Title: Great Wrestling
Contents
※ Bible: Genesis 32:22-32
We were born to receive God's blessing. We think of this blessing simply as a person who is blessed with great material wealth, fame and authority in the world, or all things that are good in the world's values.
But God's blessing is more than that. God's blessing is, first, the conviction that you belong to God. Second, I am convinced that God is very pleased when he sees me. Third, I live with the conviction that God created me as an object to be loved and an object to give love. This is God's blessing. Karl Barth said that God’s blessing is the conviction that ‘God is on my side’. Do we have the conviction that ‘God is on my side’ today? In fact, even a Christian who has what other people have in the world, I often have doubts about the conviction that ‘God is on my side’. So, I try a lot to make God on my side. But it always ends in failure. So our lives are always insecure and fearful. There is no stability. How can I have the assurance of God's blessing, that I belong to God, that I am the object of God's delight, and that God is on my side? We would like to share the grace while thinking about the road to this assurance.
First, ‘God’s blessing’ is not in what I have.
Jacob and Esau were the twins of Isaac and Rebekah. Esau came out first and Jacob came next, but Jacob came out holding Esau's heel, so the time difference is not much. So his name came to be Jacob, which means “he who grabs the heel.”
Second, ‘God’s blessings’ are not received by our will.
Jacob went to Haran, lived for 20 years, gathered a lot of money, and went down to Beersheba, his hometown, with his family. On the way down, he hears that his brother Esau is coming to kill Jacob with a large army. So Jacob tried to win his brother's heart by dividing all his possessions into smaller portions. And he commanded his servants to tell them, ‘When you meet my brother, this riches will be given to you by your younger brother Jacob.’ Jacob's appearance here is no different from how he deceived his birthright and his father with a bowl of red bean porridge, deceived God, and secretly took away his spiritual authority. Jacob tried to do everything with his own strength and will to the end. As long as he has this thought, Jacob cannot be happy. I couldn't find peace of mind. Don't we often think that we too can receive God's blessings by our own will?
After that, Jacob sends his property and family to his brother in the Jabbok River, and he worries alone. God made Jacob to wrestle by sending his messenger. As soon as the wrestling began between God and Jacob, God destroyed Jacob's hip bone. Jacob's hip bone is Jacob's will. You can no longer achieve everything by your own will. God's blessings are not received by our will.
Third, ‘God’s blessing’ comes when our will is broken.
When the will to live is broken, the channel of God's blessing opens. When Jacob's will was broken, God changed Jacob's name to Israel. And I received the blessing of Peniel to see the face of God. Neither the birthright, nor spiritual authority, nor great wealth could change Jacob. It cannot be changed by our will. Our will is Jaksim 3 days. Therefore, unless our will is broken, we cannot be meek, and we cannot be the channel of blessing to receive God's blessing. Up until now, Jacob thought he could do something on his own. But today's words completely break that heart. And after Jacob is broken up, he is reconciled with his brother. He knelt down in front of his brother and prostrated himself, confessing, 'When I look at his face, it is like seeing God.' Everything that had been accumulated for 20 years collapsed in an instant and the beautiful blessings of God fell on it. God's blessings are not in our will. Blessing begins when we are thoroughly broken before God.
2006-09-23 09:51:44