Victorious Over Self

Genesis 32:24-32

If we will look in the mirror, we will be able to see our greatest problem.
It is not our circumstances, our disabilities or our enemies.
Our greatest problem lies within us.
The victory over self is the most important victory of our life.

Self must be crucified!
We must be constantly emptied of self, and filled with Christ.
It is as Paul said, "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live;
yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh
I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me."
(Galatians 2:20)
That is the secret of being victorious over self.
It is Christ instead of our self.
It is a new self instead of an old self.

We see this victory over self in the life of Jacob.
Jacob was born a twin.
Early in life, Jacob took advantage of his brother Esau by purchasing Esau's birthright.
Jacob took advantage of his brother's misfortune, but because of the deficiency
in Esau's character and his materialistic principles, Esau sold his birthright.

Esau was the elder twin, and at their birth a prophecy was made concerning them.
"And the Lord said unto her (Rebekah), two nations are in thy womb,
and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels;
and the one people shall be stronger than the other people,
and the elder shall serve the younger." (Genesis 25:23) and
This gave Jacob ascendancy over Esau.
That which was given by divine right did not need to be achieved by human scheming.

Perhaps, some of us see ourselves in Jacob.
The Christian is a child of God.
As such a child, he is a member of God's divine family and of a heavenly kingdom.
This means that he has certain rights and privileges.
They are God-given, and they are found in the promises of the Bible.

A child with such promises as the Christian has access to all the things he needs for life.
The danger is that he may substitute a false kind of works for the right kind of faith.
He may try to achieve these blessings by scheming like Jacob did when that which he seeks
is his by divine grant.

Many people have tried to make bargains with God to obtain God's flavor.
They try to buy their blessings when those blessings are already theirs in Christ..
An example can be seen by those who believe that going to church on Sunday
will cause God to bless them through the week.
But going to church is not a religious bargain to make with God.
Going to church is something which we do because we love God,
and that we will receive a blessing as a result of going to worship.
Worship is an act of reverence to God.
We go to commune with God.
We go to honor Him.
We go to learn more about Him.

Another form of bargaining with God is found in some people who say to God that if
He will answer their prayers, they will not do or will do certain things.
God does not make deals.

Another form of bargaining that some Christians might do is concerning tithing.
Many people give 1/10 of their income, not so much from the fact that they love God,
and are grateful for all His many blessings and are giving obediently,
but have the attitude that God will give them special blessings and God will bless them financially.

Jacob forgot that the blessings of life are on the basis of grace.
They are also ours – all things are ours – on the basis of our second birthright.
We do not need to scheme and bargain with God.

We should also remember another experience of Jacob.
The story of this experience is in Genesis 32: 20-32:
"And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.
And when he saw that he prevailed not against Him, he touched the hollow of his thigh;
And the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him.

And he said, 'Let me go, for the day breaketh.'
And he said, 'I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.'
And he said unto him, 'What is thy name?'
And he said, 'Jacob.'

And he said, 'Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel; for as a prince hast thou power
with God and with men, and hast prevailed.'
And Jacob asked him, and said, 'Tell me, I pray thee, thy name.'

And he said, 'Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name?'
And he blessed him there.
And Jacob called the name of the place, Peniel: for I have seen God face to face,
and my life is preserved."

As it bean to dawn, Jacob recognized his mysterious assailant.
He was no longer able to wrestle, he began to cling.
Instead of his opposition came his tenacity, and Jacob proved himself to possess
the latter as fully as the former.

Disabled at the very point of strength for wrestling, Jacob could do nothing but cling.
From cunning to clinging, from resisting to resting this was the literal and symbolical experience
of the crafty Jacob but now the conquered Jacob.

His words, 'I will not let Thee go except Thou bless me," gave evidence of the change in him.
He is now conscious of the futility of all his efforts to appease Esau and overcome his animosity,
and now he clings to God and seeks for blessing.

At last he is in the right position, but just think of the price he had to pay.
If he had learned the lesson sooner, he would have been spared from so much trouble
and anxiety.
He would have had no fear of Esau.
There would have been no need of all his planning to appease him.
But now he has learned, that God is better to him than all his fears.
What he struggled for, he lost; what he trusted for, he gained.
So the wisest thing to do is always to trust God and put Him first.

Jacob was a strong man, and we also know that he was a determined man.
Up to this point, his determination and strength were always self-centered.
Jacob was ambitious for himself.
He used unscrupulous and cunning methods to get what he wanted.
Now he faces himself, and this becomes the turning point of his entire life.

There comes a time in every life when we must be alone.
There are times when we should be alone with God, and away from the world.
Only in that place, can we receive a true recognition of our needs.
In that place, we become conscious of the crisis and aware of the circumstances.

Here we see, as Jacob must have seen, how futile all his selfish planning, scheming,
cunning, and bargaining was.
Here we get a true ideal of how helpless we are without God.

In this aloneness "There wrestled a man with him."
For once, Jacob was not the aggressor – he was the defender.
It was an encounter of God to bring Jacob to an end of himself.

Before Jacob can be the man God intended him to be, self must be conquered.
God must be first, and Jacob must be last.
Scheming and conniving must be put out of his life and faith must come in.

At last, Jacob became aware of what is taking place.
He realizes the divine nature of his antagonist.
God touches him in the place of his strength.

And so "He touched the hollow of his thigh,"and this took away the very power
required for wrestling, brought him by one swift blow to the very end of his resources,
and left him utterly powerless.
Thus Divine love dealt with him in mercy and taught him, albeit in severity,
the one lesson he needed most to learn.

A wrestler's great strength is in the muscle of the thigh, and touching that nerve
that controls these muscles and caused Jacob to be crippled and incapable of further struggle.
Now he has come to the end of himself, and when he does, he seeks the blessing of God.
He sees a new beginning.
He sees a better way.
He is now conscious of the futility of all his own selfish efforts,
and he clings to God for His supreme and lasting blessing.

The cost of such an awakening was very great.
Had Jacob learned it sooner, he would have saved himself the tremendous price
that his attempted appeasement of Esau cost him.
He would have saved himself the handicap of being a cripple for the rest of his life.
So what he had struggled for – he lost.
Now what he had trusted for – he gained.

God wanted Jacob to realize that only by His divine grace could he meet Esau and enter Canaan.
God was teaching Jacob that he could not overcome these problems by his guile
and enter Canaan by his cleverness.
God was teaching that it was only by His mercy, and by His grace that he could deal
with his difficulties, and it would be only by His grace that he could prosper.

With this experience, Jacob received God's blessing.
That blessing meant more than an emotional delight.
It lasted longer than that one sweet moment.
It touched his entire life for the rest of his life.

It meant that Jacob had a new self.
From that moment on, Jacob had a new identity.
Instead of Jacob. the supplanter, he is Israel, God's prince.
"He became a mighty prince when he had been brought to know himself as a weak man."

Instead of merely being Isaac's son, he was now linked to God's purpose.
Instead of fleeing from the consequences of his own misdeeds,
it was now progress and blessing in the will of God.
All of this and more is what Jacob's new name meant.
It also meant a new power, "For as a prince hast thou power with God and with men
and hast prevailed" which means that since he has power with God,
he shall now prevail with men.

God's power was now present in Jacob's new life
Instead of dependence upon his own cunning to advance himself, he was now supported
by the mighty power of God.
All of the resources of heaven were now his.

This also meant a new fellowship.
It was fellowship on the basis of a transformed character.
Now he has insight and foresight, calm and courage, patience and power.

The experience of Jacob at Peniel preaches to each of us.
We can rise above our difficulties.
We can be greater than our handicaps.
We can be greater than our limitations.
We can be greater than our circumstances.

I'm sure, that everyone of us experiences something of self,
and in every Christian, there is something of Christ.
We must say, "He must increase, but I must decrease."

"O the bitter shame and sorrow
That a time could ever be
When I let the Saviour's pity
Plead in vain, and proudly answered,
'All of self, and none of Thee!'

Yet He found me; I beheld Him
Bleeding on the accursed tree,
Heard Him pray, 'Forgive them, Father!'
And my wistful heart said faintly,
'Some of self, and some of Thee!'

Day by day His tender mercy,
Healing, helping, full, and free,
Sweet and strong, and ah, so patient,
Brought me lower, while I whispered,
'Less of self, and more of Thee!'


Higher than the highest heaven,
Deeper than the deepest sea,
Lord, Thy love at last hath conquered;
Grant me now my supplication,
'None of self, and all of Thee!'"

We must pray that self will be conquered and God will be enthroned in our heart,
and then we will be victorious over our sinful self.

Sermon adapted from several resources by Dr. Harold L. White.