We often celebrate the heroes of the Old Testament for their great faith. This is especially true of the Old Testament Patriarchs, namely Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. These are some of the most mentioned characters in the Bible, and the Lord used these individuals to tell an amazing story of his faithfulness. However, when we read of their lives they were far from perfect, much of the story of Genesis is filled with men who fail to trust the Lord, take matters into their own hands, and manipulate and deceive others for their own selfish gain. These characters' lives were quite messy. What this tells us is that a Perfect God can use Imperfect People to fulfill his perfect plan, he is faithful to his promises and there is nothing we can do to thwart his purposes. Throughout the book of Genesis, God continues to make a way out of no way, using what is meant for evil for his ultimate good. It was the promise of land, seed, and blessing made to Abraham and his offspring that God would hold up, and it was through this promise that the Messiah, Jesus Christ, came to earth and brought the hope of salvation to the world. This is good news, as God still saves and uses imperfect people to accomplish his purposes!
In this week’s message, Brock Dowdy, Fellowship’s Local Missions Pastor, walks us through the life of Isaac. Isaac’s life was plagued by one specific sin, his own selfishness. We see throughout his life that Isaac is continuously selfish with his relationships, his comfort, his safety, and his legacy. It is easy to scoff and question why God would ever use such a selfish person to carry on his plan of salvation, but in Isaac’s selfishness we can see our own tendency to be selfish with our relationships, comfort, safety, and legacy. This ultimately points us forward to the only person in whom no selfishness lived, Jesus Christ. We can see in the person and work of Jesus that all of these selfish qualities were redeemed, Jesus was the most selfless person to ever live, and because of his selflessness, him giving himself for us, salvation has been freely offered to us by grace through faith and the promise that was carried on through Isaac is fulfilled! Now, in Christ, we are controlled by the love of God to no longer live for ourselves but for others for the sake of the gospel.
We hope you’re encouraged by this podcast! If you have questions about our church or what it means to follow Jesus, we’d love to hear from you! Check out our Instagram @fellowshipya, website www.fellowshipar.com/young-adults, or send us at email at [email protected].