Psalms 24:3-6 NASB
3 Who may ascend onto the hill of the Lord? And who may stand in His holy place?
4 One who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to deceit and has not sworn deceitfully.
5 He will receive a blessing from the Lord And righteousness from the God of his salvation.
6 This is the generation of those who seek Him, who seek Your face—even Jacob.
1. Like Jacob…We’re Born Wrestling
Genesis 25:22-23 NLT
22 But the two children struggled with each other in her womb. So she went to ask the Lord about it. “Why is this happening to me?” she asked.
23 And the Lord told her, “The sons in your womb will become two nations. From the very beginning, the two nations will be rivals. One nation will be stronger than the other; and your older son will serve your younger son.”
Identity is received, not achieved.
2. Like Jacob…We Wrestle with God
Genesis 32:24-31 NLT
24 This left Jacob all alone in the camp, and a man came and wrestled with him until the dawn began to break.
25 When the man saw that he would not win the match, he touched Jacob’s hip and wrenched it out of its socket.
26 Then the man said, “Let me go, for the dawn is breaking!” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”
27 “What is your name?” the man asked. He replied, “Jacob.”
28 “Your name will no longer be Jacob,” the man told him. “From now on you will be called Israel, because you have fought with God and with men and have won.”
29 “Please tell me your name,” Jacob said. “Why do you want to know my name?” the man replied. Then he blessed Jacob there.
30 Jacob named the place Peniel (which means “face of God”), for he said, “I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been spared.”
3. Like Jacob… We Receive the Blessing of the First Born at the Cross
Genesis 48:14, 17-20 NKJV
14 Then Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on Ephraim’s head, who was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh’s head, guiding his hands knowingly, for Manasseh was the firstborn.
17 Now when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him; so he took hold of his father’s hand to remove it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head.
18 And Joseph said to his father, “Not so, my father, for this one is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head.”
19 But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know. He also shall become a people, and he also shall be great; but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his descendants shall become a multitude of nations.”
20 So he blessed them that day, saying, “By you Israel will bless, saying, ‘May God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh!’ ” And thus he set Ephraim before Manasseh.
GOD HAS OVERRIDDEN THE VERDICT OF YOUR EARTHLY FATHER AND CULTURE AND PLACED HIS “RIGHT” HAND ON YOU TO BESTOW THE FAVOR, AUTHORITY, AND ESTEEM OF THE FIRST BORN UPON YOU IN HIS FAMILY.
Colossians 3:1-2 NLT
1 Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand.
2 Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth.