Genesis 95 – Crisis (Part 3): Turn Back to Me

The Word of God is from Genesis 27:6-13:

 

“Rebekah said to her son Jacob, ‘I heard your father say to your brother Esau, “Bring me some game and prepare me some tasty food to eat, so that I may give you my blessing in the presence of the Lord before I die.” Now, my son, listen to me and do what I tell you. Go to the flock and get me two fine young goats, and I will prepare some tasty food for your father, just the way he likes it. Then take it to your father to eat, so that he may give you his blessing before he dies.’ Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, ‘But my brother Esau is a hairy man, and I am a man with smooth skin. What if my father touches me? I would appear to be tricking him and would bring down a curse on myself rather than a blessing.’ His mother said to him, ‘My son, let your curse fall on me. Just obey me; go and get them for me.’” Amen.

 

Family Crisis Due to Birthright Conflict

Genesis 27 reveals that all four main characters introduced in Genesis 21—Isaac, Jacob, Rebekah, and Esau—are far from God’s will. Even though three of them are renowned figures of faith, all the problems started because of the birthright. This situation mirrors how a harmonious family can be shattered by an inheritance dispute. As the issue of the birthright emerged, the family dynamics involving Jacob, Esau, Isaac, and Rebekah became completely distorted, as we observe in today’s Scripture.

 

Rebekah's Initial Wisdom and Decisiveness

Originally, Rebekah was not only beautiful but also a wise woman. When she met Abraham’s servant Eliezer, she drew water not only for him but also for his camels. This act, requiring substantial effort given a camel’s thirst, demonstrated her thoughtfulness, diligence, and genuine heart for serving strangers. Furthermore, when Eliezer wanted to leave quickly for Isaac, she showed courage and resolve by agreeing to follow him to an unfamiliar place, trusting solely the man she was to marry and his family. Her beauty, wisdom, courage, and decisiveness were indeed excellent qualities for a bride.

 

Rebekah's Scheme for Jacob

Rebekah’s decisiveness also extended to her second son, Jacob. She believed Jacob should receive the birthright. While Jacob personally participated in the deception, Rebekah was the mastermind behind the entire plan. She clearly understood her actions and was aware of Isaac and Esau's secret intentions. Isaac’s plan to give everything to Esau was no ordinary matter.

 

Consider Jacob's later actions: he gathered all twelve of his sons and distributed God's blessings among them. However, Isaac, despite having two sons, sought to give everything solely to Esau. As evidenced by Jacob later receiving the full blessing by impersonating Esau, Isaac and Esau had already entered into a clandestine agreement, neglecting to reserve Jacob's rightful share.

 

Rebekah considered this situation unjust. Believing it was wrong, she initiated the events described in today’s passage with Jacob. Moreover, God had explicitly declared, "the older will serve the younger." Rebekah knew Jacob was destined for the firstborn's role and perceived Isaac’s disregard for God’s word as problematic. Therefore, Rebekah’s intervention was fundamentally justified. She was striving to align with God's word and legitimately opposed Isaac's misguided actions.

 

Isaac's Flawed Judgment and the Family's Tragedy

Isaac viewed these matters with a distorted perspective. Despite God’s promise to give everything to Jacob, Isaac persistently sought to bestow all upon Esau, the firstborn. As we discussed previously, this was because Esau had brought him game meat that satisfied his personal desires. He simply wanted to give everything to the son who pleased him.

 

The repercussions were severe. This wasn't merely a domestic issue; Isaac prioritized his own will over God's Word. This represents one of the most dangerous sins any patriarch could commit, as it elevates personal desires above divine instruction.

 

Right Intent, Wrong Method: Rebekah’s Downfall

As believers, we know this well: our priority must always be God first, and then ourselves. Did Isaac not know this truth? Was his faith weaker than ours? No. He was actively trampling on God’s will to satisfy his own desires.

 

Rebekah, however, was different. She knew God's will and genuinely tried to follow it. One might assume this would prevent problems. Yet, Rebekah and Jacob, who sought to follow God’s will, ultimately caused the greatest problems and endangered their family. This happened because their methods, which outwardly appeared righteous, were flawed.

 

The Shattered Peace and Rebekah's Anguish

Rebekah meticulously planned to rectify Isaac's misguided decision and executed it with determination. However, this resulted in the complete shattering of 70 years of peace within Isaac's family. Jacob was approximately 70 years old when he fled from Esau due to this incident. Although Isaac and Rebekah had endured 20 years of anxiety over not having children, the lengthy period of peace in Isaac’s family, which lasted about 70 years after Jacob’s birth, collapsed at this point.

 

The elder brother sought to kill his younger sibling, and the younger fled, becoming a wanderer for two decades. What they thought would be a few days turned into 20 years. This also brought great misfortune to Rebekah; she would never see Jacob again and met a lonely end. The fates of Esau and Isaac are equally regrettable.

 

Why did Rebekah’s actions, intended to align with God’s will, lead to such devastating outcomes? By examining the core problem, we can reflect on our own faith today. We'll explore the pitfalls and temptations we can easily succumb to, and understand in more detail the challenges that can arise even when we strive to follow God’s will.

 

Problem 1: Prioritizing My Will Over God's

Rebekah’s primary error was prioritizing her desires over God’s will. This ultimately led her to twist God's will to fit her own agenda. While our lives should ideally be shaped by God's will, Rebekah attempted to manipulate God's will to align with her personal desires. This might seem difficult to grasp at first, but it's a common mistake we often make.

 

Rebekah was no exception. She wanted Jacob to receive the birthright blessing, and she solidified this desire at a time of her choosing, not God’s. She used God’s promise that He would bless Jacob with the birthright as justification for her beloved son. Although it should have been the reverse, Rebekah failed in this regard.

 

The Danger of Conforming Scripture to Desire

We often fall into this trap too. It's a common, incorrect habit, especially when reading the Bible. When things are tough, tiring, and difficult, what kind of Bible verses do we tend to favor? We probably want comforting words like, "I will be with you always." But what about the command, "Repent"? We might think, "How can I repent when I’m struggling so much right now?" Why do we love verses like, "Though your beginnings were humble, your latter days will be very great"? It's because we desperately want to hear them, and they perfectly resonate with our hearts. We yearn for such words when facing many challenges. It’s like starting a business and thinking, "This is a small shop now, but it will surely become a huge company like Apple or Samsung later."

 

With such thoughts, even while believing that God will make our future prosperous, we sometimes hesitate to vocalize it. We might think, "As a believer, how can I ask for all the worldly things?" But then, conveniently, a Bible verse perfectly matches our desire. So we take that verse and apply it to our present aspirations. We try to ignore or hide these internal processes, but we soon realize it’s never easy to do so.

 

The Meaning of True Companionship

Consider the beloved verse from Matthew 28: "I am with you always, to the very end of the age." How much comfort does that bring? But what does it instruct us to do before that promise? "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." This is the complete scope of the Lord's promise to be with us. Isn’t it?

 

However, when we read the preceding instructions, our hearts often feel convicted. 'When did I ever evangelize? When did I teach others to obey the Word? Have I even diligently tried to obey the Word myself?' Such thoughts make the first part feel burdensome to all of us. Consequently, the only part that truly comforts us is, "I will be with you."

 

Friends, if the Lord is with you, will He constantly say, "Well done, you are so good"? Or will He say, "'No, not today. You shouldn't live like this"? Do you believe a life with the Lord will be a continuous stream of comfort as you imagine? While comfort will certainly be present, there will also be continuous encouragement, conviction of sin, raising us up again, and empowering us. The phrase "the Lord is with me" is a profound comfort, yet also an astonishing promise. This promise signifies that from now on, in every aspect of your life, God will point out and intervene, guiding your life according to His will. Therefore, we cannot always receive only comfort when we hear this Word. Yet, we often perceive it primarily as a word of comfort. This is because we fragment God's Word according to our own circumstances and desires.

 

Shaping Our Lives to God's Word

It should be the other way around. Your life must be confronted by God’s Word, and any parts of your life that conflict with the Word should be pruned away. That is the proper attitude for reading the Bible. When you are confronted by what the Lord says, you should respond, "Lord, I repent," and confess, "Lord, that is right. Not me, but You are right. Therefore, I desire for it to be done according to Your righteous Word."

 

Thinking back to my middle and high school days, I always prayed before exams: "Help me remember even what I haven't studied so I can answer well." What about you all? That's why we failed. Isn't it God's will to prevent us from answering what we haven't studied on an exam? His will is to make us realize and develop our abilities. But we've become too accustomed to molding everything—God's Word and His power—to suit our own tastes. The Word was not above or before us; it was beneath us.

 

The Allure of Heresy and True Comfort

The more desperate you are, the easier it becomes to fall into this pattern. The more you need something, the more God's Word can seem to bend to your will. Why do we so often fall for heresies? Why do they proliferate so rapidly? Because they tell you what you want to hear. They promise to make you what you desire to be. As a result, you might feel as though you've received grace, but in reality, you've either been brainwashed or are self-hypnotizing.

 

God’s Word always offers you comfort, along with the true source of that comfort. You don't receive comfort simply because you heard pleasant words, but because our sin has been resolved, God is with us forever, and He will allow us to live in the eternal glory of His kingdom. The more we are broken and humbled within that, the more our personal desires are overthrown, the more our life goals are shaken, and the more God's kingdom becomes clearly visible before us, the more we recognize the true joy in our lives.

 

God's Response and Correct Understanding of the Word

Even when we say that we received God’s Word as an answer during prayer in the midst of a problem, we must remember that we have not necessarily found the words we desired to hear, but rather that we have finally properly aligned our problem before God’s Word. When that happens, you don't hear pleasant words that solve the problem; instead, you hear words that reveal "who I am." Before God’s Word, what kind of being am I? What kind of person am I, how does God love me, what are my sins, and what is the Lord’s grace? This is what comes first.

 

And only then do we begin to see our problems correctly, rather than them being solved. It's not about our desires or what we want being fulfilled, but rather slowly realizing why God gave us this problem, how to approach it, and that it is a problem for our own good. That is the true meaning of saying that God's Word was an answer to us when we prayed. If it's not that, and it's just knowing good verses and then thinking of them during prayer and saying that God is guiding us this way, it can be dangerous.

 

Therefore, the first problem we must remember about Rebekah is that she tried to fit God's Word into her desires, rather than aligning her will with God's. Ultimately, this prevented her from reading the Bible correctly and from hearing God's Word properly.

 

Problem 2: Dilution of Guilt

Rebekah's second problem was the dilution of guilt. Both Rebekah and Jacob were clearly aware of their sin. They understood the gravity of their actions well enough to know that deceiving Isaac could lead to a curse. Rebekah was even more acutely aware, going so far as to say that if Jacob were cursed, she would bear that curse herself, so Jacob could walk a "flowery path."

 

Justifying My Sin with Another’s Sin

However, the sole reason Rebekah and Jacob could act in this way was that Isaac and Esau had first resorted to trickery. They conspired in an unfair plot to give all of Isaac’s inheritance to Esau. In such situations, when the sin of someone we criticize or deem wrong is so glaringly apparent to us, we regrettably fail to see our own sin and instead try to justify it. It's akin to fighting evil with evil; though not always intentional, it often unfolds that way.

 

Diluting Sin in Relationships

We often say, "If goodwill continues, it’s taken as a right," and sometimes we believe we must assert ourselves by raising our voices. Many married friends advise grooms, "Never concede in a power struggle with your wife." They make marriage seem like a competition, even promoting who dominates as the top priority. Some friends even cause family discord by offering absurd advice like, "If you go home now, you'll be controlled for life" when a wife calls during a social outing. They try to make it seem as if they're not committing sin alone by influencing new grooms who have failed themselves.

 

These actions perfectly exemplify the dilution of guilt: attempting to offset one's own sin by pointing to the sins committed by others. They see that Isaac and Esau used deceit, so they believe they can do similar things. They compare themselves to others, highlight their faults, and rationalize their own sins by saying, 'I might be doing something wrong, but you did too.' Instead of repenting of their own sin, they try to dredge up others' sins to dilute their own.

 

The True Meaning of 'Let Him Who Is Without Sin Cast the First Stone'

The verse we sometimes use, "Let him who is without sin cast the first stone," is similarly misunderstood. It's often interpreted as, 'Everyone’s a sinner, so what's the big deal if we commit a small sin?' However, this verse certainly does not mean we can do nothing because we are all sinners. Rather, it means, "Look at your sins before God. Seek my sins before God." It means not to dilute your sin with another's sin, but to know what your sin is and to repent.

 

This happens frequently in marital relationships, parent-child relationships, and among believers. We often, knowing our own sin, instead of sincerely confessing and repenting, insist on bringing in someone else's sin to dilute our own. Ultimately, this results in no one repenting. This is one of the serious problems Rebekah committed, and it is a trap we often fall into.

 

Problem 3: Justifying the Means for the End

The third problem is an inevitable consequence of the approach mentioned earlier. Because Rebekah prioritized her own will over God's, she was inevitably forced to find her own methods to achieve that will. If she had considered God's will first, she would have pondered God's ways to fulfill it, but she did not. Rebekah believed she was fulfilling God's will—that is, she believed she was making Jacob the firstborn—so she tried to rationalize her actions in all other aspects, even if it meant committing sin. Only the goal was in her sight.

 

Church Problems Born from Growth-at-All-Costs Mentality

Having a clear goal can sometimes be beneficial, but in certain situations, it can actually harm our faith. This is because we tend to focus solely on that goal. In the 1980s and 90s, during a period of significant church growth in Korea, we all pursued growth above everything else. Many hoped that people would join the church, find salvation, and become children of God, thus seeking revival.

 

What was the outcome? We are still grappling with the question, "Who is a true believer?" Our purpose was clear: God would be pleased if we called His people to the church and made them believers, thereby spreading the Gospel. However, the result was that we set everything else aside, simply assuming that if people sat in church pews, they were all church members. Many attended church without realizing they weren't true believers, and unimaginable problems arose where they thought they believed in Jesus and considered themselves believers. This led to significant difficulties for the Korean church.

 

Leadership Deficiencies Stemming from Misguided Purpose

People who believed they were church members and true believers elected church leaders, and these leaders often failed to fulfill their proper roles. The most serious problem was when such individuals became pastors. I'm not criticizing specific clergy; rather, I'm highlighting that we all share responsibility for these issues that have brought us to this point. This unacceptable situation arose precisely because we focused solely on the "purpose" of moving towards God's kingdom.

 

Losing the Church's Essence

God desires that as we journey, we not only achieve the goal but also that our lives are transformed throughout the entire process, bearing the fruit of the Spirit and being established as citizens of God’s kingdom. We forgot that we ourselves are to become citizens of God’s kingdom, not merely to create something else. As a result, the true essence of the church, as described in the Bible—where we truly communicate and share what a true believer is, what faith means, and what a believer’s life entails, experiencing awe and joy in discussing the immense grace and love of the Lord—has been significantly weakened.

 

We are increasingly becoming adept at individual battles. We feel that no one in the church will truly care for us. The number of admirable and inspiring leaders is steadily declining, leading many to conclude that they must preserve their own faith. Sadly, many adopt a "YouTuber faith." Instead of embracing the beautiful training ground where we struggle together in the church, overcome wounds, recognize our weaknesses, experience the power of God's gospel, and grasp the truth that we are one body as the Lord commanded, we pursue discipleship through books and attempt to exhaust ourselves serving God in the church. Ultimately, everyone is left with only white ash from their self-sacrifice, and even when they wish to praise the Lord, their hearts are scattered like dust in the wind, leaving them disheartened. Far too many are struggling, and believing in Jesus itself has become a burden and a source of pain. This is profoundly wrong.

 

Worldly Fear vs. Godly Reverence

What about those who believed in Jesus in the Bible? Even when they faced persecution, had everything stripped away, and their lives were threatened, they proclaimed, "Rejoice, you are to rejoice," and experienced that joy. Has Jesus changed since then? Is the Holy Spirit a different person? Is the Father we call upon a different person? You and I share a similar problem with Rebekah in this regard.

 

If this situation persists, we will become obsessed with methodology, thinking that "the end justifies the means." We will only focus on how to solve the problem. Our hearts are the problem; our spirits do not rejoice in Jesus Christ. Yet, we keep trying various things and creating only what we can make. Not all that we have to do is about methods, and this isn't to say we should abandon everything. Instead, we must first reconsider the true root of our problem.

 

Rebekah, in fact, was a wife who went against Isaac’s will. If her defiance of Isaac’s will had stemmed from her reverence for God, the situation would have been very different. However, though she appeared to be following God’s will, she was not truly revering God; rather, she was pursuing her own desires and satisfaction.

 

The 'Reverence' of Midwives Shiphrah and Puah

A similar example appears in Exodus 1. When Pharaoh commanded that all Hebrew male children be killed, the Bible records the names of two little-known midwives: Shiphrah and Puah. They do not appear again in any other part of the Bible besides Exodus, yet the Lord recorded the names of these two women. These midwives disobeyed Pharaoh's command and did not kill the children. When commanded to kill the babies as soon as they were born, they said, "Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive." This implies they intentionally arrived late. To put it negatively, they used a 'trick.' But God said that He was gracious to these women.

 

Friends, not all tricks were problematic, but these women, even though they used tricks, were shown grace by God, who brought good results out of all of it, for one reason only: they feared God. They did not fear Pharaoh, but they feared God.

 

What Do You Fear?

Reconsider this incredibly simple principle. Do you fear what the world tells us—'If you live like this, you'll fail; if you act like this, you won't succeed or survive in the world'? Or do you fear and revere God and God's Word, which says, 'You must love, forgive, and truly love each other, people who amaze this world'? The Bible is unequivocally clear on this matter.

 

What do you fear? What exactly worries you? What holds your heart captive, makes you shrink back, and makes you think, 'Can I really do this?' What is stopping you? What are the things that displease you? What makes you think, 'Because of this, I can't diligently do God's work?' Is it right that this is what you truly fear, and because of it, your life stops?

 

Or should you fear God and remember God's Word, the Word that tells us to be zealous and serve the Lord with all our hearts, to love our brothers and sisters with all our hearts? Is that the Word you should fear? What more needs to be said? We fear our problems more, we fear being put in unfair situations more, we fear our current circumstances and environment more, and we fear the things that displease us.

 

The Life of a True Believer

Friends, you must fear God's Word. Has the Lord ever told you, "If you're not pleased, you can serve me half-heartedly"? Has He ever said, "If you're tired, weary, and exhausted, then go ahead and play and rest"? Has He ever said, "If you don't have time and are busy, then go ahead and just play and eat"? On the contrary, our spiritual predecessors said, "I pray more because I am busy. I remember the Lord more because I lack time. Why? Because without doing so, I don't have the confidence to handle all these things." Wasn't this the life of a believer? Where do we stand now?

 

Problem 4: The Flawed Attitude of Taking the Curse

The final and fourth problem is evident in Rebekah’s words to Jacob: "My son, if anything goes wrong with this, I will take the curse, so you can walk on a path of roses." As a mother, this is a truly moving statement. However, if this statement were to be realized in worldly terms, it would be one of the things we should avoid and fear most. Parents, especially, must remember this.

 

The Consequences of Misguided Parental Love

Rebekah loved Jacob. Yet, she was completely oblivious to the fact that she was leading them both into disaster, saying instead, "Don’t worry, I’ll bear all the curses, so you’ll be fine." You might think this doesn't apply to you. If you believe, 'Even though my child attends many extra classes and I teach them diligently and work hard to give them opportunities, I’m not like other overzealous parents. I have no intention of dragging my child into hell like them,' then I assure you, you are precisely that overzealous parent. The one who thinks they are not is precisely doing that much.

 

Restoration within God's Providence

While this also serves as a warning, what's truly more important here is how God responded to this situation. Broadly speaking, this event led Jacob not to walk a path of roses as Rebekah envisioned, but to wander for 20 years. Moreover, instead of deceiving others as his name implies, he was deceived by his uncle for a long time. Rebekah never saw Jacob again and met a lonely end. The fates of Esau and Isaac are equally grim.

 

Did God, then, merely end this problem with punishment? You and I know well that it didn’t conclude there. Rebekah became the mother of nations, and Isaac was the father who begat the promised offspring. Jacob is recorded in the Bible as a man of God who established Israel through the twelve tribes. They clearly acted in their own way, did not fear God, and clearly did wrong. Yet, two things were present with them. One part, to our eyes, was clearly like a curse for Jacob, Isaac, and Rebekah. But if we read the Bible a little further, we find that this did not end in a curse. Why?

 

Forgiveness of Sin and Restoration from Sin

It is precisely because God, in dealing with His people, shows you in your life that His forgiveness and revelation of sin are not mere words, as we might imagine. God surely forgave Rebekah’s and Jacob’s sins. When they repented and came before God—Jacob, for instance, clearly understood who he was through the events at the Jabbok River, where he realized his sin before God and what he had made his master—Rebekah would have experienced something similar.

 

However, when God says He forgives sins, it doesn’t mean everything is wiped clean like a vaccination, leaving no trace, as you and I might imagine. Your and my understanding of sin's forgiveness might be like a blank slate, in the sense that God will never remember it again. In the sense that God will not bring it up again to condemn you, that forgiveness of sin is certainly complete. But when the Lord says He forgives your sins in your life, it also implies that God shapes you into a child of God who has been forgiven of sin. I believe this can be expressed as restoration from sin, though the Bible might describe it in two ways. You have experienced the forgiveness of sin, but now restoration from sin will occur. This also tells us that we should not take sin lightly.

 

In other words, as God shapes Jacob into a man of God, He does not leave him in the broken, distorted, and wavering state caused by sin. Instead, He continuously guides and upholds him as God's image, as promised by the Lord. This is because Jacob's life demonstrates that the Lord restores the many deep pains and wounds he suffered from sin, and leads him towards God's image. And that is also our life.

 

The Fear of Sin and God's Restoration

Friends, are you aware that God mobilizes everything for our restoration? We often don't fully grasp the fear and terror of sin. But God does. He also knows the immense wounds you've received from sin. The Lord's restoration of us is clearly because, through the cross of Jesus Christ, He has declared our sins as white as snow. However, all the things in your life, in your memory, in your lived experience—everything that has been torn, wounded, and shaken by sin—must enter into God's history of restoration.

 

The Completion of Sonship Through Discipline

I believe the book of Hebrews expresses this restoration most eloquently. Let’s read Hebrews 12:5-7 together:

 

“And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons: ‘My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.’ Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father?”

 

Friends, it says He disciplines you, right? The word "discipline" here comes from the same root as "paidion," meaning "child." In other words, it means making someone into His child. This implies that God does not simply leave the distorted and broken aspects of your daily life, your past, as they are. Instead, He is actively restoring them. It means that your past does not merely remain in the past; rather, God is with you, and through Him, all those things are being restored for good.

 

The Fruit of Righteousness and Peace Through Training

I will read Hebrews 12:11-12:

 

“No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. Therefore, what? Strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. Make level paths for your feet, so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.”

 

This is precisely restoration.

 

When there is sin in your life, the Lord does not want you to simply rejoice, thinking, "I've been forgiven, so it's no longer a problem." Instead, the true reason for your joy is that even all the deep pain, distortion, and limping that were deeply etched into your life because of that sin will be healed. That is the essence of your forgiveness.

 

The Meaning of True Repentance and Life Change

If we fail to grasp this, we might make the mistake of the protagonist in the movie 'Miryang,' which gained attention a few years ago. The criminal who abducted and killed her son claimed, 'God has forgiven my sins, so I'm fine now; have your sins also been forgiven?' He mistakenly believed that all his sins were resolved. No. On the contrary, through that experience, he came to understand the terrifying nature of sin, the path he had to walk with God because of it, how he needed to be healed, what he needed to repent of, and how he had to strive for restoration. That is repentance. Saying, 'I am now forgiven because God bore the cross for me' blurs the true meaning of repentance.

 

If there is no change in the direction of your life, no straightening of what was distorted in your life, no return to running with limping feet, and no rebuilding of a broken life, how can that be the entirety of forgiveness? This is because forgiveness must be accompanied by the fruit of repentance that we know, and restoration from sin must occur in our lives.

 

Learning the History of Restoration Through Jacob's Life

Therefore, through this event, you and I see how God brought Rebekah and Jacob to realize the nature of their sins, how they had destroyed themselves and others, and how much pain that caused. Through the pain inflicted on Esau and the suffering Jacob himself endured, God finally made them grasp the depth, breadth, and height of sin’s forgiveness, and how profoundly He loved them. It doesn't just end with a simple 'Okay, I will consider you to be without sin now.' Instead, He shapes your life into one that pleases God, one that lives in Jesus Christ, one that walks with Christ. He will not fear the whip or rebuke in your life, but will endlessly encourage and comfort you, continuously holding the rod and staying with you until you stand in that place, and He will set you in that place.

 

This is your life, the life Jacob experienced, and the life we are living now. God will not stop this work, and He will enable us to fulfill this mission of restoration. God forgives sin and restores us. These are the fruits of sin's forgiveness.

 

Walking the Path of Restoration by Faith

Friends, please remember: your sins have been washed clean and made as white as snow. So now, act according to God's Word toward yourselves and toward each other. Never simply overlook things; instead, restore, love, and comfort. Do not be overcome by evil. Do not be disappointed by thinking, 'Why is it like this again? Is it always going to be the same?' Do not be too upset by thinking, 'I repented and was forgiven a long time ago, so why are you bringing that up again and making it a problem?' That person was hurt. It was so painful that it will remain in their memory for a lifetime. Therefore, do not be upset or annoyed by it, but remember that you are in the midst of the Lord's work of forgiving you again and restoring you. With that in mind, walk step by step in the life the Lord is shaping you into, with gratitude and joy.

 

True Sacrifice and the Path of Roses

Friends, Rebekah, lacking the power to do so, said, 'I will take the curse you are to receive; you walk on a path of roses.' How can one who is herself a sinner and in sin bear the sin of another? However, 2000 years later, One who was completely without sin, without even the appearance of sin, bore all your wickedness, all the curses that you and I should have received. One came who said, "I will bear all this; I will correct your crookedness; I will be with your life and restore you, so walk on this path of roses." Please partake in this blessing. Please live within this grace.

 

Let us pray.

Loving Lord, Christ bore the curse for us, rose again for us, ascended to heaven for us, and even now intercedes for us. Therefore, Lord, we boldly cry out: Lord, do not cease Your hand, but mold us into Your image.

 

Grant us to know the joy of walking that path and to be thankful, and Lord, enable us to experience the glory of walking that path. We pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.