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Good morning, Christchurch. My name is Carrie Moulton, and I'm a member of the Welcome Team.
And today's reading is from the Old Testament, Genesis chapter 32, verses 7 through 12, and 22 to 32.
In great fear and distress, Jacob divided the people who were with him into two groups, and the flocks and herds and camels as well.
He thought, if Esau comes and attacks one group, the group that is left may escape.
Then Jacob prayed,
O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, Lord, you who have said to me,
Go back to your country and your relatives, and I will make you prosper.
I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness you have shown your servant.
I had only my staff when I crossed this Jordan, but now I have become two camps.
Save me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid he will come and attack me, and also the mothers with their children.
But you have said, I will surely make you prosper, and will make your descendants like the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted.
That night, Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven sons, and crossed the ford of Jabbok.
After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions.
So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak.
When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob's hip,
so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man.
And then the man said,
Let me go, for it is daybreak.
But Jacob replied,
I will not let you go unless you bless me.
The man asked,
What is your name?
Jacob, he answered.
Then the man said,
Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel,
because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.
Jacob said,
Please tell me your name.
But he replied,
Why do you ask my name?
Then he blessed him there.
So Jacob called the place Peniel,
saying,
It is because I saw God face to face,
and yet my life was spared.
The sun rose over him as he passed Peniel,
and he was limping because of his hip.
Therefore, to this day,
the Israelites do not eat the tendon attached to the socket of the hip,
because the socket of Jacob's hip was touched near the tenderloin.
Near the tendon, sorry.
The grass withers, and the flowers fade.
But the word of our God stands for over.
We are going to have a Q&A after this service,
as we're closing out this sermon series on Genesis.
So anything from today's text,
anything from this book of Genesis,
the Bible as a whole,
anything about Christianity,
anything about life with God,
if you have questions,
we'd love to not just have a monologue here,
but to have a dialogue.
So please come and join me after the service for some Q&A.
For me personally,
the book of Genesis has held me fast
in what's been kind of a challenging season,
but it's helped me to connect with the power of our creator God.
It's helped me connect with,
in a fresh way,
with the grace of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
All these amazing promises and blessings
that the Lord has for his people
from beginning with that mother promise in Genesis 3.15
that through the offspring of the woman,
God will win a victory over evil.
All the way to this promise in Genesis 32.10
that God in his kindness,
God in his faithfulness,
will make his people prosper.
He'll multiply them like the sand of the sea.
And if you identify as a Christian,
you're a child of Abraham.
If you have been baptized,
you're a son of Jacob.
You're a daughter of Jacob.
And all these promises,
all these blessings are yours.
We're going to close this series today with Jacob,
who's probably one of the characters in Genesis
we can identify with the most
because he's a real sinner.
As we say in the South,
he's a deep-fried sinner.
And his spiritual life is bracketed
by these two nighttime encounters with God.
We remember a few weeks ago
his first encounter in Genesis 28
in that place called Beth-El,
the house of God.
And now in his second encounter in Genesis 32
in this place called Penny-El,
the face of God.
And this is really the great turning point of his life.
He has this life-changing encounter
with the living God
and he basically becomes a new person, right?
He never walked the same way again
having encountered the living God.
So I want to conclude our series
with a four-point sermon.
It began this morning as a five-point sermon,
so you're welcome.
And I should have you all out of here
in a couple of hours.
It should be fine.
But I want to talk about getting alone with God,
wrestling with God,
living with a new name,
and seeing the face of God.
So getting alone with God,
wrestling with God,
living with a new name,
and seeing the face of God.
So let's talk about getting alone with God.
Verse 7 says that Jacob's afraid
and in verse 24 it says Jacob's alone.
So why is he afraid and why is he alone?
Well, if you remember his story,
he wrestled in his mother's womb
with his twin brother,
his brother Esau.
And the story, as it's told,
is that Jacob came out of the womb
and he was grabbing the heel
of his brother Esau.
And everybody saw that
and they thought,
oh, that's so cute.
He's grappling with his brother.
He's wrestling his brother.
And so they named him Jacob,
which means heel grabber.
But nobody really thought about
how that was going to unfold, right?
Because for the next 20 years
he'd be wrestling with his brother Esau.
He convinced Esau to sell his birthright
for a pot of stew.
He lied and he acted like Esau
in order to steal the blessing
of the firstborn.
And that's what Jacob is.
He's a heel grabber.
He's a man wrestler.
And he's run away from home
as a fugitive and as an exile
because he's made his brother so angry
that his brother wants to murder him.
And so Jacob leaves the promised land
and for the next 20 years
he finds another man to wrestle with.
His name's Laban.
He's a conniving and covetous man.
And Jacob finds a way
to come out on top again.
He marries not just one of Laban's daughters
but two of them.
He piles up great wealth
at Laban's expense.
And this is just who Jacob is.
He knows how to wrestle with people
and he knows how to win
every time.
But now he's afraid
and he's alone
because he has to face up to his past.
His brother Esau is on the way
with a fighting force
of about 400 men
and Jacob's guilty conscience
is beginning to imagine the worst.
And what is he afraid of?
Well he's thinking to himself
you know if I wrestle my brother
who's coming to meet me tomorrow
this time I'm going to lose.
This time I'm going to die.
And so what does he do?
Well he sends gifts
to pacify Esau
and he divides up his group
in order to minimize
the collateral damage.
But he's still alone
and he's still afraid.
And in his desperation
he prays the longest prayer
in the book of Genesis.
And here's what he says
in verse 9.
Then Jacob prayed,
O God of my father Abraham,
God of my father Isaac,
Lord you who said to me
go back to your country
and your relatives
and I will make you prosper.
God had commanded Jacob
in Genesis 31.3
to go back to the promised land
and Jacob hears the word of the Lord
and he submits to it.
He obeys it.
And now he's learning
how to be alone with God.
Learning how to pray to God.
He's changing, right?
He's listening to God
and he's talking to God.
And his prayer sounds like
one of the penitential psalms,
one of those psalms of confession.
And just listen to the elements
of this prayer.
He says in verse 10,
I am unworthy of all the kindness
and faithfulness
you've shown your servant.
I had only my staff
when I crossed this Jordan
but now I've come in two camps.
Save me I pray
from the hand of my brother Esau
for I'm afraid
he will come and attack me
and also the mothers
with their children.
But you have said
I will surely make you prosper
and will make your descendants
like the sand of the sea
which cannot be counted.
It's a model prayer really.
He says,
O Lord,
God of my fathers,
I'm unworthy.
I'm undeserving
before your goodness.
And he begins to affirm
the attributes of God's character.
He says,
God, you are kind.
God, you are faithful.
And your loyal love
can be counted on.
And you are worthy.
As a result of that,
you're worthy that
I should be your humble servant.
And so he says,
God, as your humble servant,
I'm ready to serve others.
I'm ready to serve my enemies.
I'm ready to serve my brother
who wants to kill me.
And then he petitions God
and he says,
Lord, save me.
Lord, give me salvation.
And he argues his case
for why God should save him.
He says,
Lord,
you made promises to me.
You made promises to Isaac.
You made promises to Abraham.
You said
that you would make me prosper.
You said
that you would make my people
like the sand of the sea.
And so what I'm praying
is I'm praying
that you would keep
your promises.
And so this is such a good sign.
This prayer of Jacob
is such a good sign
because it shows us
that he's learning
how to be alone with God.
Right?
And this isn't just
a one-off prayer
because he gets alone
with God again
in verse 23.
It says that
after he'd sent
his people across the stream
and he sent
his possessions
across the stream,
it says Jacob
was left alone
and a man wrestled
with him
till daybreak.
See, we need
a community
of believers
around us
to help us grow
in our relationship
with God,
to help us grow
in faith,
to grow in wisdom.
But Jacob
would not have had
this life-transforming
personal encounter
with God
if he
had not gotten
alone with God.
if he had not
experienced
solitude with God,
if he hadn't
had some distance
from himself
and his people,
from himself
and his possessions,
he would have never
been in this position
to wrestle with God,
which we're going to
talk about in a moment.
So how does this
apply to our lives?
Well, the question today
is do you get alone
with God?
It's so easy
to be carried along
by a community
of faith
and to experience
the people around us
as they're experiencing
God,
but to not actually
be getting alone
with God yourself
and coming in direct
personal contact
with God
yourself.
Right?
It's so easy
for us to know
information about God
but to not really
know God
himself.
So if your faith
is just cultural,
if your faith
is just sociological,
if it's just cerebral,
if it's just a set
of intellectual propositions
but you're not
actually alone
with God
like Jacob
was alone
with God,
you're not actually
praying to God
like Jacob
was praying to God,
then is your faith
real?
Is your faith
personal?
Is your faith
experiential?
Are you living
externally in an
atmosphere of faith
but that atmosphere
hasn't actually
penetrated you
internally?
It hasn't entered
into the inner life
of your soul?
And here's what
I've learned
is that if we
don't volunteer
to get alone
with God,
often God
will find a way
to get us
alone with him.
Right?
God gets Jacob
alone through
an enemy
who's breathing
down his neck.
I don't even think
Jacob would be
alone were it
not for this
situation that's
utterly beyond him,
that's causing him
to feel absolutely
desperate.
God can use
an enemy like
Esau.
He can use
tragedy,
sickness,
broken relationships,
conflict at home,
conflict at work,
a rebellious child,
financial trouble.
Whatever he,
whatever means
seems good to God,
he can use it
to get us alone
with him.
And like it or not,
the reality is
that a day is
coming in life
when all of us
must be alone
with God.
when you're
wheeled into that
surgery all alone,
when you're on
your deathbed
in the middle
of the night
all alone,
all of us are
eventually going
to be alone
with God.
And so I think
this text suggests
that it's better
to go ahead
and just volunteer
to get alone
with God
and learn how
to pray to God
now before you're
in absolute crisis.
So that's point
one,
getting alone
with God.
Point two,
wrestling with God.
Jacob spent his
whole life
wrestling with people.
He wrestled
with his family,
his brother,
his dad.
He wrestled
with his boss,
Laban.
He wrestled
with the women
in his life.
But what he needs
is to be
spiritually transformed.
He needs to learn
how to wrestle
with God.
And so God
initiates a wrestling
match.
And it says
in verse 24
that Jacob
was left alone
and a man
wrestled with him
until daybreak.
And this is
totally unexpected.
It's absolutely
full of mystery.
Jacob
isn't even sure
who it is
that's jumped him.
He just knows
that he's being
attacked
by some
nameless
assailant.
and really
that's what it means
to be a Christian.
To be a Christian
is to be aware
that someone
has intruded
on you.
Somebody has
interfered
in your life.
Somebody's jumped you.
Somebody has
made you uncomfortable.
Somebody has apprehended
you and they're
bothering you
and they're
holding on to you.
They're not
letting go of you.
That's what it means
to be a Christian.
It means to wrestle
with somebody.
Anybody wrestle?
Anybody ever wrestle
with your siblings
growing up?
All three of my kids
should be raising
their hands right now.
Anybody actually wrestle
in high school
or anything like that?
Like serious?
Okay.
If you wrestled
for just like five minutes
I can't remember
how long the rounds go
but just five minutes
of trying to
overpower your opponent.
Just five minutes
of trying to
pin down their shoulders
in submission
is an absolutely
sweaty
and exhausting
struggle.
And this says
that Jacob
is so strong
he's so resistant
that he will not
be overpowered.
He will not be
pinned down.
Right?
He holds God off
all night long.
And if you go
to a strength trainer
if you go to
you know
a physical therapist
they'll tell you
that your hip
rotation
is the source
of your power
generation.
Right?
If you want
that kind of
kinetic explosive
power
in any kind of sport
especially wrestling
you've got to
strengthen your hips.
Right?
You've got to
drive with your hips.
And this is really
the moment of
Jacob's transformation
because it says
in verse 25
that when the man
saw that he could
not overpower
Jacob
he touched
the socket
of Jacob's hip
so that his hip
was wrenched
as he wrestled
with God
as he wrestled
with the man.
This is the first
hint that
Jacob gets
that
in the dark
he's being
grappled with
by a formidable
foe.
And it doesn't
say that
his
assailant
yanked his hip
or
smashed his hip
or
you know
hit his hip
it just says
that
with a mere
touch
just with a mere
tap
Jacob's hip
was wrenched
it was disjointed
it was dislocated
Jacob was rendered
powerless.
Now why
would Jacob's
wrestling partner
do that?
Why would
he show
his immense
power
by just
touching his hip
so that
his leg
was utterly
painful
and utterly
useless
and utterly
powerless
so that all
Jacob could do
would just
be to
hold on
for dear life
right
would just be
to cling
to him
and to not
let him go.
Why would
he do that?
Because Jacob
his whole life
long
has been relying
on himself.
His whole life
long he's been
relying on his
own strength
right
with his
brother
with his
father
with his
boss
with the
women in
his life
he's saying
I will not
I'll never
surrender
I'll never
be overpowered
and even in
this moment
he's saying
I'm not
going to
surrender
to you
but it's
only when
he's wrenched
right
it's only
when he's
wounded
it's only
when he's
weak
and powerless
that Jacob
stops
wrestling
against
God
to hold
him
off
and that
Jacob
starts
wrestling
with
God
to hold
him
close
right
and here's
what it
says
in verse
26
then the
man said
let me
go
for it
is day
break
but Jacob
replied
I will
not let
you go
unless
you bless
me
see before
Jacob
said
I'll
never
let you
overpower
me
nobody
is going
to
overpower
me
but now
Jacob
says
I will
not let
you go
unless
you
bless
me
before
Jacob
says
I was
trying
to make
you
let go
of me
but now
I'm
not going
to let
go
of you
and he
realizes
that the
one who
has the
power
to
dislocate
his
hip
with the
slightest
touch
must also
be the
one who
has
the power
to bless
me
you
must
be the
person
that
that can
give me
the blessing
that I've
always
wanted
and that
I've
sought
by wrestling
with people
and this
is the
moment of
spiritual
transformation
in his
pain
in his
weakness
in his
vulnerability
and his
powerlessness
when Jacob
realizes
that he
can really
only get
the blessing
he wants
by wrestling
with God
now how
does this
apply
to our
lives
well many
many modern
people think
that having
a spiritual
experience
with God
will feel
like a
good thing
will feel
you know
getting close
to God
will cause
me to feel
calm
and centered
and it'll
be healing
and peaceful
and I'll
just be
overcome
by a sense
of love
and comfort
and I'll
be so uplifted
and there'll
be no
unexpected
difficulties
but we
already know
from Genesis
28
when Jacob
encountered
the Lord
of the
stairway
it says
that he
was afraid
and he
felt
extremely
uncomfortable
in the
presence
of God
and the
result of
that was
that Jacob
gave away
10%
of his
wealth
which was
incredibly
painful
and then
here in
Genesis
22
Jacob
encounters
this unknown
wrestler
and it
says he
was wounded
and he
was rendered
powerless
and so
the question
is do you
really want
to have a
spiritual
encounter
with the
living God
the reality
is that
most of
us
if we
want to
transform
life
we're not
going to
be comforted
into a
transformed
life
we're going
to be
wrestled
into it
and what
if like
Jacob
God
loves you
too much
to leave
you the
way you
are
what if
instead of
healing
you
or what
if instead
of preserving
your health
God actually
wants to
change you
which means
that he's
got to deal
with the
things that
are destroying
you
the self
sufficiency
the self
centeredness
operating out
of your own
strength
and your own
strategies
and your own
resources
if he's going
to get rid
of those
things
in your
life
it's going
to involve
a painful
wrenching
what if
God is
actually at
war against
the stuff
within us
that's at
odds with
him
you see
in his
severe mercy
he wrenches
Jacob's hip
and he gets
him into a
position where
instead of
trying to
wriggle his
way out of
God's grip
which is what
Jacob's always
been doing
that
instead
he says
God
you're in
my grip
now
and I'm
not letting
you go
because
only you
have the
blessing I
really need
the blessing
I wanted
from my
family
the blessing
I wanted
from my
work
the blessing
I wanted
from
the significant
others in
my life
I realize
now that
only you
can give
me the
blessing
that I
really need
and that I
really want
and so
he says
oh love
that will
not let
me go
I'm not
going to
let you
go
and he's
wrestling
with God
point number
three
getting alone
with God
wrestling
with God
point number
three
living with
a new
name
living with
a new
name
what
fascinates
me
is that
Jacob
says
bless
me
and then
the next
thing
he hears
is
well what's
your name
and that
tells us
that part
of the
blessing
is
getting rid
of our
old name
and our
old identity
and receiving
from God
a new name
and a new
identity
and this is
what it
says in
verse 26
it says
I will
not let
you go
unless you
bless me
and then
the man
asked him
well what
is your
name
and he
answered
Jacob
now what
is God
doing here
does God
not know
his name
you know
when God
asks questions
in the Bible
it's not
for his
benefit
it's
for ours
right
Genesis 3
Adam
where are
you
he knows
where Adam
is
Adam
do you
know
where you
are
in relation
to me
Jacob
what's
your name
do you
know
who you
are
before me
and Jacob
says
well my
name is
Yaakov
my name
is
heel grabber
and he
knows he's
being invited
to confess
his sins
because 20
years ago
I lied
about my
name
in order
to get
ahead
and get
what I
wanted
20 years
ago
I said
my name
is
Esau
and I
pretended
to be
somebody
I was
not
in order
to get
the blessing
that I
most deeply
wanted
and so
now I'm
I'm
renouncing
my wrongs
my name
is
Yaakov
and I'm
not just
renouncing
what I've
done
I'm
renouncing
who I
am
my name
is
Yaakov
I don't
say it
with pride
I say it
with my
head down
because I
have a
grimy
past
and I
have an
unsavory
character
I've
been grabbing
and pulling
and lying
and cheating
and manipulating
and overreaching
and deceiving
and living
my life
to win
at all
costs
I've been
self-centered
I've been
self-interested
I've been
self-sufficient
my name
is
Jacob
I'm an
unworthy
sinner
I'm a
slave
to myself
I'm a slave
to sin
I'm a
spiritual
disaster
I'm a
moral
failure
what this
tells us
is that
if we
want to
experience
God
there's
absolutely
no
way
around
just
confessing
who we
are
and the
moment
he does
that
God
gives
him
a new
name
Jacob's
been
holding
on to
God
in pain
saying
bless
me
and
God's
actually
holding
on
to
Jacob
and he
says
to
Jacob
in
verse
28
he says
your name
will no
longer be
Jacob
but Israel
because you
have struggled
with God
and with human
beings
and have
overcome
see what does
Jacob really need
what do we
really need
we need to
know
who we are
in relation
to God
we need to
know
our true
identity
and what is
that
well this
name
Israel
it's a name
L means
God
it's a name
that means
God
fights
God
wins
God
rules
and when
applied to
Jacob
the name
means
from now
on
you are
one who
fights
with God
and wins
with God
and rules
with God
that is
your true
nature
that is
your deep
essence
that is
to be
your authentic
identity
and the way
that you
define yourself
from here
on out
and as
Israel
you will
no longer
struggle
you'll no
longer prevail
in your own
strength
you'll struggle
and prevail
in God's
strength
you are to be
one
who persistently
struggles with
God
in humble
prayer
and with a
limp
permanently
crumpled
physically
but empowered
spiritually
until you
overcome
you're to be
one who
clings
dependently
to God
until God
gets the
victory
in your
life
you guys
tracking with me
how does this
apply
to our lives
well
I think all
of us want
to get the
blessing
I think all
of us want
someone who
matters
to lay their
hands on us
and to take us
in their arms
to take us in
their grip
and to say
you're worthy
you're special
you have a name
of significance
you have an
identity
with a hopeful
future
and you know
there's so much
pain in the
world because
everybody wants
the blessing
but they don't
actually know
how to get
it
and in our
secular age
masses of
people are
experiencing
identity crises
that are profound
and pervasive
everybody's feeling
a burden to name
themselves
to define
their identity
to construct
an inner self
about who I am
apart from any
kind of
transcendent
reality
any sort of
transcendent
order
or power
the modern
project is to
find my
highest truth
in my
deepest desires
and then to
somehow
express the
real me
the authentic
me
and that I
think is a
terribly oppressive
and enslaving
burden that people
have placed upon
themselves because
Genesis 32
says that
identity formation
actually works
the exact
opposite way
identity formation
is not about
inside out
it's about
outside in
it's about
God
coming
to you
and jumping
you
and taking
hold of you
and interrogating
you
and saying
what's your
name
who are you
really
and if you
say to God
well
my name is
good
and my
identity is
fine
just the way
I am
if you say
that
you're not
ready for
God
as long
as you say
I'm okay
the way
I am
you're going
to go on
being okay
but without
God
but Genesis
32 says
by disclosing
your name
by
opening up
your heart
about your
character
and your
condition
before God
by owning
up to the
shadow side
and confessing
the guilt
and the
shame
you put
yourself
in a position
to experience
the mercy
and the grace
of God
because only a
God of mercy
can truly know
us as we are
all the way
down to the
bottom
that we're
Jacob
and yet
he still
loves us
and only a
God of grace
can do away
with our
old name
and our
shady past
and give us
a new name
that points
to a
triumphant
future
God
fights
God
wins
God
rules
and Genesis
32 says
that God
in his
sovereign
kindness
God
in his
sovereign
faithfulness
is a
God
who takes
Jacob's
with all
of our
failures
with all
of our
sorry
track
records
with all
of our
unworthiness
that makes
us
and he makes
us
into
Israels
he takes
people
manipulators
and turns
them into
God
wrestlers
and he
gives us
a name
that we
can be
proud of
a name
that we
can aspire
to live
up to
and really
this is
what it
means
to be
a
Christian
that you
no longer
identify
as someone
who's
centered
on
yourself
and what
you make
of yourself
you identify
as a person
who's centered
on God
and what
God
makes
of you
and when
you're
baptized
into the
name
of the
Father
Son
and Holy
Spirit
you now
identify
as someone
who's
personally
related
to the
living
and triune
God
and when
you take
upon
yourself
the name
Christian
which means
little
Christ
you no
longer
identify
as yourself
you identify
as Christ
which means
that your
old
self
your Jacob
identity
is dead
and your
new self
your Israel
identity
is alive
you are
in Christ
you are
united
to the
resurrected
Lord
and you
are alive
to the
love
of the
Trinity
who's
clinging
to you
and will
never
let you
go
from
his
blessing
and so
friends
do you
know
do you
know
who
you
are
what's
your
name
are
you
living
from
your
God
given
name
and
your
God
given
identity
point
number
four
and I'm
glad I
cut
point
number
five
I'm
seeing
that
at
this
point
number
four
is
seeing
the face
of
God
right
having
gotten
alone
with
God
having
wrestled
with
God
having
received
a new
name
from
God
seeing
the face
of
God
and
remember
the context
is that
Jacob's
forced to
face
reality
he's
got
this
long
dreaded
meeting
with
his
brother
that
he
cannot
avoid
coming
the
next
day
Esau
is
just
around
the
corner
he's
a guy
who's
angry
and he's
been
saying
for
20
years
when my
mom
and dad
die
I'm
going to
kill
my
brother
and
Jacob
doesn't
want to
see his
brother
face to
face
because
if he
sees his
brother
face to
face
he's
afraid
he's
going to
die
and so
listen to
these words
in verse
29
Jacob
said
please
tell me
your name
but he
replied
why do
you ask
my name
and then
he
blessed
him
there
so
Jacob
called
the
place
Penny
L
saying
it is
because
I saw
God
face to
face
and yet
my life
was spared
!
See Jacob
thought
if I
see my
brother
face to
face
tomorrow
I'm
going to
die
my life's
not
going to
be
spared
and his
greatest
concern
is
right here
but
now
Jacob
realizes
that
actually
he's
facing
a
deeper
reality
than
his
brother
right
he thought
his
biggest
concern
is
what's
going to
happen
tomorrow
on this
horizontal
level
on this
human
plane
but he
realizes
that
actually
his
biggest
concern
is
what's
happening
right
now
on the
vertical
level
on the
divine
plane
as I'm
meeting
with God
face
to
face
he thinks
that
his
biggest
problem
is that
he needs
to deal
with his
estranged
brother
who he
can see
when actually
he needs
to deal
with this
strange
mysterious
other
whom he
cannot
see
and so
what is
Israel
what is
this man
who struggles
with God
and wins
with God
do
he says
please
tell me
your name
and this
is quite
bold
because
Jacob
is saying
I want
to know
who you
are
I want
you to
give me
more
of yourself
I want
to have
a relationship
with you
please
tell me
your name
and what
he hears
back is
why do
you ask
my name
Jacob
you know
the answer
to the
question
who else
could I
possibly
be
and then
the wrestling
match
is over
and as the
morning sun
is rising
Jacob
says
to himself
maybe he
says out
loud
he says
I saw
God
face to
face
and yet
my life
was spared
he can
hardly
believe
that
somehow
God
has
voluntarily
come
down
onto my
level
that
for some
reason
God
has
intentionally
held back
his full
strength
and he's
curbed
his incredible
power so as
not to crush
me
and
yet with the
mere touch
of his divine
power he
conquered me
in an instant
and he stamped
me with his
name he stamped
me with his
identity and he
gave me the
blessing I've
been looking for
my whole
life long and
somehow I an
unworthy
sinner
Jacob had a
direct personal
relational
encounter with
a holy and
living God and
yet I
survived
yet my life
was spared and
I was saved
and he's
overwhelmed
he says
God
for some
reason he
feigned
weakness
in order to
answer my
prayer for
salvation
now can any
of us think of
another time
when God
came down
on our
level
and when God
held back his
full strength
and when God
laid aside
his power
and God
became weak
in order to
show us
his face
and where God
didn't destroy us
in judgment but
he actually spared
our life and he
gave us salvation
anybody think of a
time when that
happened
2nd Corinthians 4
says the light of
the knowledge of
God's glory is
displayed in the
face of Jesus
Christ
and that means
that in the face
of Jesus we see
the face of God
most clearly
and yet at the
same time
Jesus is
an Israelite
he comes
into the world
as the true
Israelite who
bears the name
of God and
whose whole life
long was a
desperate clinging
to God
and then at the
end of the
gospels when
Jesus is alone
in the dark
like Jacob was
alone in the
dark
and he's there
in Gethsemane
Jesus says
father
I will not
let you go
even if you
break me
and of course
the next day
on his cross
Jesus entire
body
Jesus entire
soul
was absolutely
wrenched
in agony
and while Jacob
risked his life
to say
I will not let
you go
unless you bless
me
Jesus actually
gave his life
and said
I will not let
you go
until you bless
them
and on the
cross we see
this one who's
struggling with
God
to win the
blessing for us
he's saying
God let me
take the curse
so that they
can get the
blessing
God do not
spare my life
because I want
to spare their
lives eternally
God's war
against our
sin that's
destroying us
is finally
finally won
in that
bloody mess
of Jesus
cross
and the
crucifixion
of
the Lord
who made
heaven and
earth
shows us
what it
actually means
to be
Israel
right
because God
in that
moment on the
cross
God
fights
God
wins
God
rules
not through
naked power
not through
raw strength
he
he wins
through
weakness
he wins
through
powerlessness
he wins
through
sacrificial
self-giving
love
and so
friends
I ask you
are you
able to
say
like Jacob
said
I have
seen
God's
face
in his
crucified
son
Jesus
and because
of that
my life
was spared
my life
has been
saved
you know
if God
can turn
this night
of fear
for Jacob
into a
new morning
of hope
for Israel
how much
more hope
do we have
in the morning
light
that's risen
upon us
on Easter
Sunday
how much
more hope
do we have
in that new
life
that's been
given to us
by our
crucified
yet resurrected
Lord Jesus
the story
ends in a
fascinating way
it says in
verse 31
the son
rose above
him as he
passed
Peniel
and he
was limping
because
of his
hip
therefore
to this
day
the Israelites
do not
eat the
tendon
attached
to the
socket
of the
hip
because
the
socket
of
Jacob's
hip
was
touched
near
the
tendon
let's
pray
oh God
make us
a people
who want
to get
alone
with you
make us
a community
of God
wrestlers
Lord make
us people
who cling
to you
even when
it hurts
people who
hold on
to you
no matter
what
make us
a people
who will
not let
go of
you
until we
get the
blessing
of God
and the
name of
God
and the
face of
God
Lord make
us a
people who
walk not
in our
own
sufficiency
relying on
ourselves
and relying
on our
strength
but cause
us to
be a
people
who
walk
with
a
limp
cause
us to
be a
people
who
pray
in
humble
dependence
on the
God of
Abraham
Isaac
and
Jacob
we pray
in
Jesus
name
amen