We thank the Lord that in the Old Testament He has given us a wonderful and clear picture of the experience of life. In the New Testament we have the revelation of the experience of life, but we do not have as clear a picture of it as we have in the Old Testament. We are all familiar with the proverb which says that a picture is better than a thousand words. Although we have spent many years considering the experience of life as revealed in the New Testament, we cannot be certain about it only by the words in the New Testament. We also need the pictures in the Old Testament. By the Lord's mercy, we have seen through the years that all the stories in the Old Testament depict the various aspects of the experience of life. Deep within, I feel that the Lord has shown us the full picture and has enabled us to understand its real significance.
As we have already pointed out, there are three aspects to every Christian's experience of life—the aspect of Abraham, the aspect of Isaac, and the aspect of Jacob. If we did not have this clear view, we would only consider Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as three separate individuals. But, after receiving the revelation and understanding it in the light of the New Testament, we realize that these three men are not three separate individuals, but three aspects of one complete person in the experience of life. Some, finding it difficult to believe that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob represent three aspects of one complete person, may say, "How can you say that Abraham is not a complete person? Abraham is just Abraham, and the same is true for both Isaac and Jacob." If you do not believe that these three people are three aspects of the complete experience of one person, I would ask you this question: Can you see God's selection in Abraham? The first item in our experience of God is His selection, His choice, which was made before the foundation of the world. We see this clearly in the New Testament (Eph. 1:4), but we cannot see it in the experience of Abraham. Thus, as far as God's selection is concerned, Abraham needs someone else to perfect him. The selection which we cannot find in Abraham's life is revealed in Jacob's. In addition to being selected, we Christians are also called. In Isaac we see neither selection nor calling. Hence, in himself, Isaac is not complete. Isaac's calling is in Abraham just as Abraham's selection is in Jacob. By these two examples we should all be convinced that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob depict three aspects of one complete person in the experience of life. In a sense, we are all Abrahams, for we have been called and have learned to live by faith in God and in fellowship with Him. Since we have also been put into the position of grace, we are also Isaacs. As we shall see in later messages, we are Jacobs as well.
The aspect of Isaac unfolds the matter of grace. We have not only been called and have learned to live by faith in God and in fellowship with Him, but we are daily enjoying something of God. If we do not have any enjoyment in our Christian life, we will not be able to live the Christian life. Rather, we would be very miserable. Praise the Lord that we not only have the aspect of Abraham but also the aspect of Isaac, which is the aspect of grace. Grace simply means the enjoyment of God. It is God Himself becoming our enjoyment in our spirit. Many times we have difficulties which trouble us mentally and emotionally. Nevertheless, while we are suffering in our mind and emotion, there is a sweet sense deep within our spirit. It seems that if we did not have this suffering, we would not have this enjoyment. The Christian suffering brings us the Christian enjoyment. From the moment we called on the name of the Lord Jesus and received Him as our Savior, we began to have these two aspects in our experience. Perhaps the very night you received the Lord Jesus your wife gave you a difficult time, disagreeing with your becoming a Christian and calling it silly. She immediately began to persecute you, and you suffered in your mind, emotion, and senses. But while you were suffering, deep within you sensed something sweet which caused you to be happy. Thus, even at the beginning of your Christian life you had both the aspect of suffering, which is the aspect of Abraham, and the aspect of enjoyment, which is the aspect of Isaac.