The Blessings of Abraham

‘I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed’ (Gen 12:2, 3).

The blessing of the Lord is the master key to living a life of fruitfulness, multiplication and total dominion. Anything else can only yield to fruitless labour. It will interest you to know that after God created man in the beginning, the next statement that is recorded is ‘then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply...’ (Gen 1:28). Also the last thing Jesus did before His ascension is that He blessed the disciples (Luke 24:51). This clearly reveals that the epitome of Christ’s mission on earth was the restoration of the blessings Adam and Eve lost when they sinned. In essence, Abraham’s blessing was only a prelude of God’s restoration of His blessings for mankind and all His creation.

The blessings of Abraham were fulfilled in Christ, He was Abraham’s descendant who brought blessing to all mankind. After man sinned and fell short of God’s glory, a curse took the place of our initial blessing. This was a curse that affected not only men but all of creation (Rom 8:19). But, glory to God that in His mercies and divine providence, He had already made a provision and a plan for our deliverance from that curse before the foundation of the world. What manner of Love is this? ‘All who dwell on the earth will worship him... the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world’ (Rev 13:8).

‘Abraham was a tenth generation descendant from Noah’s son Shem. He was born, raised, and lived the first 75 years of his life in Ur of the Chaldeans. Ur was the capital of Chaldea and the largest city in the world in Abraham’s day. It had a population of 65,000 people and was strategically located along the Euphrates River as an important trade city. It was a cosmopolitan city that boasted one of the strongest economies and some of the greatest technological advances in the ancient world. Most of the houses in Ur were two story villas with 13 or 14 rooms and plastered interior walls. Some of the homes even had in-door plumbing. It had all the comfort and security you could ever want’ (Jason R. McConnell). Regardless of all their civilization, Abraham together with all of the people of Ur was living under the original curse that was upon all mankind. Abraham had to leave Ur to possess the blessings of God.

Like Ur, the 21st century is seeing developments in all fields of study, which are intended for the betterment of man’s life. However, those that are not in Christ are still living in bondage in various aspects of their life. Without the blessing of God there is nothing like fulfillment. Adam and Eve were physically the same people after they sinned, but because the blessing of God had been replaced by a curse, there was no way they could be fruitful, multiply and subdue the earth. They totally lost their dominion or authority to rule the earth as God intended (Gen 1:26).

‘God counted Abraham righteous because of his faith, not because of his actions. Abraham failed many times. He sinned against God in many ways, but through his faith, God counted him righteous. The salvation of our souls today goes back to these words. Nobody enters God’s ultimate Promised Land only because they are good people or because they have done good deeds. We are just like Abraham. We are all sinners who have fallen short of God’s glory. We have disobeyed God and we deserve to be punished for our sins. But God is rich in mercy; he counts our souls righteous in His sight through our faith in His son Jesus Christ’ (Jason R. McConnell).

Have you accepted Jesus as your Lord and savior? There are many who acknowledge Him as the savior of the world, but have not accepted Him as their Lord or master. Today make Him your savior and master and you will forever be blessed. The blessings of Abraham are yours.