Today's message is entitled The
Blessing of the Firstborn. I want us to begin reading in
Romans chapter 8, but eventually I want us to get over to Genesis
chapter 27. In Romans chapter 8, beginning
in verse 28, I think it's important for us to understand what the
blessing of the firstborn was. We must realize that the firstborn
and all the benefits of the firstborn in the Old Testament have reference
to the Lord Jesus Christ who is the firstborn. In Romans 8,
28, and we know that all things work together for good to them
that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow or foreordain,
or for love, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image
of his son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. who that Christ might be the
firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate,
them he also called, and whom he called, them he also justified,
and whom he justified, them he also glorified. What shall we
say to these things? If God be for us, who can be
against us? He that spared not his own son,
his own firstborn, but delivered him up for us all, how shall
he not with him also freely? give us all things. Who shall
lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifies. Who is he that condemneth? It
is Christ that died. Yea, rather, that is risen again,
who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession
for us. So we see here, this is reference,
this is speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ who is the firstborn
among many brethren, Hebrews 1.6. And again, when he bringeth
in the first begotten into the world, he saith, let all the
angels of God worship him. Worship who? The firstborn. All
the blessings. rested in the firstborn. If we
are blessed, we must be blessed in the firstborn. Ephesians 1.3,
blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who
hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings and heavenly places
in Christ. Those who are received as the
firstborn are heirs with the firstborn. Now turn over to Genesis
chapter 27. The story of Jacob and Esau. We looked at last week how that Esau sold his birthright. How
that we read in Romans chapter 9 where Rebecca conceived and
she had twin boys, Jacob and Esau. Esau was born first, so
he was the oldest, he was the firstborn. And how that he sold
his birthright, how he despised the things of God. And we find
out in Romans chapter 9, God told Rebecca that before those
boys were born that the eldest being Esau would serve the younger
who was Jacob. And he said, because Jacob have
I loved and Esau have I hated. God picked out one of those boys
and God set his love upon one of those boys. Why? Because God
would. Everything that God does is right
and he's right in doing it. So let's begin reading in verse
one of Genesis chapter 27. And it came to pass that when
Isaac was old, that his eyes were dim, so that he could not
see. He called Esau, his eldest son,
and he saith unto him, My son, and he said to him, Behold, here
am I. And he said, Behold now, I am
old, and I know not the day of my death. Now, therefore, take,
I pray thee, thy weapon, thy quiver, thy bow, and go into
the field and take me some venison, and make me savory meat such
as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, and that my soul
may bless thee before I die. Isaac thinks that he's getting
ready to die. Now, if you'll read on in the
scriptures, we find out that Isaac lived several years after
this, but he actually thinks that he's getting ready to die.
And it was the custom. Abraham, remember, blessed Isaac.
He blessed him. And this is the blessing of Christ.
And then Isaac is going to bless Esau. He thinks, well, he's the
oldest, and he loved Esau. He loved the venison that he
made and brought to him. And it says it here. He says,
make that venison which I love. And he thinks he's going to die,
so he's going to bless this son. He's going to pronounce a blessing.
And blessing him, this will make him the heir of all that he has.
He will be the spiritual leader of the family. He will take his
father's place. And as the firstborn, he got
a double portion of all the estate. The firstborn had the right and
the authority of the position. That's what Isaac's doing here.
That's why he says, Esau, you come here and this is what I
want you to do and you go do this and then I'm going to bless
you. Colossians chapter 1 beginning in verse 12. Now listen, you
don't have to turn, but it says, Give thanks unto the Father which
has made us meet, fit to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints
in light, who hath delivered us from the power of darkness
and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son. and
who may have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness
of sin, who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn
of every creature. For by him, by Christ, were all
things created that are in heaven, that are in earth, visible and
invisible, were they be thrones or dominions or principalities
or powers, all things were created by him and for him. So you see here, he has the preeminence. He's made all things. Everything
is his because he's the firstborn. And he is before all things,
and by him all things consist. And he is the head of the body.
Isaac says, Esau, you're going to be the head of this family.
It all rests upon you. And he is the head of the body
of the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,
that in all things, all things, he, Christ, might have the preeminence. He's saying, Esau, I'm going
to bless you, and you're going to have preeminence in this whole
family. That's what he's doing here. That's what he's saying. This was not something that was
taken lightly. Abraham didn't take it lightly
when he pronounced this upon Isaac. This was God doing this. This was God conferring this
upon them. And all this pointed to Jesus
Christ, who in the family, who over all creation, all has the
preeminence. It said in Hebrews that I've
already read when he came into the world and the angels of God
worshipped him. Why did they worship him? He
has the preeminence. It's his by right. It's his by
birth. He has the right. He has the
right to this position as the firstborn. Now it's important
that we understand this. Most people don't understand
this and if you don't understand this, this is just some story.
Read on, verse 5. And Rebekah heard when Isaac
spake to Esau his son. Now remember that Rebekah knew
that who was the one that would receive the blessing. It would
be Jacob. Because God said, I've chosen
Jacob over Esau. The eldest boy is going to serve
the youngest boy, who is Jacob. And Rebekah heard when Isaac
spake to Esau his son. And Esau went to the field to
hunt for venison and to bring it. And while Esau's gone, Esau's
taking his weapon, he's going out to kill a deer to bring it
and to dress it and make a meal for his father. Rebekah hears
what's going on. And she speaks to her son, Jacob. And Rebekah speaking to Jacob,
her son saying, behold, I heard thy father speaking to Esau,
thy brother saying, bring me venison and make me savory meat
that I may eat. and bless thee before the Lord
before my death. Now therefore, my son, obey my
voice according to all which I command thee." Here we see
deception and you read from a lot of different men and I know what
she did was wrong. She lied. She's going to deceive
her husband who's old and he can't see. He can't discern whether
this is Jacob or Esau. But God Almighty is in control
of all things. God Almighty has arranged this.
Now, I can't explain that, but He has. And she's going to determine
that Jacob get the blessing. That Jacob would get the blessing
of the firstborn. You say, well, he's not the firstborn.
I know he's not. He's born second. But God has
determined before they were ever born, before they had done any
good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election
might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth. God says
the elder is going to serve the younger. You remember now, now
watch, Esau's already sold his birthright. He sold it. He made light of it. He's already
married a Canaanite woman, which brought grief to Isaac, his father,
and his mother. He's a rebel. He's a rebel. Rebekah forms a plan of diverting
the blessing from Esau to Jacob. Jacob was the elect child of
God, set apart. He may not look like it, but
he was. God chose the foolish things
of the world to confound the wise at no flesh glory in his
sight. And Rebekah tells Jacob, Be my voice according to that
which I command thee." And here's what she's going to tell him
to do. She's telling Jacob, this is what we're going to do while
Esau's gone. Go now, verse 9, down through verse 12, go now
to the flock and fetch me from thence two good kids of the goats
and I will make thee savory meat for thy father which he loveth.
Now shall bring it to thy father that he may eat, and that he
may bless thee, he may bless thee before his death.' And Jacob
said to Rebekah his mother, Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man,
and I'm a smooth man. We're not the same, we're different. and my father peradventure will
fill me, and I will seem to him as a deceiver, and I shall bring
a curse upon me and not a blessing." If I go in there like I am, when
he finds out who I am, he's going to pronounce a curse on me for
trying to get the blessing in my own strength. That's what
he says. This is the dilemma. Rebecca
instructs Jacob on what to do. She tells him. Jacob said, I'll
be found out. I'll be found out. Now what I
see here, this is like the first time a person hears the gospel.
We hear the gospel about we must be accepted in God's sight. How
are we accepted? How are we going to approach
a holy and a righteous and just God? He won't receive us. We're going to be discovered
who we are. We're just a trickster. We're just a sinner. All men
by nature are deceivers. How can I come to God the Father? Only in the person of His Son. And this is how you can approach
God, and this is what Rebekah is saying. This is how you can
go to your Father and get the blessing. And you'll be blessed. Verse 13, And his mother said unto him, She says, unto me be thy curse.
My son, only obey my voice, and go and fetch me them. You don't understand, Jacob.
You have to trust me. You obey my voice. She said,
upon me be thy curse. Christ became a surety for his
people, and upon him came the curse. He agreed to die. And
now he says, obey my voice. He says, my sheep hear my voice
and they follow him. They obey him. They trust him. We must obey what we are commanded
to do. She told him, this is what you
do, Jacob. You obey my voice. You trust
me. If you are to approach the father
and receive the blessing, if you come in yourself, you will
be found out. You will be discovered. If you
come apart from being found in Christ, you'll be rejected. The
blessing is for Christ. He's the firstborn. That's the
blessing. All the blessings are in Christ.
Everything that God the Father has for a sinner is in Christ. In Him, in Him alone. Verse 14. And he obeyed his mother, and
he went, and he fetched, and brought him to his mother, and
his mother made savory meat, such as his father loved. She
made the meat. She took those animals that he
brought, those two kids of the goats, and she brought them in,
he brought them in, and she killed those animals, and she made this
meat, whatever it was, and it tastes like that venison that
he loved. She knew how to make it. She knew, and this is what she
does. Jacob's just observing. His mama's doing this. Verse
15. Now watch this, this is good,
this is important. And read back up. Now notice,
remember Jacob said, now how can I go to my father? Esau's
a hairy man. I'm a smooth man. And when his
daddy, he said, when my daddy puts his hand on me, he's gonna
feel me and he'll know who I am. and Rebecca took goodly raiment
of her eldest son Esau. She's going to take Esau's raiment,
which were with her in the house, and she put them upon Jacob,
her younger son. And she put the skins of the
kids of the goats upon his hands and upon the smooth of his neck,
and she gave the savory meat and the bread which she had prepared
into the hand of her son Jacob. You see the picture here. Jacob
is going to be robed in the garments of his eldest brother. Oh, this
is good. This is the only way a sinner
can approach the Holy God is in the righteousness of our elder
brother, the Lord Jesus Christ. This is what she does. She says,
he won't fill you, he'll fill his son. A righteousness that
has been provided for him. This is not what Jacob did. His
mother did all this for him. It's provided. Everything that
God demands for a sinner. To approach his holy throne,
God provides. Only God can give. And what God
demands, God does give. Jacob didn't make the garment.
It was given to him. To clothe him. She said, come
here, Jacob. I'm going to cover you. And when
you go to approach your father, he's not gonna feel you. He'll
feel his son. Isaiah 61 10. He hath clothed
me with the garments of salvation. He hath covered me with the robe
of righteousness. With this garment on, he is one
with his brother Esau. That's what she's doing. If we
would obtain a blessing, And all the blessings are in Christ.
If we would be blessed of our Heavenly Father, we must come
for it in the garments of our other elder brother, clothed
with his righteousness, who is the firstborn among the brethren,
lest the smoothness and the softness of Jacob's hands and neck should
betray him." She covered him. Covered him. And Rebecca gave
Jacob this savory meat that she prepared. He didn't make it. He didn't know how to. She did.
She knew this is what he loves. And our Lord's death is like
savory meat that his father loves, and that's what he's satisfied
with. The animals had to be slain before
it could be prepared. Our Lord said, my flesh is meat
indeed. Everything the sinner needs to
approach the Father is prepared and given unto us. Not the works
of righteousness which we've done. Everything that God requires,
now get this, everything that God requires, only God can give. Verse 18. Here Jacob's going
to approach his father. Now can you imagine the scene? Can you imagine how Jacob feels? You believe this will work? Will
I really be accepted? Will I really be blessed? Or
will I be cursed? Will I be found out? It's only
in Christ. In yourself you will be. God
will expose you for who you are. A wicked, ungodly, surplanner. A wicked and ungodly sinner.
But now he comes. And he came unto his father and
he said, my father. And he said, here I am. And he
asked the question, who art thou, my son? And Jacob said unto his
father, I am Esau, thy firstborn. I have done according as thou
biddest me. Arise, I pray thee, sit and eat
my venison that my soul may bless me. Jacob has on the garments,
he has the savory meat. Now he comes to the father and
as he approaches the father, his father asks him who he is
and he says, I'm Esau. He comes in Esau's name. It's in Christ's name that we
approach the father. When we pray, our Lord said,
if you ask anything in my name, I'll do it. That's not just some
magical term we use when we say some words and we call it praying
and we say in the name of Jesus. That's in his authority. He's
the firstborn. He has the preeminence. And he
approached him in Esau's name. Can you imagine what would happen?
And he said, who are you? He said, I'm Jacob. That being
the end of that, He wasn't a received him. He approached God the Father
in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. You can only be received
in his name. That means his authority and
in his position. What's his authority? He's Lord
over all. What's his position? He's the
firstborn. He has the preeminence in all
things. He's the only way that you can
come to God the Father is through Jesus Christ. He's the only mediator. Between God the Father and any
sinner is through Christ. It's the only way. You cannot
come in your own way, neither is there salvation in any other,
for there is none other name under heaven given among men,
whereby we must be saved. We dare not come in our own name,
in our own name. The church of Pergamum in Revelation,
he said, they hold us fast in my name. We come in his name. Now listen. When the Lord saved
Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus, he tells, I think it's
Ananias to go to him. Here's what he said, go thy way.
For he, Paul, is a chosen vessel unto me to bear my name before
the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. What's Paul
going to do? He's going to bear his name. He said, I've done everything
you required. We rest in the work that Christ has done. We
rest in the work of another. I am trusting in what he's done.
I come to God the Father in Christ's name, trusting in what he's done. He said, this is what you commanded. And what you've commanded only
somebody else can perform, not in ourself. And Isaac said to
his son, verse 20, how is it that thou hast found this so
quickly, my son? How did you find the deer and
kill the deer and dress the deer and fix the venison so quickly
that my soul may bless thee? How did you do this? And he said,
because the Lord thy God brought it to me. How did you find Christ? How is it, did you do it? How
did you get this? How did you find this so quickly?
Do you say I did this or that? I walked an hour, I did something.
Is that what you're gonna say? How did you do this? Our Lord
said, I was found in them that sought me not. If you find Christ,
it's because he brought himself to you. That's how you find him. It ain't your efforts. He hadn't
done anything, had he? No, he hadn't. But this is how
he approached his father. Read on. Verse 21, And Isaac
said unto Jacob, Come near. Can you imagine what he thought?
I picture him kindly standing off, and now here comes the real
test. Now, I might deceive him back
off here, but he said, You come near. I pray that I may fill
thee, my son, whether thou be my very son Esau or not. Are you my son Esau?" And Jacob
went near unto Isaac, his father. And he felt him and said, the
voice is Jacob's voice. His daddy's eyesight might be
bad, but his hearing's not. He said, this sounds like Jacob. But it feels like Esau. He said, come near. I want to
be found in Christ. Can you imagine what Jacob felt? He said, you sound like Jacob.
And we'll always sound like Jacob. But we smell and feel like Esau,
that oldest son. Verse 23, and he discerned him
not, because his hands were hairy as his brother Esau's hands,
so he blessed him. And he said, Art thou my son
Esau? And he said, I am. And he said, Bring it near to
me, and I will eat of my son's venison, that my soul may bless
thee. And he brought it near to him,
and he did eat. And he brought him wine, and
he did drink. And his father Isaac said unto him, come near
now and kiss me, my son. And he came near and kissed him,
watch this, and he smelled the smell of his raiment and he blessed
him. And he said, see, the smell of
my son is as the smell of the field which the Lord hath blessed. Blessed is the man whom thou
choosest and causes to approach unto thee. He said, you smell like Esau. Our
Lord's offering was a sweet smelling savor. He says, Now thanks be
unto God, which always causes us to triumph in Christ, and
maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every
place. For we are unto God a sweet savour
of Christ. A sweet smell. He said, You smell
like Esau. And when we come to God, we are
a stink in God's nostrils in ourselves. But when we approach
Him in Christ, we have the sweet smell of Christ. Listen, because
of thy savor, because of the savor of thy good ointment, thy
name is an ointment poured forth. When you come to God, you must
have the fragrance of Christ upon you. Psalms 45a, all thy
garments smell of mirth and aloes and cassia out of the ivory palaces
whereby they have made thee glad. So now, Isaac's gonna pronounce
the blessing upon Jacob. And God doesn't say it, that
elder boy is gonna serve that younger boy. They may have deceived
their father, but God has arranged this on purpose, that this boy
be blessed. Verse 28, therefore, God gave
thee the dew of heaven, That's the blessings of grace and the
fatness of the earth and plenty of corn and wine. The corn and
the wine are the gospel provision. That's the blessings. We've been
blessed. Our Lord is Lord and every knee
shall bow and every tongue shall confess him. Look at verse 29.
Let people serve thee. and that nations bow down to
thee, be Lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother's sons bow
down to thee. Cursed be everyone that curses
thee, and blessed be he that blesses thee." All these blessings
come to the Father because we are received in the firstborn.
Jacob has the blessing, and it says in Romans 8, 14, now listen,
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons
of God. For you've not received the spirit of a bondage again
to fear, but you've received the spirit of adoption, whereby
we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit himself beareth witness
with our spirit that we are the children of God, and in children,
then heirs, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ. If so be that we suffer with
him, that we may be glorified together. That's the blessing. of the firstborn. If you are
to be blessed with all the blessings that God has, you must approach
him in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is God's firstborn. Amen.