Genesis 22:18 “In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed...”
Introduction:
I have seen Christians struggling to be blessed, or trying to earn the blessing of God to him, through good works, or by spending much of his/her time in the ministry.
In today’s sermon may God give us rest in our tired soul for pursuing this blessing, in fact the word of God say’s this blessing will be the one who will pursue us.
Our blessing is not based on our performance or work our blessing is based on the seed of Abraham.
The enemy is taking advantage of us because we still believe the way to be blessed is still in obeying the old testament law, which means through your own effort.
Always remember why we are blessed right now It’s because of the seed (Christ)
Genesis 3:15
And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel."
Ever since Satan heard this he diligently waited for that seed so that he may kill him.
He thought that seed was Abel, because God was pleased with Abel’s sacrifice. He killed Abel through Cain.
Then he thought it was Moses, so he tried to kill Moses through a decree of pharaoh that all baby boys under 2 yrs old will die.
But God saved baby Moses through his own mother to accomplish the plan of God.
Then Satan tried his best to kill Jesus when He was a baby but God protected Him.
Then finally without his foreknowledge that in the right time when Jesus died, Satan does not know that he engineered his own defeat.
Let’s dig deeper on this promised seed and why we are bless through HIM.
I. Blessed through a promise.
As part of the call of Abraham, the Lord made specific promises to which He committed Himself.
This contractual agreement has been called by many the "Abrahamic covenant."
Genesis 12:2,3
"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."
The provisions of these agreements, which ultimately would result in bringing blessing to all the families of the earth.
The Abrahamic Covenant has been described as "unconditional."
This means that God’s promises will be without qualification; that is, that the covenant promises will be completely fulfilled in spite of man’s success or failure to keep whatever conditions or commandments may be contained in the covenant.
This means, the blessing of this covenant is not based on our performance.
Hebrews 6:13,14
When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself, saying, "I will surely bless you and give you many descendants."
Fulfillment is dependent upon God and not man.
God’s promise was sure and it was unconditional.
We will receive the promise blessing to Abraham because God Himself was the one who promised.
Romans 4:13
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,
If you think you are bless because of your performance, you are still living under the law.
You are not under God’s grace because you still earn your blessing.
If you think your blessing is based on your goodness, you discredit the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Grace is unmerited favor, that means you don’t earn it –it’s yours even if you failed.
Galatians 3:18
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.
II. Blessed through Abraham’s seed.
Galatians 3:6
Consider Abraham: "He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness."
Verse 7:
Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham.
Verse 9
So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.
Ephesians 3:8
Although I am less than the least of all God’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.
One pastor shared,
One of the first "surprises" I received as a new Christian was learning that God wanted me to be blessed.
"To be blessed" means ’to be favoured by God’. Blessings therefore are directly associated with God and come from God.
Like the favor of the Lord in Josephs life.
Then this Pastor said again,
The second surprise was finding out that He had already given me every blessing that was possible--in Christ. God’s blessing is not something He’s going to do--it’s something He’s already done.
Ephesians 1:3 KJV
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ."
Many Christians think that this “SPIRITUAL BLESSING” is “INTAGIBLE”
Like peace, joy, love, mercy…etc
Church listen to this, this
“SPIRITUAL BLESSING” can manifest as promotion, can manifest as healing, can manifest as good sales, can manifest as favor from your boss, can manifest as travel around the world, can manifest as good family relationship, can manifest as victory in all your court cases, can manifest as millions of money.
Your Kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
People of God call this blessing from the heavenly realm!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Psalm 115: 15,16
May you be blessed by the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
The highest heavens belong to the LORD,
but the earth he has given to man.
God’s blessings are for us to enjoy here on earth.
All of these blessings (of Abraham) were made possible to experience it in this life ,when Jesus Christ our Lord died on the cross.
Galatians 3:14
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.
III. Blessed through the finished work of Christ.
Galatians 3:13
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."
Verse 14:
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.
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law. This means the curse is never God’s will for His people because His Son spilled blood to redeem us from its influence.
It makes it more difficult to redefine poverty and sickness as things God uses to mature us.
It’s more difficult because those conditions (along with many others) are clearly listed under what the Bible calls A CURSE!
God never curses His children in order to discipline them. An abusive father might do that--but not God! Our heavenly Father does everything necessary to make sure we have the knowledge to live in His blessings.
God’s people experience the curse of the law when they step outside of God’s grace and their position "in Christ".
Because you go back again to the law…
If we can be blessed or let’s say if we can get the blessing of Abraham through the law,
Jesus would not have been died on the cross.
The Law is so harsh, if you violated one, you violated it all.
Then you try again, and again and again…You cannot redeem yourself from the curse.
Then you feel condemn again.
But the truth is, this blessing was already made available for you by Jesus Christ when you believed in HIM.
Not by obeying the Law but through His unmerited favor…meaning not based on your goodness but based on the richness of His favor..His Grace.
2 Corinthians 8:9
For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.
Conclusion:
Many Christians are not experiencing this blessing because of lack of knowledge.
In the covenant of GRACE Jesus fulfilled all the “IFs” of the law for us.
Matthew 5:17,18
“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.
For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.
Because of the Love of Jesus for us He did this for us so that we may enjoy His blessing.
The Devil made as believe that this blessing is not available to you because you are not good.
You can answer the devil, “Yes I am not good, but my Jesus who said I’m already blessed is good.
Romans 8:32
He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?
