The Story of God: Jacob - Wrestling with God (Genesis 32:22 - 32)

  • Josh Reich
  • May 21, 2011
  • Series: The Story of God

For many Christians and people in our culture, the Old Testament is just that, old. It seems archaic, taking place thousands of years ago. It is involves a world we don’t understand, names we can’t pronounce, animal sacrifices, wars, famines. On top of that, God seems different than he does in the New Testament. In the New Testament, we see God as Jesus. He is loving, gracious, inviting and compassionate. In the Old Testament, God is often described as angry, wrathful, and vengeful. We identify with Jesus. Pastors preach about Jesus and spend more time in the New Testament. On top of that, the thinking goes, Jesus came and now we are under grace, not the law of the Old Testament, so what is the point of reading the Old Testament? We don’t sacrifice animals or stone people, so why read it?

The problem though is that the Old Testament makes up 75% of the Bible, yet so many Christians try to follow Jesus while only reading or knowing 25% of the Bible. For the next 5 months, at Revolution Church, we are going to walk through the Old Testament. We will look at the idea that not only is God the same through all of Scripture, but that you can’t have the New Testament without the Old Testament. The fit together like a lock and a key.

We will see how throughout the entire Bible, God has one mission, calls out imperfect, broken people to follow him and to bring his mission about through those people. We will see people just like us who God is able to use to change the planet. And through it all, we will begin to see more clearly The Story of God.

Download the study guide for this week's message.

Big Idea
When God seems the furthest from us, those are often the moments that he is the closest.

4 G's

  • God is great - so I don't have to be in control.
  • God is glorious - so I don't have to fear others.
  • God is good - so I don't have to look elsewhere.
  • God is gracious - so I don't have to prove myself.

Recommended Resources

Next Steps

  • Memorize Genesis 32:27 - 28
  • Preach the 4 G's to myself when I begin to doubt God or feel tempted to sin.