I would like to show you what the blessing of Abraham is that God gave to him and how it relates to you as a believer in our Lord Jesus Christ.
The LORD had said to Abram, "Go from your country, your people and your father's household to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." (Gen 12:1-3)
He took him outside and said, "Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them." Then he said to him, "So shall your offspring be." (Gen 15:5)
I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me." (Gen 22:17-18)
Let's look at the six components of the blessing:
2. The promise that he will have a great name (reputation)
3. The promise that he would become a great nation (have many descendants)
4. God will bless those who bless him
5. God will curse those who curse him
6. Abraham will be a blessing
Here are some biblical examples of how the blessing of Abraham is fulfilled:
b) Became a nation called Israel that possessed the land of Canaan
a) Joseph prospered while in Egypt (Ge 39:2)
b) The Lord was with Joseph and gave him success in everything he did (Ge 39:3)
c) Joseph found favor in the eyes of his Egyptian master Potiphar, who put him in charge of his entire household and entrusted to his care everything he owned (Ge 39:4)
d) From the time Potiphar put Joseph in charge of everything, the Lord blessed his household because of Joseph, and the blessing of the Lord was upon everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field (Ge 39:5)
e) While in prison, the warden put all the prisoners under his authority (Ge 39:21-23)
f) Became ruler of all Egypt (Ge 41:37ff)
7. Mordecai became a high official of King Xerxes as well, and the same is true of him that all the Jewish people were blessed by him, just as King Xerxes was blessed when Mordecai reported the two, would-be assassins that intended to kill the king.
b) He remained through the reign of 5 kings
c) Influenced those kings for the glory of God, and they were blessed through him.
d) He wielded tremendous power and influence
e) He served with great honor and distinction
This blessing continues today in the life of every true disciple of Jesus Christ, possessing the faith of Abraham that led him to obey God, since we are descendants of Abraham, the children of promise (Gal 3:7,14, 29; 4:31).
1) The promise to bless us
a) Blessed spiritually with justification and with every spiritual blessing (Eph 1:3)
b) Blessed in every area of our temporal and eternal lives
c) “…the land [God promised to Abraham] is the type of the better land; the nation of the spiritual nation, the temporal blessing of the eternal blessing.”
2) The promise that we will have a great name (reputation)
3) The promise that we would have many descendants, especially spiritual ones
4) God will bless those who bless us
5) God will curse those who curse us
a) “Evil will slay the wicked; the foes of the righteous will be condemned.” (Psa 34:21)
b) Also see Ps 35:1-8, 26
c) “God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels.” (2Th 1:6-7)
6) We will be a blessing to others whom we associate with
a) Not merely a recipient of blessing, but a medium or conduit of blessing to others.
b) Jesus said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive,” So this is not a “bless me” message, but one that clearly has others in mind.
This is the gospel that was announced to Abraham. “The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: ‘All nations will be blessed through you.’ So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith,” (Gal 3:8-9).
This is what we were redeemed for. “He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promised of the Spirit.” (Gal 3:14).
Author's note: If you enjoyed this post, please also see the following: Being Blessable The Afflictions of the Righteous, God Exalts the Humble and Brings Down the Proud, and The "Never" Promises to the Righteous. Also see What's Wrong with the Prosperity Gospel? You may find the Main Directory for this blog at Home, and you may also access my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master."
Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus. Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?
“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15). He preached that we must repent and believe.
Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"
Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International. He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.
