"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 breaks. And he said, I will not let you go, except you bless me. And he said unto him, What is your name? And he said, Jacob. And he said, your name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel; for as a prince you have power with God and with men, and have prevailed." (Genesis 32:24-28) "As a prince you have power with God."
The way people for the most part use this test, one would think that it read, "As a prince you have power against God."
It is read as though Jacob had all night been consciously wrestling with the Lord, and had at last worn Him out, so that the Lord had been obliged to yield, and bless him. And so people regard prayer as a sort of wrestling contest with the Lord, imagining that if they can hold out long enough they will weary the Lord into granting what they ask.
There are very few, however, who have this idea, who persevere very long in prayer, because they do not find prayer a pleasant occupation. Such a view of the test does the greatest dishonor to God, who is not the hard, unjust, unfeeling judge, but the tender, loving Father, who anticipates all His children's wants.
Think of the situation for a minute. Put yourself in Jacob's place. Would you have the boldness to enter into a wrestling contest with the Lord, knowing it to be He? Do you know of anybody who you think would dare lay hands on the Lord, or one of His messengers from heaven, and try to throw him on the ground?
We cannot think of a person so presumptuous and so irreverent that he could venture to lay violent hands on the Lord, knowing Him to be the Lord. If the wicked men who put Christ to death had known who He really was, "They would not have crucified the Lord of glory." (1 Corinthians 2:8)
They might have known, but they did not. The very fact that Jacob wrestled with the angel, who was none other than the Lord, shows that he did not know Him to be the Lord. He thought that it was an enemy that had seized upon him.
The touch of the Lord as the day began to break showed Jacob at once the futility of the struggle, and made it impossible for him to continue it. With his thigh out of joint, there was nothing for him to do but to cling to his late antagonist for support.
Then the Lord said, "Let me go." Anybody can see that this was said merely to test Jacob, because He who could with a touch dislocate a man's thigh could easily disengage himself from his grasp. But Jacob is now no longer wrestling with an enemy; he is embracing a Friend, and he is determined to cling. "By his strength he had power with God." (Hosea 12:3)
When was it that Jacob received his blessing? It was when he was leaning on the Lord for support, unable to stand alone. What then was his strength? Manifestly it was his weakness. When he found that he was without strength, then he prevailed. His power with God was his absolute helplessness.
Remember now that the text says that Jacob had power with God, and not against Him. Jacob had no power at all, but he was made sharer of God's power, and that was his strength. His faith made him a prince of God. The son of a king is a prince. Those who believe on the name of the Lord become sons of God: "But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name." (John 1:12)
As a son of the King of kings, and therefore a prince of God, one must necessarily have power with God; not power against Him, but power derived from Him.
This power God gives to everyone who truly believes. Absolute trust is the only condition, and that absolute trust must arise from the knowledge of God's loving power, and consciousness of our own helplessness. "[God] raises up the poor out of the dust, and the needy from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory." (1 Samuel 2:8)
When we believe, He adopts us into His own family, so that all His people are of royal birth. He lifts us up from the death of sin, and sets us in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that is, on His throne, so that in Christ we are given power with God; we are made sharers of the Divine power.
When one has received this power--and it is the portion of everyone who is wholly the Lord's--it follows as a natural consequence that he will have power with men. It is with this power that God clothes His servants, in order that they may make known the Gospel. What is the Gospel? It is the power of God. It is evident then that no one can show forth the Gospel, unless he has that power of God.
Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and is set down with His Father in His throne. As Son of God, the heathen are His heritage, and the uttermost parts of the earth His possession. He has not yet taken possession, but it is not lack of power that prevents His doing so; He is manifesting His power in drawing men to himself. The power by which at the last He will destroy the reprobate, and renew the earth, is the power by which He now works to save men. Indeed, the manifestation of that power at the last, in the destruction of the wicked, will be for the salvation, of His own faithful people.
The fact that Jesus even now has power over the heathen is shown by the statement that He is seated at the right hand of God in the heavenly places, "Far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come." (Ephesians 1:21)
But God has bestowed this wonderful love on us who believe, that we should be called the sons of God. This being called the sons of God is not a fancy title, but, as stated in the Revised Version: "Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called children of God; and such we are. Now are we the sons of God." (1 John 3:1-2)
It is in Christ that we become sons, and in Him we are raised up to sit with Him in the heavenly places, and that means that God has placed us "far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion."
In all this there is nothing for us to boast about, for we are nothing. The power is the Lord's, which He is pleased to manifest through us, when we fully yield to Him, and depend on Him. Then comes the promise of Christ, "He that overcomes and keeps my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations; And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers; even as I have received of my Father." (Revelation 2:26-27)
Here Christ says that His disciples shall share the same power and authority that the Father gives to Him-the authority mentioned in the 2nd Psalm. Someone will say: "Yes, but this is all future."
Very true, and even so it is future in the case of Christ. Not yet does He rule the nations with a rod of iron, and break them in pieces like a potter's vessel; but the power to do so is His, nevertheless. His power is exerted to save them, until they absolutely and finally refuse to be saved, when it will remove them.
When He begins to execute judgment, His saints will share the honor with Him "Let the saints be joyful in glory: let them sing aloud upon their beds. Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a twoedged sword in their hand; To execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people; To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron; To execute upon them the judgment written: this honor have all his saints. Praise the Lord." (Psalm 149:5-9), and in the meantime He imparts to them His own power, that they may carry forward His work of reconciliation. "If by one man's offense death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by One, Jesus Christ." (Romans 5:17)
"Shall reign in life." When? Why, when life comes, of course. And when does life come? When we are risen with Christ from the dead, to "walk in newness of life." (Romans 6:4)
When men yield themselves to God, "as those that are alive from the dead," (Romans 6:13) sin shall not have dominion over them. "For sin shall not have dominion over you: for you are not under the law, but under grace." (Romans 6:14)
Instead of being ruled, they will rule. From slaves, they will be transformed into kings, with power over the flesh. "He that rules his spirit is greater than he that takes a city." (Proverbs 16:32)
For the power by which he rules himself is the power by which the whole earth is to be made new, and the first dominion restored.--Present Truth, November 17, 1898.