Below are notes to a sermon preached Sunday evening, September 21, 2003, at Gospel Light Baptist Church, Albany, Georgia.

JESUS IS JACOB’S LADDER

Michael D. O’Neal (Proverbs 11:30), Pastor
Gospel Light Baptist Church, P.O. Box 3071 (237 Lockett Station Road),
Albany, GA 31706
(229) 432-0039 (church) / (229) 698-2127 (parsonage)

Scripture Reading: Genesis 28:1-22

Text: Genesis 28:12

Genesis 28:12 And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it.

Introduction: Nearly every child who has attended a Vacation Bible School or Sunday School repeatedly has heard the story of Jacob’s ladder. What MOST church attenders, whether child or adult, have NOT heard taught is that the ladder of Jacob’s dream is actually a type, a prophetic picture, of the Lord Jesus Christ.

“Behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it” says our text.

Comparing scripture with scripture, we come to the New Testament and find this remarkable cross reference, a statement made by the Lord Jesus Christ:

John 1:51 And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.

PAY ATTENTION: I believe that this is ANOTHER of the passages that Jesus referred to when he said:

John 5:39 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.

and again in that chapter:

John 5:46 For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me.

Could not Jesus have taught His disciples about the true meaning of the ladder in Jacob’s dream, when He talked with the disciples after the resurrection,

Luke 24:27 And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.

First notice,

I. THE SETTING UP OF THE LADDER

Genesis 28:12 And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth..

1 Timothy 2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;

A. An earthly formation (Mary)

B. An earthly footing

Born in a manger
Trained as a carpenter

C. An earthly frame

Human body
From the form of God to the form of a servant
In fashion as a man

II. THE SPAN OF THE LADDER

Genesis 28:12 And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven …

Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

Man’s ladder, religion, comes SHORT …

God’s ladder, JESUS, reaches ALL THE WAY:

A. From the law of Moses to salvation by grace

B. From the land of men to the shores of Glory

C. From the lusts of the flesh to the Spirit of God

III. THE STRENGTH OF THE LADDER

Genesis 28:12 And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it.

It will bear

A. The most wicked people

B. The most worried and troubled people

C. The most weary and tired people

It will bear the WORLD if everyone were to come!

IV. THE SECRET OF THE LADDER

Genesis 28:16-17 And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the LORD is in this place; and I knew it not. 17 And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.

A. The person of the Lord was not known

“Surely the LORD is in this place; and I knew it not.”

John 1:10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.

B. The purpose of the Lord was not known

“the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven”

Jesus Christ was GOD “housed” in human flesh – John 1:1,14; 1 Timothy 3:16
Romans 16:25 Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began,
John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.