Sermon - How the Lord Regenerates the Natural Person: The Affirmative Attutide
We learned in the previous chapter of Genesis that the story of the marriage of Jacob and Rachel is the story of our preparation for regeneration or rebirth. We also learned that the first four sons of Leah represent the progressive states of life we go through as we become the church in external things: seeing, hearing, and doing or knowledge, obedience, and use.
In this chapter of Genesis, the Lord is teaching the steps to take to make the transition from being the church is external things to being the church in internal things, that is, not just in the way be behave, but in the way we think and feel (becoming genuinely loving and peaceful).
But even though we want that peace and joy, there is part of us that is totally opposed to the life that yields them. The disconnect between these two parts of us (represented by Jacob and Rachel), and especially the feelings of powerlessness to change, causes anger to “flare up” and we blame even the Lord for not holding up His end of the covenant.
Bilhah” is the way to break though these barriers. Jacob’s marriage to Bilhah represents not the achievement of the life that yields the peace and joy of heaven, but an “affirmative attitude” towards the teachings of the Lord—the means by which we move past the anger and blaming.
Our external self wants proof that what the Lord is teaching really works before we are willing to make any more sacrifices to follow His commandments. We are powerless to force ourselves to believe in the Lord and His teachings, but we do have control over our attitude towards our own life. Having an affirmative attitude towards the truths the Lord teaches and the life of religion allows the Lord’s power to flow into our heart and mind and life. The Lord does not ask us to change our lives before He will help, only that we change our attitude.
