Pursuing a Better Inheritance
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Last week we looked at the theme of heritage and how we are called to leave a heritage for the future of the church by passing down a genuine faith in Christ and his work. We saw how he is our heritage, and fallen as we are, the only thing we can pass down to our children and the next generation of the church is what has been passed down to us from the annals of church history: a enduring trust in Christ and the Gospel for our salvation.
Today we will focus on our inheritance as Christians. If the Gospel is what we pass down as a godly heritage, what is it that we receive in the first place, and how do we receive it? We can consider this by looking at the inheritance of Esau and his children and how it differed from what his brother received.
Esau’s Leaving, land, and Children
Esau’s Leaving, land, and Children
The difference between Esau’s inheritance and Israel’s inheritance is immediately made clear in where the two brothers end up. The land that had been promised to Abraham is going to stay in the family through Israel, and not through Esau. Being the brother that will remain in the land and fill it with his descendants symbolizes how he also is the brother to receive the blessings and covenant of God. Esau physically removing himself from the land visually represents him being removed from the eternal promises and covenant of God to take hold of an inheritance that is separate from what God gave his fathers. He will inherit a different country, eventually follow different gods, and in a sense make his own way in the world rather than submitting to the God of his fathers by faith. This goes back to actions he had taken long before this point in time, way back when he had sold his birthright for a bowl of soup. Its not that he hated the idea of having a birthright to his fathers inheritance, its that the godly heritage and the place of being the covenant head was something that didn’t appeal to him. He had very little concern with leading a people to God, and in fact has little concern with keeping his fathers legacy alive at all. His marriage to two Canaanite women shows little concern with keeping the godly line free from idolatry and pagan alliances. Rather than taking up the mantel of his father and grandfather, his desire seemed to be to take the blessings of God and then begin his own family line. While he does get an inheritance, he does not receive the covenant blessings and that ultimately becomes the big difference between the inheritance of Israel and the inheritance of Esau.
Esau settles in the mountains of Seir, which would later be named after Esau and called Edom. In this text we see 5 distinct sections in this brief history of the Edomites. This section was likely written during the time of David since the genealogy goes up to the time when Israel had a King. The first part goes from verses 1-8 and details the children that Esau had with his Caananite wives in the land of Canaan and his move back to the mountains of Seir. Verses 9-14 give a proper genealogy of Esau. The third section runs from verses 15-19 and begins to show Esau’s family forming into a nation with chiefs and commanders. The forth section isn’t actually about Esau and his family, but rather talks about the natives of the area, descendants of someone called Seir the Horite. The fifth section was likely added to the text around the time of David and it gives a short history of the Kings of Edom, implying that the people of Seir and the descendants of Esau had joined into one people under the name of Esau.
A lesser Inheritance
A lesser Inheritance
This is Esau’s inheritance, and it is nothing to shake your head at. The parallels between Israel’s inheritance and Esau’s inheritance are clearly intentional. We are given a list of 12 chiefs that are paralleled with the 12 sons of Israel that will become the 12 tribes the their people. He too is given land which borders the land of Israel, he is given twelve tribes, he will have Kings and when Israel is led out of Egypt they are commanded not to go to war with Edom, but to let them dwell in that land and stay in the land that they were given by God providentially. Although he didn’t receive his birthright, nor did he have the blessing of the covenant, it would seem that Esau still got the same inheritance as Israel, and a whole lot sooner. It wouldn’t be for over 400 years that Israel’s descendants would settle permanently in the land that God had given them, and that after years of slaver and hardship. From this perspective, you might ask why was Israel’s inheritance any better than Esau’s? Why was the birthright and covenant of God so important if Esau received the same things? This is the important question in our text that needs to be answered.
A lot of people, when they come to consider Christianity, come with their first question being, “what am I going to get out of this?” or “How is this going to make my life better?” They come with the idea that following Christ is like going to the gym or doing yoga, something that they can tag onto their lifestyle to make their lifestyle better. Or, if they are fed up with their life as it is, they come looking for something that will do a complete overhaul of who they are. They want extreme makeover Jesus who will make them into a whole new person, fix their problems, and turn them into a poster child of reformation and transformation. Many Christians have then gone ahead and tailored their evangelism efforts to satisfy this kind of seeking. People are told that they will never experience true joy or happiness until they come to Christ. They are told that coming to Christ means peace, fulfillment, and happiness. They are lured by the community that the church provides, the morality for their children, somewhere to send their teenager on a Friday night. I remember once seeing a Gospel tract titled, “What’s in it for me?” and it went on to list things like, fulfillment, joy, a personal relationship with someone who won’t let you down, and of course heaven. But when someone comes to Christ for these reasons, usually one of two things happen. Either they are disillusioned and leave the faith soon after, or they join a church that tries so hard to fill the promises they made when they were evangelizing that they forget the Gospel that they were supposed to be preaching in the first place.
Now is it true that coming to Christ brings lasting peace, joy, and fulfilment? Is it true that we can have a relationship with Jesus who will never leave us nor forsake us? Of course those things are true, but not in the ways that those in the world can really understand. They hear those promises and they compare them to expectations they have from the world. They think about peace that is tied to your situation, joy that have when you get exactly what you want, and fulfillment when all your plans seem to be going well and you have a drive to keep going. When they hear that Jesus is a faithful friend, they think about friends they have had whom they have enjoyed company with and expect the same thing from Jesus, just somehow better. But like Esau, they also obtain these things elsewhere. They notice that Christians aren’t the only ones that are happy, fulfilled, moral, or who have friends that haven't betrayed them. In fact, they may know Christians who are very unhappy, struggling, and lonely. Perhaps their own experience in the church has been one filled with people pretending that everything is ok when it isn’t. Perhaps they tried Christianity and, although they didn’t hate it, the persecutions, commandments, and doctrinal obligations don’t seem worth the payoff and they end up seeking these promises elsewhere, and perhaps they find what they were looking for. How can we say that we offer something unique, something worth leaving all else to pursue? After all, they say, Christians don’t have a monopoly on joy, peace, fulfillment, or morality. In the same vein, one might say that Israel didn’t have a monopoly on land, children, or other material blessings. So why should we put so much value in knowing God and being in covenant with him?
Lets take a step back to the covenant God made with Abraham in the first place. The promise of land and a nation of descendants is not unique to what God gives Esau, but there is one promise that is quite unique. It is found in Genesis 12:3
I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
In this verse there are two parts to the promise. First, that God’s enduring blessing will be on Abraham and his people and a curse will come on those who curse them. Second, through the nation that will come from Abraham all the nations of the earth will be blessed. This certainly needs explanation. Does this merely mean that some good omen will follow him around as he lives his life? We’ve seen that this isn’t the case. The promises of God to Abraham were much bigger than land, children, and a kingdom. Much bigger than some form of superstitious blessing or any kind of curse on his enemies. The promises of God were far bigger than Abraham or Israel or his sons. Hebrews 11:16 tells us that these patriarchs of Israel know that these promises were for something far better and bigger than what they appeared to be on the surface.
But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.
Yes, there was land and children and a Kingdom in the promises that God gave Abraham and that Israel had inherited. But this was not what made the covenant special and unique, it’s was the God who made the covenant with them and the eternal fulfillment of those promises. These are the only things that can possibly make Israel’s inheritance so much better than Esau’s. While Esau had plenty of success, this success did not include knowing the God all people are created to know and it was temporary. We are told in Romans 9 that God loved Jacob but hated Esau, not because Jacob was more righteous but according to God’s sovereign election. Notice that God’s hatred for Esau did not stop him from blessing him physically, but physical blessings do not indicate whether God has blessed you with his true blessings. Esau’s inheritance is also temporary. Although the tribes of Edom will inhabit their land for hundreds of years, eventually that time will end. Their Kingdom will be broken and forgotten. In fact, the same can be said for the physical descendants of Israel. However, this heavenly country, this eternal covenant, this Kingdom of God will endure forever. Ultimately, the inheritance of Israel is not an inheritance of land and children in this world, but a Kingdom in the next. A Kingdom in which God will be the king of his people, and his people will serve and glorify him forever. A Kingdom that was established at the coming of the King of kings, the eternal son of David, the uncreated begotten of the Father, Jesus Christ our Lord. Esau will live and die, his children will live and die and they will fade into the pages of history as a mere footnote in the grand scheme of things. But the Kingdom that God is building through Israel is eternal, for it is ruled by an eternal King whose blood has bought a people for himself who will live in the Sabbath rest that he provides forever and ever.
Pursuing a better Inheritance
Pursuing a better Inheritance
The application of this text for us is simple but of crucial importance. Don’t be deceived into pursuing a cheap, temporary, and ultimately meaningless inheritance. Whether you go to the world for this inheritance, or to Christ for less than what he truly offers you, don’t be satisfied with a piece of land and an earthly Kingdom. Don’t be satisfied with happiness, a sense of peace, morality, and spirituality. Don’t be happy with a good career, a nice marriage, well-behaved children, a restful retirement, and entertaining distractions. Those things are great to have, but they are not what Christianity is about. Why are you a Christian? What attracts you to this faith? If you want happiness, the world has all kinds of things that can make you happy. If you want peace, you can join a yoga class or practice meditation. If you want morality you can study ethics, if you want a good friend, you can find plenty of great and faithful people in this world. So what is it that makes our faith so special? Why is knowing Jesus a better inheritance than anything the world can offer? Why is the joy of Christ better than the happiness of the world? Why is knowing Christ better than any friend? Why is our inheritance better than that of the world? It’s because friendship, happiness, morality, and peace are not our true inheritance, although they are certainly part of it, God is our inheritance.
Abraham followed God in faith because it was God who had called him. His faith was counted as righteousness because his faith was in God. His purpose was to reflect and display the character of God and show the world who he is and what he’s like. God would be to him a father and he would be to him a son. The inheritance of the covenant is not what Abraham or his descendants received from God, it was God himself! God is the inheritance of those who seek him by faith, and his blessings are greater than the things in the world because they point us to him. The point of all of God’s blessings is to point us to the source of all those blessings.
English Standard Version Chapter 29
Jeremiah 29:13
13 You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.
English Standard Version Psalm 105
Seek the LORD and his strength;
seek his presence continually!
Those who are in covenant with God are called to seek God himself. But why are we called to seek him, and how does he become out inheritance?
We are called to seek him because we were created to know him. As those made in the image of God, knowing God is an important part of bearing his image. God walked with Adam in the Garden of Eden before the fall as Adam was told to fill the earth and subdue it. Adam enjoyed not only the presence of God, but the Love of God as well. What does it mean to say that God is a loving God except that he is a God whom we are created to love back, to know and be known by? This love brings us into his presence and that is what gives us peace and joy in the Christian life. Yes, you will find what men call love in the world, but not the love of God. Not his presence. As long as we aren’t doing what we were created to do, we will never find joy in any blessing. We are created to know God.
We are called to seek him because God is the source of life.
English Standard Version Chapter 17
2 since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 3 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
Esau’s blessings had a time limit on them, but the blessing of knowing God does not for those who truly know him. God’s people belong to a heavenly nation whose builder is God (Heb 3:3-5;11:10). This eternal life is to know God through Jesus Christ, and it is eternal both in quantity and quality. To live a life of eternal quantity without God would be hell, and to life a life of perfect quality that ends would be vain and meaningless, but this eternal life is the sum of all blessings. Everything that we desire as human beings is desired either to extend to improve our lives. A friendship with a a person will end, but knowing God won’t. You career will one day matter to no one, but your love for God will. Everything that you could possibly desire or enjoy in this life is ultimately spoiled by time and death. Esau inherited many good things, but it was drained of true blessing.
We are called to seek God for his glory. To show the world who God is, as we have seen, is why we exist. We don’t exist to please ourselves or to make life and comfortable and happy as possible, we exist to bring glory to God. Ironically, the more we seek joy for the sake of joy the more we will fail to obtain it. But when we’ve given up on serving ourselves and instead serve him for whom we were created, we find real joy. That doesn’t mean we’re always happy, nor does it negate the realities of suffering, grief, or mental and emotional turmoil. But through it all it gives hope that does not disappoint, and that hope gives endurance to pursue the joys of Christ because we know they are ours forever. The first verse in chapter 37 reads, “Jacob lived in the land of his father’s sojournings, in the land of Canaan.” Israel lives in the promised land, and the story leaves off of Esau to continue the eternal story of God’s people through his descendants. This story is so much more important that Esau’s because through Israel will come the true Israel, the true leader of God people, Jesus Christ.
Conclusion
Conclusion
In him we are able to know God and therefore receive our inheritance. Through faith him, through his blood shed on the cross, and through participation in his resurrection life by the power of the Holy Spirit working in us we know that we will receive what was promised. Ephesians 1:13-14 tells us that the Holy Spirit is a down-payment that promises the fullness of our inheritance in the presence of God. Your growth in Holiness, your joy in knowing Christ, and your love for him, his word, and his people are all proofs of this great promise. In Christ, there is a great inheritance beyond what anyone in the world could ever dream of. No lottery, or family, or victory, or award, or pleasure, or achievement can touch the riches of knowing Christ.
But unfortunately, we are often still drawn by the world’s inheritance. Slips in our faith make the promises of God seem faded and distant, while the inheritance of the world seems real and satisfying. In these times, prayer seems dull while conversation with friends is interesting and exciting. Scripture is uninteresting while entertainment and our hobbies take our minds. Our time in church becomes a matter of listening to a sermon, singing alone to a few songs, and that’s it. My hope is that seeing how great your inheritance in Christ is will awaken you more to the fullness of what you have. That you would be full of hope and joy and a zealous desire to see the name of Jesus Christ glorified. Or, perhaps you will wonder why you have never trusted in his name to begin with. That you would stop trusting in our good works, your religious actions, or the enjoyment of the world and of sin and come to him who offers this inheritance to you freely by faith in his work on the cross. Don’t be sucked into the false and empty hopes of a less inheritance, run after the prize of the presence of God so that you may obtain it.