Great Commission Update - June 2025

By Pastor Drew Cunningham

In Genesis 32, there’s a well-known passage where Jacob is left all alone on the bank of the Jabbok River.  Due to his impending meeting with his brother Esau (who Jacob believes is headed to kill him), Jacob is anxious and uneasy.  Just as he’s finally dozing off, a “man” grabs him and wrestles with him until the breaking of the day.  Most Bible scholars believe this “man” to be none other than the pre-incarnate Christ.  God Himself is wrestling with Jacob! 

You may notice that neither I, nor the text, said that Jacob was wrestling with God.  That’s intentional.  Many teach this text as an example of “prevailing prayer,” where Jacob went to the other side of the river, sought out God, and wrestled Him all night until God relented.  That’s not what this text teaches, and it misses the most important part of the story! 

So, what’s really happening?  First, it’s important to know that throughout Jacob’s life (which started all the way back in Genesis 25), he’s been completely self-reliant and manipulative.  He has liked to do things his way, on his terms.  In this moment in Genesis 32, God is wrestling this out of Jacob.  But as we can see, Jacob is pretty strong-willed!  God doesn’t prevail through wrestling.  But God is a gracious God.  He doesn’t give up and leave Jacob in his sin and in his independence.  God loves Jacob too much to do that!  Don’t forget that God is all powerful.  He can’t be defeated in a wrestling match by a mere human!  He proves this through simply touching Jacob’s hip socket and putting it out of joint.  Jacob’s strength and self-sufficiency was gone in an instant. He would walk with a limp for the rest of his life, and this is the main point of the entire story.

God works best in our weakness.  Paul reminds us in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

For the first time in Jacob’s life, he’s weak enough to cling to God and that’s exactly what he does.  He now, in his weakness, clings to God and won’t let go until God blesses him.  What does God ask him?  He asks him for his name.  Why does God do this?  Because Jacob’s name means “deceiver” or “supplanter.”  God is calling forth a confession from His child.  He wants Jacob to admit who he is.  Then God gives him a new name, Israel, which means “God fights.”  God has given Jacob a new identity.

Has God ever wrestled with you until all of your energy was sapped out of you?  Has He ever dislocated the hip socket of your plans?  If so, He’s doing it because He loves you too much to let you function in your own strength apart from Him.  He knows that the best way to live here on earth is for you to lean into His strength and not your own.  He knows that we’re most satisfied when we depend on Him.  He knows that His power is made perfect in our weakness.

“Did we in our own strength confide,

our striving would be losing.

Were not the right man on our side

The Man of God’s own choosing...”

Give up on your own strength today.  Confess anywhere you’ve been a “deceiver” or a “supplanter.”  Rest in the new identity that God has given you as His child.