“And He said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.” Then Jacob asked, saying, “Tell me Your name, I pray.” And He said, “Why is it that you ask about My name?” And He blessed him there.” ”

— Genesis 32:28-29 NKJV

Please don’t miss the powerful reality that going forward Jacob is no longer to identify with his past identity, his identity of being a deceiver, the generational cycles that shaped his identity! He’s been given a new name, a new identity! The old has passed away and the new has come! He’s given a new name called “Israel”, which means “a prince” who prevails, an overcomer. This is his identity now. You see, we act according to who we think we are! And this is what God has done for you in Christ! Your sin is not your identity! It’s not who you are! The generational cycles you inherited is not what shapes your identity any more; Christ is! And in Him you are royalty of the highest order. You are an overcomer! That’s who you are. Period. God intervenes into your personal crisis to break generational cycles that have shaped your identity by leading you to…

RECEIVE BY FAITH HIS GIFT OF A NEW IDENTITY.

How many of you are familiar with or fans of the old Hollywood film featuring Charlton Heston called Ben Hur? He’s the same actor who played the iconic role of Moses in the 10 Commandments. Ben Hur was literally one of my favorite films to watch growing up. It is a story that is placed in the historic setting of 1st century Judea as a backdrop to the big story of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Charlton’s character, Judah Ben Hur, is a wealthy Jewish aristocrat whose childhood Roman friend sinisterly sends him away as a slave to row in the bottom of Roman war ships, in revenge for Judah not agreeing to betray his nation. However, the plot twist happens when in the midst a fierce battle between war ships, Judah Ben Hur saves the life of a Roman officer who previously didn’t like him. When they are eventually rescued this Roman elite frees Judah from slavery in gratitude for saving his life, enlists him to be a charioteer in the chariot races and then, surprisingly, adopts him as his son, an heir to all he had. Then in a powerful scene when Judah comes face to face again with his childhood Roman friend, who thought he must have died as a slave, he confronts him not as a slave, but as a Roman prince, vested with the full authority of his new father! Judah had a new identity now! He was no longer a slave. He was an overcomer; a son, a royal prince! My friend, that’s exactly who you are in Christ!

Like Jacob, when God gives you a new name, He’s giving you a new identity. By receiving this new identity by faith, you are essentially disavowing your former sinful, dysfunctional identity. You’re no longer a slave to sin and Satan. You have a new identity and a new Father now! And with this new identity comes a new character through the power of the Spirit. Now, I wonder if you noticed that once Jacob received his new name Israel, his focus suddenly shifts to inquiring what the name or identity is of this Person who he’d been thinking was an angel. An astonishing new revelation is beginning to dawn upon his mind. Now remember, he’s still in the midst of an impending personal crisis and he’s still in a lot of pain, but now his primary focus is on knowing the Name, the identity, the character of the One who gave him a new name and blessed him! Please don’t miss this! Once you’ve received your new identity in Christ, the primary pursuit of knowing Him begins to overshadow the personal crisis you’re in!

My dear friend, in Christ the generational cycles, the curse of sin is broken and you are a new creation! This is the power of the Gospel! This is why Paul says in 1st Corinthians 6:9-11,

““Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.””

— 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 NKJV

Once you receive in your heart the objective, historical reality that you’ve been saved by grace through faith in Christ alone, then the love of God begins to be poured into your heart by the anointing of the indwelling Holy Spirit and His name, His identity, His character begins to be written on your heart. The biblical imagery of this is His name is written on our foreheads or in our minds, because His character starts to become your own in Christ. This is why, according to the book of Revelation, we will be given a new name in Heaven.

Can you now see why once you’ve received your new identity in Christ, His identity starts to become your primary pursuit? It’s because His identity, His character is love!

His intervention into your personal crisis is never to hurt you! It may appear that way to you because of what’s been transpiring inside your own heart. But His purpose is always to help, to give you a new identity, to reveal to you that you’re His son, you’re His daughter. God intervenes into your personal crisis to break generational cycles that have shaped your identity by leading you to retrace your story in persevering faith, to be aware of and confess what has been your identity, and then to receive by faith His gift of a new identity. You see, once Jacob received his new identity and the covenant blessing he’d always wanted, his mind was blown with the stunning revelation that the One he’d been wrestling with all night long was actually God! He is the Generational Cycle Beaker! And we too need to allow ourselves to be blown away by the fact that Jacob was wrestling with God almighty! He was punching, grabbing, kicking, hitting and maybe holding in a headlock, the holy God of the universe come in the form of a human. Let this sink in! It has been recorded in Scripture that some people came into God’s holy presence in an unholy way and ended up dying, yet Jacob is physically fighting Him and has not been disintegrated into dust! He felt a sense of awesome gratitude that in having this face to face encounter with God, his life was preserved, his life was saved.

This same God has entered into human history in the Person of His Son, Jesus Messiah of Nazareth, so that we too could have a face to face encounter with Him and our lives be preserved; so that we too could be saved. He took all your generational cycles, all the sin that has shaped your identity and defeated it in His death and resurrection! Then He gives you, now, His identity, His righteousness, His holiness, His perfection as a free gift of grace, so that you can know, now by faith, that you are a son and a daughter, an overcomer, a literal royal heir to throne of Heaven! This is who you are in Christ! It is through this Gospel that we have a new identity in Christ, which removes and redefines all previous identifiers.