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Posted
on Wednesday, December 30, 2009
by
Allison J
New- not Renewed
Jacob’s
experience in Peniel was a remarkable one—he saw God face to face and wasn’t the
same again. Genesis 32 tells us that there he wrestled with the Lord and cried
out, “…I will not let you go unless you bless me.” I love how God asks Jacob
his name—as if he didn’t already know it—but I think He asks for a very specific
reason. Before Jacob sees God at Peniel, he’s camping out before his meeting
with his brother Esau the next day—the brother whose blessing he had usurped.
He had come to ask for forgiveness
and didn’t quite know how he was going to be received.
Through various situations in Jacob’s past his
identity had become synonymous with being a deceiver. And so, “The man asked
him, "What is your name?" "Jacob," he answered. Then the man said, "Your name
will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and
with men and have overcome"” (Genesis 32:26-28). God wanted Jacob to recognize
His old nature and die to it before receiving a new nature. He was no longer
Jacob the deceiver, but Israel, the Prince.
God isn’t in the business of renewing us—He’s
in the business of making us new. In this world, we are surrounded by a sea of
normal people with ordinary visions. Visions of bettering themselves, just as
Jacob had. He figured he would get the firstborn’s blessing, find a wife for
himself, and live a nice life. When Jacob was at Bethel, on his way to his
uncle Laban’s house, “… Jacob made a vow, saying, "If God will be with me and
will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and
clothes to wear so that I return safely to my father's house, THEN the Lord will
be my God and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God's house, and
of all that you give me I will give you a tenth"” (Genesis 28:20-22).
Interesting to see that the man who once set up parameters for believing in God
later came to realize not that he might need God, but that he couldn’t live
without Him. God wasn’t content with Jacob’s “this is my plan” sort of life.
Even many in the church today pray with an undertone
of, “Lord, bless my plans.” You don’t need God to live an ordinary life—and the
Christ I know conquered Calvary to bring us an extraordinary one. I need Him
for that type of life—a life that isn’t seeking to be bettered or renewed, but
one that is made new. When Christ resurrected, the veil was torn from the top
to the bottom, meaning that heaven was opened up to us and made accessible! I’m
not waiting to go to heaven to live an extraordinary life! My Bible tells me
that Christ did not live for our sins,
He died for them. Romans 6 tells us that “we have been planted together in the
likeness of his death…that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of
sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin” and that
“knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no
more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that
he liveth, he liveth unto God” (v.5-10). Our old nature was crucified on the
cross, just as Jacob had to acknowledge his old nature before he received a new
identity and name. We do not serve sin anymore! Death no longer has dominion
over us! We live unto God and are “alive unto God through Jesus Christ our
Lord” (v.11).
After Christ died for our sins He rose from the
dead and His resurrected life was imputed to us: “…as Christ was raised up
from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness
of life” (Romans 6:4). Now, when we stand before God the Father, we are found
to be new creatures because we were given a newness of life in Christ. And yes,
in this present world we will have trouble, but you and I know a God that has
overcome the world—and our faith in an Almighty God is the victory that has
overcome the world (John 16:33 and 1 John 5:4). New—not renewed. Our names
have been changed from “Jacob” to “Israel”, let’s live like it.
A.
Gents AND Ladies, your patience has been rewarded. Before I go
further, a shout out to Charles Thomas, Calvin Thomas, Crystal George & Joshua Kurikeshu, all part of our IPF Media crew, for helping bring this footage to
you. Without them, you don't get to enjoy these clips. Much Love.
Post some feedback!
I know what your next question is: "WHEN ARE THE NEXT CLIPS COMING
OUT!!" Well I don't have an answer for you, but what I can say is, keep
checking in. We'll get them all out prior to the 2010 BSC!! ;) Welcome Home.
They say that patience is a virtue lacking to many, well the patience of all the
loyal fans out there will been rewarded on Monday!
We finally solved the conversion issue that was hindering the process, so
we're officially good to go!
This year, there are
3 major differences
from all previous years of BSC coverage:
1. All 26 games: Will be posted. An IPF First.
2. Full Games posted: For the first time, not just the
highlights, but the entire games will be posted. This should give teams/fans a
complete feel as to the ebb and flow of games. Now the caveat to this is,
expect the file sizes to be 650 MB +.
3. IPF Digital: Half of this year's footage will have
a lot better clarity than in years past.
If someone were to ask you to
explain Christianity and your own personal faith, would you know what to
say? Would you be able to defend your beliefs in rational, intelligent
manner?
These are questions that are
important to ask yourself because sooner or later, you will run into
opportunities to explain what you believe and you will need to know why you
believe the way you do. Several years ago on the IPF message board, someone
began a thread to ask me why I believed there was even a God or something to
that effect. I remember being
taken completely aback by the question because
frankly, I had never had to defend the existence of God to anyone. Needless to
say, I had no clue on how to answer or even where to begin looking for help in
answering.
I remember quoting the Bible
(from which verse I don’t remember) in a sincere yet weak attempt to answer that
question. I also recall my explanation being ridiculed because I had used the
Bible to prove there was a God who was the supposed author of the Book itself.
That situation as well as
several others around that time really shook me up and made me realize there was
a lot I did not know. This was the best thing that could have ever happened.
What I want you to know is that
even if you feel without assurance to share your faith because you are confused
about so much of it yourself, it is completely possible to get out of that rut
and turn your confusion into confidence knowing that you are well equipped and
“a worker that does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of
truth” as Paul tells Timothy in 2 Tim 2:15.
What is the first step in knowing?
First of all read the Bible.
Learn what it claims about creation, sin, salvation, judgment, etc. This way you
at least can dispel myths about the Christian faith to others who don’t know
much about it. As a side note it will also help you understand that the notions
that all religions are true cannot be since they contradict each other on these
important points.
Space is running out, but I
quickly want to share another helpful pointer. That is to read books written by
Christian apologists. A Christian apologist is someone who devotes him/herself
to the rational defense of Christianity through the use of facts and reason.
Some well known apologists are Ravi Zacharias, Norman Geisler, Frank Turek, and
John Ankerberg to name a few. One book that I highly recommend for the brave
enough (kind of long) is I Don’t Have Enough Faith To Be an Atheist
co-authored by Norman Geisler and Frank Turek.
While you may not be able to
pick it up and read it, I will be sharing what I’ve learned from that book here
on IPF next time. Until then, God bless and have a wonderful
holiday season and a very merry Christmas!
