Genesis is a book which shows us that God is, and
always has been, a God of Grace. We have a distinct advantage over Abraham,
Isaac, Jacob and the other Patriarchs in Genesis. They were journeying with
God, discovering His Grace one day at a time in a period when no written record
of His Grace yet existed. Today, although we still journey through life
experiencing God’s Grace one day at a time, we can also look back into the
pages of history as recorded for us in the Bible and see God’s gracious
dealings with people in bygone eras.
As we journeyed through the pages of Genesis the last
three weeks, we have observed that God’s Grace is unconditional. Abraham did
not do anything that made him worthy of God’s Grace, yet God nevertheless
showered His unconditional, unlimited Grace upon him and not just him, but his
whole family! In fact, it is recorded that through Abraham all the nations of
the earth would be blessed! (Gen 12:1-3)
Abraham’s son Isaac, did nothing to merit the extension
of God’s Grace to him but he received it because God made a promise to his
father which He intended to keep, for God is not a man that he should lie.
Isaac made the very same mistakes his father made in trying to preserve his
life by lying that Rebekah, his wife, was his sister yet God still blessed him
and extended the covenant promise to him too. (Gen 26:3-4, 6-13)
Jacob was worse than his father and grandfather! His
very name meant “deceiver”. He was a self-absorbed character who stole his
brother’s birthright and deceived his uncle Laban by using selective breeding and attributing his
gains to the blessing of the Lord! He was a “wheeler and dealer” by nature.
Everything to Jacob was a business deal. He was so used to haggling that he
even tried to bargain with God, making vows that God would only be his God if
He would feed him, clothe him, preserve and protect him and bring him safely to
his father’s house. If anyone was audacious, it was Jacob! After all, who would
dare bargain with the Almighty? (Gen 25:28-34, Gen 27:1-36, Gen 30:31-43, Gen 31:7-12, Gen 28:20-22)
Jacob made mistakes and some of them were premeditated,
yet we see no dimunition in God’s grace to him. God sent angels to protect him
and allowed him to see them! In Bethel, he was given a vision of a ladder that
reached to Heaven and angels ascending and descending on it. The more Jacob
sinned and let God down, the more it seemed God’s Grace increased! Sin could
not overcome Grace. (Gen 28:12-15, Gen 32:1-2)
In Genesis 32:10-11 and 33:5 and 11, we see the result
of God’s Grace. Jacob was the first Patriarch to verbally affirm God’s Grace.
After wrestling with God and with men, his name was changed to “Israel” which
in Hebrew means “a prince who prevails with God and men.” God showed Jacob that
he could get away with bargaining and deceiving men, but he couldn’t do the
same with God. Jacob saw the face of God and his life was spared (Gen 32:30).
His day of reckoning happened to be his greatest experience of God’s Grace,
which changed him forever. (New Testament ref: Romans 5)
