Jacob is a biblical icon, the grandson of the earliest foundation stone of three religions, and a patriarch of the Christian faith in his own right. God placed so much value on Jacob that he renamed him Israel, meaning the Overcomer.
Yet Jacob was often good at one thing in particular: stepping on others’ toes. Take his brother, for example. Jacob had stolen his brother’s birthright, and he had done it with cunning and deceit. In fear of what his brother would do, he ran to a far land in order to find safety from his brother’s anger.
Jacob’s actions deserved a payback of the fiercest kind.
After many years, Jacob decided to return to the land of his father. He wished to make peace with his brother. However, in Genesis 32:6, as Jacob nears his homeland, messengers come to him to report that his brother Esau rides his way with four hundred men.
It does not take four hundred men to greet a brother. Esau did not come with forgiveness in mind. He came to give Jacob the payback he deserved. Yet, Jacob fell on the ground before God, and he pleaded with God for the mercy he didn’t deserve. It was out of this yearning that Jacob received his new name, for Jacob refused to let go of God until he had the answer he had come to receive.
In Genesis 33:4, when Esau met up with his brother, he fell to Jacob’s neck and embraced him, forgiving him all that he had done in the past.
What made the change? God did. Jacob knew the payback he deserved, and he knew that only God could grant him the mercy he required.
When we come to God in our humanity and sin, we don’t have to plead for his forgiveness. While hanging on the cross, Jesus took the payback we deserve, so that God could grant us the mercy we require.
Even when we are at our worst, God sees us at our best, renaming us Overcomer by the power of the cross.
Copyright © 2013 MyChurchNotes.net
Code: FGO.I.15.13b.vp