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In this chapter we come to the second section of the Christian experience, which is the experience of Isaac. Isaac did not have many experiences; he had only one experience in his lifetime. In our Christian experience it is not that one person is like Abraham and that another person is like Isaac, that is, each person having the experience of an independent and separate individual. Abraham was Isaac’s beginning, Jacob was Isaac’s continuation, and Isaac was in the middle. From the spiritual perspective, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were one person. Hence, their individual experiences are three sections of one person’s spiritual experience. The experiences of these three persons should be the experience of every Christian. Every normal believer should experience these three sections. The first section is the experience of Abraham, the second section is the experience of Isaac, and the third section is the experience of Jacob.
The experience of Abraham is the first section of a Christian’s experience in following the Lord. When some saints hear this word, they may say, “If Abraham’s experience is the first section of a believer’s experience and if we lack his experience, surely the remaining sections will be too high for us to attain!” We should never consider Abraham’s experience to be too high, for it is merely the experience at the beginning. A believer’s experience also has the experiences of Isaac and Jacob.
The time period of Isaac’s experience was short because there was only one thing that he needed to know in his experience. Isaac needed to know that all things were inherited. Everything Isaac had was inherited. He did not do anything special in his lifetime. We can say that Isaac’s experience was the inheriting of grace.
We all know that in the matter of choosing a wife for Isaac, Abraham did not depend on himself, and Isaac depended on himself even less. Isaac did not do anything and yet gained a wife. Most brothers are extremely busy when carrying out and arranging matters for their marriage. However, Isaac did not have any plans or arrangements; it was as if his wife fell out of heaven. In type, everything Isaac did was by grace; his experience was that of inheriting grace. Abraham’s case was different; he longed for a son, yet he needed to patiently pass through a long period of waiting. Isaac was not like this; nothing he had required any of his own energy to obtain; he did not need to use his effort even once. Everything was inherited. The Bible says, “Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac” (Gen. 25:5).
What is Isaac’s experience? When we know grace in our experience, our eyes will be opened to see that God in Christ has done everything for us and that we simply inherit all that He has done. God in Christ has prepared everything for us; we need only to receive and enjoy. There is nothing that we need to do, and our energy is not needed, because God in Christ has done everything.
When a person reaches Abraham’s experience in Genesis 24, he begins the experience of Isaac: his eyes are opened to see that everything is inherited in Christ. Are we pursuing sanctification? Sanctification is inherited in Christ. Every spiritual experience is inherited in Christ. There is no need to deal with or beg for anything, nor do we need to endure or wait. No effort is required. We spontaneously inherit every spiritual experience. Please do not misunderstand me and say that if this is the case, there is no need to pray. This is not what I am saying. One day every saint will be brought by God to see that everything has been accomplished and prepared by Christ and that we are inheritors. This is the experience of Isaac.
The Bible says that God is “the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob” (Exo. 3:6; Matt. 22:32). The Bible does not say that God is the God of Joseph. Why does the Bible say that He is the God of these three persons? What is the significance of this? God is three yet one. He is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit. He is the Triune God—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. God the Father has accomplished many spiritual works. For example, our being called by God is not the work of God the Son or of God the Spirit but of God the Father. It was the father who forgave the prodigal son in Luke 15:11 through 32. Our justification is the work of God the Father; He justified us (Rom. 8:30). It is also God the Father who cares for our living. The Lord Jesus said, “Do not be anxious, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, With what shall we be clothed?...For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things” (Matt. 6:31-32). Therefore, everything that Abraham experienced, such as his being called, being justified, living by faith, and having fellowship with God, was of God the Father. Abraham was a father. His name means “father of a multitude” (Gen. 17:5). He experienced God the Father. Hence, the God of Abraham speaks of God being the Father of the called ones. This is the beginning of a believer’s experience.
Isaac experienced God the Son, the Son of God. Isaac’s experience shows that everything related to the called ones has been accomplished by Christ, the Son of God. Christ accomplished redemption, and He released the divine life. Every spiritual inheritance has been obtained for us by Christ. Whatever a believer can obtain or enjoy has been accomplished for him by Christ. Isaac was a son, and he experienced God the Son. A son has the right to inherit his father’s possessions. Hence, the experience of a son is that of inheriting.
In the early stage of following the Lord, a Christian does not know what he has obtained in Christ or inherited in Christ. Instead, a Christian thinks that he needs to do something. He thinks that being pious is the way to be sanctified and that praying more is the way to be spiritual. He does not realize that everything is in Christ. Sanctification is in Christ, and spirituality is also in Christ. A young believer does not realize that all spiritual riches are inherited in Christ and that obtaining these riches does not require his effort.
It is easy to speak this word, but it is not so simple to experience it. This is not something that a new believer experiences. Like Abraham, he must advance step by step until he reaches the stage of understanding that he does not need to do anything but that God does everything. At this point a believer begins to have Isaac’s experience. Isaac did not need to struggle or endeavor in himself, because everything was accomplished by his father. In the same way, a believer who has the experience of Isaac realizes that he does not need to use his energy to be sanctified, to be spiritual, or to pray. Such a believer not only knows grace but also inherits grace, enjoys grace, and lives in grace. Isaac seemed to be very ordinary. Some readers of the Bible have said that Isaac was an ordinary person who did not accomplish anything. Those who know grace do very little.
Let us consider how Isaac experienced inheriting grace and resting and enjoying throughout his lifetime. The first thing Isaac did was to marry Rebekah. I often marvel at how simple it was for Isaac to marry Rebekah. One day he went to meditate in the field, and his father’s servant brought Rebekah to him (24:63-67). Isaac did not need to do anything or to labor. His father and the oldest servant labored, but Isaac did not labor at all. We do not know where Isaac was in Genesis 24. It was his father who planned and charged the oldest servant to go to Mesopotamia. The servant was hardworking. He prayed and looked to God, negotiated, and did many things, then journeyed arduously to bring Rebekah back. In contrast, Isaac did not do anything. He neither prayed nor looked to God, nor did he seek a wife. He simply inherited.
Afterward, Rebekah conceived by Isaac and gave birth to twins, Esau and Jacob (25:21-24). Isaac sowed in the land and gained a hundredfold (26:12). He dug wells, and there was springing water. The shepherds of Gerar contended with him, but he did not fight with them. He yielded the well to them and went to dig elsewhere. It is incredible that wherever he went, he dug a well of springing water. God apportioned to him a spacious land that would satisfy him (vv. 18-22). When Isaac grew old, he loved a tasty meal, and both of his sons went to prepare it for him (27:1-10). When his sons argued, Rebekah devised a solution. Isaac did not need to worry (vv. 41-46). Isaac’s entire life was full of rest and enjoyment. These experiences typify the called ones inheriting everything in Christ. Hence, we do not need to toil or struggle. We only need to enjoy.
