I like to begin each day with a confession of faith. What we say has power. The Bible says, “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks,” and “As he thinks in his heart, so is he.” Confession is more powerful than most Christians ever realize. That’s why Romans 10:9-10 says, “That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart man believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” The confession that I begin my day with varies somewhat, because I don’t want it to become something that I don’t engage my mind in, in other words, a vain repetition, but it does stay pretty much on the same track. Part of the confession that I’ve developed is that, “I walk in the blessing of Abraham.” When I first started saying that, as a confession, I had in mind that I am justified by faith and blessed with great promises, just as Abraham was. Of course, that’s correct, but God has shown me that there is much more to it than I realized.
This text has two major considerations at which I want us to look: The curse of the law and the blessing of Abraham.
We’re very plainly told that Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law. It is clearly past tense and plainly stated, nobody should have any trouble seeing that fact. What I believe people do have trouble understanding, however, is of what exactly does the curse of the law consist? What does it mean? Let me direct your attention to Deuteronomy 28, verse 15 and following. In these verse, we can see that the curse of the law is the results for not keeping it. I would venture to say that if we know anything about the Bible, at all, we know that there is the result of spiritual death. We know that when Adam and Eve disobeyed God, although they did not immediately die physically, they instantly died spiritually. That’s why they ran from God and tried to hide, because fellowship with God is a spiritual thing. In Deuteronomy 28, we see that there is more to the curse of the law than just spiritual death, although that’s certainly bad enough. There is poverty, sickness and destruction. Verse 15 sets the stage by telling God’s people that they must obey the voice of God, and they must observe carefully all of His commands and statutes. If they fail, here’s the curse: poverty, verses 16-20; 30-33; sickness, verses 21-22; 35; 59-61; and destruction, verses 49-57; 62-68.
Now, we must seriously ask the question, what does it mean that Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law? It means that we no longer have to live under it! Please look at Psalm 103, which is not a Psalm about the law or its curse, but it is about the heart of God and His great benefits to His covenant people. Verses 1-2 tell us to bless the Lord, or as we might say, praise the Lord, but then it says, “forget not all His benefits.” Another way of saying that is to say, “Don’t forget any of His benefits.” I’m afraid many Christians have forgotten, if they ever knew. Look at the benefits that this Psalm list, that we are not supposed to forget: He forgives all your iniquities; He heals all your diseases; He redeems your life from destruction; He crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies; he satisfies your mouth with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s; and, He executes righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed. These are all things that God does for His covenant people, who are not living under the curse. Galatians 3:13 says, “Christ has redeemed us from the curse!”
The other consideration that is coupled to being redeemed from the curse, that we see in verse 14, is that the blessing of Abraham has come upon us who have received the promise of the Spirit through faith, or have entered into the covenant by the working of the Holy Spirit, through our faith in Christ.
Abraham was blessed, and this blessing affected every area of his life, and even those around him. His cup ran over, and the saucer got some! Lot found out that just standing in Abraham’s shadow paid big dividends. Genesis 13: 2, 5-6 tells us that Abraham was very rich, and that Lot became rich, also.
Now I don’t want you to misunderstand what I’m saying. I’m not saying that godliness equals being rich in material possessions. But I am saying that God’s people don’t have to be poverty stricken, and I can base that on many verses of scripture. In Psalm 37, for instance, the Psalmist says, “I have been young, now I am old, and I have never seen the righteous forsaken or His seed begging bread.” I am trying to impress a biblical truth on you, and that is that believing God, evidenced by obeying Him, will bring blessing to every area of your life.
In spite of the many mis-steps that Abraham made, like going into Egypt in time of famine, lying about his wife, fathering Ishmael, and a number of other things, his life is a major success story. Genesis 25:7-8 tell us that he lived to be 175 years old, and there is no record of his ever being sickly. As a matter of fact, after the death of Sarah, he remarried around the age of 140 and fathered six more children!
The blessing of Abraham passed to his son, Isaac, and Genesis 26:1-14 shows how God blessed him in everything he did. Even his enemies became afraid of him, because they saw how the Lord was with him. It was like no weapon formed against him could prosper! He was walking in the blessing of Abraham.
Then, the blessing was passed to Jacob. Jacob was a rascal in just about every way, before God changed his life, but he had the blessing, and it was powerful on his life. He started out with just a rock for a pillow and became so increased in material possessions, that he divided his stuff in two great companies. Other than his eyes growing dim with age, the Bible doesn’t record that he was sickly in any way.
From Jacob, the blessing passed to Joseph. By the way, the reason the Bible seems to put the spotlight on these particular people, out of all the other people who lived, is because it was following the blessing. In spite of much seemingly bad circumstance, God worked everything in Joseph’s life together for good. You know his story, how he was sold into slavery by his brothers, wound up in a man named Potiphar’s house as a servant, and Potiphar saw how everything he touched succeeded, and Genesis 39:3 says he made Joseph overseer of his house, and all that he had, he put under his authority. Joseph was just a teenager at the time, but he was walking in the blessing of Abraham! Then, Potiphar’s wife lied about him, and he was sent to prison for several years. Genesis 39:21-22 says that the keeper of the prison saw how the Lord was with Joseph, so he put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners! He was still just a teenager, but the hand of God was upon him. No man could despise his youth. When he finally got out of prison, he was made second in command over all of Egypt, and it all happened in one day. He went from being a prisoner to a prime minister in one day! God can do exceeding, abundantly above all you can ask or think.
After Joseph, God placed the blessing on the nation of Israel. Their history has been tumultuous, to say the least, but that is because of their disobedience. They have suffered the curse of the law because of their failure to obey God, but in spite of that, the blessing of Abraham has been upon them. Today, they make up a small percentage of the world’s population, yet they hold a significant percentage of the world’s wealth. The only way one can explain their continued existence, much less their success, is the blessing of Abraham.
That blessing was always progressing toward one Seed, the Lord Jesus. The Bible teaching is that those, who are the redeemed, are in Christ. For just a sampling of the verses that teach this truth, look at 1 Corinthians 1:30; 3:1; 4:15; and, 2 Corinthians 5:17. The reason Romans 8:17 teaches that we are joint-heirs with Christ, is that we are in Him. The reason Ephesians 2:6 says that we have been raised up to sit in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, is that we are in Him. If He is blessed, we are blessed, because we are in Him. 1 John 4:17 says, “...as He is, so are we in this world, because we are in Him.
I have concluded that there are two reasons so many Christians do not experience all the benefits of the blessing of Abraham. 1) They don’t know about; 2) They refuse to believe it.
Have you settled for a life that is far less than that which God has provided for you? I hear people talk about the situations of their life with such hopelessness, as though nothing can be done. Is this true? Is there nothing that can be done? I submit that the answer is an emphatic, “No!” Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, that the blessing of Abraham might come upon us. If you are saved, the blessing of Abraham is upon you. Are you experience victory through faith in the promises of God, or are you living in defeat because of your unbelief. This is your place, and your time, to turn around.
