OCTOBER 6, 2024

Bible verse “GENESIS 33:1~4”

Sermon title "The Jacob’s life 9’

It was said that Jacob’s wrestling with the angel at the Jabbok River was not prayer but a turning point where God met him. No one knows why God chose wrestling as the method to meet Jacob. Only God knows. The way God meets each person is different. The way God gives grace is different for everyone. The turning point that leads people to believe in God is different for each person. For Jacob, the turning point was wrestling. Just because Jacob met God through wrestling, it doesn’t mean that we should think, “I need to wrestle to meet God, too.” If you think that way, you’ll never meet God. God is the one who chooses to meet people; it’s not something we can initiate on our own. It’s God who chooses people, not people who decide to believe in God and choose Him.  Jacob wrestled with the angel all night and ended up winning. But his victory was in a wretched condition. He was completely broken yet called the victor. He didn’t spend the night dancing with the angel, holding on to his waist. No, he wrestled. Jacob’s strength was completely exhausted. After all, Jacob wasn’t a wrestler. Moreover, the angel, in what could be considered an unfair move, struck Jacob’s hip, dislocating it, and causing him to limp. Yet, Jacob won. And then, God changed his name to ‘Israel,’ meaning “one who has wrestled with God and prevailed.” This name symbolized the future of Jacob’s life. Not only Jacob’s personal life, but the entire history of the nation of Israel would unfold in the same way. From a spiritual and faithful perspective, it was a victorious life, the life of one who prevailed, but from a worldly or fleshly perspective, it was the life of a limping, wretched person. Jacob’s hip was dislocated, leaving him physically disabled. He was utterly drained from wrestling all night, struggling to catch his breath. From a physical viewpoint, it seemed like he had failed, to the point where one could mistake him for a broken man. Yet, his name was Israel, “the one who has spiritually won,” the one who wrestled with the angel and prevailed.

This is the life of faith that the Bible is talking about. It’s not just about Jacob’s personal life; it’s about the life of the entire nation of Israel and, furthermore, the life of Christians who believe in Jesus. It’s not just a story meant to introduce Jacob’s life. Yet when the gospel is shared with unbelievers, the story of Jacob is often misrepresented. People say, “Have you failed in life? Here is the solution to all your problems. If you believe in Jesus, all your life’s problems will be solved. If you believe in Jesus, your unhappy life will be transformed into a happy one.” They claim that the answer to all life’s problems is surprisingly simple: believe in Jesus, and all will be solved. Believe in Jesus, and your thorny path in life will become a flowery road.  So, people start going to church believing that, but when life still doesn’t go smoothly and they continue to walk a thorny path, they’re told, “It’s because you haven’t entrusted everything to God.” They say it’s because their faith is weak. Then they’re told to go back to the Jabbok River, pray, and restore their faith by crying out to the Lord. This cycle just keeps repeating.     We are now believing in God, believing in Jesus Christ, and worshipping before Him. But have all of our life’s problems been solved? Have all our prayers been answered, so now we’re walking on a flowery road? Far from it. Each household has its own burdens and unresolved issues. No matter how much we pray and think, there are still many problems that seem to have no solution. Don’t have any worries or burdens in your family? It’s unlikely. People just pretend, try not to show it, and work hard to forget.

As I said before, Jacob’s story is not just his personal autobiography. His life sets a standard that all Christians are bound to follow. Yet, most Christians don’t live according to it. Spiritually, Jacob never departed from God and lived a victorious life, but on a physical, visible level, he lived a life of suffering, just as he confessed before Pharaoh in his later years. Jacob said he lived a harsh and difficult life. Physically, life before the Jabbok River may have seemed much happier and more successful. Therefore, based on today’s Christian concept of blessings, Jacob would be judged as someone who lived without faith. That’s why, in most churches, when they preach about Jacob, they focus on “Jacob’s all-night prayer at the Jabbok River” or “Jacob going up to Bethel.” They don’t preach about Jacob’s life after the Jabbok River because it doesn’t fit with modern Christian teachings—it even contradicts them. This is the reality of Christianity today. If the congregation doesn’t find the message interesting or appealing, pastors won’t preach it, even if it’s the word of God. Instead, they will adapt and embellish the word to make it entertaining for the congregation because that’s what makes people like the pastor....

Before coming to the Jabbok River, Jacob lived his life as the master of his own life. It wasn’t just Jacob; every person in this world lives as their own master, ever since sin entered the world through Adam’s transgression. From time to time, for his own benefit, Jacob would even sell the name of God and pretend to believe in Him, acting as if he had faith. But from now on, Jacob would no longer be the master of his life; God would be. That is why God sent an angel to wrestle with him, as a symbolic act to show that Jacob was no longer in control of his life. Therefore, whether Jacob won or the angel won, it wasn’t of great importance. Jacob didn’t have to win. Even if Jacob had lost, God would still have become the master of Jacob’s life. In other words, the angel intentionally let Jacob win. If the angel had thrown Jacob, Jacob could have flown all the way to the moon, but the angel chose to lose on purpose. Why? Because whether Jacob won or lost, God had already decided to become the master of Jacob’s life. He made that decision when Jacob was still in Rebekah’s womb.  From now on, Jacob would no longer live under the name “Jacob,” whether he liked it or not—he would live as “Israel.” Jesus made the same point in a similar way. To whom? To Peter. In John 21:18, Jesus says, “Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” Jesus said to Peter, “Very truly,” repeating it twice, which emphasizes that He will certainly do what He said and won’t change His mind.

What did Jesus say would happen in Peter’s life? When Peter was “younger”—this doesn’t refer to physical age but rather to the time before the Holy Spirit descended upon him, before Peter truly believed in Jesus—Peter dressed himself and went wherever he wanted. In other words, Peter was the master of his own life, living however he pleased. In Old Testament terms, this would be like living in the time when there was no king, and everyone did what was right in their own eyes. Was Peter the only one who lived like this? No. Everyone lives dressing themselves, going wherever they want, doing as they please. Jacob, of course, lived like this too.

But “when you are old”—here, “old” doesn’t mean becoming a physically frail old man; it refers to the time after the Holy Spirit came to dwell within Peter. After that, Peter would stretch out his hands, and someone else would dress him and lead him where he didn’t want to go. This verse perfectly sums up the Christian life. Stretching out your hands means no longer holding on to the things of this world, as if you had empty hands. The Holy Spirit will dress you and lead you to do things you don’t want to do. The Holy Spirit will guide you in a direction you don’t want to go.  Why? Because if left to your own will, you wouldn’t do it. You wouldn’t go where God wants you to go. Who wants to willingly do things they don’t like or don’t want to do? If it’s something enjoyable, like going on a trip or having fun, there’s no need for someone to lead you or push you. You’d go happily, humming a tune. But this is about doing things you don’t want to do—sacrificing your time and resources to serve others, considering others better than yourself. It’s not something you naturally want to do. So, the Holy Spirit has to “dress” you and lead you there. You are made to live doing things you don’t want to do.  This is how God will lead His people to live. Before Jacob wrestled with the angel at the Jabbok River, he dressed himself and did whatever he wanted, living however he pleased. But from now on, when he is “old,” God will dress Jacob, and Jacob will stretch out his hands, and God will lead him to do things he doesn’t want to do, go where he doesn’t want to go, and live doing things he doesn’t desire to do.

If you don’t understand this, then you don’t understand what it means to live as a believer in Jesus, what it means to be saved, and how the life of a saved person should be lived. Without this understanding, you’ll merely become a religious person who attends church as if you were a pendulum swinging back and forth. Such a religious person will always follow their feelings, hopping from one church to another whenever they feel uncomfortable or unhappy. They say they can’t attend a certain church because they don’t feel like it. That’s because they’re just religious.  From today's passage, we see that God begins to stretch out Jacob's hands and lead him to places he does not want to go, dressing him with His will. No longer will Jacob live the life of “Jacob” (the one who deceives to take what belongs to others);    instead, he will live as Israel, the one who has prevailed with God. When we say that God now leads Jacob where He wills, it might seem like Jacob’s life would now be full of miracles, mysteries, and wonders, as if he were living in paradise—holy, peaceful, and comfortable. Similarly, when we say that believers are to live as Christians belonging to Jesus, we might think their lives will always be mysterious, miraculous, and spiritual, constantly receiving answers to prayers, blessed when they come in and when they go out, living in endless prosperity. But will life really be like that?In today’s passage, a miracle did happen, one that seems to demonstrate the effect of Jacob’s victory in his wrestling match with the angel at the Jabbok River. The first act of faith Jacob performs after his turning point is recorded in Genesis 33:3: “He himself went on ahead and bowed down to the ground seven times as he approached his brother Esau.” This is the scene where Jacob meets Esau, who was coming toward him with four hundred men, intending to kill him. Jacob had placed his concubines and their children in front, followed by Leah and her children, and Rachel and Joseph last. Jacob, who used to stand at the back, was now at the front. In the past, he would certainly have been at the back, but now Jacob's values have undergone a radical transformation. Just the previous night, when he was alone at the Jabbok River, Jacob only cared about himself. He stayed behind, hoping to survive on his own, leaving his wives and children vulnerable to Esau. He had been a selfish man, concerned only with his own survival, incapable of sacrificing even for his own family.

But now, Jacob had changed into someone who could put others before himself, someone who could think of others first. Knowing full well that he might die, he stepped forward to meet Esau. Jacob did this not because he had given up on life or decided to let things happen as they may, but because he had spiritually encountered God and realized that this world and its realities are not all there is. Even if he were to die at the hand of Esau, his faith in God and the fact that Yahweh is his God remained unshaken. It was with this faith that Jacob approached Esau. This is not something that can be taught—it is only possible when someone has a true spiritual encounter with God. This is what the Bible refers to as faith. Even if one faces death, it doesn’t matter. This is the kind of faith Esther had when she said, "If I perish, I perish."  If we try to explain Jacob’s approach to Esau by saying that Jacob believed God would protect him from Esau, this would be mere religion. If Jacob had approached Esau and been killed by his sword, it still wouldn’t have mattered to Jacob. Before wrestling with the angel at the Jabbok River, Jacob was so desperate to survive that he sent his wives and children ahead of him to face Esau. But now, Jacob had become a man of God, stepping forward to meet Esau himself. This is when a miracle occurred. Esau, who had been marching with four hundred men to kill Jacob, did not draw his sword. Instead, when he saw Jacob, he ran to meet him, embraced him, kissed him, and wept. God had appeared to Esau, just as He had appeared to Laban, to Abraham, to Saul, and to Pharaoh, warning him, “If you lay a hand on Jacob, you won’t even be able to collect your bones.” A miracle had happened. This was the first and last miracle Jacob experienced after the Jabbok River.

From this point on, Jacob lived a life of faith, always looking to God. Wherever God led him, Jacob served God faithfully. Even when he was young, Jacob lived as he pleased, doing only what he wanted. But now that he had met God, in his "old age," he would live as a man of faith, serving God and others, going wherever the Holy Spirit led him, and considering others better than himself. I bless you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you will live as Christians, serving God and the church wherever the Holy Spirit leads, and that you will regard others as more important than yourself. Amen.