas imaginable!
Let’s take a few moments to realize why.
First, Jacob was the second born of twins, his brother being Esau.
Esau means hairy. I kid you not.
What must Esau have looked like to come out of the womb and His dad be like, that kid is a fur-ball. He shall be named Hairy.
Jacob came right after and Jacob means deceiver.
Right from the beginning this family was going to have issues with Harry and Deceiver from the names alone.
Esau, as harry as he was, caught the favor of his dad. He seemed to be a burly of a man.
He was the hunter of the family
Jacob on the other hand had fair skin and was a momma’s boy.
Instead of out doing manly things, apparently he was doing the dishes.
And seemingly perfecting the world’s best stew.
Because one day Esau came in from hunting and was famished and hungry.
Jacob being the deceiver refused to give him any food unless he sell him his birthright.
Ever seen the meme “That escalated quickly?” I’m pretty sure it was first used for this scene.
So, Jacob got the first born birth right and Esau may have received the best stew or at least the most expensive, ever made.
Jacob already conned his way into the first born birth right, now he’s going to con his way into receiving Isaac’s blessing.
Isaac who can’t see well, was ready to bless his Son Esau before he died.
Upon hearing this Jacob and His mom devise a plan and Jacob puts on Esau’s clothes and pretends to be his brother to receive the blessing.
It almost didn’t work, but in the end Jacob was able to deceive his way into the blessing.
Now Esau was really angry and word got out that he was going to kill Jacob.
So Jacob apologizes, said it was all a big misunderstanding, and decides that the next stew would be free and he would give back his birth right.
No, that isn’t what happened at all.
Jacob ran. Fast and far in order to spare his own life.
It is here that we come to our scene of Jacob’s ladder.
What did Jacob do to earn this incredible dream and revelation?
What did Jacob do to be a chosen by God and to be the one who would birth a nation.
What was so worthy about Jacob to be given this honor and this moment?
The answer? Nothing. Nothing at all.
There is nothing revealed in Scripture that he was even a follower of God. A God fearer.
Yet God pursued Jacob and God used Jacob and today we marvel at this most unsuspecting character to receive God’s favor.
Let’s pick the story back up and see what is going on.
And he came to a certain place and stayed there that night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place to sleep.
What is the significance of the stone?
Is the stone what unlocked heaven for Jacob?
Should we all go home and sleep on a stone at night? No.
The only significance of the stone is that Jacob really left in a hurry without even anything to lay his head upon.
He was so concerned about preserving his life, he left everything and traveled away.
And he dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it!
Angels are not hindered by the distance between heaven and earth.
But Jacob is. We, you and I, are hindered by this distance.
Next we are going to see the promises of God to Jacob.
And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring. Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed. 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.”
Again, What did Jacob do to deserve this!
Here we have a deceiving man who will do anything to get ahead and cares more for himself than his family.
Yet, God blesses him.
God gives him land, God gives him Children.
God blesses him and protects him.
God will not abandon him because God gave a promise that He will not break.
Regardless of what Jacob does, because I’m not sure he can get much worse, God will still be faithful.
Because Jacob could not get to God, matter of fact, didn’t have and mind of God or apparent care towards God, God came to Him.
Listen to me this morning and clear any distractions out of the way for this most important point.
God came to Jacob
Like I mentioned last week, we like to think of ourselves as King David, the Giant Slayer.
Yet the true Giant slayer is Jesus, slaying sin and death.
The reality is that we are not David, we are Jacob.
David is a type of Jesus, in the sense of slaying Goliath.
We are a type of Jacob, in the sense of our lies, malice, deceit.
Our rather being our own God than following and seeking God.
Yet, as God rescued the underserving Jacob, God rescues the underserving you and me.
Why do you think it is so hard for us to look at ourselves like this?
Is it because we carry so much shame and guilt?
Is it because deep down we think that if people knew who we really were we would be rejected and cast out?
If we were truly honest with ourselves and truly came to terms with our actual reality, who would dare love us?
Let alone die for us. Save us, Redeem Us, Rescue Us, Restore us.
Beloved we truly cannot fathom the love of God given to us in Christ Jesus.
While we cannot and won’t truly grasp this unending, unwavering, never failing love.
We must believe it.
We must embrace it
We must be changed by it and let the love of God transform us.
What Jacob’s ladder points us to is Jesus.
Remember when we started the Gospel of John there was a very peculiar scene when Jesus calls Nathanial to be a disciple.
Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”
Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.”
What on earth could be greater than a man knowing something as intimate and precise as this?
Watch what Jesus says next.
And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”
Do you see what just happened here?
Jesus points back to Jacob’s ladder and gives the meaning to it.
Ready for the mind blowing revelation?
It isn’t Jacob’s ladder after all.
It is Jesus’s ladder.
Matter of fact, Jesus is the ladder.
Jesus is the ladder that now connects us to heaven.
We were unable to reach heaven on our own.
We were unable to pass from this physical reality to the spiritual reality.
Yet, in Christ, through Christ, because of Christ, we can not reach heaven as heaven reaches us.
Jacob’s latter is an image of Jesus being the connector between heaven and man.
The ladder is a type of Christ.
The ladder’s fulfillment is found in Jesus.
This is why Jesus was born in a manger 2000 years ago.
This is why we celebrate Advent season and prepare for Christmas.
It isn’t for the presents, or the lights, or the trees, or anything else.
Perhaps Christmas doesn’t come from a store, perhaps Christmas means a little bit, or in this case a lotta bit, more.
Our call to worship reminds us of the incredible entry into humanity of our Savior.
Though we couldn’t reach God, God came to reach us.
So what does this mean for us today. What should we leave here with.
You will never reach God.
Alan Jackson needs to write a sequel to his song and let the place he comes from know that they can stop working hard to get to heaven.
You can never do enough, you can never pray enough, you can never give enough, you in and of yourself are not enough.
There is no building you can build, no shuttle you can fly, nothing you can do will ever reach God.
Though this can be soul destroying and should be soul destroying, it is only when we realize we are not enough that we will see that Jesus is enough.
Are you at the end of your rope........Jesus is enough.
Are you on the ledge ready to jump.......Jesus is enough.
Do you feel like all is lost and hope is gone.......Jesus is enough.
Stop trying to be god and look to the only true God.
Honestly we make horrible gods.
Look around us. Look at how we do when we are in charge of things.
Look at how we would govern if we could be god.
Look at where our priorities are if we are given power and sovereignty.
We can’t even keep our morality the same for a year before it changes to something else.
What you were just told was good is now bad and what was bad is now good.
When we quit trying to be a god and realize we can’t be god, then we will see all the clearer the true God.
2. Maybe you are no longer trying to reach God, but you are trying to please God.
I don’t know if I can be more blunt that this: You can’t. Stop trying.
God is pleased with you not because of what you do, but God is pleased with you because of Jesus.
Now I know somebody is going to miss the entire point and go, “So this means it doesn’t matter what I do, God is pleased with me?”
No, You are making a category error.
God is pleased with you because of Jesus, therefore you no longer have to earn your way to heaven.
You now do that which pleases God as a result of the gift you have received, not to earn the gift.
Do you understand the difference?
One, you do in order to receive. The other is you have received, so now you do out of joy due to the unwarranted gift.
You no longer have to wait until you have it all together.
You can right here and right now begin by repenting. Which is a changing of ones mind, a 180, a turning around and heading the other way.
3. You will never see God if you do not see Jesus.
As I’ve said over and over, Jesus is not a way, Jesus is the way.
There are not many ladders to God, there is only one.
If you do not believe in Jesus, trust in Jesus, rest in Jesus, follow Jesus, you will not be found in Jesus.
The ladder is Jesus and there is no other way to heaven besides this.
We our confessors of Christ Church.
We behold Christ as our redeemer as our rescuer, and our Savior.
Jesus isn’t just what works best for us, Jesus is the only one who works.
Let me close with this.
The song we began our worship service this morning was O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.
Emmanuel means God with us.
Jesus left the throne of heaven, humbled himself by being born into humanity some 2000 years ago.
He did this to be our ladder.
He did this to be with us, to have us, to win us, and to receive us.
He did this to be our connection between earth and heaven.
Where Jacob could only see a shadow.
Today we see Jesus.
Do you see Jesus? Do you know Jesus? Is Jesus but a shadow to you or is Jesus clearly seen in your eyes.
Maybe now, maybe today, you will see Jesus like never before.
And what an incredible sight that is to behold. Amen? Let’s pray.