Well, thanks so much, Jackson. Buddy, I'm going to miss you a lot.
And I think Jackson comes to us genuinely as a wonderful example of what it is,
the benefit holistically that we receive when we immerse ourselves in the life of a church family.
It does feel like a lot longer than two years that Jackson first rocked up here.
But it also reminds us, doesn't it, of the call that God makes in our lives to be a multinational
and a multi-generation church family that welcomes people from all over the world that find their home in our city.
So it's with great sadness, but excitement that we say goodbye to him this morning.
So I just wanted to honour him and just the ways that he has served here.
But the ways that the Lord has taught me through him are great.
So Genesis 32 is where we're going to be this morning. So turn with me there.
Chris Martin, lead singer of Coldplay. You with me? Yeah?
Fascinating interview he did on BBC Radio 2 a couple of years ago.
And he was talking about the soul searching that he was doing during the COVID pandemic
when he had to isolate and be all by himself.
Remember those days? COVID's kind of back in the news, isn't it?
Remember those periods of being alone, of isolating, being left alone with your thoughts?
It seems so bizarre now, doesn't it, to think about the fact that at one time
we were allowed out in this country for one hour a day at its peak.
I wonder, what did you learn? Here's what Chris Martin said.
He said,
Last year was quite an eye-opener for me, reflecting back on that year.
I was like, who am I without Wembley Stadium saying, you're awesome?
So here's a guy that spent so much of his life performing to thousands of adoring fans.
Spending his life with people and acclaim and noise.
But as soon as he was alone and always stripped away,
he starts asking himself those big questions that we often ask ourselves in life.
What is life all about?
Who's acclaim and whose affirmation makes my life worthwhile?
And what do I do and who am I when no one is watching?
Subtext, who am I?
Now, we think today that that is a postmodern question.
And it is one that everybody's asking just now.
We're searching for identity.
But let me just say, it's not a postmodern question at all.
Actually, it's a question that human beings have been asking ourselves
ever since we were created.
And there's a reason for that.
And the reason is that we are all identity craving creatures.
And here is why whoever you are here today,
wherever you're from, whatever you think of the God of the Bible,
I want you to tune in to what we're going to be thinking about
for the next 25 minutes or so.
Because this is all about identity.
What this is today is the answer that the Bible gives the Christian
as to who they are and why.
And it's unbelievably good.
If I had to go as far as to say I'm pretty convinced that understanding the answer
to that question is the key to flourishing and growing in the Christian life
and enjoying the great three-in-one God who we worship.
So here we are in the book of Genesis and we've come to this defining moment in Jacob's life.
Now, if you know anything about this man Jacob, it might well be this episode.
And you've probably picked it up from reading it that it's as weird as it is wonderful.
So here's maybe an interpretive lens through which to understand the wrestling match
which we're about to get involved in.
Verse 28 is the key for us that I think unlocks the true significance of what's going on here.
God says to Jacob,
Now here's a fun fact for you about this passage.
I love a fun fact.
Here's a fun fact for you.
This is the first time the word Israel is used in the Bible.
This name that's given to identify the corporate people of God.
And here's what I reckon Moses as he pens this is up to.
Here's the purpose of this.
Because as he travels with this Israelite generation who are the first readers here,
he journeys with them in the wilderness.
He's probably fully aware of the conversations that are going on in the family tents, right?
Picture the scene, an intuitive little girl saying to her dad,
Daddy, Daddy, Daddy, what's our name again?
Dad says, our name's Israel.
But being an intuitive little girl, she doesn't stop there, does she?
No, she goes for the question that my girls love to ask me at a minute to wind me up
because they get me with it every time.
Yeah, but why are we called Israel?
Well, her dad would take her straight to this passage.
Or might have been a scroll, don't know.
Takes her to this encounter and he says,
Sweetheart, this is why we're called Israel.
This is what it is to be the people of God.
You see, Jacob's on his way to Canaan.
And at this point in the story, if you remember,
he's caught in this kind of trauma sandwich.
He's left his uncle Laban behind.
And he's got Esau, his brother, up ahead.
And remember, Esau's got, verse 6, look back.
He's got 400 men on his side.
And Jacob's heard that there's 400 men with Esau.
So he's trapped between Laban on one side, Esau on the other side.
And he's got no idea what Jacob and those 400 men, what their intentions are.
And so, verse 22, having sent his camels and his children across the stream,
just follow with it,
what happens to him?
What does he find himself being?
He finds himself all alone.
Now, we're not told why.
But we are told that the Lord meets him.
Now, this is a wonderful truth about the God of the Bible.
The initiative is always his.
And this is what sets apart Christianity from all the other world religions.
That knowing this God is not about us working ourselves up to him.
No, we would have no idea who this God is if he hadn't first revealed himself to us.
This God, he comes to meet us in our grime and in our mess.
This God stoops to be with us in our ash heaps and in our alone moments
when we have no idea where we're looking to for purpose and any kind of foundation to our lives.
This God steps right into the rubble.
And this God has come looking for a fight.
You didn't think wrestling was in the Bible?
Think again.
God wrestled with Jacob.
Now, verse 24 says a man.
You read a lot of commentaries.
They predict maybe that this was a pre-incarnate Jesus.
We don't know.
Text doesn't tell us.
But it does tell us, verse 30, that Jacob left this encounter, this wrestle,
under no illusions and in zero doubt that he'd just been in combat with the divine.
All right?
Oh, if Sky Sports were offering pay-per-view in this one, I'd be all over it.
Yeah?
50-99, I'm taking this one.
And the thing is that this should be God versus Jacob.
This should be what they call a non-contest.
Because it's not even an even match-up, is it?
No one goes toe-to-toe with the omnipotent, omniscient God.
The three times holy God who created the world with the power of his word.
No one goes toe-to-toe with Yahweh.
Goes sparring with him and hopes to come out on top.
And yet what a strange encounter this is.
Because at first it looks like an even match.
Do you see that?
But I guess this is a bit like when I do a rugby scrum with my six-year-old girl, Grace.
She loves to do a rugby scrum.
Big dad secret here, I do not tend to go full-on Jonah Lomu on her in the first ten seconds.
It's an even match.
And I think that's kind of what's going on here to understand it.
Just a touch.
Wrestled.
But just a touch from God.
Do you see that word there?
Just a touch.
And that's what that word means.
It means the slightest of touches.
It means what we would say today.
A brush.
Just a brush of Jacob's hip socket.
And he's limping for the rest of his days.
Now here's, there's tons of question marks I've got about this passage.
Can I give you my two?
Here's number one.
God says, Jacob, you've prevailed.
And you think to yourself, what?
Call a timeout.
You look for the var.
How has he prevailed in this situation?
The guy's hips out.
How has he won?
The wonderful truth about Christianity is that to win with this God is to admit defeat.
The way to victory comes when we submit ourselves to his lordship.
Do you see why Jacob is hanging on?
What's he hanging on in the fight for?
Do you see the word?
He's hanging on for God's blessing.
In other words, Lord, do what you said you'd do.
Be who you said you'd be.
Do what you said you'd promise.
Make us a people.
Remember God had said that promise?
That through Jacob and his line, he was going to create a people.
And not just physical people, but people who worship and know the Lord.
It's going to come through Jacob's line.
He's going to take them to a place.
What's so special about the place?
That God himself is there.
And more than that, what's he going to do?
Is those two things come together.
God is going to bless the nations of the world through his people.
It's a wonderful thing, isn't it?
We sit here today in Scotland.
Not just around the corner from where this happened.
Miles away.
We're from all over the place to see how this is God's intention, his heart, for the world, for the nations.
And the thing about this, Jacob says, God, give me that promise.
Give me that blessing.
The thing is, God has always committed himself to this already.
But now Jacob realizes, and before he was kind of hedging his bets, he was kind of half in.
He was kind of up and down.
Now he's in the place where he says, God, I see that only you can do it.
Only you can do it.
And I think, having been in this passage for a while here,
that this is where God wanted Jacob all along.
And God says to him, verse 27, he says, what is your name?
Now that's the second question mark I've got of this passage.
What is your name?
Why do you think it's a question mark?
Because surely God already knows his name.
Yeah?
Surely that goes with the territory of being the all-knowing God.
Surely that goes with his job description.
But here's what I think the Lord is up to here.
And get this and you'll get the very heart of Christianity.
Now the last time Jacob was asked that exact question was back at chapter 27.
Now who asked it of him then?
His dad.
Who are you, my boy?
Who are you, my son?
And Jacob says, I'm Esau.
He lies.
And so God is almost here teeing him up again.
Let's have a rerun.
Let's do it again.
He says, Jacob, who are you?
And it's almost as if God is stopping him in his tracks right there.
And in the moment, he's inviting him to put his hand up.
And come out of the shadows and say, this is who I am, Lord.
And inviting him to come and own his own sin.
And his mistakes.
And his hurts.
And his pain.
And his failures.
And put his hand up and said, I am Jacob.
And I'm the guy that cheated.
And I'm the guy that swindled.
And I'm the guy who deceived.
And I'm the guy who's the coward.
And I'm the guy who makes mistakes in his heart all the time.
And it's in that place.
It's the truth.
The light shines.
And the truth is out.
And all is exposed.
That God invites Jacob to step forward.
And say, do you see how you need saving?
Not from your circumstances.
You need saving from yourself.
You need me to transform your heart.
And right there in that place of admission and surrender.
The Bible would say that life is to be found.
A God that knows us to the bottom.
And a God that loves us to the sky.
But get this.
Instead of God answering.
And it's always a dangerous self to put yourself in the shoes of God.
But I tend to do it occasionally in the passage.
God could have answered and said, too right you are.
But he doesn't.
He says, I'm going to give you a new name.
Jacob is what you are by nature.
But Israel is what I will make you by grace.
Israel.
That name means.
And you see it.
If you've got an asterisk in your Bible there at the bottom.
It means you have prevailed.
You have overcome.
In other words, God is saying by grace, Jacob.
I am on your side.
So dear friends, know this today.
That we have a God.
God.
Who is in the business.
Of giving new names.
And he is in the business of creating in people.
New affections.
And awakening in people's hearts.
New desires.
That weren't there before.
And of determining for people.
New futures.
Daddy, daddy, daddy.
Why are we called Israel?
We are called Israel.
We are called the people of God.
Because our lives are by grace and by faith.
They're caught up in this one who God says.
You've overcome.
And you think about it.
Here's the question of Genesis.
If you remember back in Genesis 1, Genesis 2.
God creates this perfect world.
It becomes very good when Adam and Eve are made.
Creature, creator, living in harmony with one another.
Genesis 3 comes along.
They believe the lie of the devil.
They believe the lie of Satan.
That the good life is to be found.
Not by submitting and loving the Lord.
But actually trying to do it your own way.
Away from the Lord.
And right there is God makes a promise.
In Genesis 3.15.
That he will send somebody who will crush Satan himself.
And the question of the rest of the Bible story.
But it's certainly the Old Testament rather.
Is definitely the question of Genesis.
Is this the serpent crusher?
Is this the one that God promised he would send?
That he would raise up?
And you have to say.
Yes, God is saying they're coming from Jacob's line.
But it's not Jacob.
And yet echoes from Jacob's story are picked up.
As we look down the line of Jacob.
And we see Jesus.
He was saying he's going to be a man.
Who found himself truly alone.
In the garden before his death.
Who truly submitted his will to his father.
Not my will but your will be done.
And because of that he truly is the one who overcame.
He overcame our mess and our sin.
He died on the cross in our place.
So when God asks us to come clean.
And face up to our faults.
And own our mistakes.
He does so by saying.
Look at my son on the cross.
Paying for those mistakes and that sin.
Do you know it occurred to me recently.
That it was not nails that held Jesus on the cross.
Remember this was a man who stilled the storm.
This was a man who raised the dead.
It wasn't the nails that held him there.
It was a desire to accomplish his father's will.
To save his people from their sin.
And to give them a future and a hope with him.
He's overcome our sin by going to the cross.
And he's overcome death itself.
As he rose on the third day.
And because of that.
God has given him.
And I'll start it with this.
The name that is above all names.
And so then to be a Christian believer.
Is to have your life caught up with.
His name.
The king of kings.
The lord of lords.
And because of that.
Our names in one sense are still the same.
But in another sense.
They are profoundly different.
Because whereas before.
By nature.
We were spiritual orphans.
We were separated from God.
With no future other than his eternal judgment.
Now.
Because of our faith.
And because of his grace.
We're sons and daughters of the living God.
Melissa Kruger writing in her wonderful book.
Identity Theft.
Which I highly recommend to you.
Is devotional reading.
If you're looking for something a little bit different.
Reclaiming our identity in Christ.
She just says really simply.
Your identity is grounded in God's work in you.
Not your work for God.
And do you know what that means?
It means the living God.
Our father.
He feels the same way about us.
As he does his son.
And boy does he.
Adore.
His.
Son.
You know I've got a friend Dano.
Who works for Christians in sport.
He has this thing called the three.
A.
M.
And he gets up and he's stumbling around in the pitch black.
Looking for the light.
Looking for anything.
And he thinks to himself.
Who is thinking of me in this moment?
Who knows where I am in this moment?
and in one sense nobody does
except his father
knows exactly what's going on in his life
knows exactly what he is
he thinks to himself I'm groggy
I don't even know what day it is
but he's not
I'm getting older
I can't do so many of the things I used to do
he's not
my body, my life, my times are changing
all around me
for him they're not
he never tires
of being a father
to his people
and his promises
to us in Christ
will never fail
and so do you see how we too
are Jacob by nature
but we are children of God by grace
that's the gospel
can I just give us one quick fire truth
maybe to take away from this today
and chew on
here it is
see with this God
weakness is the new strength
you see God's brought Jacob to this place
where he realizes that there's nowhere else I can go
and there's nowhere else I want to go
but to you
and that's a really uncomfortable place to be
facing up to the fact that we are not
in control
because
our world sells us the illusion that we are
right
Vodafone
power to you
Burger King
have it your way
what are both of those things saying
you're in control
okay
that's just Princess Street
but let me just say
it's a truly healthy place for us to be
to recognize that we're not
because it's here that God teaches Jacob
that he is
and you'll find this again and again
in the gospels
as people encounter
Jesus
you know friends
we can have all
we can run all the evangelistic courses
and we can
have all the evangelistic
training that we want
but at the end of the day
it's going to come down to this
what are we discovering right now
about Jesus
that makes our hearts sing
because that's what's going to come out of us
when people ask
that's what's going to come out of me tomorrow
when the parents say
at the school playground
what did you do at the weekend
can I give you one
for me just now
here it is
it's the fact that
his most tender
and compassionate words
are reserved for those
who realize
they have no hope but him
those who say
Lord I believe
help my unbelief
those who say
Lord my little girl
is dying
Jesus' heart is drawn
in love
to such people
who is it that he consistently
points to
as an example
of how life works
in his kingdom
it's not the sorted
religious types
or the rich
affluent sorts
who does he point to
he points to
little children
those who specialize
in the fact
that they have
nothing to offer you
other than
open hands
to receive
kind of how it works
with kids
right
did that
Alex did that
around Cameron
toll yesterday
gave them two pounds
and they just went
and spent it
right
they weren't looking
to pay that back
those who have
open hands
to receive
as God
weans us off
the self-reliance
that comes so
naturally
to each of us
and he weans us
onto
loving
and trusting
and looking
to him
and when we run
there
know that we
find
at his
throne
we find
grace
you know
as an 18 year
old
I couldn't
wait to get
away from
home
be independent
do it my way
because that's
when you
that's what you
do when you
grow up
right
you take
on the
world
the more
you go on
in life
you realize
what a fool
that actually
life is to
be found
in submitting
to this
Jesus
actually
maturity
looks like
not going
at myself
but running
to him
more
as he
calls me
to deny
myself
and to
take up
my cross
and to
follow him
and in
so doing
find wonderful
and counter
cultural
rest
by living
a life
that's
lived
in
radical
independence
see if
I was to
give us
oh sorry
before we
get there
in that
sense
do you
see how
Jacob
limping
about
for the
rest
of his
life
is caught
up in
this idea
of
dependence
something
that the
Israelites
mark
do you
see that
is they
don't eat
the
Sinai
of the
thigh
this is
something
that's
kind of
woven
into their
corporate
life
I take
it that
every
Christian
should not
just be
walking
with a
limp
but embracing
a limp
because I
will use
my weaknesses
to magnify
his strength
I will use
everything that
comes my
way in
life
to know
that he
is sovereign
and in
control
do you
remember
Obama's
famous
phrase
that he
took
with him
on the
election
trail
in 2008
yes we
can
it's almost
as if Jesus
invites us
to say
no we
can't
but yes
you can
do you know
if there's one
word that I
pray would
come to
capture our
corporate life
together as a
church together
this year
do you know
what it would
be it would
be this
word
dependence
we cannot
do anything
we're wasting
our time
if the Lord
does not
build the
house
the labourers
labour in
vain
we look to
him
as it's seen
in our lives
in desperate
corporate
prayer
Lord would you
come
and have
your way
would you
save people
to yourself
would you
build
this house
radical
in
dependence
you know
just as we
close
and she's
been in my
mind all
week this
week as I've
been thinking
about this
it was
Irene's
funeral on
Thursday
some of you
will know
Irene
she's been
part of this
church for
years
some of you
won't know
her but let
me just tell
you about her
as we close
doing her
funeral on
Thursday
three things
struck me
firstly it was
the photos
if you were
here you remember
the photos
this little
woman
five foot
nothing I'm
assuming
always smiling
secondly it
was the
place
you know
apart from
the later
latter years
of her life
that she
lived in a
care home
just over
in the
Granger she
spent her
whole life
in a little
flat down
in Gorgie
and number
three was
the words
that people
kept using
to describe
her
and it
was the
word
content
now those
three things
sorry to use
the double
negative here
but they
are not
disconnected
smiling
same place
content
and into
our world
that's always
encouraging us
to chase the
next big
thing
yeah
holiday
job
house move
etc etc
her life
cuts so
wonderfully
against the
grain
and it
reminds us
doesn't it
of how you
get there
because I'd
listened to the
stories about her
life and I thought
that's where I
want to be
how do you
get there
I take it
as by
grasping
this identity
that God
gives us
by grace
who are
we
we are those
who've been
chosen
who have
been loved
who have
been redeemed
who have
been indwelt
by the
Holy Spirit
and who
are heading
home
why
because of
this God
of grace
and this
morning I
don't know
some of you
might be
here you've
never heard
this stuff
before
love to
chat it
out with
you but
may today
be the day
when you put
your faith
in this
Jesus
see his
open arms
feel his
beating heart
for some of us
else today
this might be
a thing
convicted of
our self
reliance
and again
let's just
pray
come and grab
me
come and grab
anyone who
you've seen
up here
let's pray
that today
would be
the day
where God
weans us
off our
self reliance
and puts us
fully on him
will we
pray
and so
this is
the words
of Isaiah
66
God declares
this through
Isaiah to
his generation
but this is
the one to
whom I
will look
he who
is humble
and contrite
in spirit
and who
trembles
at my
word
and so
heavenly
father we
ask lord
that you
would instill
in us
that spirit
that the
disciples
just personified
as they said
lord to who
else will we
go
where else
will we
go
you have
the words
of eternal
life
father thank
you for the
upside down
topsy-turvy
nature of
your kingdom
that the
first
are last
and the
last are
first
father thank
you for this
morning thank
you for your
precious word
and I pray
lord that
your spirit
as your
word has
gone forth
would be at
work in each
of our
hearts
thank you
that the
holy spirit
is a way
better preacher
than I
ever will
be and I
pray that
he would be
at work
in our
midst this
morning
bringing
comfort
bringing
encouragement
bringing
conviction
bringing that
deep sense
of needing
to change
but father
more so
just that
awareness
of your
wonderful grace
that's found
in Jesus
alone
father we
thank you
for your
commitment
to us
and your
love for us
in Jesus
and we
pray in his
wonderful name
amen