Here's Pastor Alan Wright with Today's Blessing: A Biblical Faith-Filled Vision. for your life. We do not lose heart, though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we're being renewed. And that's Paul's blessing to the Corinthians, 2 Corinthians 4, 16, and to you. You aren't withering on the vine, you're being renewed where it matters most.
The hydrangeas that adorn our house in front grow brown and gangly in the gray of winter. If you didn't know better, you'd think they were dead. But you mustn't be fooled by their apparent decay. The real life is inside, down deep, root deep, hidden deep. In expectation of spring, we trim the withered stalks back and well.
You should see them now. inwardly. You're being renewed.
So it's time. to blossom again. Pastor, author, and Bible teacher Alan Wright. And he hung there. Sinless, and yet being punished.
The firstborn. And what did he cry out? Did he cry out? That's not fair. No.
He cried out, Father, forgive them. They don't know what they're doing. For in the cross It's the greatest moment of unfairness and scandal there ever has been. That's Pastor Alan Wright. Welcome to another message of good news that will help you see your life in a whole new light.
I'm Daniel Britt. Excited for you to hear the teaching today in the series The Loved, a study of Romans chapters 9 through 11, as presented at Ranola Church in North Carolina. If you're not able to stay with us throughout the entire program, I want to make sure you know how to get our special resource right now. It can be yours for your donation this month to Allen Wright Ministries.
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More on this later in the program. But now, let's get started with today's teaching. Here is Alan Wright. Who would ever say that there was somebody that died who was robbing the bank? The only reason the free person is free is because of me, because I restrained him.
And so, this is why it's true in the words succinctly from Sam Storms: therefore, no one goes to hell except those who do. Deserve to, and no one goes to heaven because they deserve to. And this is where Paul is going to. But he's pointing here to the gospel in a way that's incredibly powerful. Yes, it's not fair, even scandalously so, but oh, when you see it.
everything begins to open up to you about the goodness of God.
So two stories that he alludes to. The first story is about Abraham and Sarah and their and these two boys, Ishmael and Isaac. God had promised Abraham, and maybe you know the story, that he and Sarah would have a son and their old age. And Sarah was way beyond childbearing age, and Abraham was old, and there was just no way in the natural it could happen. And so God promised them that they were going to have a son.
Well, some time went by, and they began to think, well, we don't have a son, and it's not possible for it to happen. And so, in order to make it happen, Sarah suggests that they get their maidservant, their handmaiden named Hagar, who worked in their house, and have her be a surrogate mother. And so Abraham fathers this son. Through Hagar, and his name Ishmael. And God comes and revisits Abraham and Sarah.
He said, Ishmael is not what I promised you. He said, you are going to have your own biological son, the two of you. And they both laughed about it. It's impossible. But indeed, God did the impossible.
He brought life where there was no chance of life coming to be. And he brought about the fulfillment of a promise. It was rooted not in humanity's ability to make it happen. And that's how Isaac was born. And then what happened was when Isaac was growing up and Ishmael, now his older half-brother, is in the household, that there's conflict.
And especially there's conflict that happens between Hagar and Sarah. And Sarah, she wants to get rid of him. This is what we read in Genesis 21. The child grew and was weaned, and Abraham made a great feast on the day Isaac was weaned. But Sarah saw the son of Hagar, the Egyptian, whom she'd borne to Abraham, laughing.
So she said to Abraham, cast out this slave woman with her son, for the son of this slave woman shall not be heir with my son Isaac. And this thing was very displeasing to Abraham on account of his son Ishmael. But God, this is where it's so scandalous. God said to Abraham, be not displeased because of the boy and because of your slave woman. Whatever Sarah says to you, do as she tells you.
For through Isaac shall your offspring be named.
So they send Ishmael out. I mean, Sarah's the one who had had the idea in the first place. And now they're going to kick the slave woman out and hurt all these feelings. And God actually endorsed it. In fact, Paul picks up on this later in his epistle to the Galatians.
And he says in Galatians 4: You brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. But just as that time, he was born according to the flesh persecuted him according to the spirit, who was born according to the spirit, so it is now.
So, what does the scripture say? Cast out the slave woman and her son. The son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman.
So now. Brothers, we are not children of the slave, but of the free one.
So, Paul takes the story, embraces it, and says it even has a bigger meaning that's pointing to who you are, Christian, is that you're like Isaac. You were supernaturally reborn by the Spirit of God. You were born according to the grace of God and the promises of God, not by any work, any human works that anyone should boast.
So, we're seeing here that in the unfairness of what happens to Ishmael, that there is something powerful of the gospel that is being exposed. And that is that to be a child of God according to the gospel is a miracle that has to do with resurrection life, with supernatural life that comes where there was only deadness, and it comes not by human intervention or effort or works in any manner, but it comes by the promise of God. And then he goes on to make it even more scandalous by bringing up a story that's even more unfair. And now he goes to To speak about Isaac, once he's grown and married to Rebekah, that they have these two twin boys. Again, this conflict of these two boys, Esau and Jacob.
And So here's what we read in Genesis 25. Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife because she was barren, and the Lord granted his prayer.
So this story, this theme of like these matriarchs that in the natural can't bear children and God needs to do a miracle. Mm-hmm. And a lot of the story revolves around this miracle. And God grants her prayer, and Rebekah, his wife, conceived. And the children struggled within her.
And she said, If it's thus, why is this happening to me? And she went to inquire of the Lord. And the Lord, verse 23, spoke to her and said, Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you shall be divided. The one shall be stronger than the other. And then, this is where the thing that's so unfair: the older shall serve the younger.
So here is the Lord prophylaxis to this expectant mother. That that Contrary to all of the normal culture in the Middle Eastern world of that day, where the firstborn son gets more of the inheritance, gets a higher place of status in society. and is honored. Doubly, because he's expected to take over the family estate, the firstborn is the one who gets the big share of blessing, the very special blessing. And God's saying ahead of time, But this is going to be something incredibly unfair.
The younger one is the one who's going to get that, and the older one is going to end up serving the younger one. It's an astounding thing to say. And then, through the drama of the stories, we see this being lived out in Esau and Jacob's life. And so comes this special moment. Where Isaac has grown old, and he is going to do this patriarchal thing that we talk about so much at Ronaldo of releasing blessing.
The positive faith-filled spiritual Vision that is spoken, accompanied by love and laying on of hands, that Has real power in it of investing blessing, and it's going to be for the firstborn son. And it's going to be at this moment that he's. Releasing a destiny, speaking out an inheritance, and blessing him.
Well, Jacob knows this time is coming. Knows that Esau is going to prepare a feast for his father. And Jacob. Along conspired with his mother, who he was a kind of a mama's boy, and she wanted she liked him better. this dysfunctional favoritism in this family.
She conspired with Jacob, and Jacob decides he's going to pretend that he's his brother Esau because his dad is nearly blind by this point. And he decides that he'll pretend. He puts on some animal skin so that his skin will feel hairy because Esau is very hairy and put on some of Esau's clothes so he'd smell like Esau. And he goes in and pretends to be him. And this story, which I speak about often, is incredibly powerful and at first disturbing.
Verse 18 of Genesis 27. Jacob went in to his father, and said, My father and he said, Here I am. Who are you, my son? And Jacob said to his father, I'm Esau, your firstborn. I've done as you told me.
Now sit up and eat of my game. that your soul may bless me. What could be worse than this? And Jacob just. who's always been a conniver, a struggler, and a deceiver, now is just issuing a bald faced lie to his own father.
What could be worse? This is horrible. Person. Does this?
Now verse 24. Isaac said, Are you really my son Esau? And Jacob answered, I am. And Isaac said, Bring it near to me, that may eat of my son's game and bless you.
So he brought it near him, and he ate, and he brought him wine, and he drank. His father Isaac said to him, Come near and kiss me, my son.
So he came near and kissed him. And Isaac smelled the smell of his garments. and blessed him and said, See the smell of my son, the smell of a field, the Lord is blessed. And then he blessed him. He was convinced it was Esau, the firstborn, and so he He blessed the wrong son.
He said, May God give you of the dew of heaven, of the fatness of the earth, and plenty of grain and wine. And let people serve you, and nations bow down to you, and be lord over your brothers. There it is. The The The one who is the younger? It's going to be served by the older, you see?
Cursed be everyone who curses you, blessed be everyone who blesses you.
Well, he blesses him. And he's releasing into him inheritance and Future destiny, and so powerful.
Well, Esau, who's been out preparing this feast, comes in not knowing, of course, that his brother has been in there lying. and pretending to be him. And he comes in and he says, I'm ready to be blessed. And we pick up reading in verse 32: his father Isaac said to him, Who are you? He answered, I am your son, your firstborn Esau.
And you think he would just say, well, I'll just undo it. I actually, I made a mistake. I blessed the wrong son. Let me just bless you. He does not know what he does.
This is actually the place where I first discovered the power of blessing right here in this line, in verse 33. Then Isaac trembled very violently. And said, Who was it then that hunted game and brought it to me? And I ate it all before you came, and I have blessed him. And listen to this: yes, and he shall be blessed.
He didn't deserve it. He was a liar, a conniver. He was the younger. But I have blessed him and he's going to be blessed. And as soon as Esau heard the words of his father, he cried out with an exceedingly great and bitter cry, and said to his father, Bless me, even me also, O my father.
But he said, Your brother came deceitfully, and he's taken away your blessing. And Esau was left bereft. and weeping. There's not One shred of fairness about this story is there. I mean, if you're just reading this story for the first time, you'd say, why is this even in the Bible?
This is worse than the Ishmael unfairness. This is a conniver. This is one who, in violation of all of the cultural mores of his time, lived like a rebellious child. This is someone who doesn't deserve it. And besides that, he's the secondborn, not the firstborn.
The firstborn deserves all the blessing. This is Paul choosing to allude to this story in Romans 9. Again, verse 11, though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of work, but because of him who calls, she was told the older will serve the younger, as it's written, Jacob I've loved, but Esau I've hated. And we sure want to try to modify or tone down this Jacob I've hated because we know, I mean, Esau I've hated, because we know God loves everybody. But I think the point is really clear that he's alluding to one of the most scandalous stories in the Old Testament that's formative.
And the fact of the matter is, God is known as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He's not the God of Abraham and Ishmael and Esau. And Paul is referring to all of this, having started by saying, I love all the Jewish people. And the word of God has not failed because you need to understand who Israel really is. But he's saying that if you look at these pictures, Ishmael, though he was born to Abraham, was not really Abraham's offspring.
And you'll see what God does is God has given here a priority and favor to someone who does not deserve it because this is what grace is all about. And how can you possibly make sense of any of this and that the older would serve the younger except for you then go into the gospel of Jesus Christ? And you hear Jesus say at Mark 10, even the Son of Man came not to be served. But to serve. And to give his life as ransom for many.
And you start realizing, oh, Remember how the Old Testament is full of types and shadows that are pointing us towards Jesus. That everything that happened on the drama of the landscape of the Old Covenant, in one way or another, is painting a picture of what God was going to do in the greatest gift of all, in bringing the best news ever in the person of Jesus Christ. Because the gospel is a story of a father who had a firstborn son. He was born in Bethlehem. He was the Son of God and the Son of Man.
And the Bible says he was the firstborn of all creation. And he was the perfect older brother. He was the perfect sinless son who deserved nothing but the riches of inheritance, who deserved nothing but praise and honor and glory. This is the son that the father loved with all of his heart. The Son who healed the sick, who served the poor, who taught the confused, who poured out his life as an offering, who washed the feet of his disciples.
He was the living God in flesh. He was the firstborn, and he was serving. the younger. And then came the time that the first born of all creation was accused of blasphemy by the religious hypocrites, and he was nailed to a Roman cross, and as he hung there bleeding and suffocating, Humiliated before others, the plaything of demonic spirits, taunting him. Look, he saved others, he can't save himself wearing a satirical crown of thorns in his brow.
And he hung there, sinless, and yet being punished The firstborn And what did he cry out? Did he cry out? That's not fair. No. He cried out, Father, forgive them They don't know what they're doing For in the cross was the greatest moment of unfairness and scandal there ever has been.
For it's in that moment in which the people who didn't deserve God's grace or love, that's you and me. The people who were like the younger siblings, that you and me, the Jacobs, the ones who didn't deserve the blessing, that's you and me, when suddenly God, in a sense, has crossed his hands and made a great exchange, and he, Jesus, who knew no sin, became our sin. And we who are so full of sin, when we believe and trust in Him and rely purely on His grace, we are given the righteousness of Jesus, reckoned to be righteous as He is. He who knew no sin became our sin, that we might be reckoned as righteous. This is everything Paul's been teaching in Romans 1 through 8, and now He's illustrating it.
These stories that make you go, Oh, that's not fair. Oh, that's not fair. How could that work? Oh, what about this about predestination? What about this?
What you see is it's all grace traced back to its earliest source. That until we finally realize that we absolutely do not deserve any good gift from God, but instead He has come and given us mercy and shown us kindness. And Jesus has taken the curse on our behalf that we might be the ones that are blessed. Then you can understand Jesus crying out, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? I feel like I am being abandoned.
He's feeling the weight of it all, so that you and I, and anyone who trusts in the saving mercies of Christ, would be reunited with God now and forevermore. You want to know what's not fair? It's sinners receiving the grace of God. It is us receiving the blessing that only Jesus deserved. That's not fair.
And that's the gospel. Alan Wright, today's good news message: that's not fair in our series Beloved. It's a study in Romans and Pastor Alan is here in the studio in just a moment with our parting good news thoughts. Stick with us. Whatever your spiritual need is for today, you'll find Christ-centered tools and help waiting for you at pastoralen.org.
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Back here in the studio to share Pastor Alan's parting good news thought for the day. And whether you're a parent and you've had the kids say this to you, that's not fair. Or you're referring back to the video that was shown during this message of the monkeys, experimental reward system: one getting a cucumber, the other one getting a grape. Even the monkeys could see that's not fair. It's not limited.
To those groups. Mature adults, sometimes Pastor Alan, we're quick to say, hey. That's not exactly right. That's not fair. We have a good news thought for the day you're going to close us with here.
Well, I just say to our listeners, think about how many stories in the Bible. They don't seem fair. And I make reference to Jacob and Esau, one of my favorite stories. There's no shred of fairness. that Jacob ends up Receiving blessing, he was a conniver.
We see story after story like this, where Seems like that the one who should have been rewarded isn't. Just not fair. And I think the reason that all these stories are there, they're shadows. Of what we need to know most, and that is that if God gave us what we really deserve. We be separated him for all eternity.
But he came in the person of Jesus so that he would be just. in giving us what What we don't deserve. but has been earned for us through Christ's righteous life. and through his death. That's not fair.
But wow, it's good news and that is the gospel. If you only caught part of today's teaching, not only can you listen again online, but also get a daily email devotional that matches today's teaching delivered right to your email inbox free. Find out more about these and other resources at pastorallen.org. That's pastoralan.org. Today's good news message is a listener-supported production of Alan Wright Ministries.
