Genesis 25 records for us the story of Jacob and Esau. I’m sure most of you are familiar with the plot. Esau was the firstborn and thus in line for the birthright from His father Isaac. His younger brother Jacob plotted to steal the birthright and their Father’s blessing, and tricked Isaac into bestowing it on Himself rather than his brother Esau. After this, Jacob fled for his life and from his brother, spending several years away from his brother Esau, whom he had wronged greatly. As he left, Esau swore to kill Jacob upon their father’s death. After a period of at least 14 years, Jacob decided to return to his family once more. Boys and girls, you can draw Jacob coming back to meet Esau. As he neared, he received word that Esau was coming to meet him with 400 soldiers—imagine what was going through his head! As Jacob finally reached the place where Esau waited, an unexpected event took place. Rather than beginning a deadly battle, Esau raced to Jacob and embraced him, welcoming him home. The two had parted as heartless enemies. Now they embraced as loving brothers. What we have here is an example of reconciliation. Two people who were once enemies are now friends.
Today we’re going to focus on reconciliation. I just have one goal for you today—I want you to be so impressed with Jesus and the work that He’s done for you, that you learn to love Him even more than you do already. Often times when men preach we focus on a desired action. We must . . . we should . . . we can . . . Today I’m not going to focus on an action, as much as I am on a feeling, or a way of thinking. I want you to love Jesus. I want you to be completely inspired by and satisfied with the work of our savior Jesus Christ that you walk away thinking of Him differently than you did when you walked in this morning. I want you to understand the work of Christ in reconciliation and praise Him for it. So let’s read our passage today—it’s just 3 simple verses, Colossians 1:21-23 . . .
Big Idea: through Jesus, God has made you his friend!