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)
Furthermore, consider what Apostle
Paul says in this verse “Whereof I am
made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for
you, to fulfil the word of God; Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages
and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints To whom God would
make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles;
which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Col 1:25-27). Also “That the
Gentiles should be fellow heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise
in Christ by the gospel” (Eph 3:6).
The question here to answer is how did
Abraham receive his blessing? It was clearly stated that the LORD preached the
gospel to Abraham “And the scripture,
foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before
the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.” (Gal
3:8). So Abraham received his blessing by believing in the gospel that was
preached to him. So as he received the gospel, the blessing was authenticated
because of his believe. In the same vein the blessing has been there for the
gentiles and as they receive the gospel and believe in it, their blessing was
authenticated as well. The sentence “In thee shall all nations be blessed.” Is
not really talking of Abraham but a reference made to the act of faith that he
demonstrated as he heard the gospel. That sentence suggests that by an act of
faith shall anyone or nation be blessed or receive the blessing of God. And
faith cannot come unless the gospel is being preached. So anyone who has not
heard the gospel is yet to receive faith and if faith in the gospel is not released
to someone the blessing which is the righteousness of God cannot be bestowed on
him or her.
The summation here is that the
blessing of God is the righteousness or righteous nature of God that is being
bestowed on someone after he or she must have received the message/gospel and by
faith believed in it. The declaration of righteousness upon an individual
means, that his or her sins or transgressions as the case maybe have been
forgiven or written off. This therefore,
means that anyone whose sins are forgiven has been saved from the wrath to
come; he or she will not face any judgment of condemnation. It shows that the
declaration of righteousness upon an individual is the confirmation that the
individual has received salvation. Remember, righteousness of God is received
by accepting the message of the gospel, let’s see this verse “But what saith it? The word is nigh thee,
even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we
preach; That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt
believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be
saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth
confession is made unto salvation.” (Rom 10:8-10). So salvation is the end
product of the blessing, which means that once someone receives the gift of
righteousness, he has received salvation and anyone who has not received or who
is not saved is not blessed of God.
Some will say why salvation? Well
salvation from the effect of fall of man! Remember is not like God changed. No,
God has been the same since the inception of the earth; is man that has to
change and to come into conformity with the original plan of God for him. Now
by the time God created the earth and man He blesses the man and that blessing
has been there and because man transgressed and sin against God, the blessing couldn’t
manifest hence the need for the message. Therefore, the acceptance of the
message brings man into the original plan of God where the blessing God has
pronounced on him right from the beginning will start flowing as required. It
means that anyone who received the message and accepted it has been saved from
the curse and cause of the fall, which by implication is the separation of man
from his creator.
The substance of the massage is the
declaration or announcement of what God has done for man in order to restore
the relationship between Him and man. The separation is not a physical
extinction but a spiritual demarcation between man and God. And as man is physically
alive without a spiritual connection between him and His creator is a futility
in existence, therefore, accepting the message means the reestablishment of
man’s spiritual position(s) in God. The wall of spiritual partition between God
and man is broken and there is unity now. Remember, as I said earlier the
blessing is not a physical thing!
To be continued….
Till I come your way again, keep on
basking in the Arena of Indubitable Truth!
Chukwuemeka C. Asiegbu
This is a riveting topic that can enhance the revelation of one in the knowledge of Christ.
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