Readings & Notes from 2nd August 2020
Galatians 5:13-26
[13] You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to
indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. [14] For the entire law is fulfilled
in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbour as yourself.” [15] If you bite and devour
each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
[16] So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. [17] For the
flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They
are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. [18] But if you
are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
[19] The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; [20]
idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions,
factions [21] and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that
those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
[22] But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, [23] gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. [24] Those
who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. [25] Since
we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. [26] Let us not become conceited,
provoking and envying each other.
2 Peter 1:1-15
[2Pe 1:1] Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ,
To those who through the righteousness of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ have received a
faith as precious as ours:
[2] Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our
Lord.
[3] His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge
of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. [4] Through these he has given us his
very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine
nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
[5] For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness,
knowledge; [6] and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to
perseverance, godliness; [7] and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection,
love. [8] For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from
being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. [9] But
whoever does not have them is near-sighted and blind, forgetting that they have been
cleansed from their past sins.
[10] Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and
election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, [11] and you will receive a rich
welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
[12] So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly
established in the truth you now have. [13] I think it is right to refresh your memory as long
as I live in the tent of this body, [14] because I know that I will soon put it aside, as our Lord
Jesus Christ has made clear to me. [15] And I will make every effort to see that after my
departure you will always be able to remember these things.
Genesis 32:22-32
[22] That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two female servants and his eleven
sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. [23] After he had sent them across the stream, he
sent over all his possessions. [24] So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till
daybreak. [25] When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket
of Jacob's hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. [26] Then the man
said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.”
But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”
[27] The man asked him, “What is your name?”
“Jacob,” he answered.
[28] Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have
struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.”
[29] Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.”
But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?” Then he blessed him there.
[30] So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “It is because I saw God face to face, and yet
my life was spared.”
[31] The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel, and he was limping because of his hip. [32]
Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the tendon attached to the socket of the hip,
because the socket of Jacob's hip was touched near the tendon.
Talk
Wrestling in the Arena of Life
- Genesis 32:22-31
Introduction
Jacob's night of wrestling may not be the easiest concept especially when we consider that
the one he is wrestling with (who?) can't overpower him! If you follow the Scripture Union readings then,
as you know, we read this last Wednesday and might have a few ideas.
The first thing I want to do is put some verses from Romans into our thoughts which we
have seen before and not least last Sunday,
Romans 8:26-39, and the opening bit today
[26] In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought
to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. [27] And he
who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for
God's people in accordance with the will of God.
Paul wrote this 2000 years after Jacob but it is close to what was happening and may help us
understand it better.
1. Running
Jacob is Abraham's grandson and twin of Esau who was the elder twin.
In the schemes of
family life, Esau sold his birth right and lost his blessing because mother Rebecka helped
Jacob deceive his father Isaac. He then fled to his relative's home on the advice of mother to
find a wife - he got two, he was conned by Uncle Laban and the process two mistresses.
Through the four women he now has 11 sons and one daughter! He has yet to have his 12th
son, Joseph who will help land the whole family in Egypt for 400 or so years.
At this point Jacob is fleeing from Laban because life has gone a little sour with ongoing
changes to working conditions and complaints about Jacob and his rearing techniques!
He went, Laban caught up, not happy, and they parted amicably because of plain talk and an
agreement. Where was he heading, back to his home country and is about to meet and have
to face Esau who when he left, some twenty years earlier, was breathing death threats.
As he fled from home to Laban, he had his first encounter with God (Genesis 28:10ff) who
reaffirmed the covenant he made with Abraham and had ratified it with Isaac and Jacobs
response was positive.
Just before our passage (32:1) he encounters angels and then sends the family ahead with
all his flocks and a host of gifts for Esau - placation offerings?
2. Wrestling
So, what is he wrestling with? I think we can see - the complexities of life and the promises
of God. Do they clash? Maybe, but perhaps better to say they intertwine.
It becomes clear
that he is wrestling with God, he gets a blessing from him, but he is also wrestling with
himself and his life - past and, about to come!
The question is, 'why can't God overpower him?' He is all powerful. Perhaps he didn't want
to! I found this part of Wednesday's notes helpful:
It is interesting that the name ‘Israel’, which God gave to Jacob and then became the
name of the nation, means ‘he struggles with God’. Does this indicate that God approves
of us wrestling and struggling with him? Physically, the more a muscle is exercised, the
stronger it becomes. Is this passage a challenge to exercise our spiritual muscles by
wrestling with God?
Our trust in God is often a tension between what we know about God, and the questions
and unresolved issues which we are struggling to understand. This can be painful, as Jacob
discovered – but perhaps this story gives us hope. (Esther Bailey writing for SU)
The other writer, Andy Bathgate said this, again, helpful
Our experiences may not approach this level of drama, but similar principles apply. God
needs to bring us to a place where desire for him eclipses every other; where we long for
his work in our lives, knowing there is no one else and nowhere else to turn.
I think, again, all this resonates with Romans 8:26-27, and, going back again to the Lord's
prayer - Your will be done . . .
I also note - What God doesn't do is force Himself or His will on us.
Jacob encountered God, was blessed by him and started changing and as the account
continues, we start to see a different man but he is not perfect and shows his old ways a bit
as well.
I think many of us may be thinking, as we consider Jacob, I can relate to this. We may be
running, looking, frightened (he was of his brother Esau), saddened by aspects of life etc.
God was at work, and we start to see that, oh, and he still is with you and me and we have
other material we can take heart from and be challenged by.
3. Realising -
Galatians 5:13-26
We turn to Paul who, in writing about living life in the Spirt - a holy life, mentions a whole
load of thigs that belong to the 'desires of the flesh' that we leave behind to walk in the
Spirit
[22] But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, [23] gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. [24]
Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
[25] Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. [26] Let us not become
conceited, provoking and envying each other.
First, note - fruit not fruits! There is only one fruit of the Spirit which is . . . . And in context',
saying we have crucified the flesh and keep in step with the Spirit which means a life that
looks like Jesus and is kingdom living.
When I look into of myself, I see a lot I really don't like! This is not self-deprecation but
realising reality! Being a minister doesn't make it easier, maybe, harder! So, I find a constant
wrestle in prayer because I want to keep in step with the Spirit! You may feel similar to that.
Paul gives us a light though:
Romans 7:15-21
[15] I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.
[16] And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. [17] As it is, it is no
longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. [18] For I know that good itself does not
dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I
cannot carry it out. [19] For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to
do—this I keep on doing. [20] Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do
it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
[21] So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me.
Hence, in Romans 8 and here in Galatians 5 Paul is saying we should not walk in the way of
our desires but of those of the Spirit - wrestling and seeking and praying deep within, in the
power of the Spirit.
A lifelong job!
4. Reaffirming - 2 Peter 1:15
I think Peter is saying 'keep at it, keep going, keep wrestling' - bit the same as Paul!
Let’s reaffirm two things.
1. It is a gift from God to walk in his ways because we have responded to his call - Jacob
was doing that!
[3] His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our
knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. [4] Through these he has
given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate
in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
The emphasis is on what we have from God to enable us. It is what Paul says but from a
different perspective.
2. Because is a gift of God, that is why we keep at it
[5] For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness,
knowledge; [6] and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to
perseverance, godliness; [7] and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection,
love.
3. This constant reaffirmation of the outworking of our call and commitment produces
fruit
[8] For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being
ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. [9] But whoever
does not have them is near-sighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed
from their past sins.
This is not being 'holier than thou' / pious / self-righteous or the like but holy to share the
nature of God.
Conclusion
I am going to finish by quoting just one verse from Jesus, John 15:5
[5] “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear
much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
Biblically, the vine is the people of God who flow from the promise to Abram, Isaac and
Jacob - a people that can't be counted.
The children of Israel who went into Egypt were 12.
Thousands came out 400 + years later and three and a half thousand years or so later,
flowing through and from the cross, millions who confess Jesus is Lord and Saviour.
A
massive vine trailing, right round the world.
It, the vine, the people of God, the Church, struggles with all sort of problems: divisions /
hardships / persecution / arguing and so many more things. Oh, and if you look at Jacob's
children before and as they end up in Egypt, what do you see?
Similar things. They wrestled
with all sorts. We wrestle with all sorts but need to keep deeply into Jesus and bear fruit,
fruit that endures allowing him to prune the dead and unproductive bit o more fruit is born
in us - individually and corporately; locally and worldwide.
