A Prevailing People 2
A Prevailing People – Rom 8:19
“The creation waits in eager longing for the sons of God to be revealed.”
Culture is rejecting the church: 1. Not relevant. 2. Condemning
When we show up, we must be relevant with a relevant message
Our relevance must be in 2 Dimensions – Heaven & earth
Last week: Develop our Divine Nature
Genesis 32:6–8, 13–20, 24
Then the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We came to your brother Esau, and he also is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.” 7 So Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed; and he divided the people that were with him, and the flocks and herds and camels, into two companies. 8 And he said, “If Esau comes to the one company and attacks it, then the other company which is left will escape.”
13 So he lodged there that same night, and took what came to his hand as a present for Esau his brother: 14 two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, 15 thirty milk camels with their colts, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten foals. 16 Then he delivered them to the hand of his servants, every drove by itself, and said to his servants, “Pass over before me, and put some distance between successive droves.” 17 And he commanded the first one, saying, “When Esau my brother meets you and asks you, saying, ‘To whom do you belong, and where are you going? Whose are these in front of you?’ 18 then you shall say, ‘They are your servant Jacob’s. It is a present sent to my lord Esau; and behold, he also is behind us.’ ” 19 So he commanded the second, the third, and all who followed the droves, saying, “In this manner you shall speak to Esau when you find him; 20 and also say, ‘Behold, your servant Jacob is behind us.’ ” For he said, “I will appease him with the present that goes before me, and afterward I will see his face; perhaps he will accept me.”
24 So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak.
We see Jacob working a plan, actually scheming, because he is afraid of his twin brother, who he is about to encounter Esau
Jacob spent his whole life working schemes – that was his name, heel grasper
His life was consumed with ‘works’ to gain position
1. Struggled in the womb – Gen 25:22-23
2. Took advantage of Esau to get the Birthright – Gen 25:27-34
3. Deceived his father to get the Blessing – Gen 27:28-29
4. Worked 7 years for his Wife – Gen 29
5. Now he’s wrestling with God for the Blessing – 32:24-32
All of his work only left him frustrated & walking with a limp
Jacob was trying to work for what God had already promised
Rom 9:10-13 NLT
When [Isaac] married Rebekah, she gave birth to twins.
11 But before they were born, before they had done anything good or bad, she received a message from God. (This message shows that God chooses people according to his own purposes; 12 he calls people, but not according to their good or bad works.) She was told, "Your older son will serve your younger son."
13 In the words of the Scriptures, "I loved Jacob, but I rejected Esau."
God had to wrestle with Jacob
to bring him to the realization of his true identity
He was a Prince (Israel), not a scoundrel, schemer or worker
This is a Principle for Prevailing People
We must function out of Identity & Position rather than works
To be a Prevailing People we must understand who we are in Him
Not only Jacob, Simon had to understand identity before he received keys
Learn how to be who He formed you to be before you were born
Jer 1:5
"Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you;
Before you were born, I sanctified you;
I ordained you a prophet to the nations."
Eph 1:3-6
He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.
That was in the heavenly realm… This was in the earthly realm
Ps 51:5 KJV
Behold, I was shapen in iniquity;
and in sin did my mother conceive me.
This is why we must be Reborn & Transformed
· Born again – John 3:3
· Transformed by the renewing of our minds – Rom 12:2
Not just Saved…
Becoming who He Purposed me to be when he first had me in His mind
2 Tim 1:9
Who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works,
but according to His own purpose and grace
which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began.
To be a Prevailing People, we must understand Purpose and Grace
Eph 2:10
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works,
which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
Rom 8:28
For we know that all things work together for good to those who love God,
to those who are the called according to His purpose.
This is what should sum up the way we live our lives
Acts 13:36
For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation,
fell asleep and was laid with his fathers.
Purpose, now Grace – 2 definitions
1. God stoops down from where He is to give you gifts that you don’t deserve, because of who you are, not because of what you’ve done
You are ‘somebody’ to Him
Stop working for what’s already yours – live from your position
After you receive Grace you extend Grace – Good News
Tell people that “they are somebody to God”
God is not holding anything against them – 2 Cor 5:19
John 3:16
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son,
that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world,
but in order that the world might be saved through him.
Stop living in Frustration & Condemnation
If Believers can grasp this, it’s the beginning of us, as a church, returning to Relevance to a culture that’s groaning
If we get this 2nd one, it is the beginning of us, individually, being in our purpose
2. Grace is Empowerment for Impact – Charismato
God gives me what I need to do what I’m purposed to do
Grace gifts give me an Edge
I am already set up for success
Function from my Position
Function in my Power
Invite you into the Grace of God
Rom 5:17
For if by the one man's offense (Adam) death reigned through the one,
much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness
will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.