C.A.C SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON FOR MARCH 5 & 12, 2023 : LESSON FOUR, TOPIC – ISAAC AND JACOB IN GOD’S GRACE

By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise (Hebrews 11:9).

God’s grace brings true fruitfulness and flourishing. Isaac and Jacob enjoyed these in their lifetime as they grew in God.

*BRIEF COMMENT:*

We live everyday by the grace of God, through which we also receive forgiveness of sin. Thé Bible says, Thé grâce of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives (Tit.2:11).

The patriarchs dwelt in the Promised Land, as foreigners, with faith and by grace (Acts 7:5). Humanly speaking, how do you explain Abram buying land, especially to bury his remains in the same land that God said He would give him? So, it was as if the promise was vague, yet, it was real and authentic, because the God of grace, who had promised never lies. What He says, He does.

Their arrival at the Promised Land was greeted by famine and other challenges that drove them away from the land. Yet, they returned and lived in the land by faith to follow God wholeheartedly and to inherit his unfailing promises. The believers also face terrible challenges today that make it seem as if God is not there for us. Yet, we need to know that God is ever-present with us. Nothing should make us waver (Rom. 8:35; 2 Cor. 6:4-5; 11:23-28), since God never compromises. He won’t say that He doesn’t mean those promises He made beforehand.

Finally, as God’s own elects, our homeland is heaven; we are just passing through this earth. Our mindsets toward success, possessions, and purpose in life, should be radically different from that of those who thought the earth belongs to them. May the Holy Spirit assist us to bank on His grace to make it back home in Jesus’ name. Amen.

*__DEVOTIONAL BIBLE READINGS FOR WEEK ONE__*

Mon. Feb. 27: Ishmael, A Scoffer (Gen. 21:8-9)

The. Feb. 28: Ishmael Cannot Be The Heir (Gen. 21:10-11)

Wed. Mar. 1: InIsaac, Your Seed Shall Be Called (Gen. 21:12)

Thur. Mar. 2: Ishmael Sent Away From Isaac (Gen. 21: 13-14)

Fri. Mar. 3: Ishmael Not Totally Cast Away (Gen. 21: 15-17)

Sat.Mar. 4: Isaac Cooperates With God Of Grace (Gen. 22:8-13)

*DEVOTIONAL THOUGHTS*

1. God has a higher plan and purpose in mind for us like He had for Isaac and his son, Jacob, by His grace.

2. In the twists and turns of our lives, God has a higher plan and purpose in mind for us, like He had for Isaac and his son, Jacob, by His grace.

3.God’s promises and purposes are fixed for those who obediently and faithfully follow God’s will.

*BACKGROUND SCRIPTURE:* Acts 7:2-8

*AIM AND OBJECTIVES*

*AIM* : To let us know that the grace of God is so powerful, and that greatness and fulfilment are conditioned on the grace of God.

*OBJECTIVES* : At the end of this lesson, the learners should be:

i. more appreciative of the grace of God upon them, and the fact that they are heirs of God as elicited in God’s covenant relationship with Abraham;

ii. able to show that grace is received through faith, i.e. trust in God alone;

iii. able to prove that grace transforms our desires, motivations, and behaviour,and makes our journey of faith great; and

iv. able to show that God’s grace surpasses all our weaknesses, and bypasses them all to bring God’s purpose to fruition.

*INTRODUCTION*

*TEXTUAL SOURCES: GENESIS 18:1-15; 21:1-7; 24:63; 25:22-34* ; CHAPS. 26-

32; 35:1FF

We had a gracious and wonderful time before God last week, and we

Appreciate him for how he has imparted us troughs the life and lessons from Abraham, his growth in God’s grace and the covenant blessings he enjoyed. May God’s name be praised forever. Amen.

Before us this week and the next, is the lesson, titled: *ISAAC AND JACOB IN GOD’S GRACE,* where we shall further see the essence of God’s grace in our lives, as we consider how Isaac enjoyed the grace of God and grew in the same. God chose Jacob among the two brothers, the sons of Isaac, to carry on the divinely given generational covenant – the Abrahamic covenant. Grace! Jacob received the blessings of God because grace found him, and returned home after twenty-one years of sojourning in Padan-Aram with better knowledge of God. He grew in the knowledge of God with series of appearances that were too real to be faulted.

Let us be attentive and receptive as God is dishing to us these wonderful eternal truths in this lesson. We shall not miss out of God’s grace, now and ultimately, in Jesus’ name.

*INTRODUCTION TO EACH DIVISION* :

This is a two-week lesson, which is divided into I and I1. Each is further subdivided into A and B, respectively.

*DIVISION I:*

*ISAAC AND GOD’S GRACE*

This division, captioned:

*ISAAC AND GOD’S GRACE* , bothers on how Isaac enjoyed and Grew in thé grâce of God. Thé A part IS ENJOYS GOD’S

GRACE, and the B part is captioned: *GROWS IN GOD’S GRACE* . Who was this Isaac who enjoyed and grew in the grace of God? He was a gift from God to the family of father Abraham, the first family associated with barrenness in the Bible. Isaac took after the godly legacy of Abraham, his father. He was face to face with death, but did not die, because he was a product of God’s grace. God caused a ram to ransom him.

*DIVISION II: JACOB IN GOD’S GRACE*

The second part of the lesson is a study of God’s grace lavished on Jacob, one of Isaacs Twins. D’esprit that hé was not qualifiés to receive thé king of favour he had as the youngest in the family of Isaac and Rebecca, God in His sovereignty, bypassed protocol to lavish His grace on Jacob. This, and how he used the grace of God, are the issues raised in this division.

*LESSON OUTLINE*

I. ISAAC AND GOD’S GRACE

A. ENJOYS THE GRACE OF GOD

B. GROWS IN GOD’S GRACE

II. JACOB IN GOD’S GRACE

A. RECEIVES BLESSINGS BY GRACE

B. RETURNS HOME BETTER IN GOD’S KNOWLEDGE

*LESSON EXPOSITION*

*I* *ISAAC AND GOD’S GRACE(* Genesis 18:1-15; 21:1-7; 24:63;

26:1-33;27:1-29;28:1-5).

The grace of God is the undeserved expression of His greatness, goodness and

loving-kindness towards mankind. It is an unmerited favour. Grace enables us to do what ordinarily and humanly speaking, we would not have been able to do. Isaac enjoyed this powerful and extraordinary grace. Not only that, he recognised it and used it well. The salient issue now is what are you doing with God’s grace allotted to you?

*ENJOYS THE GRACE OF GOD (18:1-15; 21:1-7;26:1-33* )

*Then Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold; and the LORD blessed him (26:12).*

i. Grace was the bedrock of Isaac’s life. His birth’s prediction came with great promises of blessing and awesome grace (17:19; 18:10). Don’t stop using

God’s grace well.

ii. 21:1-7: He came on board by God’s grace, in spite of the fact that his parents tried to go ahead of God. God could have chosen not to release him again to these impatient parents, but for grace.

iii. 22:8; 25:21: God Himself will provide the lamb for a burnt offering.

Isaac’s faith, obedience and submission were second to none. Ishmael might not have been easy to take for object of sacrifice. God does not make mistakes!

iv. 22:12: No wonder God wouldn’t allow anything to touch the covenant child, since He didn’t need human sacrifice, but just to know the heart of Abraham towards Him (cf. Exo. 33:19; Eph. 1:7). In all, grace preserved

Isaac’s life from being cut short.

v. 21:1-14; 24:1-67: God’s grace in action! Apart from his birth by God’s grace, he enjoyed safety as God sent Ishmael away from him, and later gave him the right wife (cf. Prov. 18:22).

vi. 26:1ff: Grace didn’t allow him to make the same mistake his father made on travelling out because of austerity. Thank God he cooperated, stayed behind, and was industrious. He didn’t regret.

vii. Isaac, like his father, was a recipient of God’s abundant grace. He inherited the promise and covenant of God, which was upon His father and stood tall as the promised and favoured child. Christians, as gracious and peculiar people of God, are billed to enjoy all the benefits that accrue from using

God’s grace.

*B* . *GROWs IN GOD’S GRACE (24:63; 26:1-33;27:1-29;28:1-5)* *And Isaac went out to meditate in the field in the evening; and he lifted his eyes and looked, and there, the camels were coming (24:63).*

Isaac was someone who received God’s grace and properly utilised it to the glory and honour of God; he grew in the grace of God. Are you growing in God?

ii. 24:63: And Isaac went out to meditate in the field. Apart from being the obedient, faithful and submissive child, he cultivated the habit of meditation (cf. Jos. 1:8). None can grow above his level of meditation in God’s Word.

iii. 25:20-23: The spiritually mature Isaac prayed to God for his barren wife, instead of seeking help elsewhere, and God answered. Where you go for help speaks volume of your level of maturity!

iv. He might not have called down fire from Heaven, like Elijah, or part the Red Sea, like Moses, but his simplicity and love for God were exceptional, which believers should take a cue from (26:2; cf. Psa. 37:3). His character had been built up. Spiritual maturity!

v. 26:12-14: As a benefit of growth in God’s grace and knowledge, he enjoyed abundance in the year of famine, and became very prosperous and great (cf. Psa. 24:1; Matt. 28:20).

vi. 28:1-5: Isaac trusted and cooperated with God to transfer His covenant to the next generation, by passing the baton to Jacob, and guiding him to succeed (cf. Jdg. 16:13-18; Prov. 5:3-4; 1 Kgs. 11:1-3; 21:25; Ezr.

10:2).

vii. Isaac didn’t only enjoy the benefits of coming through the grace of God, he utilised the grace and grew with it. It was obvious that Isaac cooperated with God, as he allowed God to determine his fate and settle most of his life’s challenges, including the hurdle of who succeeded him.

*LESSONS DERIVED*

1. Isaac took God to be the first in his life and sacrificed his entire life for Him. We cannot be less, to enjoy God’s grace.

2. Power of meditation! No one can grow in God above the level of his/her meditation in His Word.

*WORK TO DO*

Isaac was God’s “too good to be true” gift to Abraham and Sarah, which foreshadowed His even greater Gift to humanity, the coming of Jesus Christ. Discuss.

*SUGGESTED ANSWER TO WORK TO DO* :

i.The eternal purpose of God entails the giving of gift of His Son to mankind, and this is a portrait of His eternal love.

ii. God had man in His eternal agenda, and doesn’t want man to experience everlasting condemnation, like the devil and some other evil angels.

iii. Isaac was the son that God promised Abraham and Sarah in their old age. He

was one ofIsrael’s founding fathers.

iv. He was willing to do whatever his father instructed, even when it would lead to his death, just as Jesus also obeyed His Father, even unto death.

v. Isaac was to be offered on mount Moriah (Jerusalem); Jesus was sacrificed at the outskirt of Jerusalem.

vi. A ram was made to take Isaac’s place in death. God provided Jesus, the Lamb of God, as the substitute for us; to pay our sins’ penalty (Rom. 5:6ff; 2 Cor.

5:21).

vii. Isaac was a child of promise, to build a nation for God, so also is Jesus, the Child/Son of promise to win the world for God.

viii. Isaac and Jesus were so loved by their fathers (Gen. 22:2; Matt. 3:17).

ix. Isaac and Jesus both carried their sacrificial wood, and in the course of their sacrifices, submitted themselves willingly.

x.Isaac received a lovely bride, Rebecca, and following Jesus Christ’s

* resurrection, He received a bride, the Church.

xi. Jesus took our place in judgement, and gave His life to atone for us.