Date: August 2, 2012 10:38 AM
Topic: +DEV+ Jesus: Blessing the Nations
Jesus: Blessing the Nations
"'I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.'" (Genesis 12:3)
Scripture Focus: Genesis 12
The recipient of these words of blessing from Yahweh was, of course, Abraham. In Genesis 22:17-18 God said to the patriarch, "I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore... and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed..." Most Jews of Jesus' day looked to their physical descent from Abraham as the means of God's blessing. But they were terribly mistaken.
John the Baptizer warned them in Matthew 3:9, "And do not think you can say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham." God's blessing of Abraham was a spiritual blessing. Abraham's children were and are those of the promise. The blessing, through Jesus and His gospel of grace, has in these last days flowed out to all the nations of the world. Not to every person without exception, but to every "nation, tribe, people and language" without distinction (Revelation 7:9).
Insight: Abraham's Physical Offspring - The Jews - Did Bless The Nations. Israel Was A Conduit From Which Our Savior Would Come.
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