A Christian is a Spiritual Relay Race Runner

11 After Abraham`s death, God blessed his son Isaac, who then lived near Beer Lahai Roi.

Genesis 25:11

0. Introduction : Relay race

Today’s message is titled “A Christian is a Relay Race Runner”, and it is taken out of Genesis chapter 25.

Have you ever been in a relay race?

It’s an event in a track and field competition where four people in a group run in turns, exchanging a baton.

So, what do you need to successfully complete this kind of relay race?

There are three qualities each runner needs. These are trust, responsibility, add patience.

The first, “trust” must exist between each of the runners on the team.

This deep trust among the team members helps them reach their ultimate goal.

The second, “responsibility” means personal responsibility.

Every runner who passes on the baton needs personal responsibility to safely hand it over to the next runner. And each receiving runner needs personal responsibility to be sure to receive the hand off well.

The third, “patience” also means perseverance.

Even if the team looks like they will lose the races, if they run hard to the end without giving up, they can still enjoy the joy of crossing the finish line. But if they give up halfway, then their race is left incomplete…

For this reason, Christians can be compared to runners participating in relay races.

Christians live their lives diligently with the baton of “faith” that has been handled down to us from generation to generation, and we in turn pass it on to the next generation.

God himself handed the baton of Faith to Abraham, the first runner.

1. The first runner : Abraham

Genesis 25:7-11

7 Altogether, Abraham lived a hundred and seventy-five years. 8 Then Abraham breathed his last and died at a good old age, an old man and full of years; and he was gathered to his people. 9 His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah near Mamre, in the field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite, 10 the field Abraham had bought from the Hittites. There Abraham was buried with his wife Sarah. 11 After Abraham`s death, God blessed his son Isaac, who then lived near Beer Lahai Roi.

Did Abraham, the first runner, pass on the baton of faith well?

Abraham received the baton of faith from God when he was 75 years old.

He then accompanied God for 100 years and left the world at the age of 175.

Long ago, Israelis regarded dying early or dying in an accident as God’s judgment.

According to this thinking, Abraham’s longevity tells us that he was blessed by God.

In particular, Isaac and Ishmael jointly held their father’s funeral which was Abraham’s most beautiful last scene.

Ishmael was not the son of God’s promise, so he was not Abraham’s heir (and did not receive the baton of faith from his father). But he did his best as a son at his father’s funeral.

This shows that there was no more resentment or complaint in Ishmael who had been born out of wedlock to Sarah’s maidservant.

But, the Good God indeed made a great nation through Ishmael as he had also promised.

And the good God accompanied Ishmael throughout his life and fully restored Ishmael’s self-esteem.

This was the blessing God gave to Abraham’s family through his obedience.

After Abraham’s death, God blessed his son Isaac.

We can see from this fact that Abraham passed on the baton of faith to his son well.

2. The second runner : Isaac

Genesis 25:19-21

19 This is the account of Abraham`s son Isaac.  Abraham became the father of Isaac, 20 and Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aram and sister of Laban the Aramean. 21 Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was barren. The LORD answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant.

Did Isaac, the second runner, deliver the baton of faith well?

Isaac met Rebekah and married her. Then he had no children from 40 to 59 years old.

It looks like he had the same problem his father had.

God educated Isaac along the same lines that he educated his father, Abraham.

It took Isaac almost 20 years to learn how to obey God completely.

After that, God heard Isaac’s prayer and allowed his wife to have children.

After Rebekah became pregnant, all their attention became focused on their two sons, Esau and Jacob. In the Bible, the life of Isaac is given a small account compared to his son, Jacob.

But through the story that will come forward, we can see that Isaac has indeed handed over the baton of faith to the next generation through his son, Jacob.

3. The third runner : Jacob

Genesis 25:23; 31-34

23 The LORD said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.”

31 Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.” 32 “Look, I am about to die,” Esau said. “What good is the birthright to me?” 33 But Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob. 34 Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left.  So Esau despised his birthright.

Did Jacob, the third runner, receive the baton of faith well?

We can see from the passage in Genesis 25 that Jacob schemed to receive the baton of faith from his father, Isaac. Actually, as it was the birthright, a blessing given only to the first son.

But Jacob, the second-born twin, slyly looking forward to the future, needed a means to acquire his brother’s blessing.

Through a bit of trickery and good timing, Jacob was able to convince his brother Esau to make a foolish choice and sell his birthright to his brother out of hunger. 

In his haste and impatience to do so, he revealed that he was not worthy of God’s choice.

Before the brothers were born, there was a prophecy of God saying that the older would serve the younger. The prophecy may seem controversial because it breaks down the existing order.

But God’s sovereignty exceeds human expectations and claims of rights.

This means that no one can claim their rights before God, the master.

A very tense relationship formed between these brothers, Jacob and Esau.

But through this experience, Jacob came to have an important religious understanding that God alone was actually his inheritance.

When Jacob completely obeyed God, the purchased birthright in his hand disappeared and the baton of faith remained.

And then, did Jacob, the third runner, also pass on the baton of faith to the next generation well?

4. The current runners : Us

1 Corinthian 9:24-25

24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.

Yes, Jacob successfully handed over the baton of faith to the next generation.

The fact that we are continuing to worship God right now is evidence of this.

The reason you can worship God today is because of God’s unending grace and sovereignty. He had already planned beforehand to meet you through your family, whether your blood relatives, or the family of faith. Therefore, we should thank God for bringing us into the family of faith through our ancestors of faith.

If your family doesn’t have an ancestor of faith that is related to you by blood, there’s nothing wrong with that because God recognizes any person who obeys Him as a member of his faith family. Abraham was the first, we now continue to run the race.

God accompanies every person of faith and blesses their life.

We are the people who have received the baton of faith from our ancestors who obeyed God.

So now, can we deliver the baton of faith to the next generation well? Will they receive it well?

Will your descendants continue to believe in God through you?

Your faith has a much greater influence than you think because the family of faith either continues or breaks according to the relationship you have with God.

1 Corinthians tells us that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize. 

Likewise, even if many people have received a baton of faith, not everyone can successfully deliver the gospel.

Why were we blessed to hear the word of God?

It is because someone has delivered the love of God to us.

We are people who are currently running in the eternal, spiritual relay race with the baton of faith. In this land, the most important task we have is to deliver the baton of faith successfully to the next generation.

This is why God called us.

God wants the baton of faith to be delivered to the final runner through us Christians.

This is God’s ultimate vision.

Now, who is the last runner to receive the baton of faith?

5. The last runner : Jesus Christ

Luke 21:34-36

34 “Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap. 35 For it will come upon all those who live on the face of the whole earth. 36 Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.”

The last runner to receive the baton of faith is Jesus Christ.

When our faith race is over, Jesus himself will deliver our faith to God.

To this end, we must always pray and stay awake and alert.

Always be careful not to miss the baton of faith we have received.

But…what if we drop the baton of faith?

In fact, we are much weaker and more easily seduced by temptation than we think or like to admit. So we often drop the baton of faith. There may also be times when we don’t even want to recover the lost baton of faith anymore because our minds or spirits are so exhausted.

So what should we do when we encounter such a problem?

Ephesians 2:1-10

1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions — it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God — 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God`s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

God knew that we, as humans and in our weakness, could never complete the race of faith on our own. So God sent us Jesus Christ, the runner of the anchor leg, or the final leg, of the race. He is the fastest and best runner.

In fact, Jesus not only runs the anchor leg to complete the race for us, being the fastest and best runner, he also runs with us along all sections of the race!

When we fall into the temptation of sin and drop the baton of faith, Jesus is there to pick it up with us, and restores our faith again.

Even when we are tired and want to give up the race of faith, Jesus comforts our hearts, provides new strength, and gently encourages and leads us back to the race of faith.

The baton of faith was passed down from God, to our ancestors in faith, and on to us.

From us, it will be passed on to the next generation, if we remain faithful, and will eventually be delivered to Jesus, the last runner, our anchor.

Jesus will then return the baton of faith, passed along through countless descendants of faith, to God, completing the race of faith and bringing much honor and glory to God.

In the end, the long faith race that God began will end with Jesus, crossing the finish line triumphantly to receive the crown of his kingdom.

So when you are exhausted by the relay race of faith, rely on Jesus. Pray and ask Jesus for help.

He is your anchor, your example, and he will run with you and lead your faith race to victory.