ENJOYING MULTI-GENERATIONAL FAMILY BLESSING : THE COVENANTAL BLESSING OF ABRAHAM
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OUTLINE
1. ABRAHAM
2. ISAAC
3. JACOB
4. JOSEPH
5. EPHRAIM AND MANASSEH
6. THE ISRAELITES
7. THE CHURCH
THE MESSAGE
ENJOYING MULTI-GENERATIONAL FAMILY BLESSING : THE COVENANTAL BLESSING OF ABRAHAM
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1. ABRAHAM
The Lord wants us to learn from the life of Abraham the secrets of enjoying multi-generational family blessing. In these times of uncertainity and instability many people are worried and anxious about their future and the future of their children and grandchildren. The life of Abraham teaches us how to enjoy the blessings of God from generation to generation. Abraham had faith in God and was obedient to God. He believed in the promises of God and was willing to leave all his familiar surroundings to go where the Lord wanted him to go. The Lord was faithful to His promise and blessed Abraham abundantly. Abraham demonstrated his faith in God again when he beleived God for the birth of his promised son Isaac even when was hundred years old. He also showed his supreme love for God when he was willing to sacrifice his deeply loved son Isaac in obedience to God. As a result he entered into a covenant of blessing wth God which blessed all his descendants. We must follow the example of Abraham to enjoy such a blessing on our families.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
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ISAIAH 51:1-2
"Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness and who seek the LORD : Look to the rock from which you were cut and to the quarry from which you were hewn;
look to Abraham, your father,and to Sarah, who gave you birth. When I called him he was but one, and I blessed him and made him many.
HEBREWS 11: 8-10
By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.
By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise.
For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
GENESIS 12: 1-4
The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go 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."
So Abram left, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Haran.
GENESIS 13: 2, 5-6
Abram had become very wealthy in livestock and in silver and gold.
Now Lot, who was moving about with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents.
But the land could not support them while they stayed together, for their possessions were so great that they were not able to stay together.
HEBREWS 11:11-16
By faith Abraham, even though he was past age—and Sarah herself was barren—was enabled to become a father because he considered him faithful who had made the promise.
And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.
All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth.
People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own.
If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return.
Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
ROMANS 4:13-25
It was not through law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith.
For if those who live by law are heirs, faith has no value and the promise is worthless,
because law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression.
Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all.
As it is written: "I have made you a father of many nations." He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were.
Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, "So shall your offspring be."
Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead.
Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God,
being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.
This is why "it was credited to him as righteousness."
The words "it was credited to him" were written not for him alone,
but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.
He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.
HEBREWS 11:17-19
By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son,
even though God had said to him, "It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned."
Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death.
JAMES 2:20-24
You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?
Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?
You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did.
And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called God’s friend.
You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.
GENESIS 22:1-18
Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, "Abraham!" "Here I am," he replied.
Then God said, "Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about."
Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about.
On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance.
He said to his servants, "Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you."
Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together,
Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, "Father?" "Yes, my son?" Abraham replied. "The fire and wood are here," Isaac said, "but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?"
Abraham answered, "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." And the two of them went on together.
When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood.
Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.
But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, "Abraham! Abraham!" "Here I am," he replied.
"Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son."
Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son.
So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, "On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided."
The angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time
and said, "I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son,
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."
2. ISAAC
The blessing of Abraham continued in the life of his son Isaac. During a time of famine, the Lord appeared to Isaac and promised to bless him and confirm the oath sworn to Abraham. As a result Isaac enjoyed a hundred fold harvest even in the time of famine. He became a very prosperous and powerful man. We can also be blessed with prosperity even in the midst of economic depression when the blessing of God is upon our families.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
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GENESIS 26: 1-6, 12-25
Now there was a famine in the land—besides the earlier famine of Abraham’s time—and Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines in Gerar.
The LORD appeared to Isaac and said, "Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land where I tell you to live.
Stay in this land for a while, and I will be with you and will bless you. For to you and your descendants I will give all these lands and will confirm the oath I swore to your father Abraham.
I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed,
because Abraham obeyed me and kept my requirements, my commands, my decrees and my laws."
So Isaac stayed in Gerar.
Isaac planted crops in that land and the same year reaped a hundredfold, because the LORD blessed him.
The man became rich, and his wealth continued to grow until he became very wealthy.
He had so many flocks and herds and servants that the Philistines envied him.
So all the wells that his father’s servants had dug in the time of his father Abraham, the Philistines stopped up, filling them with earth.
Then Abimelech said to Isaac, "Move away from us; you have become too powerful for us."
So Isaac moved away from there and encamped in the Valley of Gerar and settled there.
Isaac reopened the wells that had been dug in the time of his father Abraham, which the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham died, and he gave them the same names his father had given them.
Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and discovered a well of fresh water there.
But the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen and said, "The water is ours!" So he named the well Esek, because they disputed with him.
Then they dug another well, but they quarreled over that one also; so he named it Sitnah.
He moved on from there and dug another well, and no one quarreled over it. He named it Rehoboth, saying, "Now the LORD has given us room and we will flourish in the land."
From there he went up to Beersheba.
That night the LORD appeared to him and said, "I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bless you and will increase the number of your descendants for the sake of my servant Abraham."
Isaac built an altar there and called on the name of the LORD. There he pitched his tent, and there his servants dug a well.
3. JACOB
The blessing of Abraham continued to the third generation in the life of his grandson Jacob. The Lord appeared to Jacob and promised to bless him and his descendants. The Lord introduced himself as the God of Abraham and Isaac. He reaffirmed with Jacob the covenant He had made with Abraham. As a result Jacob enjoyed great blessing and prosperity in his life. The Lord protected him from those who wanted to harm him and destroy him. We can also enjoy such prosperity and protection when we have the blessing of God upon our families.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
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GENESIS 28: 10-19
Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Haran.
When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep.
He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.
There above it stood the LORD, and he said: "I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying.
Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.
I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you."
When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, "Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it."
He was afraid and said, "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven."
Early the next morning Jacob took the stone he had placed under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on top of it.
He called that place Bethel, though the city used to be called Luz.
GENESIS 48:3-4
Jacob said to Joseph, "God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and there he blessed me
and said to me, ’I am going to make you fruitful and will increase your numbers. I will make you a community of peoples, and I will give this land as an everlasting possession to your descendants after you.’
GENESIS 31:1-9, 26-29, 36-42,
Jacob heard that Laban’s sons were saying, "Jacob has taken everything our father owned and has gained all this wealth from what belonged to our father."
And Jacob noticed that Laban’s attitude toward him was not what it had been.
Then the LORD said to Jacob, "Go back to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you."
So Jacob sent word to Rachel and Leah to come out to the fields where his flocks were.
He said to them, "I see that your father’s attitude toward me is not what it was before, but the God of my father has been with me.
You know that I’ve worked for your father with all my strength,
yet your father has cheated me by changing my wages ten times. However, God has not allowed him to harm me.
If he said, ’The speckled ones will be your wages,’ then all the flocks gave birth to speckled young; and if he said, ’The streaked ones will be your wages,’ then all the flocks bore streaked young.
So God has taken away your father’s livestock and has given them to me.
Then Laban said to Jacob, "What have you done? You’ve deceived me, and you’ve carried off my daughters like captives in war.
Why did you run off secretly and deceive me? Why didn’t you tell me, so I could send you away with joy and singing to the music of tambourines and harps?
You didn’t even let me kiss my grandchildren and my daughters good-by. You have done a foolish thing.
I have the power to harm you; but last night the God of your father said to me, ’Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.’
Jacob was angry and took Laban to task. "What is my crime?" he asked Laban. "What sin have I committed that you hunt me down?
Now that you have searched through all my goods, what have you found that belongs to your household? Put it here in front of your relatives and mine, and let them judge between the two of us.
"I have been with you for twenty years now. Your sheep and goats have not miscarried, nor have I eaten rams from your flocks.
I did not bring you animals torn by wild beasts; I bore the loss myself. And you demanded payment from me for whatever was stolen by day or night.
This was my situation: The heat consumed me in the daytime and the cold at night, and sleep fled from my eyes.
It was like this for the twenty years I was in your household. I worked for you fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flocks, and you changed my wages ten times.
If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been with me, you would surely have sent me away empty-handed. But God has seen my hardship and the toil of my hands, and last night he rebuked you."
4. JOSEPH
The blessing of Abraham continued to the fourth generation in the life of his great grandson Joseph. The Lord made him a ruler over Egypt and used him to preserve the descendants of Abraham from perishing in the famine. Joseph faced severe attacks and trials in his life , but he was able to survive and triumph over them because the blessing of God was upon his life. He had a victorious end to his life and even lived to see three generations of his son Ephraim. We can also triumph against all odds when the blessing of God is upon our families.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
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GENESIS 41:38-44
So Pharaoh asked them, "Can we find anyone like this man, one in whom is the spirit of God ?"
Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one so discerning and wise as you.
You shall be in charge of my palace, and all my people are to submit to your orders. Only with respect to the throne will I be greater than you."
So Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I hereby put you in charge of the whole land of Egypt."
Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his finger and put it on Joseph’s finger. He dressed him in robes of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck.
He had him ride in a chariot as his second-in-command, and men shouted before him, "Make way !" Thus he put him in charge of the whole land of Egypt.
Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I am Pharaoh, but without your word no one will lift hand or foot in all Egypt."
GENESIS 49: 22-26
"Joseph is a fruitful vine, a fruitful vine near a spring, whose branches climb over a wall.
With bitterness archers attacked him; they shot at him with hostility.
But his bow remained steady, his strong arms stayed limber, because of the hand of the Mighty One of Jacob, because of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel,
because of your father’s God, who helps you, because of the Almighty, who blesses you with blessings of the heavens above, blessings of the deep that lies below, blessings of the breast and womb.
Your father’s blessings are greater than the blessings of the ancient mountains, than the bounty of the age-old hills. Let all these rest on the head of Joseph, on the brow of the prince among his brothers.
GENESIS 50:22-26
Joseph stayed in Egypt, along with all his father’s family. He lived a hundred and ten years
and saw the third generation of Ephraim’s children. Also the children of Makir son of Manasseh were placed at birth on Joseph’s knees.
Then Joseph said to his brothers, "I am about to die. But God will surely come to your aid and take you up out of this land to the land he promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob."
And Joseph made the sons of Israel swear an oath and said, "God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up from this place."
So Joseph died at the age of a hundred and ten. And after they embalmed him, he was placed in a coffin in Egypt.
5. EPHRAIM AND MANASSEH
The blessing of Abraham continued to the fifth generation in the lives of his great great grandchildren Ephraim and Mannaseh. Jacob blessed the children of Joseph on his deathbed and prophesied a great future of them. He was confident that the blessing of God would continue to operate in the lives of his descendants. He even said that they would so blessed that people would use them as an example and say ’May the Lord bless you as Ephraim and Mannaseh’. We can also have such a confidence about the future of our descendants when the blessing of God is upon our families.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
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GENESIS 48:13-20
And Joseph took both of them, Ephraim on his right toward Israel’s left hand and Manasseh on his left toward Israel’s right hand, and brought them close to him.
But Israel reached out his right hand and put it on Ephraim’s head, though he was the younger, and crossing his arms, he put his left hand on Manasseh’s head, even though Manasseh was the firstborn.
Then he blessed Joseph and said, "May the God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day,
the Angel who has delivered me from all harm —may he bless these boys. May they be called by my name and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac, and may they increase greatly upon the earth."
When Joseph saw his father placing his right hand on Ephraim’s head he was displeased; so he took hold of his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head.
Joseph said to him, "No, my father, this one is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head."
But his father refused and said, "I know, my son, I know. He too will become a people, and he too will become great. Nevertheless, his younger brother will be greater than he, and his descendants will become a group of nations."
He blessed them that day and said, "In your name will Israel pronounce this blessing: ’May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.’ " So he put Ephraim ahead of Manasseh.
6. THE ISRAELITES
The blessing of Abraham continued even into lives of the Israelites when they were in bondage in Egypt. The Lord remembered his covenant with Abraham and came down to deliver them by performing mighty signs and wonders. The people of Israel who were the descendants of Abraham experienced such a mighty deliverance because of the covenant God made with Abraham. We can also experience such supernatural intervention and deliverance even in the lives of our descendants when we have such a covenant of blessing with God for our families.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
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EXODUS 1:6-22
Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died,
but the Israelites were fruitful and multiplied greatly and became exceedingly numerous, so that the land was filled with them.
Then a new king, who did not know about Joseph, came to power in Egypt.
"Look," he said to his people, "the Israelites have become much too numerous for us.
Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country."
So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor, and they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh.
But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites
and worked them ruthlessly.
They made their lives bitter with hard labor in brick and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields; in all their hard labor the Egyptians used them ruthlessly.
The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah,
"When you help the Hebrew women in childbirth and observe them on the delivery stool, if it is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live."
The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live.
Then the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, "Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?"
The midwives answered Pharaoh, "Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive."
So God was kind to the midwives and the people increased and became even more numerous.
And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own.
Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: "Every boy that is born you must throw into the Nile, but let every girl live."
EXODUS 2:1-10, 23-25
Now a man of the house of Levi married a Levite woman,
and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months.
But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile.
His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him.
Then Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the river bank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her slave girl to get it.
She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. "This is one of the Hebrew babies," she said.
Then his sister asked Pharaoh’s daughter, "Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?"
"Yes, go," she answered. And the girl went and got the baby’s mother.
Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, "Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you." So the woman took the baby and nursed him.
When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh’s daughter and he became her son. She named him Moses, saying, "I drew him out of the water."
During that long period, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God.
God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob.
So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them.
EXODUS 3:1-17
Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the desert and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.
There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up.
So Moses thought, "I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up."
When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, "Moses! Moses!" And Moses said, "Here I am."
"Do not come any closer," God said. "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground."
Then he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob." At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.
The LORD said, "I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering.
So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites.
And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them.
So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt."
But Moses said to God, "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?"
And God said, "I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain."
Moses said to God, "Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ’The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ’What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?"
God said to Moses, "I am who I am . This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ’I AM has sent me to you.’ "
God also said to Moses, "Say to the Israelites, ’The LORD, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation.
"Go, assemble the elders of Israel and say to them, ’The LORD, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—appeared to me and said: I have watched over you and have seen what has been done to you in Egypt.
And I have promised to bring you up out of your misery in Egypt into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites—a land flowing with milk and honey.’
PSALM 105:26-42
He sent Moses his servant, and Aaron, whom he had chosen.
They performed his miraculous signs among them, his wonders in the land of Ham.
He sent darkness and made the land dark— for had they not rebelled against his words?
He turned their waters into blood, causing their fish to die.
Their land teemed with frogs, which went up into the bedrooms of their rulers.
He spoke, and there came swarms of flies, and gnats throughout their country.
He turned their rain into hail, with lightning throughout their land;
he struck down their vines and fig trees and shattered the trees of their country.
He spoke, and the locusts came, grasshoppers without number;
they ate up every green thing in their land, ate up the produce of their soil.
Then he struck down all the firstborn in their land, the firstfruits of all their manhood.
He brought out Israel, laden with silver and gold, and from among their tribes no one faltered.
Egypt was glad when they left, because dread of Israel had fallen on them.
He spread out a cloud as a covering, and a fire to give light at night.
They asked, and he brought them quail and satisfied them with the bread of heaven.
He opened the rock, and water gushed out; like a river it flowed in the desert.
For he remembered his holy promise given to his servant Abraham.
7. THE CHURCH
The blessing of Abraham continues even today in the church of Jesus Christ. Christ became a curse for our sake so that the blessing of Abraham might come upon us. Everyone who belongs to Christ is a seed of Abraham and can enjoy the blessing that was promised to Abraham and his descendants. The birth of Christ was a fulfillment of the covenant that God made with Abraham. As beleivers in Christ we can enjoy the promise that God made to Abraham to bless him and his descendants. When we claim this covenantal blessing in our families which the sacrifice of Christ has made available to us, we will be blessed and we will be a blessing to others. We will triumph over our enemies. Everyone who blesses us will also enjoy the blessings of God. We will prosper and experience the greatness and the honour that comes from God. We must follow the example of Abraham and and have the same faith and obedience and the intimacy and relationship with God that he had in order to enter into such a covenantal blessing for our families.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
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GENESIS 12: 1-3
The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go 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."
GENESIS 22:15-18
The angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time
and said, "I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son,
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."
JAMES 2:21-23
Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?
You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did.
And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called God’s friend.
- Hide quoted text -
GALATIANS 3:6-18 , 26-29
Consider Abraham: "He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness."
Understand, then, that those who believe are children of 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.
All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law."
Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, "The righteous will live by faith."
The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, "The man who does these things will live by them."
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree."
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 promise of the Spirit.
Brothers, let me take an example from everyday life. Just as no one can set aside or add to a human covenant that has been duly established, so it is in this case.
The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say "and to seeds," meaning many people, but "and to your seed," meaning one person, who is Christ.
What I mean is this: The law, introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise.
For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on a promise; but God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise.
You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus,
for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
LUKE 1:67-75
His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied:
"Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come and has redeemed his people.
He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David
(as he said through his holy prophets of long ago),
salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us—
to show mercy to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant,
the oath he swore to our father Abraham:
to rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and to enable us to serve him without fear
in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.
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