coming here have served in three churches, PCA churches, first in a church near Washington DC, second church was in Illinois, the third church was in Georgia, and now here. Let me tell you something, this one church is the one church that I see how God has blessed with music. And God has blessed this church with great artists, great musicians. So I praise God for that, for the beautiful music that we hear every Sunday. So thank you. Please open your Bibles to Genesis chapter 32. Verses 22 to 32. Genesis 32, verses 22 through 32. What do we have here? We have a very, I don't want to say traditional, but it's a very common story in the Bible. It's about Jacob wrestling with God. Have you ever wondered why in the world did God wrestle with Jacob? Was that another way to have communion with him? You know, prior to this episode of Jacob and God wrestling, you have a man who constantly is blaming people for his reality. You see, Jacob Prior to wrestling with God, he wrestled with who? With his brother, Esau. What happened? So if you're not familiar with, I'll give you a brief summary. So you have Jacob, who happens to be the grandson of Abraham and the son of Isaac. So we have a man who grew up in a religious home. He knew about God. But the question is, did he really know him personally? Do you have people growing up in the church? You have many people that grew up in this church, which that doesn't mean that they are believers. I don't want to scare you about that. We know that we can come to church every Sunday. We can even grow up in a Christian home. I can even be the son of a pastor, of a minister. But that does not make me a Christian. Jacob also grew up in this environment of listening to God's Word. I mean, for crying out loud, he was the grandson of Abraham and the son of Isaac. Oh yeah, Jacob has to be one of us. No, he wasn't. So he's the kind of person who constantly blames others for his reality. He stole the blessing from his brother. Let's flip the pages really fast to Genesis 27. So we have an idea of the severity of this episode. It's very severe when you steal something. You're getting into some serious trouble. But here, Jacob is not really stealing money. He's not really stealing, you know, a house, but he's stealing even something more precious to his brother, which was the blessing of his father. So, James 27, verses 36 through 41 says, Isa said, Is he not rightly named Jacob? For he has cheated me these two times. By the way, the name Jacob means deceiver, liar, okay? He took away my birthright, and behold, now he has taken away my blessing. He's a thief. Then he said, have you not reserved a blessing for me? Isaac answered and said to Esau, behold, I have made him Lord over you, and all his brothers I have given to him for servants, and with grain and wine I have sustained him. What then can I do for you, my son? Esau said to his father, have you but one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, O my father." And Esau lifted up his voice and wept. Then Isaac, his father, answered and said to him, Behold, away from the fatness of the earth shall you dwell in be, and away from the dew of heaven on high. By your sword you shall live, and you shall serve your brother. But when you grow restless, you shall break his yoke from your neck. Now Isa hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him. And Isa said to himself, the days of mourning for my father are approaching. Then I will kill my brother, Jacob. This story reminds me of the Godfather movies when Michael Corleone, the new godfather, after being betrayed by his own brother, Fredo, he says, I'm going to avenge this. this betrayal. I'm going to kill Pharoah, but I'm going to wait until my mother dies so she doesn't suffer the loss of her son. So this is very similar to what's happening here. Isa is not going to forgive Jacob. He's going to kill him. So now what do we have here? Now we have Genesis 32. So you have this little context previous to the story which we're going to read now. So let's read now Genesis 32, verses 22 to 32. The same night he arose and took his two wives, Jacob, his two female servants, and his 11 children, and crossed the He took them and sent them across the stream and everything else that he had. And Jacob was left alone and a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. Man, that was exhausting. When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his hip socket and Jacob's hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. Then he said, let me go, for the day has broken. The day has broken. But Jacob said, I will not let you go unless you bless me. He's not just happy with stealing his brother's blessing, but now he wants this man's blessing, this mysterious man. And he said to him, what is your name? And he said, Jacob. Then he said, your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel. For you have not striven with God and with men, but you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed. Then Jacob asked him, please tell me your name. But he said, why is it that you ask my name? And there he blessed him. So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, for I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered. The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip. Therefore, to this day, the people of Israel do not eat the sinew of the tithe that is on the hip socket, because he touched the socket of Jacob's hip on the sinew of the tithe. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for your word. Please give me your words to preach to my brothers, Father, and my sisters. And for all the people here listening to this sermon, Father, we pray that you will bring blessing through your word. I pray this in Jesus' name, amen. So why is Jacob doing all these things? He stole his brother's blessing. And if you read after chapter 27, you keep reading, you'll see that he will see now Laban, his father-in-law, and there's a wrestling match too, not physically, but there's conflict. So there is a huge family conflict. You guys don't have family conflicts, right? Only Jacob. I've seen in ministry, I have seen families breaking apart. But at the same time I've seen families coming together, forgiving one another, and staying together. I've seen marriages flourishing when there is true reconciliation. When there is true reconciliation, marriage is breaking apart in ministry. And they come to church every Sunday. So coming to church, like I said earlier, does not make you a better person. Jacob grew up in a religious home, but he was lost. He was alone, now in this episode, in chapter 32, he's alone and afraid. Why? Because Isa, his brother, wants to kill him. All these years, he's been running away for 20 years. All these years, he's been running away from Isa, but also gaining possessions. Now he's a wealthy man. and he hears that Isa is pursuing him to kill him. So he has this idea, I'm going to, with all my wives and my servants and all my possessions, I'm going to split my group into two camps so we can, if Isa comes and approaches me, at least one other group will be safe. So that was his strategy. We're gonna divide my family into two, and I'm gonna make them cross the river Jabbok, as we see in the story. And so he stays. He wants to make sure that everybody's safe, okay? And now he stays alone and afraid. Those two feelings of loneliness and fear. Have you ever felt that? His whole identity has been built on lying. I mean, his very name means deceiver. Oh, there comes the liar. There come the thieves because he stole. He stole from his brother. Can you imagine that, that all the things that you have was because of a lie? Because he cheated? How do you live with that? And it's hard. Many times we have taken advantage of others, and we have not really confessed that before the Lord. So I want you to think about these things. There are so many things that we have taken advantage of that when you really think about, this wasn't right. According to chapter 32, if you even read from the very beginning of chapter 32, you see that now Jacob is more sensitive to God. Read chapter 32 verse 9. Prior to the story, he says, and Jacob said, he's praying now, O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O Lord, who said to me, return to your country and to your kindred, that I may do you good. I am not worthy of the least of all the deeds of steadfast love, of all the faithfulness that you have shown to your servant. For with only my staff I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two camps." So now he's asking God. You see, he's more sensitive to God now. God is working in his heart now. fact that he's praying to God. He's understanding something. That I cannot keep this life going. I cannot keep this identity of being a deceiver keep going. This has to stop. And so in light of this story, I want to give you four principles that I want you to take away with you this morning. And these are written in the bulletin, basically the outline of this sermon. I want you to take these four principles with you. In light of this story, to the wrestling match, you have Jacob who is messed up. He has money, he has possessions, but he's struggling with his identity. Man, I'm a deceiver. I'm a thief. And now he becomes sensitive to the Lord as he prays to the Lord. And the question is, how does the Lord answer this prayer? The Lord answered his prayer with a wrestling match. That's funny. God is funny many times. He really have a sense of humor. Remember the burning bush and the talking donkey? He's a funny God. I mean, he is. He has a good sense of humor. He even chose Moses who couldn't even talk. to be one of Israel's national leaders. So now you have the Lord answering this prayer request. And the Lord answers with a wrestling match. And so we go to the first point of this sermon. The real transformation is painful. Can you imagine to wrestle with somebody for a whole night? I remember wrestling just for fun when I was in high school, and man, there were some guys stronger than me, and they, you know, some of them beat me up. And we only wrestled for, what, 15 minutes most? And I was already exhausted. Can you imagine to wrestle for the whole night? So God answered Jacob with a wrestling match. And in this wrestling match, He does something. touches his hip and dislocates it. So, this transformation, there is three things that happen in the transformation of Jacob. There is a transformation of his posture, because after he dislocates his hip, he has to walk with a limp for the rest of his life. So, the transformation was a transformation of his posture. which has a great significance for us. What is your posture before God? What was your posture before God, before you became a Christian? You see, in order for you to become a Christian, God had to transform you. God had to take away something from you. He had to arrange your posture. He had to fix your posture before him. So there is the change of posture, there is the change of name. Jacob's name means deceiver, but now God changed his name to what? Israel. And what does Israel mean? In the Hebrew, the word Israel means the one who fights with God. Jisra, that's the Hebrew word, the one who fights with God. In this encounter, this transformation, God touches his hip, so he changed his posture, changed his name, but also changes his life. No more Jacob is pursuing his own gain. Have you ever wondered, asked yourself that question, how can I make more money? I mean, it's not really a bad question. I mean, you want to, you know, work hard, save. I mean, saving is biblical. Joseph had to save when the country in Egypt was doing great. But again, the Lord warns us, tells us, do not put your heart on money. Do not put your heart on savings. but put your heart on me. So this transformation is painful, okay? Because now Jacob is letting out of his pride, okay? So you have now to depend on me, God says. Now you have to walk with a limp for the rest of your life as a reminder that you have wrestled with me. When Jesus talks to the people when he was on this earth, You see the rich man in Matthew 19 verse 20 and 22. Let's read briefly Matthew 19 verse 20 and 22. Matthew 19 verses 20 and 22. It says, The young man said to him, all this I have kept. He has kept the law and all the rules. What do I still lack? So he's wondering, okay, Jesus, I have done all these things. What do I still lack? What do I need to do? What else? Do I have to wrestle with you? No, he didn't ask that. He said, Jesus said to him, if you would be perfect, go sell what you possess and give it to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven and come Follow me. When the young man heard this, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions." You see, transformation is painful. Jesus said, if the time comes, if I ask you to give everything away to the poor, you have to do it. If the time comes, We have, if I have to give away my vehicle, my car, I have to do it for the sake of the gospel. So Jacob is, he said, I don't even care about anymore my possessions. Now I care about God. As that brings us to my second point, which is real communion is humbling. Real communion is humbling. He did not have communion with God. He grew up in a religious environment. He knew about the law. He knew about everything about God, but there was no communion with him. There was not a personal encounter with him. How was your encounter with Jesus for the first time? Some of us have very spectacular stories when the Lord rescued you from your sins. But some of us, wasn't really a spectacular, a fancy story, but it was a gradual transformation that was happening over the days and the years. That sometimes we don't even know how that happened. But the Lord has transformed you, the Lord has changed you, but that was also painful in many ways in your life. Because that means that you have to give up many things that you used to love. And now God, in an act of grace, he says, I'm going to answer your prayer, Jacob. I'm going to wrestle with you. And in this wrestling match that lasted during the whole night, God not just transformed him, his posture, his life, and his name, But now there was communion with him. There was exchange of, there was a conversation. He even asked him about his name. You know that the Lord knows you by your name? I talk about identity early in the sermon. How do your friends in high school knew you for? Or if you served in the military, how did they call you then? Were you the same person that you are now? Oh, yeah, I remember him. He was always talking, you know, dirty and he was always looking down at people, but now he's a different man. He really was a man who was lustful. He lust, he always look at woman in a very derogatory way. in a very sexual way, but now he doesn't do that anymore. What happened to him? He doesn't even, he doesn't post things on Facebook that are hateful anymore. Ten years ago he did, but now he doesn't. Why? The Lord now has communion with Jacob. In spite of his past of lying and stealing, now there's communion with him. Do you have communion with God? Communion with God doesn't mean just you know, devotional time. But communion is 24-7, though you're constantly talking with Him, though you're constantly wrestling with Him. What does that mean, wrestling? How do I wrestle with God? And obviously, we're not going to have an angel coming after the service and going to wrestle you in the parking lot. Somebody else might want to wrestle you in the parking lot. I don't know, but I remember when I used to serve in this church in Illinois, there was this, you know, we had these like fall festivals, and there were competitions between the elders and the deacons. You know, that rope that you pull, and there's like water in the middle, so you better pull so, because if you lose, I mean, you, you know, fall on top of one another in the water. So we have all these competitions, elders versus deacons, and it was fun, you know. At that time, it wasn't ordained yet, so it was just fun to just watch, you know. I wasn't an elder, just watching and seeing these people, you know, getting wet, you know, yelling at one, you know, at each other. I mean, we're not talking about that kind of wrestling now. We're talking about the spiritual wrestling. God wants you to wrestle with Him. Are you wrestling with God? God is probably bringing you many difficulties into your life. He's allowing these difficulties into your life now to shape you, to sanctify you. In this community that you have with God, God wants you to wrestle with Him. What did Jacob did? I'm not going to let you go, God. I'm not going to let you go. Because now, my very goal in this life is to embrace you, hold on to you. I don't wanna let you go, God, anymore. I'm tired of being a thief. I'm tired of being a deceiver. I'm tired of being a liar. I'm tired of pursuing riches and money and possessions. I want to be with you, and I don't wanna let you go. Are you struggling today? Is there anything in your life that is bothering you? Wrestle with God. Pray to God. and wrestle with him. God, I'm not gonna let you go. You are my God. And we have the ultimate example in Jesus. When Jesus wrestles with God the Father in the garden of Gethsemane for his crucifixion, he said to God, God, Father, if you would please take away this bitter cup. But then he teaches us farther. He goes and says, but do your will. That is the right approach to wrestle with God. Yes, you hold on to God. Cry out to God. God, I cry out for my daughter because she's lost. God, I cry out for my son because he's lost. And I'm not going to let you go, Father, until you bless me. I'm going to pray for them until I die, until I depart from this world, but I'm going to wrestle with you until the end, Father. And Father, you will, because you're a good God. You see, Jacob transformed, now he has communion with God. And the question that I asked at the very beginning is, who won this match? You know, whenever you hear about competition, you always want to know at the end, oh, okay, how did your son did, blah, blah, blah. Good, but who won? I was asked that question so many times. So Pablo, did you win? Because according to the world standards, And this is how Christianity goes against the culture. This is how Christianity goes against the world, is according to the world standards, they always have to be a winner. We don't want weak people in this place. We don't want weak people in our jobs. We want people who work hard and do their best. We don't want to see any, we don't want to show any sign of weaknesses. Men don't cry. Yes, men cry. Jesus cried. He's the best man ever. And he cried, he wept. Not just in John 11 when he saw Jerusalem lost in their sins. He wept for his people. And that brings me to my third point, which is real love is costly. You see, in this wrestling match, I mean, God could have just destroyed Jacob. Have you ever wondered that? Man, Jacob must be a very strong man to wrestle with God during the whole night. But again, this was an act of grace from God. It's like my son Andy, sometimes he wants to wrestle with me. I mean, I could destroy him if I take this seriously. He's only seven years old. But because I love him, I let him beat me. Have you done that for anybody that you love? I'm going to let you win this. I remember playing cards at Eddie's home two weeks ago, and it was me and Eddie at the end of the match. So I said, I'm just going to let Eddie win this time. No, he beat me. He beat me. But here's the thing, brothers and sisters, because God loves you so much, he sent his son, Jesus Christ, to be weak. the world run over him. He let Jesus loose, loose according to the world's standards. Real love is costly. That costed Jesus reputation because he was a big man hanging on a cross. But he did that because he loves us. Real love is costly, brothers and sisters. By losing, God won and transformed Jacob. Jacob, I'm gonna let you win this time. Because I love you. You see, Jacob won the match. Apparently, right? But at the end of the day, God was the winner because God transformed Jacob. He changed his name to Israel. And so he can be a vehicle of salvation to the rest of the world. He was fulfilling his promise to his grandfather Abraham. You see, God is not a liar. God works through weakness. God uses weaknesses to demonstrate his power. It's okay to lose for the sake of the gospel, amen? If there is an altercation in this church about a particular topic, could be about mask wearing, no mask wearing, whatever it is, could be sports, politics, you know, there are so much things to talk about and to be frustrated about. But for the sake of the gospel, I'm going to humble myself, I'm gonna let you win for the sake of Christ. I'm not going to talk back. I'm not going to act in vengeance. I'm gonna win for the sake of the gospel, for the sake of Jesus, for the sake of unity in the body of Christ. That doesn't mean that we don't have something to say. But ultimately, when there is conflict, For the sake of the gospel, I'm gonna lower my weapons, and I'm going to love you, and to listen to you, and to exhort you, to encourage you, to pray for you. Yes, according to the world, that's a sign of weakness. No, according to God's standards, that's a sign of wisdom. real love because real love is costly and God is letting Jacob win because he loves him because he loved his grandfather Abraham because he loved his grandfather Isaac because he loves you Jesus became weak for us on the cross Buddhists say you can overcome your weaknesses. You have to overcome your weaknesses. That's what Buddha teaches. The prosperity gospel says if you follow these five steps, you can overcome your weaknesses. You can breathe stronger than ever in your faith. No, that's not the gospel. The gospel says to be great, you have to be the lowest. Be a servant. And Jesus was a servant for us, serving us on the cross. And that brings me to my last point, is real confidence is liberating. Real confidence is liberating. Man, to trust is hard. See, Jacob, Now he's searching for God. He found God. God fixed his posture, changed his name, changed his life, and now Jacob doesn't want to let him go in an act of confidence. Do you trust God? Yes. I mean, do you really trust God? That is the question. Many of us are discouraged because of the elections. Just be honest. But the question still remains, do we really trust God? Or are we still afraid? Jacob was afraid and lonely. We have a pandemic going on out there, people are rioting. And, you know, I'm depressed because of the election. And, I mean, my world is upside down. And I don't know if I'm going to have a job this year because all the businesses are closing. I mean, it's scary. Who's going to run the country next year for the next four years? And there's like questions just floating in the air. Am I going to solve my health problems this year? Am I going to reconcile with my son or daughter? Is my marriage going to improve? Do we really trust God? Now, Jacob. After this wrestling match, I mean, he has have to follow the Lord. And following the Lord means risk something. We're going to risk many things. It could to the point of missing our life, of losing our lives. Even after Jacob. But at this point, Jacob says, God, I'm gonna give you all my fear and anxiety and pain for you. That's why I'm holding on to you. And that's what God wants you to do, to fully trust Him, to wrestle with Him when you pray in the mornings. But we wrestle with God with the right attitude. As Jesus taught us, Father, do your will. At the end of the day, do your will. I have great plans for this country, but at the end of the day, Lord, do your will. Do as you please because I trust you. And trusting God is liberating because that means, Lord, you are in control. I am not in control. Jacob went to be in control of his family. That's why he stole that blessing from his brother. He went to accumulate possessions. So he can have, you know, that confidence of something happens to me, I still have this. on my savings account. Many times we want God's solutions, but we don't trust Him. We don't trust the outcome of the solutions. Many times we ask God for solutions, but many times we don't trust the outcome of the solutions. You see, Jacob prayed, and God answered his prayer with a resolution. The Lord might surprise you, bring your petitions before the Lord. He might answer your prayer in a mysterious way, or in a very strange way. You see, the people of God, through the Old Testament, by the way, the whole Bible prepares us to meet Jesus. The whole Old Testament was preparing us to meet Jesus. And so the people of God have expectations about the Messiah. When they saw the Messiah, and they saw him and said, really? Is this the Messiah? Is this Jesus, the son of Joseph, a carpenter? Really, God? Yes, really. That's our King, the Lord of Lords, a servant who was not afraid of wrestling with God on our behalf, on the cross. That's why we cry out to King Jesus, our big brother, That's why we trust Him, so we can be liberated from all this anxiety, this fear. I have homework for you before I close this sermon. This is the homework for you for this week. I want you to wrestle with God when you are alone in your house or in your car, whatever, when you pray to God. I want you to wrestle with Him. Father, I really need this. Bring to the Lord your petitions. But before, even before you do that, you confess to the Lord who you truly are. I'm not saying you're not doing that. Please don't misunderstand me. I'm saying Let's be even a little bit more proactive now. Father, I'm a deceiver. I'm a liar. I'm selfish. That's who I am, Lord, and you know me. Change me. Change me, Father. This is my sin. This is who I am. Change me. Wrestle with God this week about this particular sin in your life. I have to do the same. Take away anger from me. Take away deceitful words from my mouth. Take away any grudges I have against people. Take them away, Father. I want to wrestle with you. Rescue me from this. Change me. Form my posture. How I look at my neighbors. How I look at my enemies. Change my posture. Change my name. Change my life. And do your will. Most important thing. Father, do your will for this country. Do your will for this church. Do your will for my family. But I'm going to wrestle with you guys. In the name of Jesus, I'm going to wrestle with you. Let us pray. Our gracious heavenly Father, we thank you, Lord, for another day, for being able to come to your house to pray and to listen to your word. Thank you, Father, for this beautiful church. Thank you for the things that you're doing in our midst. And again, thank you for your word. Help us to wrestle with you, Lord. To trust you. To be transformed. And to be free from our anxieties and pains and longings. And to fully embrace you, Lord. To surrender to you. Work through our weaknesses, Father. Because you are an expert in working through our weaknesses. You work through our weaknesses, Father. Thank you. Do that, Lord. And I pray this in Jesus' name, amen.