#newcreation

Discover what it truly means to be a new creation in Christ — leaving the old behind and embracing a transformed life filled with purpose, grace, and renewal.

Born Again and Destined to Win Introduction There is a lie many people live under without realizing it—the lie that life is fixed, that who you are today is all you will ever be. It whispers through failures, past mistakes, and present struggles: “This is just who you are.” But the Gospel of Jesus Christ completely shatters that lie. You were not created to remain the same. You were created…

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What Does Israel Mean?

Eli Kittim

The meaning of the term “Israel” is explained for the first time in the Old Testament book of Genesis 32:28. In this passage, Jacob wrestled with God and overcame and, as a result, God changed Jacob's name to Israel. But what does this event signify? What does it really mean?

It implies that Jacob had a profound journey of self-discovery and overcame adversity. Like Jesus, this was Jacob’s temptation or wilderness experience. Most of us run away from our problems. They’re too painful to deal with. But Jacob was courageous. He had faith. He stood his ground.

The text says that "Jacob was left all alone" (Genesis 32:24) and that he wrestled all night, which suggests that he underwent a dark night of the soul. That is, he faced his unconscious impulses head-on and struggled with his internal problems and contradictions instead of fleeing or suppressing them. He wrestled with his own darkness, fears, and emptiness, as well as with the meaninglessness and absurdity of life itself. In other words, Jacob had an inner struggle and he finally owned up to his sins.

He took the proverbial mask off and was lost and confused for a time. Put differently, Jacob had an existential crisis! But instead of running away from his issues, or projecting them onto others, he struggled profusely with his inner conflicts and overcame them. This passage reflects the tension between various aspects of the human psyche, such as the conscious and unconscious mind, light and darkness, good and evil, and the need for integration and assimilation of these opposite elements within the self.

The “wrestling” aspect symbolizes the process of reconciliation and rebirth. The blessing is the outcome of this transformative experience when you become holy like God (cf. 1 Peter 2:9). Hence why Jacob is subsequently renamed by God as Israel. His name reflects the fact that he is a new creation, born again in God:

“Then the man said, ‘Your name will no

longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you

have struggled with God and with humans

and have overcome.’ “ - Genesis 32:28

This transformative experience is the ultimate goal of the spiritual journey. It reflects the healing that takes place when our old self dies and a new one is reborn (cf. Ephesians 4:22-24):

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new

creation has come: The old has gone, the

new is here!” - 2 Corinthians 5:17

Similarly, in the New Testament, Paul redefines what the term “Jew” means in scripture, not as a reference to race or ethnicity but as a spiritual symbol of rebirth, namely, one who possesses the Spirit of God (cf. Romans 8:9):

“For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly,

nor is circumcision that which is outward in

the flesh. But he is a Jew who is one

inwardly; and circumcision is of the heart.”

- Romans 2:28-29

That’s why Paul constantly reminds us:

“It is not the children of the flesh [biological

Jews] … but the children of the promise

[Spiritual Jews who] are regarded as

descendants [of Israel].” - Romans 9:6-8

Thus, according to the first mention and explicit explanation in Genesis 32:28, the word “Israel” means rebirth in God! And this definition is consistent with Paul's soteriology that the true Israelites are those who are reborn in Christ:

"And if you belong to Christ, then you are

Abraham’s descendants, heirs according