JESUS BRINGS BLESSINGS 1 - NOVEMBER 7, 2021

Jesus brings blessings and He is our greatest blessing!

What Does it Mean to Be Blessed?

IF WE THINK GOD’S BLESSING IS MAINLY ON MATERIAL THINGS, WE’LL PURSUE THESE THINGS, SPEND OUR PRAYER TIME ASKING GOD FOR THEM, AND WHEN WE DON’T GET THEM, WONDER WHETHER WE’RE BLESSED BY GOD.

What does blessed means?

According to the Key-Word Study Bible, “The Greek word for blessed is “Makarioi” which means to be fully satisfied. It refers to those receiving God’s favor, regardless of the circumstances.

BEATITUDES (Matthew 5: 3-12)

Matthew 5:3-12 – ³ “What happiness comes to you when you feel your spiritual poverty! For yours is the realm of heaven’s kingdom. ⁴ “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. ⁵ “What blessing comes to you when gentleness lives in you! For you will inherit the earth. ⁶ “How enriched you are when you crave righteousness! For you will be satisfied. ⁷ “How blessed you are when you demonstrate tender mercy! For tender mercy will be demonstrated to you. ⁸ “What bliss you experience when your heart is pure! For then your eyes will open to see more and more of God. ⁹ “How joyful you are when you make peace! For then you will be recognized as a true child of God. ¹⁰ “How enriched you are when persecuted for doing what is right! For then you experience the realm of heaven’s kingdom. ¹¹“How blessed you are when people insult and persecute you and speak all kinds of cruel lies about you because of your love for me! ¹²So leap for joy—since your heavenly reward is great. For you are being rejected the same way the prophets were before you.

SCRIPTURE SHOWS THAT BLESSING IS:

Anything God gives that makes us fully satisfied in Him.
Anything that draws us closer to Jesus.
Anything that helps us relinquish the temporal and hold on more tightly to the eternal.

SOURCE OF BLESSING

And in you, all the families of the earth shall be blessed. Genesis 12:3b
In your seed, all the nations of the earth shall be blessed. Genesis 22:18
Acts 3:25-26 – You are sons of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ 26 To you first, God, having raised up His Servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your iniquities.”
Galatians 3:14 NASB – In order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham would come to the Gentiles so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as one would in referring to many, but rather as in referring to one, “And to your seed,” that is, Christ. Galatians 3:16
And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. Galatians 3:29
Therefore, if a man is “in Christ” he too becomes a recipient of the promised blessings.
Ephesians 1:3 – Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,

SUBSTANCE OF BLESSINGS

1.REGENERATION

Galatians 3:14 – in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham would come to the Gentiles so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
REGENERATION MEANING – The radical spiritual change in which God brings an individual from a condition of spiritual defeat and death to a renewed condition of holiness and life. The biblical doctrine of regeneration emphasizes God’s role in making this spiritual change possible.
John 6:63 – It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.
Romans 8:2 – And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death.
2 Corinthians 3:6 – He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

2.JUSTIFICATION

Galatians 3:8 – The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, proclaimed the good news [of the Savior] to Abraham in advance [with this promise], saying, “IN YOU SHALL ALL THE NATIONS BE BLESSED.”
MEANING OF JUSTIFICATION – To be justified, is to be declared perfectly righteous, not on account of anything which we do but solely on account of a perfect life and substitutionary death of Jesus Christ.
Romans 4:7-8 – “Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.
Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord will never count against them.

3.SANCTIFICATION

Acts 3:25-26 – You are sons of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ 26 To you first, God, having raised up His Servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your iniquities.”
MEANING OF SANCTIFICATION – It is the process of being conformed to the image Christ.
The same Holy Spirit that comes in and gives a sinner a life continues to work by purging him of sin and quickening him to works of righteousness.
1 John 4:17 – And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So, we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world.

BLESSINGS THROUGH OBEDIENCE

Luke 11:28 – He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”
James 1:25 – But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.
Isaiah 1:19 – If you are willing and obedient, You will eat the best of the land.

BLESSINGS THROUGH GIVING (WITHOUT EXPECTING IN RETURN)

Luke 14:12-14 – ¹² Then Jesus said to the man who had invited Him, “When you host a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or brothers or relatives or rich neighbors. Otherwise, they may invite you in return, and you will be repaid. ¹³ But when you host a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind, ¹⁴and you will be blessed. Since they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”
Acts 20:35 – In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’

BLESSINGS THROUGH TRUSTING THE LORD

Jeremiah 17:7-8 – ⁷ “But blessed are those who trust in the LORD and have made the LORD their hope and confidence. ⁸ They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit.
Proverbs 16:20 – Whoever listens to a word of instruction prospers, and anyone who trusts in the LORD is blessed.

REASONS FOR PHYSICAL/ MATERIAL BLESSINGS

Luke 16:9 AMP – And I tell you [learn from this], make friends for yourselves [for eternity] by means of the wealth of unrighteousness [that is, use material resources as a way to further the work of God], so that when it runs out, they will welcome you into the eternal dwellings.
Luke 16:9 TPT – Use the wealth of this world to demonstrate your friendship with God by winning friends and blessing others. Then, when it runs out, your generosity will provide you with an eternal reward.
2 Corinthians 9:8;11;12 – ^{V. 9} And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. ^{V. 10} You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and …your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. ^{V. 12} This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the Lord’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God.

A WARNING REGARDING BLESSINGS!

Deuteronomy 8:11-14, 7-18 – ¹¹…Beware that in your plenty you do not forget the LORD your God and disobey his commands, regulations, and decrees that I am giving you today. ¹² For when you have become full and prosperous and have built fine homes to live in, ¹³ and when your flocks and herds have become very large and your silver and gold have multiplied along with everything else, be careful! ¹⁴Do not become proud at that time and forget the LORD your God, who rescued you from slavery in the land of Egypt. …You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” ¹⁸ But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.

THE CHOICE OF LIFE OR DEATH, BLESSING OR CURSE

Deuteronomy 30 – ¹⁵See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. ¹⁶ For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you. ¹⁷ But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient,… ¹⁸ I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. ¹⁹ This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, ²⁰ …and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him.
The choice is yours.
LIFE OR DEATH?
BLESSINGS OR CURSE?

Great families, financial wealth, and good health are all wonderful gifts we can thank God for along with other good things, but they are not His greatest blessings. They may make us delight, not in God but in His gifts.

God’s greatest blessing always rests in Jesus Himself. Jesus brings blessings and He is our greatest blessing!