Blessed to be a blessing
- Introduction
God led his people out of Egypt to bring them to a land of milk & honey. They were to be his special people, distinct.
One distinctive was that they had to power to bless.
Num 6:22 The LORD said to Moses, Num 6:23 “Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is how you are to bless the Israelites.
Say to them: Num 6:24 “‘ “The LORD bless you and keep you; Num 6:25 the LORD make his face shine upon you
and be gracious to you; Num 6:26 the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace.”‘Num 6:27 “So they will
put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.”
- What does it mean to bless:
(1). It is speaking forth
- Speak fertility on the sterile
- Speak prosperity on the needy
- Speak health on the sick.
– Blessing is speaking our desires into a situation, with faith in a God who is able to do more than all we ask.
(2). The Bible is full of it
- As soon as He creates man, God blesses him. So ‘blessing’ is God’s idea & a pattern He wants us to learn
from him & imitate:
Gen 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created
them. Gen 1:28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.
Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
- Rebekkah’s sisters bless her before she goes off to marry Issac;
Gen 24:60 And they blessed Rebekah and said to her, “Our sister, may you increase to thousands upon thousands;
may your offspring possess the gates of their enemies.”
- Jacob blesses Pharoah Gen 47:10;
- David blesses the nation when the Ark is returned ( 2 Sam 6:18);
- Jesus as baby was blessed by Simeon Luke 2: 28;
- Jesus blesses children Mk 10.
- Ultimately, Jesus died so that we might receive every spiritual blessing Eph 1:3
(3). The components of the Priestly Blessing:
# 1: The blessing must be in the name of the Lord
# 2 The blessing of protection – ‘keep you’
# 3 The blessing of favour – “His face shine on you’
# 4 The blessing of grace
# 5 The blessing of God’s nearness – “turn his face toward you”
#6 The blessing of shalom – “peace”
- Who should bless?
In the OT, it was only Aaron & his descendants who were authorized to bless; they were the priesthood. Today,
every born again believer is a priest, and has authority to bless:
1 Pet 2:5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual
sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
- Who should we bless?
(1). God:
In praise and worship: .
Psalms 103:1 Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
(2). One another
(3). Enemies:
Such is the power of blessing that Jesus wants to bless them.
(4). Unbelievers:
In Evangelism
(5). Children
This message was preached by Ranjit Rodrigues on 8th October 2017