Redeemer Reformed Church of Oklahoma City

And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We came to your brother Esau, and he is coming to meet you, and there are four hundred men with him.” ⁷ Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed. He divided the people who were with him, and the flocks and herds and camels, into two camps, ⁸ thinking, “If Esau comes to the one camp and attacks it, then the camp that is left will escape.” ⁹ ¶ And Jacob said, “O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O LORD who said to me, ‘Return to your country and to your kindred, that I may do you good,’ ¹⁰ I am not worthy of the least of all the deeds of steadfast love and all the faithfulness that you have shown to your servant, for with only my staff I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two camps. ¹¹ Please deliver me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I fear him, that he may come and attack me, the mothers with the children. ¹² But you said, ‘I will surely do you good, and make your offspring as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.’” –Genesis 32:6-12

Finally, no more scheming, no more deception; just recounting and praying the gospel, the promises of God! Jacob repents: he acknowledges his unworthiness, confesses his weakness, and recalls the gospel promises. “Repent” means something like “a change of mind.” Your mind is changed about how what you believe and consequently what you’ve done. That’s a huge part of repentance.

Non-biblical repentance is deadly. Jacob has the real thing in this passage. For the religious, non-biblical repenter, repentance usually means something like turning away from doing the wrong thing and turning to doing the right thing. That is a kind of repentance, but you don’t need Christ for it. Plus, we don’t have the willpower to do it anyway and come up with petty righteousness to feel that we are, well, righteous. Then we surround ourselves with others who are “righteous” like we are, feeling safe and warm in our little community—a constant danger for all Christians.

Repentance for the gospel-believer is not turning from doing the wrong thing to doing the right thing; repentance for the gospel-believer is turning from doing the wrong thing and turning to Christ to receive and believe what he says about you. That’s biblical repentance; that’s what Jacob is doing here. Jacob falls into the everlasting arms of God, entrusting himself fully to God’s infinite wisdom in the revealed promises.

The purpose of repentance is to reenter repeatedly into the reality of your union with Christ so that your passions for the things contrary to God’s will are weakened over time. Don’t make the mistake of believing that the purpose of repentance is to satisfy God so he will bless you and answer your prayers. Christ is the one who has satisfied God ensuring perfect blessing and just the right answer to every prayer.

And that’s the gospel! Come hear it preached and enacted in the supper with Jesus this Sunday.

The related hymns we’ll sing are:
Rejoice, the Lord is King
Like a River Glorious
Jesus Shall Reign Where’re the Sun

LADIES’ FELLOWSHIP
The Redeemer ladies will enjoy seeing The Jerusalem Collection exhibit Saturday, July 24, 10:00 am at the Oklahoma Heritage Museum. Lunch will follow afterwards at the Prairie Thunder Baking Company. RSVP here. All ladies are invited.

SUNDAY SCHOOL
Sunday school for children (in Genesis) and adults (in Galatians) is continues. Coffee and other treats are served at 9:15, teaching begins at 9:30, and we break to get ready for worship at 10:15. 

Visitors are always welcome!