As I begin this message today, I want to ask you a question, “Do you want God to bless you?” You might think, “What a silly question!” Not really, Jesus asked this same question, and He wasn't trying to be silly. He was deadly serious.
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Note the scene here. Jesus encounters a man who . . .
A. Was in need of a blessing - v. 5
B. Was in desire of a blessing - v.7
C. Was in a place of blessing - v.2
Bethesda means “house of mercy” or “house of blessing”
. . . Yet, he was without blessing from God.
Can you relate to him? Could it be that you recognize your need for the blessings of God and that your desire for the blessings of God has brought you to the house of God - the house of blessing - but, like the lame man, you do not have the blessing of God upon your life?
If that describes you, then listen carefully to Jesus' question!
“Do you want God to bless you?”
What is implied in that question? What Jesus is emphasizing is that when we do not know the blessing of God in our life, the fault does not lie with God, but with us. We forfeit God's blessings because we do not know how to get in a position to receive them.
Do you want God to bless you? If so, there are two things you must understand, as illustrated by our passage today.
1. We must understand God’s heart - v. 6
God wants to bless us!
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” - Jeremiah 29:ll (NIV)
This is why Christ came to earth - to rescue us from the curse of sin so that we might live under the blessings of God.
You see, all mankind is under a curse due to sin.
Sin is simply going my own way as opposed to God's way. Sin is disobedience. All mankind is in sin. All mankind is in disobedience. Therefore, all mankind is under a curse.
And what is that curse? Simply stated, it is the curse of living a powerless life. It is that which Jesus declared:
“You can do nothing without me.” - John 15:5 (GN)
Apart from Christ, we are just like the lame man in our passage. We are without help and without hope. We are powerless.
But Jesus came to deliver us from the curse of sin, which Paul says the law makes abundantly clear - that on our own, apart from a relationship with God, we are powerless to obey Him and live as He intended. But when we choose to acknowledge Christ as our Savior, we are delivered from having to live our life under the curse of powerlessness.
“But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse
for our wrongdoing. For it is written in the Scriptures, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.’ Through Christ Jesus, God has blessed the Gentiles with the same blessing he promised to Abraham, so that we who are believers might receive the promised Holy Spirit through faith.” - Galatians 3:13-14 (NLT)
Christ was cursed, so we might be blessed. This is the exchanged life.
“I gave Him a crown of thorns, He gave me a crown of righteousness. I gave Him a cross to carry, He gave me His yoke which is easy, His burden which is light. I gave Him nails through His hands, He gave me safely into His Father’s hands from which no power can pluck me. I gave Him a mock title, ‘This is the King of the Jews.’ He gave me a new name and made me a king and a priest to God. I gave Him no covering, stripping His clothes from Him, He gave me a garment of salvation. I gave Him mockery, casting the same in His teeth, He gave me Paradise. I gave Him vinegar to drink, He gave me Living Water. I crucified and slew Him on a tree, He gave me eternal life. It was my sinfulness that put Him there. It is His sinlessness that puts me here.” - Derick Bingham
And where is it that Christ has put me as a result of my faith in Him? He has put me in a place to be blessed by God. Blessed to be able to live a life of obedience, a life that is empowered to please God.
“Christ carried our sins in his body on the cross so that freed from our sins, we could live a life that has God’s approval.” - 1 Peter 2:24 (GW)
But it is not enough to understand God’s heart.
2. We must understand our part - v. 8-9
We must obey God. What if the lame man had refused to do his part and did not obey the command of Christ? Even though he was in need of blessing and desired blessing and was in the place of blessing, he would have been without God’s blessing!
As a believer, I have a choice the unbeliever does not have - I can choose to live either under the curse of a powerless life or under the blessing of a power filled life. While obedience allows me to live under a blessing; disobedience puts me under a curse. And what, specifically, is the blessing I can choose to live under, if I will obey? The blessing of obedience is that I can live a power-filled life.
“The One who calls you is trustworthy [faithful], and he will do this [make this happen].” - I Thessalonians 5:24 (Expanded Bible)
If I would have God’s blessing upon my life, then understanding God’s heart, I must do my part. Obedience to God is the key to the blessing of God. Obedience puts me in a position to receive God’s blessings.
Unlike those who do not know Christ, we are free to choose to obey God and live a power filled life. You see, God’s heart is to bless all who belong to him through Christ.
A life of blessing has been provided for us, allowing us to live out from under the curse placed on all men because of sin. But we must do our part and choose to obey God.
The degree to which I obey God will determine the degree to which I am blessed by God.
You may be blessed with all the world offers and still be cursed with a meaningless life; but if you are obedient to God, even if you are cursed by this world, you are blessed beyond measure, because by His power, your life will have eternal significance.
S. I. McMillen, in his book “None of These Diseases,” tells of a young woman who wanted to go to college, but her heart sank when she read the question on the application that asked, “Are you a leader?” Being honest, she wrote, “No.” and turned it in. To her surprise, she received this letter from the college: “Dear Applicant: A study of the application forms reveals that this year our college will have 1,452 new leaders. We are accepting you because we feel it is imperative that they have at least one
follower.”
Just as a willingness to follow opened up a wonderful opportunity for that young lady to grow and learn and reach her potential; our
willingness to follow Christ and obey His call is what makes it possible for us to be blessed to have God’s power transform our lives from the inside out and enable us to live life to the full.
Conclusion: God has revealed His heart, now we must do our part and obey. “Do you want to be blessed?” A life of blessing has been made possible for us, if we are willing to obey.
Christ died on the cross to allow us to live the exchanged life - to exchange a powerless life for a power filled life; to exchange emptiness for fullness; to exchange aimlessness for purpose; to exchange to inability to obey and please God for the ability to obey and please God.
Therefore, to choose to not obey God as His child is not only a choice to have a saved soul but live a wasted life; but it is a choice to totally disrespect and disregard the significance of Christ’s sacrifice. It was disobedient believers the writer of Hebrews had in mind when he spoke of how, through their disobedience, they . . .
“. . . have trampled on the Son of God, and have treated the blood of the covenant, which made us holy, as if it were common and unholy, and have insulted and disdained the Holy Spirit who brings God’s mercy to us.” - Hebrews 10:29 (NLT)
As we think together about the importance of obedience, let's remind ourselves of the sacrifice that has made it possible for us to live a changed life, and commit ourselves afresh to choosing blessing over cursing by choosing daily to obey.
If you do not know Christ, choose today to pass from cursing to blessing by obeying the gospel - I Peter 4:17
