A New Beginning

Greg Laurie: Jesus said if you want to save your life, lose your life.

Guest (Male): It may seem like a dichotomy, but coming up today, Pastor Greg Laurie points out if we surrender our lives and goals to the Lord, we'll be surprised at the outcome.

Greg Laurie: I place my unknown future in the hands of a known God and I've learned, Lord, to realize that your will is better than mine. See, that's how it is when we wrestle with God. You win by losing. You win by submitting.

Guest (Male): This is the day when the lost are found. This is the day for a new begin. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound. Oh can you hear all the angels are singing? This is the day, the day when life begins.

There's a famous poem about defiant independence featuring phrases like "I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul." The Lord probably finds that poem pretty funny. The Bible says the Earth is God's footstool and he hears a wee little voice saying, "I am the captain of my soul."

Well, today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie brings a fresh perspective from Jacob's attempt to wrestle with God.

Greg Laurie: So years ago I was visiting a church and we're in the back room having a little something to eat. And one of the folks there said, "You know, our pastor has been going to the gym a lot and he's in great shape. You guys should arm wrestle." I'm like, "No, I'm okay, I don't really need—" "No, arm wrestle our pastor," they said. "I think he'll beat you." I said he probably would. "No, come on, arm wrestle him." And then the pastor says, "Come on, arm wrestle me."

Okay, so we lock arms and you know when you're getting ready to arm wrestle someone and you start and you know you're going to win? I'm sorry, this guy—there wasn't much there. I'm just saying. Okay, so we start to go and I put a little pressure on, oh man. So I just waited a little and let him get me down a little, then I beat him. And then they're all mad at me because I beat their pastor arm wrestling. I said it was your idea.

And then there was this very petite young lady who said, "I want to arm wrestle the pastor." And I looked at the pastor and said, "Don't do it. Don't do it because you could lose." You never want to—guys, never arm wrestle a girl. Because if you beat her, you're a bully—toxic masculinity. But if she beats you, you're a wuss. Okay, so this is a lose-lose situation. Don't arm wrestle girls.

Well, he arm wrestled her and you already know what happened. She beat him. And then the pastor said, "Well, I was tired from arm wrestling you." You just shouldn't have done it. This is a picture of us fighting with God or wrestling with God. You're going to lose.

But wrestling with God is not necessarily a bad thing, for before us in scripture is a story of a man who did just that. His name was Jacob. He got into a wrestling match with what he thought was an angel and it turned out to be the Lord himself. And ultimately he submitted to God's will and it started with him resisting God and it ended with him resting. And he actually said to the Lord, "I won't let you go until you bless me."

Offering a little commentary on Jacob's wrestling match with the Lord, Hosea 12 says: before Jacob was born he struggled with his brother. Then he became a man and he even fought with God and he wrestled with the angel and won. He wept and pleaded for a blessing from him. And there at Bethel he met God face to face, for God spoke to him.

So we're in this series that we're calling "Jesus and You". We've done the New Testament edition, now we're looking at the Old Testament where Jesus appears many times in what we call Christophanies. Why do I believe this is a Christophany where Jacob was not actually wrestling with an angel but with the Lord himself? Because he says that he saw God or he met God face to face and he actually called the name of the place Peniel, which means the face of God.

So, Jacob and Esau. They were twins. The firstborn was Esau, which means hairy. H-A-I-R-Y. Why did they name him that? Because he was hairy. Apparently this kid was covered in hair, head to toe. And they went, "Well, look at that dude, let's call him Harry." Out comes his brother Jacob, hanging onto Harry's heel. "Oh, let's call this one heel catcher," which can also be translated supplanter, deceiver.

But pretty much they lived up to their names. Jacob was always manipulating and scheming and striving to get ahead. But God had plans for Jacob. And one of those plans was to change his name from Jacob to Israel. Israel, which means a prince with God or one who rules with God.

That happened after his little wrestling match with the Lord that we'll read about in a few moments, which reminds us that God doesn't just see you for what you are, he sees you for what you can become. See, we see ourselves for what we are. You know, you look at yourself and you see the past, but God sees the future. You see sin, God sees restoration. You see a blank canvas, God sees the finished painting. You see an end, God sees a new beginning. You see a mess, God sees a message.

Now, Jacob and Esau couldn't have been more different. At first glance, Esau almost looks like the more impressive of the two. He's an outdoorsy kind of a guy. We would call him a man's man, hunting wild game, preparing meals out of it that his father really favored, where Jacob he kind of liked to stay home with mom and help in the kitchen.

And clearly Isaac favored Esau. He said, "Boy, go out there and get me my favorite kind of venison, you know how to make it, bring it in here and I'm going to give you the blessing." So meanwhile Rebekah is eavesdropping. She goes, "Jacob, go cook up something and serve it to your father before your brother gets back and he'll give you the blessing."

So Jacob does that and he literally covers himself in animal skins. Now Isaac was losing his eyesight at this point. So Jacob is covered in animal skins and he tries to imitate the voice of his brother who I imagine was deeper. "Hey Dad, how you doing?" instead of whatever his normal voice was. "Here's the food you asked for."

And Isaac says, "That sounds a lot like Jacob, not Esau." Then he feels his arm, he goes, "Well, you're hairy like that. And let me smell you. Oh yeah, you smell like him." And he eats the meal and he gives the blessing to Jacob that he intended to give to Esau.

And when Esau heard about this, he was just absolutely ticked off and said, "I'm going to kill that brother of mine." And so Mom says, "You better head for the hills. Go visit my brother Laban." Well anyway, Jacob made it and he met his uncle Laban. And he also met his wife-to-be, the beautiful Rachel, who he fell in love with immediately.

Now Jacob and Laban were like two peas in a pod. It was like a used car dealer met a telemarketer. It was like the trickster met the trickster extraordinaire. They kind of deserved each other. Some time passed and it was now time for Jacob to return home and deal with his brother whom he had betrayed. He had to face the consequences of what he had done. He had to face his past.

And you know it's not easy to reconcile with some people. The Bible says in Proverbs 18:19: a brother offended is harder to win than a strong city. Reminds me of a story of years ago when we were doing a crusade in a certain city. And there was one very significant church that was not involved.

So I had a friend who knew the pastor. I said, "Call that pastor and see if I could take him to lunch. My treat." So my friend called the pastor and said, "Would you go out to lunch with Greg Laurie?" The guy said, "No, I don't want to go to lunch with him." Oh wow, really?

So I was speaking at an event and it turns out the pastor was speaking at the same event and he was signing his book afterward. So I thought, I'm going to get in the line with all these other people, and you know how much I like lines. And I'm going to wait to speak to this pastor. So I'm waiting and I notice that he saw me. And he was taking his sweet time, I tell you. He was chatting up people. He did not want to talk to me.

I just waited and waited and finally I got to the front and I said, "Hi, my name is Greg Laurie." He goes, "I know who you are." "Yeah, hey Pastor, could we talk for a few minutes?" "Okay, sure, come on let's go." So we go over, we sit down at a table. I said, "I was wondering if you would help support our crusade in your city."

"Let me tell you what I don't like about evangelistic events," he said. And he went over a list of things he disliked and I listened. And when he was done I said, "You know it's a funny thing, I agree with everything you said. I don't like those things either and we don't do it that way. The way we do it—" then he interrupts and he says, "You don't need to talk anymore. Okay. Yeah, we're totally in. You can count on us, we'll be involved in your crusade."

I said, "Well, thank you, what brought about the change?" He said, "The fact that you stood in that line and waited for me and then listened to me go on this rant makes me want to help you. I think you're okay." Okay, it works out, so sometimes you have to do that. But some people don't want to be reconciled with. The Bible says as much as it is possible, live at peace with all men. Aren't you glad the Bible says as much as it's possible? Sometimes it's not possible, but you need to make the effort.

Guest (Male): Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment. It's a joy to hear when these studies have truly impacted lives. Listen to these comments from one of our listeners.

Guest (Female): Pastor Greg, in 2022 I started listening to A New Beginning on a radio station here in Boston, Massachusetts. The way you relate the message of the gospel spoke to me and convicted me of my need of a savior. I gave my life to Jesus that day and you sent me a New Believer's Bible. I devoured it. I knew absolutely nothing of Jesus and his saving grace. I'm so thoroughly grateful to you for being there on that day to share the gospel. Thank you. Oh and it didn't end there. My husband and twelve-year-old son came to Jesus later that year at my church here. Thank you so much Pastor Greg.

Guest (Male): If you've had your life changed because of Harvest Ministries, would you let Pastor Greg know? Just drop him an email: Greg@harvest.org. Again, that's Greg@harvest.org. Well, glad you're along today for Pastor Greg's message from Genesis 32 called "Wrestling with God".

Greg Laurie: So here's Jacob now headed home. He sends his family ahead. Oh he's nervous. "What's Esau going to do? Is he going to kill me?" And then the Lord comes to him. The Lord engages him. And I love how he does it. And it just reminds us that God will come to us in our time of need. The Bible says he's a present help in time of trouble.

He won't give you what you need necessarily ahead of time. He'll never give you what you need after you need it, but he'll always be there at the right moment. And he adapted the way he came to Jacob. You know in our earlier series "Jesus and You" we looked at how Jesus encountered people in the New Testament.

The way Jesus dealt with Nicodemus is far different than the way he dealt with the woman at the well. The way that he dealt with the woman caught in the act of adultery is far different than the way he dealt with the rich young ruler. But Jesus would meet them where they were.

So who is Jacob? He's a conniver. He's a schemer. He's a fighter. So how did the Lord come to him? As a fighter. Almost like, "Hey, you want some of this? Let's go buddy." Like New York, "You want some of this? Come on. You want to have a little fight? Let's go." And he comes to him as a wrestler.

Proverbs 18:26 says: To the pure you show yourself pure, but to the devious you show yourself shrewd. You save the humble. So he comes to him in a way that Jacob can understand and that brings us to our text, Genesis 32. Let's read together verse 24.

Jacob was all alone in the camp. And a man came and wrestled with him until the dawn began to break. When the man saw that he would not win the match, he touched Jacob's hip and wrenched it out of its socket. Then the man said, "Let me go for the dawn is breaking." Jacob said, "I won't let you go until you bless me."

"What is your name?" the man asked. He replied, "Jacob." "Your name will no longer be Jacob," the man told him. "From now on you'll be called Israel because you have fought with God and with men and have won." "Please tell me your name," Jacob said. "Why do you want to know my name?" the man replied.

Then he blessed Jacob there and Jacob named the place Peniel, which means the face of God. For he said, "I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been spared." Why do I believe this is a Christophany? Because Jacob said, "I've seen God face to face." I don't think Jacob was wrestling with an angel, I think he was wrestling with God.

It's hard to get time away to be with God. You know God can't compete with all of your push notifications. If you want to hear from him maybe you need to silence them. Have you been alone with God lately? You know our phones are buzzing, our messages are dinging, and our Instagram reels are auto-playing.

And we wonder why we never hear from the Lord. I would recommend that you get alone with God without your electronic devices, with an actual Bible. It's not digital. It doesn't beep, it doesn't chirp. It doesn't need to be recharged. But if you read it and believe it, it will recharge you.

So take time for the word of God and turn off all that noise and listen. You know, Elijah went to a cave. And the Bible says there was a big fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. Then there was lightning striking, but the Lord was not in the lightning. And then there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake.

And then it says and after that there was a still small voice, which was the voice of God. And the Lord said, "What are you doing here?" So God does want to speak to us, but we need to listen. So here is now the scheming, conniving, plotting Jacob alone with God. And the wrestling match continued on till the break of day.

He was one stubborn guy, wasn't he? Lifeguards know a little about this. In lifeguard training, they're taught that a drowning person in panic is dangerous. More than one lifeguard has been drowned by the person they were trying to save. Many lifeguards understand they have to wait until their person they're rescuing needs to reach exhaustion so they can take them to safety.

Sometimes the Lord allows the same with us. When we just are done. We're done fighting. We're done resisting. And we just say, "God, if you don't come through for me, I'm dead in the water." The Lord says, "That sounds good to me." Because when you get to the end of yourself, you get to the beginning of God.

So as they're wrestling together, the Lord takes Jacob's hip and pulls it out, out of the socket. So now he has a limp for the rest of his life. But he's hanging on. And now finally he goes from resisting to resting. I love this. He says, "I won't let you go until you bless me."

So finally he's surrendering. Let me come back to a verse I quoted already, Hosea, commenting on this event, says: Before he was born he struggled with his brother and then he wrestled with the angel and won. Wait, I thought he lost. Oh, he did. But he won by losing. See, that's how it is when we wrestle with God. You win by losing. You win by submitting.

Jesus said if you want to save your life, lose your life. That makes no sense to me. It means you take your life. You say, "Here's what I want. Here are my plans, here are my hopes, here are my aspirations. But I place these in your hands. I place my unknown future in the hands of a known God and I've learned, Lord, to realize that your will is better than mine." So as Jesus said in the garden of Gethsemane, "Nevertheless, not my will but yours be done."

So he's hanging on for dear life. "You got to bless me." "Okay, let me ask you, what's your name?" Why did the Lord ask him that? Didn't the Lord know his name? Of course he did. "What's your name?" "Jacob. Heel catcher, conniver, schemer." "Hmm. I'm going to give you a new name." "Oh, what is it?" "Israel. Which means a prince with God, one who rules with God."

Coming back to my earlier point, God doesn't just see you for what you are, he sees you for what you can become. And God might ask you what your name is. "Failure. I've come short." God says, "Well, I have a different plan for you. I can make you into a new person."

Remember when Adam had sinned against the Lord? We read that he heard the voice of the Lord God walking through the garden in the cool of the day. So as the sun is setting, the Lord says, "Adam, where are you?" And I think this was a Christophany too, because God took some kind of a human form. You could hear him walking in the garden. "Adam, where are you?" "Well, I hid myself from you, Lord." "Oh, why are you doing that?" "Well, because I sinned. But it's not my fault, it's the fault of this woman you gave me."

"I was doing great, I fall asleep, I wake up, a rib is missing and she's here. It's the woman you gave me." Then the woman says, "It's not my fault, that serpent tricked me." But God wanted Adam to admit his situation. "Adam, where are you?" God did not ask this because he didn't know where Adam was. He asked him that because he wanted Adam to acknowledge his situation.

The Bible says if you will confess your sin, God is faithful and just to forgive you of your sin and cleanse you from all unrighteousness. Listen to this: you win by losing. And you're not losing at all, you're surrendering to God. Your future is a mystery to you, but it's history to him. God doesn't just predict the future, he authors it. And he has a plan for you that is better than your plan for yourself.

So let me ask in closing, are you fighting with God? Are you resisting God? Even worse, are you running from God? Stop. Come back to him, or come to him for the first time. There might be someone joining us here who has never had a relationship with the Lord, where Christ has come to live inside of you as your savior and Lord.

And yes, Jesus died on that cross for your sin and he paid the price for it and he rose again from the dead. And now he stands at the door of your life and he knocks. He says if you'll hear his voice and open the door, he will come in. Have you asked Christ to come into your life yet? Only you can pray that prayer.

Or maybe there's somebody here that's a prodigal son or a prodigal daughter and you're trying to get away from God when you should be running to God. He's the one who can save you. Maybe you've made a mess of your life. Maybe you're facing the consequences of your actions. Maybe things you did a long time ago are catching up with you.

Jacob is facing the consequences of things he had done twenty years earlier. But here's the good news: God will meet you where you are and he can turn your situation around, but you must come to him and ask for his help. We're going to close now with prayer. And if there's anybody here that needs Christ to come into their life or you need to come back to the Lord again, you can do it right here, right now.

Let's all pray. Father, I pray for everyone here, everyone watching, listening, wherever they are. If they don't know you yet, let this be the moment they believe. Let this be the moment they come to you and ask for your forgiveness and receive it. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

Guest (Male): An important prayer from Pastor Greg Laurie today here on A New Beginning. The Lord is just a prayer away. If you'd like to make that change right now, join Pastor Greg in prayer.

Greg Laurie: Pray these words. Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner. But I also know that you are the savior because you died on the cross for my sin and you rose again from the dead. Jesus, come into my life and forgive me of every sin I've ever committed. I choose to follow you from this moment forward. Thank you for hearing this prayer. Thank you for answering this prayer, Lord. And I pray all of this in Jesus' name, Amen.

If you just prayed that prayer and meant it, I want you to know on the authority of scripture, God Almighty has heard your prayer and he will answer this prayer. You are now a newly minted child of God. So congratulations, you've made the right decision and welcome to the family of God.

I want to send you a special gift because of that prayer you've just prayed. It's called the New Believer's Bible. So the New Believer's Bible is the New Testament in the New Living Translation with hundreds of notes that I wrote that will encourage you in this commitment you are making to follow Christ. There's some other materials included as well in what we call the New Believer's Growth Pack, but let me get this New Believer's Bible into your hands as quickly as possible. Here's Dave to tell you more.

Guest (Male): Yeah, we'll be glad to send it all your way free of any charge if you prayed along with Pastor Greg today. Just ask for the New Believer's Bible when you call 1-800-821-3300. You can reach us anytime 24/7 at 1-800-821-3300. Or write A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, California 92514. Or just go online to harvest.org and click "Know God".

Pastor Greg, we're so thankful for the work God is doing through this ministry. We're touching lives for eternity. And we're really thankful for our friends who see the fruit of this ministry and invest so this work can reach even further. Isn't that right?

Greg Laurie: Absolutely. When you invest in Harvest Ministries, you're investing in the souls of men and women, boys and girls. And what is the value of a soul? Well, let me personalize it. What's the value of your soul? What's the value of the soul of your husband, your wife, your son or your daughter, or your mom or your dad, or your best friend?

Well, I would say you probably couldn't put a price tag on it. It's so valuable. Well listen, God says all souls are mine. God loves us and sent his son to die on the cross to pay the price for all of our sin so we could be forgiven and come into a relationship with him. I can't think of a better investment of my resources, of my money, than in the work of the Kingdom of God. So we would ask you to prayerfully consider investing in Harvest Ministries as we continue on to fulfill the Great Commission.

Guest (Male): Yeah, that's right. And you can make your donation right now at harvest.org. Or write us at A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, California 92514. Or call 1-800-821-3300. That's a 24/7 phone number: 1-800-821-3300.

Well next time, practical insights from a look at the life of Gideon, the mighty warrior whose heart was full of fear. Join us here on A New Beginning with pastor and Bible teacher Greg Laurie.

This is the day, the day when life begins.