2010-01-17 Ronnie Stevens Genesis 32:24-32

PREVAILING WITH GOD

GENESIS 32:24-32

I.  Who is the Man who Wrestles?    v. 24

A.  A Perspective on Biblical Mystery

1.  God says: Talk to Me

2.  God says: Walk to Me

B.  He Cripples with a Touch    v. 25

C.  He Confers a New Name    v. 28

D.  By Jacob He is called ‘God’    v. 30

E.  The Evidence of Hosea 12:4

II.  What Did it Mean to Jacob?

A.  He Finally Reckons with God   

In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord.    Psalm 77:2

B.  He Discovered where the True Danger Lay

1.  The Danger was Never that Jacob would Die by his Brother’s Hand

2.  The Danger was that Jacob would Live by his Brother’s Standard

C.  Jacob Finally Admitted his True Identity    v. 27

III.  What Does It Mean to Us?

A.  God Seeks a Meeting with Us    32:1, 24

Now as Jacob went on his way the angels of God met him.        -Gen. 32:1

Then Jacob was left alone and a man wrestled with him until daybreak.    -Gen. 32:24

B.  God Wants Us to Prevail Against Him    v. 25

1.  What God Promises is to be Appropriated    

2.  What God Gives is to be Taken

You give to them, they gather it up.   -Psalm 104:28

3.  That Which is Promised is to be Prayed Down

a.  Promises are Given to Inspire Faith

b.  Faith is Expressed by Believing Prayer

c.  Prayer May Even Inspire a Promise

Oh woman, your faith is great;

 it shall be done for you as you wish.    –Matthew 15:28

4.  The Naming of Persons

Your name shall no longer be Jacob but Israel;

for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed.  Genesis 32:28

5.  The Naming of Places

So Jacob named the place Peniel, for he said, “I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been preserved.”  Genesis 32:30

IV.  Conclusion

A.  The World will Know who I am when I tell them the Name God Gave Me.

B.  The World will Know who God is when they see the Way I Walk