We are continuing our
study of the blessing. Remember that our
working definition for blessing is the ability to attract the resources needed
to fulfill your purpose. From the beginning,
in the garden, God gave the blessing first, then the assignment, then the
resources in order to complete it.
Today we are discussing how we access the blessing. Deuteronomy 28 sets out the blessings
afforded those who “fully obey the law” and curses for those who do not. Notice the blessings will “accompany you”
(always be with you), and that the curses will “come upon you and overtake you.” With the law, if you broke one law you broke
them all. You had to FULLY obey and
achieve righteousness in order to receive the blessing. We as Christians have to wash everything in
the Old Testament and see it through the cross.
Jesus changed the principles through which things on the earth operated
(God did not change). Galatians 3
addresses this challenge as Jewish Christians tried to reconcile this change in
the early church. God loves us
unconditionally and has provided His grace and blessing not contingent on what
we do or do not do. Again, this is like
grace in that it is based on our heart attitude. If we are truly seeking God, then we can walk
in confidence. Verse 7 shows another way
to achieve righteousness, by believing God.
This indicates, since Abraham was before the law, that grace and
blessing existed before the law. Our
righteousness comes through Christ and believing in Him and the blessing coming
through Him and not through us.
When we fail, sometimes we cease trusting in Christ’s
righteousness and begin to believe in our own righteousness. That is why we experience the consequences
from the law. Galatians 3:10 addresses
this. If we see obeying the law as our
way to be delivered from the curse, we are still cursed. Galatians 3:11 and on shows the new system by
which we are to live. Jesus became the
curse for us. Most of live in both
realms. We have areas in which we have
fully submitted to God, but there are others where we believe that when we mess
up, we believe that we lose the blessing and/or are subject to punishment. The means to getting the blessing did not
change, but the means to attaining righteousness changed. Galatians 3:14 is key for this. Colossians 1:12 says God has qualified us,
not that we became qualified somehow. We
need to believe the blessing is ours, then utilize grace which gives us the
power to change and overcome. We must
change our beliefs to change our actions. 1 Corinthians 10:16 (I prefer the
King James, because the translation is more accurate) says “The cup of blessing
which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ; the bread which
we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ.” (NIV changes blessing to thanksgiving, which
is not an accurate translation). The
word for blessing here is eulozia, which
is the root of the word eulogy, which is about saying all the great things
about someone. It is the same word for
blessing as in Galatians 3:14, It is an action word meaning blessing is continually
rising up in you. The blood is the
access to the blessing. We have to live
in grace in order to access the blessing.
If I don’t get blood to a part of my body, it dies. The blood cleans and cleanses our body, as
well as bringing oxygen and life to it. When
we choose to live by the law, we are cut off from the blood (and the blessing)
and then are subject to the curse.
To listen to the entire sermon go to http://ahwatukeechurch.com/ and click on
online media. To learn more about Living
Word Ahwatukee, visit http://ahwatukeechurch.com/.
