Psalm 67
May God be gracious
to us and bless us
and make his face to
shine upon us
that your way may be
known on earth,
your saving power
among all nations.
Let the peoples
praise you, O God;
let all the peoples
praise you!
Let the nations be
glad and sing for joy,
for you judge the
peoples with equity
and guide the
nations upon earth.
Let the peoples
praise you, O God;
let all the peoples
praise you!
The earth has
yielded its increase;
God, our God, shall
bless us.
God shall bless us;
let all the ends of
the earth fear him!
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Misconceptions of
Blessing
The term "blessing" is not an uncommon phrase in
this world. Many of us, as Christians, have heard this term used throughout our
Christian lives. It carries with it many different connotations. Many have associated with it a prayer of a
sort of “divine infusion” into our lives. We seek God to “bless” our lives with
anything from material wealth to physical health to spiritual enhancement to
simply greater comfort and deeper joy.
Anyone familiar with the Roman Catholic church is certainly
familiar with the act of blessing that a priest or bishop performs on people or
objects when he performs the sign of the cross from shoulder to shoulder and
head to chest.
Many seek the blessing of those in authority as a term of
approval. A young lover seeks the blessing of the father of the woman he loves
with the hope thar he may marry her.
If you have watched any significant amount of Christian
broadcasting on TV, surely you have seen the image that the
"blessing" of God brings exorbitant wealth, earthly comforts and
luxuries. Many televangelists that you will see on these stations make millions
upon millions of dollars and proclaim that if your faith was as strong as
theirs, then you too could have the "blessings" of God that they have
received. In many cases, these "blessings" have come at the expense
of vulnerable people who, in desperate times, have believed that the blessing
of God comes only in physical wealth. The blessing of God is therefore simply
turned into a means of obtaining wealth from God.
And many of us have heard the benediction given at the end
of sermons where a pastor proclaims his blessing upon the congregation from the
book of Numbers, saying:
“May the Lord bless
you and keep you;
May the Lord make
His countenance shine upon you, and be gracious to you;
May the Lord turn
His countenance to you and grant you peace.”
And what a beautiful blessing that is!
In many parts of the world, "blessing" is simply
thought of as a magical force -- a genie in a bottle, if you will -- through
which someone can obtain whatever benefit they desire. In this case, "blessing" is not much more than
luck or good fortune.
What, then, is the blessing of God?
Definition of
Blessing
It is with this in mind that we enter Genesis 12:2-3. The
text reads:
"Now the Lord
said to Abram, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's
house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation,
and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and
in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."
This wonderful text is a turning point in the book of
Genesis. In Chapter 11, we have just finished reading the story of the Tower of
Babel where man, in his sinfulness seeking to make a name for himself, is
cursed by God and is scattered throughout the earth, all with their own
languages.
Then, seemingly, out of nowhere, God calls upon Abram to
leave his country, his people, and family to go to an unknown land. And then what a mighty promise that God makes
to Abram! This promise comes in light of a curse just one chapter before and
God says to Abram:
"I will
make
of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name
great so that you will be a blessing. In you all the families of the
earth shall be blessed."
The Bible doesn't tell us what went through Abram's mind at
this point. Let's think about this for a moment. How would you react? Try to
imagine how Abraham explains this to his wife. The scriptures are silent on the
matter. But what we know from the scriptures is this: Abram believed God would
do these things! God speaks a blessing on His creation, and it will come to
pass. This is God's doing. This entire promise is riddled with "I
wills" from God with virtually no requirement of Abram and certainly no
initiation from Abram. This mighty verse paints a picture of the work of a
Sovereign and loving God. God pours grace upon Abram. God blesses him not
because of any merit or worth of his own, but simply out of pure grace. And
Abram believes Him!
It is the beginning of the promise that will bring God and
man into reconciliation and He does so through His blessing. He does so through
His grace. And the people of the world will be blessed as well if they share in
Abram's blessing. And in order for the whole world to share in that blessing,
Abram must share the grace of God with the whole world.
Further on in chapter 22, God repeats His promise to Abraham,
but with even greater detail. There is an additional piece that God adds. He
says:
"I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your
offspring as the stars of the heaven and as the sand that is on the
seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in your offspring shall all the nations of
the earth be blessed..."
God's promise to Abraham does not stop at blessing Abraham
alone. God promises that Abraham's offspring will multiply as the "stars
of the heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore". Yet, He again
states that all the nations of the earth will be blessed through God blessing
him. Abraham and His descendants will be a conduit of God's blessings.
But how does God bless Abraham?
First, we see blessing as material wealth. Abraham's servant tells
some of the material blessings Abraham has received in Genesis 24:
Vs. 35 "The Lord has greatly blessed my
master, and he has become great. He has given him flocks and herds, silver and
gold, male servants and female servants, camels and donkeys. And Sarah, my
master's wife bore a son to my master when she was old, and to him he has given
all that he has."
Note the first five words of that verse: "The LORD has greatly blessed my
master...."
Abraham's servant is attributing this abundant wealth with
the blessing of God.
Further on in the story, we see the same thing unfold with
Isaac. In Genesis 26, again it reads: Vs.
12 "The Lord blessed him, and the man became rich, and gained more and
more until he became very wealthy."
I am going to circle back to this first point in a few
minutes, lest it be taken out of context.
Second, we see blessing as a favored relationship with God and the
experience of His presence.
Blessing was far more than simply wealth and riches. Abraham's
neighbors said to him in Genesis 21: "God is with you in all that you
do!" God's presence was apparent to those who interacted with Abraham. The
same can be said of his son, Isaac. In Genesis 26, it is said of him: "We see plainly that the Lord has been
with you. So we said, let there be a sworn pact between us, between you and us,
and let us make a covenant with you."
Which leads me to my third
point, we see blessing bringing fulfilled relationships and peace
amidst families, peoples, and nations.
Genesis has several instances of other people being blessed
through contact with those whom God has blessed with both material wealth and
the presence of Himself. Laban, in Genesis 30, is blessed by God's blessing of
Jacob. Potiphar is blessed through the presence of Joseph in Genesis 39.
Pharaoh is blessed by Jacob in Genesis 47.
We see a distinct glimpse of this blessing of the nations
unfold with the story of Joseph in Genesis 41. God gives Joseph, Abraham’s great-grandson, an
interpretation of a dream that predicts a seven-year famine. And when that
famine came, vs 41 says that the "famine was severe over all the
earth." Joseph, who had been blessed by God with power and wealth, had
risen to power was now in a position to extend that blessing to the nations of
the earth. Vs. 57 tells us that "all the people of the earth came to buy
grain from Joseph."
Several chapters later, in Ch. 47, these same people
proclaim to Joseph, "You have saved our lives!"
And what a beautiful picture that is. Severe famine. Devastation.
Hunger. God's chosen one, enduring rejection by his brothers, imprisoned, then
being blessed in order to be a blessing to the nations.
Joseph, through the blessing of God, brings life-giving
sustenance to a famished earth. He has been blessed abundantly, not because he
has done anything of himself, but by the pure grace of God, so that He may
bring glory to God through blessing the nations.
What we learn from these stories in Genesis is this: The
blessing of God is the unmerited, unearned, unadulterated, pure grace by which
God gives an empowerment to be fruitful. All throughout the scriptures, the
idea of blessing is linked directly to life flourishing. It brings men and
women into a flourishing fulfillment of what God has intended for us since the
beginning of time. When blessing is fulfilled in His creation -- people,
households, nations -- they are enabled to move toward their intended destiny.
It is life-giving.
Blessing is God's original intention for human life on
earth.
Like the blessing that Joseph gave, it is a life-giving
sustenance to a spiritually famished people. It is freely given and it gives
life and it will change hearts and it will change nations.
Where, then, do we see this most displayed in the
scriptures?
The Promise
Fulfilled
God sent His son to bless the world with the greatest
possible blessing: Abundant life in Christ – reconciliation with God – that lasts forever. Abraham believed in it, and it was
counted to him as righteousness before God. And we have received that same righteousness
through faith in Christ.
Those of you who now hope in Christ and follow Him in faith
are considered Abraham's descendants. The whole meaning of the promise given to
Abraham is that a multitude of nations would enjoy the blessings of being Abraham's
descendant -- even though we are not physically related to him.
If the blessing of God brings life -- empowerment to redeem
His creation and reconcile men and women to God -- if the blessing of God
brings us into the intended fulfillment as God's creation -- then we know that
those things are only found in one person -- one name: Jesus Christ.
From the very beginning, God's plan was that Jesus Christ
would be the descendant of Abraham that would bring the blessing of God to all
the nations of the earth. And now everyone who trusts in Christ will be blessed
as heirs of Abraham's promise.
Galatians 3 tells us that "those who are of faith are the sons of Abraham." "They are blessed along with Abraham.
So now "If you are Christ's, then
you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise."
Christ has now ended the curse and by His blessing -- by His
grace -- we have been reconciled once again to God and have received eternal
life, in Christ. He has opened the doors to being adopted as sons and daughters
in the family of God. People from every family, every people group, every
nation can now be a part of Abraham's descendants by faith in Christ.
The mandate to bless all of the nations becomes ours when we
have put our faith in Christ. If the promise of God is that all that nations of
the earth will be blessed through Abraham’s offspring, and those who are in Christ are now His
offspring, the mandate to bless the whole earth is now ours.
We have received the blessing of Abraham – Jesus Christ
Himself. The blessing itself is wrapped up in one person: Jesus Christ.
Call to Be A
Blessing
How then can we be a blessing to all nations? What does it
look like? I would like to make four observations from the scriptures. This is
by no means an exhaustive list.
First, we preach or
proclaim. Jesus tells us in Luke
24:46:
"Thus it is
written, that Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and
that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His name to all
nations, beginning from Jerusalem." Luke 24:46
In 1 Corinthians 1, Paul tells us what he is preaching:
Jesus Christ crucified! In Romans 10:14-15, he gives us a picture of what it
means to a be a blessing through the proclamation of the Gospel. Paul writes
the following:
"How then will
they call on Him whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in
Him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone
preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written,
"How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!"
Romans 10:14-15
Charles Spurgeon said "Beloved,
if you and I are to be made a blessing to others, it must be by our bringing
the Lord Jesus Christ to those whom we meet from day to day. Do not talk to a
friend without speaking of your Saviour. Do not be long in a house without
introducing that dear name - there is so much of savor, of sweetness, of
comfort, of healing, of life in that precious name of Jesus, that you cannot
too often speak of it, or too frequently introduce it into all sorts of
company!"
The most obvious way we can be a blessing to all nations is
through the proclamation and preaching of the Gospel of Christ -- Christ
crucified, dying for the ungodly, bearing our sins, and conquering death for
all who believe in Him. And oh what beautiful feet are those who bring the good
news of Christ to the whole earth!
Second, our prayers should
never be ceasing. Jesus, quoting Isaiah, says in Mark 11:17 that "My house
shall be called a house of prayer for the nations!" God has ordained that
the means of bringing about His will is through prayer. Have you ever stopped
to consider the effect our prayers have had? We may not know the effect our
prayers have had for years, or even until we go home to Jesus. Sometimes,
however, we see the direct answer. Abraham interceded for Sodom in Genesis 18 six times in order to spare them from
the wrath of God! His prayers were an amazing blessing to Sodom who was about
to receive just wrath from God.
You cannot read the letters of Paul without coming face to
face with his constant reliance on prayer for his churches, friends, and even
the Romans and Colossians that he hadn't even met yet. Paul wanted the church
to unceasingly be in prayer. Twelve times he mentions continuous prayer. He
uses terms like "without ceasing", "always",
"continually", "constantly" in describing the frequency of
his prayers. In his second letter to Timothy he writes "Night and day, I
constantly remember you in my prayers."
Paul was constantly praying for the harvest and the
laborers. He tells us in Ephesians to be "praying at all times in the
Spirit, with all prayer and supplication." Being a blessing to all the
families of the earth is facilitated by prayer. Again, Spurgeon says this:
"Dear friends,
those whom God uses are made a blessing by their prayers. Does anybody know the
full extent of the blessings which come upon us in answer to the prayers of
others? Unhappy is the man who has not somebody praying for him! But rich is
that one who is daily the object of the prayers of saints. O dear friends, if
God has saved you, never stint your prayers for others!"
Recently, the Lord took one of our deacon's home. At the
memorial service, one of the most precious moments of this day was when we
reflected on the heart of prayer this dear brother had. Bob had kept a notebook
with every prayer request he received and he prayed diligently until he knew
the prayer had been answered. Not only did he write down the request, but he
documented every answer to those prayers. He prayed for everything, including
the nations. He had a mighty heart for the nations and he prayed for them
regularly. What a dear brother this was and the effect that his prayers have
had on the lives of those who knew him will be learned for years to come.
Third, our presence
should be a blessing to all of those that know us and interact with us. 2
Corinthians 2:14 reads:
"But thanks be
to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us
spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of Him everywhere. For we are the aroma
of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are
perishing...." 2 Corinthians 2:14
My friends, we are the aroma of Christ to both the saved and
unsaved. Do those who know you, work with you, live near you smell the aroma of
Christ on you? Does your presence spread the fragrance of Christ everywhere?
Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. These are the fruits of the Spirit. Do
you spread the sweet aroma of Christ? These fruits tell of the glory and beauty
of Christ to a dying world! If blessing indicates life, flourishing, and
fulfilled, then the fruits of the Spirit show the life that we have in Christ.
A dying tree does not produce fruit. But we have been made alive in Christ. Do
you bear this fruit? Does your presence give forth life -- or blessing -- to
those who are near us?
Last, the end of Acts 2 shows us how the early church
handled their possessions. The text
tells us the spirit of the early church and how they voluntarily sold their
possessions and belongings and distributed the proceeds to all who had need.
This text can be very threatening to many of us who own a
lot of stuff. In this culture, we do not need to be overly wealthy to own a lot
of stuff and oh, how we love to cling to our belongings! Luke, however, in
writing this text is telling us something of how we are to use our possessions,
not only for our own comforts but for those in need. Luke loves the prospect of
giving of all that we have for the sake of the glory of God by loving our
neighbors. There are six occasions in Luke's writings where he shares stories
of the dangers of hoarding our possessions for our own comforts alone. Luke
records the story of the Good Samaritan who gave of all that he had to provide
for his neighbor in need who had been beaten and robbed. His description of the
early church is a final picture of how Christians should handle their
possessions for the glory of God.
Conclusion
2012 marked the point where the world's population hit 7
billion people.
3.5 billion of those 7 billion are Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist.
That comprises 50% of the worlds population.
2 out of 3 people in the world live in Asia. 70% of them
have never heard the name Jesus Christ.
When God speaks of "all the families of the earth"
in Genesis, He is speaking of individual ethnic or "people" groups.
As of yesterday, the world contains 16,652 people groups.
7,000 of these people groups have never heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They
are unreached, meaning there is no church and no Christian among them. 3,500 of
them have no missionary engagement to bring the good news of Jesus Christ to
them.
And those are just
the spiritual statistics of the state of our world.
50% of the world’s population lives on less than $2/day.
30,000 people starve to death each and every day.
There are 18,000,000 orphans in the world.
In the past hour:
1,625 children were sent to the streets.
1,667 children died of malnutrition.
115 children became prostitutes
257 children were orphaned.
What are we to do with numbers like this?
These staggering statistics lead us to some very sobering
questions. Jesus tells us that the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are
few. The promise to Abraham was that he was to have a great name. And he does.
However, Jesus Christ is the "name above all names" and that "at
the name of Jesus, every knee should bow." My friends, Jesus Christ is the
one blessing that will bring life, flourishing fulfillment to all the nations.
And if millions upon millions of people are going to hell and we have been
given the blessing of God, the mandate is strong to share and give of all that
we have so that all the nations will find life, and life abundantly in Christ.
These blessings have come to us not only in the spiritual
sense, in Christ, but have come to us, especially in America, in the physical
as well. And those blessings are good. We are a terribly affluent country,
however, and we have hoarded our blessings as if they are our own. Jesus Christ
purchased the blessing for us in His blood so that we might make known the
glory of God to the nations by sharing the blessing with them. Both material
blessings and spiritual blessings. We have been entrusted with the blessing of
God so that we will make the greatness of His name and His glory known among
the nations so they will rejoice in the Lord, give praise to Him for His grace
and have infinite joy and pleasures evermore in Christ.
How are you sharing these blessings with your family? Your
neighbor? Your city? Workplace?
Are you a generous giver of this good news? Of your
resources?
Or are you a hoarder?
The beauty of this Gospel is that it takes us not only from
takers of the grace of God but turns us into givers of the abundant blessings
He gives to us, whether spiritual or material. Jesus said that to “Everyone to whom
much was given, of him much will be required.” He also said that it is more “blessed to give then to receive.”
I end with a story from David Platt's book Radical. This was
an email he received from a mother in their church in Birmingham, AL:
I made the decision
to go to Guatemala after seeing in God's Word that He commands us to go and
make disciples of all nations. I was going out of obedience, not because I had
a heart for missions or a passion for the people of Guatemala. I want you to
understand that I'm a wife, a mother, and a part-time psychologist -- I'm not a
missionary, and I'm certainly not a preacher. I was just being minimally
obedient to what I believed God's Word tells all of us to do. Praise God He
isn't minimally faithful and doesn't minimally bless us.
After spending a
week around precious children who eat a small cup of porridge a day, the
question I have come back to Birmingham asking God is why He has blessed me
when others have so little. And this is what God has shown me: "I have
blessed you for my glory. Not so you will have a comfortable life with a big
house and a nice car. Not so you can spend lots of money on vacations,
education, or clothing. Those aren't bad things, but I've blessed you so that
the nations will know me and see my glory."
All my life I have
completely disconnected God's blessings from God's purposes, and now I realize
what I had never seen. God has blessed me to show His love to Domingo, [an
elderly man whom Jamie saw come to Christ in Guatemala]. God has blessed me to
show His mercy and grace to children in Guatemala. That is why God has given me
income and education and resources. God saves me so that the nations will know
Him. He blesses me so that all the earth will see His glory!"
God has blessed you
so that you may be a blessing to all the nations of the earth -- for their
gladness and their joy in Christ and for the glory of God. May the Word of God
stir you to be a radical giver of the blessing that you have received.
