Continued
from the last episode:
Preamble: Knowing and understanding what the
blessing is will definitely enhance our Christian life. Over the years there
has been a misconception or misnomer about what the blessing of God is, and as a
result many who are blessed are thinking they are not and many who are not are
basking in great fallacious delusion thinking they have arrived. In this topic,
we are going to painstakingly unfold the meaning of the blessing of God.
Text
Of Interest:
“The
blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it.”
Provb
10:22 (KJV)
It is interesting to know that one can
have all the concentration and understanding but without believing what was
said the blessing will not come upon him or her. Therefore, for the
establishment and manifestation of the blessing believe is required. As we
continue to unfold what the blessing of God is, we should not hesitate to seek
insight in the scripture, because the scripture will always form the bases for
the meaning of anything that has to do with God. Remember, the blessing is
God’s blessing and as a result it must be understood in the light of God’s
nature and attitude towards man. Anything other than that will generate a
negative outline or a derailment from the purpose and idea of God as regards to
it. And of course if that is the case, it will no longer be the blessing of God
but a blessing which can be sourced from any other source.
Therefore, what the blessing is can
only be understood by looking at the nature of the man who has received the
blessing in his life. And the bible describes what the blessing is in Psalm 32:1
– 2 “Blessed is he whose transgression is
forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth
not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.” This shows that the
blessing of the LORD is the forgiveness of one’s transgression and the
cancellation of the record of iniquity in the life of a man. In the light of
this fact, it should be acceptable that, inasmuch as God is concerned, a
blessed person is one who has received His forgiveness and whose iniquity is
not recorded. On this note, irrespective of what one can possess if his or her
sins and iniquities are not forgiven in the sight of God he or she is not
blessed.
If that is the case, the issue to look
at is how does forgiveness of sin and cancellation of iniquity comes? Well
forgiveness of sins and iniquities can only be received by someone accepting
the message of righteousness and as a result he or she is declared righteous.
From the quotation above, it is therefore clear that the blessing of God is the
declaration of someone righteous by God. So righteousness declared by God on a
person or group of people is the blessing and if one has not received this
declaration from God he or she is not blessed by God. Let see what happened to
a man in the Old Testament called Abraham in Genesis 15:6 “And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for
righteousness.” As Abraham believed God the gift of righteousness was
bestowed on him and the gift of righteousness is the declaration of the
blessing of God.
One thing to consider here is that he
didn’t receive the declaration of righteousness until he has believed what God has
spoken to him in the previous verse and that is Genesis 15:4-5 “And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto
him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of
thine own bowels shall be thine heir. And he brought him forth abroad, and
said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number
them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.” Worthy to mention here
is that the blessing is not finagled or foisted on any one but the reception of
it is an act of someone’s willingness to accept it. This shows that Abraham
believed the gospel that God preached to him voluntarily and such brought the
blessing of God unto him. In the same vein one’s receiving of the blessing is
rooted in the believing of the message of the blessing because encapsulated in
the message is the blessing.
Notice that Abraham has been an idol
worshipper before God called him; this shows that God is not interested in
counting man’s sins but He is interested in counting man’s righteousness. If
God was interested in counting people’s sin He wouldn’t have made the move to
talk to Abraham because he was still living in sin. In 2 Corinthians 5:19
Apostle Paul speaking says “To wit, that
God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their
trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.”
This is an indication that God’s expectation of every man is that he turns from
his own ways and return to Him. Immediately Abraham received and believed God,
the righteousness of God was bestowed unto him and he was blessed in the sight
of God. The believing by Abraham is an act of faith, so by implication
Abraham’s righteousness is received by faith and as a result his blessing is a
product of faith in what was spoken to him.
This takes us to another dimension and
which is the fact that the righteousness was bestowed on him based on his
believe in the spoken words he heard from God not based on his performance. The
implication of this is that blessing is rooted in righteousness and
righteousness as it is, is a gift from God and that is why the determination of
the length, breadth and depth of the blessing is not depended on the receiver
but on God who gives it.
To be continued…..
Till I come your way again, keep on
basking in the Arena of Indubitable Truth!
Chukwuemeka C. Asiegbu
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