THE BLESSING OF ABRAHAM

 Ps. Abraham Addae Agyemang

Sunday, 1st September, 2013

Text (s): Genesis 12: 1-3, Acts 7:3, Hebrew 11:8

INTRODUCTION

God told/called Abram (later called Abraham) to leave his native country, relatives and family and go to the land He(God) will show him. When the call came, Abram moved out in faith to follow God. God then established a covenant of blessing with him. God told him, he will father a great nation which will be blessed to be a blessing to other nations. The nation Israel was that nation physically and the Church was its spiritual counterpart.

 This blessed nation was to follow God wholeheartedly with reverence and obedience and then influence other nations to do the same. The blessing that was pronounce by God upon Abraham manifested in the flesh (John 1:14) in the person of Jesus Christ who was born to die to save humanity. Through him, people came to have personal relationship with God as their father and blessed beyond measure with all spiritual, physical and heavenly blessings. Therefore the blessing is a person and his name is Christ Jesus.

ACTIVATING THE BLESSING OF ABRAHAM

In order to activate the Abrahamic blessing, one must first accept Jesus Christ as his or her personal saviour and do what God tells him/her to do in his word. God promised to bless Abraham and make him great but it had one condition, which is obedience to God's commandments. To be blessed you must do everything God tells you to do (John 2:5, Genesis 22:16-18, Deuteronomy 28:1-2). Below are some of the things that activate the Abrahamic blessing in one’s life:

A. FAITH

Abraham moved with faith when God called him to move to a land where was to receive it later as his inheritance (Hebrew 11:8). God expects his children to have absolute faith in his faithfulness and trust him fully. The bible says in Hebrew 11:6 that without faith it is impossible to please God. It is faith alone in Christ alone that saves. Abraham believed God and it was counted as righteousness for him (Genesis 15:6). The just shall live by faith in Christ Jesus to walk in God's blessings.

B.GOD'S CALL

God was one who decided to call Abram and make into a nation of his own people. It was not Abram who went and ask God to call him. The call was God's own initiative. He knows why he called Abram. He called him from a godless, self-centered city of Ur to the land of Canaan, where a Godly (God-centered, moral and holy) nation was to be established by him. Although small in size, the land of Canaan had impacted world history like no other.

 We must understand that despite our small beginnings and family backgrounds, God has called us into a great heavenly nation. We are no more identified with our earthly family but with the heavenly family of God. We are heavenly citizens. When our work is done on earth we will go to our heavenly mansions. God is always with us (Matthew 28:20) and will protect us from all the plans and attacks of the enemy.

C.HOLINESS

Nothing brings God's blessing like holiness. In Hebrews 12:14, we are told that without holiness no one will see God. We are in the end times where people want to relegate holiness to the background. Holiness brings grace. The reason why God chose Mary as the carrier of the blessing (Jesus Christ) to the world was that she was holy. The Abrahamic blessing hates sin. It cannot operate in sin. Purity produces its power. Sin is a reproach unto any people or nation. We have no option than holiness unto the Lord in order to activate his blessings.

D.HUMILITY

God always opposes the proud but he gives grace to the humble. In Philippians 2:5-11, we see that because Christ humbled himself in obedience to God and took the humble position of a slave/servant and died on the cross, God elevated him to the place of highest honour and gave him a name(Genesis 12:2) above all names. We must go down for God to lift us to possess the Abrahamic blessings.

E.GIVING

For God so love the world, he gave his only begotten son to the world and who ever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16). The blessing came to us through the giving of God. We are blessed to be a blessing. If we are not ready to be givers of our time, money, life unto God and his people, the blessing will not come. What really activated the blessing for Abraham was when he offered his only promised son (Isaac) to God (Genesis 22:1-19). We must give our best for the blessing to come.

CONCLUSSION

The blessing of Abraham is Jesus Christ. He came and offered himself as God's single sacrifice for sins once and for all. He is seated in the place of honour at God's right hand (Hebrews 10:12). He is the blessing with which God promised to bless Abraham with. H is the one to destroy the works of the devil and set mankind free to enjoy God's blessing (Luke 4:18-19).

The ultimate blessing Christ has for us is heaven. He is the only way to heaven and he earned that right through the laying down of his life. He purchased our salvation with his precious blood and destined us to be God's children who will reign with him in glory. He is our co-heir and brother. He is our saviour and God (Lord). He is the blessing of Abraham and he has blessed us to be a blessing. 

Amen!!!