Gospel Outreach International

Have you ever found yourself somewhere you know you should not be, wondering how on earth you got there, and whether the road back is even still open to you? Most of us know that feeling, maybe not in dramatic terms, but in the quieter, more familiar experience of drifting, of letting things slip, of realising that somewhere along the way you have wandered from the place you were meant to be. In this Bible study we are going to sit with a man who knew that feeling well. And what we are going to discover might surprise you. Because the story does not begin with his return. It begins with God speaking first. Come and explore what it means when the God who called you in the first place reaches out and calls you back.

God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there. Make an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.” Genesis 35:1

• God remains faithful and intervening even after our failures and wandering. Obedience is the visible demonstration of faith and trust in God.
• The Old Testament emphasis is on faithfulness, meaning reliability and trustworthiness toward God, rather than faith as an abstract concept.
• Knowing the Bible is essential because we can only obey what we have heard.
• Jacob is called back to Bethel, the place where his relationship with God began, as an act of restoration.
• Returning to the place we first met God is a spiritual discipline of recommitment and renewal.
• Idols can be anything that displaces God at the centre of our lives, not only physical objects.
• Believers are called to purify themselves, putting away what distracts and embracing what builds them up in Christ.
• All Christians are saints, meaning holy ones, called to reflect the holiness of the God they serve.
• We live in the continuous presence of God through the indwelling Holy Spirit, not only when gathered for worship.
• We present ourselves as living sacrifices, which means total commitment with nothing held back.
• Christians are soldiers who sometimes need to step back, rest and be renewed before returning to active service.
• Our obedience to God is not earning salvation but a response to the grace already given.

And Isaac breathed his last, and he died and was gathered to his people, old and full of days. And his sons Esau and Jacob buried him. Genesis 35:29

Everything we have looked at tonight comes back to this: God does not give up on his people. He spoke to Jacob not because Jacob had earned it, but because that is the kind of God he is. And the cross is where we see that most clearly. Jesus did not wait for us to find our way back. He came. He died. He rose. And through him, the way back to God is always open. Whatever has pulled your attention away, whatever has cluttered the altar of your heart, the invitation stands. Come back. He is there. He has always been there.

Bible References

• Genesis 35:
• 1 Samuel 2:8
• Psalm 40
• Genesis 28
• Genesis 35
• Hebrews 11:39
• Deuteronomy 32:51
• Deuteronomy 32:30
• Job 39:12
• Psalm 146:6
• Habakkuk 2:4
• 2 Thessalonians 1:8
• John 14:6
• Deuteronomy 32:4
• 2 Timothy 2:15
• 1 Samuel 15:22
• 1 John 3
• Romans 12:1
• Isaiah 6