The word “bless” and its derivatives is essentially a religious term that is rarely used secularly. We don’t hear a news commentator speaking of being blessed. Yet, blessings were a natural part of the reality God intended for humanity and His creation. The first blessing was to the creatures.
Genesis 1:22
And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.”
Here we learn that the blessing of God relates to fruitfulness and multiplication. Perhaps a simpler word would be “flourishing”. The next blessing pronounced by God was directed at humans.
Genesis 1: 26-28
And God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created humankind in his own image. In the image of God he created him. Male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that creeps upon the earth.”
God “blessed” humanity with specific roles. Namely, 1) filling the earth, 2) subduing the earth, 3) taking dominion over the creatures. Humans were given both a choice and a duty to perform. As God’s images, humans were to care for their new home by nurturing life within creation.
Unfortunately, Adam and Eve succumbed to the devil’s temptation and chose to take matters into their own hands, seeking their own perceived blessing independent of God and thus lost their dominion in the process. Their act of high treason against God appeared to remove all of God’s blessing from the earth. But God is more resourceful than humans or the devil and His plans will not be defeated. He foretold of a “seed of the woman” who would crush the head of the devil and reverse the curse.
Nearly two thousand years after Adam, God begins to unfold his new blessing plan to a man named Abram.
Genesis 12:1-3
Now Yahweh said to Abram, “Get out of your country and from your relatives and from your father’s house and go to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, and you will be a blessing. And I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse the one who curses you, and all the clans of the earth will be blessed in you.”
Notice the frequency of the word bless. God leaves little doubt that His plan for humanity is to bless them! In saying “all of the clans of the earth will be blessed” He is making direct reference to the Messiah, Jesus Christ. It is only through him, that promised seed of the woman in Genesis 3, that all of humanity can have access once again to God’s blessing. Apart from Jesus there is no blessing from God.
This May we celebrate Pentecost, the single event of history where God’s blessing was poured out. On that day Jesus sent forth the gift of holy spirit to humanity. Salvation through trust in Jesus opened the door to the restoration of our blessing from God. Through salvation we received freedom from the slavery of sin, we were acquitted of our death sentence brought on by sin, and we were gifted with eternal life. The resurrection of Jesus reversed the curse. Now, all those who trust in Jesus, can look forward to the new creation filled with God’s blessing. This is our true blessing. To live eternally in the new earth where life flourishes under the blessing of God our Father and our savior Jesus Christ.
God HAS BLESSED us! So, let’s be a blessing to others.
All My Love,
