From the beginning of time God has had a plan to bring unspeakable spiritual privileges to all the world. Learn who they are from, what they are, and who they are for in this message as we focus on our great privilege of partnering with God in His missionary zeal to bring His people into the kingdom from all over the world.
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Christ – The One Who Brings Blessing To The World
Genesis 12:3; 22:18; Acts 3:25-26; Gal. 3:8,16
Our text for this morning is taken from the second half of a single verse of Scripture. Genesis 12:3b says, “And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” In this verse of Scripture, we find that God has a plan to bless the entire world. That tells me, that our God is a missionary God. Our Missionary God has planned to bring untold blessing to the entire world through a Missionary Savior, and the power of a Missionary Spirit. This morning, I would like to unpack this verse in all of its Biblical richness. In order to do that we are going to have to trace this theme of God’s blessing for the whole world like a scarlet thread all the way through our Bibles. As we do so, we are going to be looking at three themes: The Source of the Blessings – The Substance of the Blessings- The Scope of the Blessings. In other words we want to ask three questions about these blessings: Who are they from? What are they? Who are they for?
1. The Source Of The Blessings
As early as Genesis 3:15 the Bible foretells of the coming of a Messiah, a Deliverer, who will bring blessing to the entire world. The Person is called “the seed of the woman.” This seed will crush the head of the serpent. In other words, He will destroy the devil and his works of darkness, and restore man to Paradise.
In our text this morning God says, “In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” Now, did God mean that Abraham, himself, would be the one who would bless the world? Evidently not, because as we go further into the story we find God clarifying what He meant in Genesis 22:18 where He says, “And in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed.” In this text, God clarifies two things. “In you” is changed to “in your seed.” So we learn that God’s plan to bring blessing to the whole world will take place through Abraham’s seed. Now, that is interesting, because this One is originally called “the seed of the woman.” Now this One is “the seed of Abraham.” Do you see what the Bible is doing? It is starting out in very broad strokes to paint a picture. The picture is of a coming Deliverer. Originally the Bible simply says He will be the seed of the woman. Now, He is identified as the seed of Abraham. God is narrowing down the race of mankind, and letting us know which nation the Messiah will come from.
Later, in Genesis 26:4 the Lord appears to Isaac, Abraham’s son, and tells him, “by your descendants (seed) all the nations of the earth shall be blessed.” Abraham had two sons – Ishmael and Isaac. God told Isaac, that the Messiah wasn’t going to come through Ishmael’s descendants, but rather through Isaac’s.
Then again in Genesis 28:14 God appears to Jacob and tells him, “in you and in your descendants (seed) shall all the families of the earth be blessed.” Isaac had two twin sons – Esau and Jacob. Just as with Isaac and Ishmael, God is making a sovereign choice between these two brothers, and saying that the Messiah will come through Jacob’s descendants, not Esau’s.
So, do you see what’s taking place. Originally the promise was that the Messiah would be the seed of the woman. That limits him to about 50% of the human race. He must be a man. Then, this Messiah would be the seed of Abraham. That narrows things down quite a bit. The Messiah will come from Abraham, and not from every other man on the earth. Later, the line is narrowed to that of Isaac, and then to that of Jacob.
Now, let’s jump hundreds of years into the future, and look at the very first verse of the New Testament – Matthew 1:1, “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.” Matthew let’s us know right out of the shoot, that Jesus Christ is the son (or the seed) of Abraham. That should fill us with anticipation, because He is qualified to be the Messiah!
Now, take a look at Acts 3:25-26, “It is you who are the sons of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ For you first, God raised up His Servant, and sent Him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways.” In this passage Peter boldly declares who the seed of Abraham is. It is none other than God’s Servant, the Lord Jesus Christ. Up until this point we might have made the mistake of thinking that this “seed of Abraham” was a group of people. You see, you can understand the word “seed” in a collective or an individual sense. Either God was saying to Abraham, in your descendants (plural), or in your offspring (singular), all the nations of the earth shall be blessed. Peter interprets the “seed” as a single individual – Jesus Christ.
Look a little further in Galatians 3:14, “in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.” Notice that it is in Christ Jesus that the blessing of Abraham comes to the Gentiles (nations). Then look at Galatians 3:16, “Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, “and to seeds,” as referring to many, but rather to one, “and to your seed,” that is, Christ.” In this verse Paul is as clear as he can possibly be. Paul is saying that when God made promises to Abraham and to his seed, He was not making the promises to Abraham and to all his physical descendants. God was making these promises to Abraham and to Christ. Therefore, if a man is “in Christ” he too becomes a recipient of the promised blessings. That’s why Paul winds up his discussion in Galatians 3:29 and says, “if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring (seed), heirs according to promise.
So, who is the Source of this worldwide blessing from God? It is none other than Jesus Christ the Lord! That’s why the apostle Paul writes to the Ephesians and tells them, “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” (Eph. 1:3). God’s blessing on the world is only “in Christ.”
2. The Substance Of The Blessings
Now, what exactly are these blessings that would come upon the whole world? We will find our answer to that question in Galatians 3, and in Acts 3. I’m going to give you these blessings in the order in which they take place in our lives.
- Regeneration: Paul describes one of these rich blessings in Galatians 3:14 where he says, “in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.” The first blessing which comes through the seed of Abraham is the promise of the Spirit. I hope you noticed the connection between the “blessing of Abraham” in the first part of that verse, and “the promise of the Spirit” in the second part of the verse. Now, what does the Spirit do when He comes in to indwell a sinner? He gives him life! The theological word for this is regeneration. It refers to what happens when a person is “born again.” Jesus tells us this in no uncertain terms in John 3:3-8. In Ezekiel 37, the Lord takes the prophet out into a great valley filled with dry bones, and asks him, “Can these bones live?” Ezekiel says, “Beats me. Only you know, Lord.” Then God told Ezekiel to prophesy that the Lord would cause His breath to enter those bones so that they came to life. Interestingly the word Spirit means “breath” or “wind”. As Ezekiel prophesied, there was a great rattling, while all these bones came together, bone to bone. Then sinews instantly appeared over these skeletons. Then Ezekiel prophesied to the 4 winds to come on these slain that they would come to life. As he prophesied, those skeletons came to life and stood on their feet as a great and vast army. This is what happens when the Holy Spirit indwells a man. He brings spiritual life to a spiritually dead sinner. He causes a person who is dead to God to be born again and made alive together with Christ. This is why so often in our New Testament, the Holy Spirit is connected to life (John 6:63; Rom. 8:2; 2 Cor. 3:6).
- Justification: Galatians 3:8 says, “And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “All the nations shall be blessed in you.” Notice that “all the nations” is interpreted to be “Gentiles.” And notice that the blessing is to be justified by faith. One of the blessings that would come through the Messiah is that of justification. To be justified, is to be declared perfectly righteous, not on account of anything which we do, but solely on account of the perfect life, and substitutionary death of Jesus Christ. Our text tells us that we are justified “by faith.” This means that faith, not works, is the human means of receiving our justification before God. My friend, have you received the blessing of justification? If you haven’t, you are not a true Christian. You are still in your sins. Only those who are justified by Christ’s blood will be saved. And only those who renounce any trust in their own works and rely solely upon Christ’s finished work are justified in His sight. Now, my friends, there is a huge difference between justification and regeneration. Justification has to do with your standing before God. It is non-experiential. It is permanent and irreversible. Regeneration, on the other hand, has to do with spiritual life. It is experiential. The person who has been born again experiences a change in his life. He notices that everything has become new. He experiences faith and repentance. He experiences a love for God and man. He experiences a love for God’s Word, and a desire for the salvation of lost people. A man simply can’t be given new life without feeling and experiencing the effects of that life. Both justification and regeneration are permanent. A justified man can not become unjustified. A regenerated man can not become unregenerated.
- Sanctification: Take a look at this third blessing in Acts 3:25-26, “God said to Abraham, ‘And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ For you first, God raised up His Servant, and sent Him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways.” Now, in this passage, we are told what one of the blessings is that comes to us in Christ. It is the blessing of being turned from our wicked ways. This is what we mean by sanctification. Sanctification is the process of being conformed to the image of Christ. Every true believer in Jesus receives all of these blessings. There is no Christian who has been regenerated, but not justified, or justified, but not sanctified. The same Holy Spirit that comes in and gives a sinner life, continues to work in that sinner by purging him of sin, and quickening him to works of righteousness. Whereas justification is a legal declaration by God, sanctification is an inward work of the Holy Spirit. Whereas justification is non-experiential, sanctification is experiential. Whereas justification is instantaneous, sanctification is a life long process. Whereas justification is perfect, sanctification is imperfect. A justified man can never become any more justified than he is the moment he believes. But a justified man can always become more sanctified than he already is. Justification comes from outside of us from God. Sanctification comes from within us by the Spirit. We do not contribute to our justification through our efforts, but we do contribute to our sanctification through our efforts.
- Glorification: Look back at Galatians 3:18, “For if the inheritance is based on law, it is no longer based on a promise; but God has granted it to Abraham by means of a promise.” God promised Abraham and Christ the blessing of an inheritance. All those who are in Christ also receive the blessing of an inheritance. So, what kind of an inheritance are we talking about? Well, what kind of an inheritance was promised to Abraham? In Genesis 13:15 the Lord told Abraham to “lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward; for all the land which you see, I will give it to you and to your descendants (seed) forever.” God promised Abraham a land as his inheritance. However, the land God promised Abraham was only a picture of a far greater inheritance that he would receive. In Hebrews 11:13-16 we see what that land typified, “All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. And indeed if they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them.” The land God promised to Abraham has its spiritual fulfillment in a “better country, a heavenly one.” It is a city that God has prepared for him. Interestingly Jesus said to His followers, “Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth” (Mt. 5:5). Paul says in Romans 4:13, “For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would be heir of the world was not through the Law, but through the righteousness of faith.” Here the promise to Abraham is stated as him inheriting the world. Yes God made promises to Abraham and to Christ. The ultimate fulfillment of those promises is the earth, the world, a better country, a heavenly country, a city. God has promised Jesus Christ, and all who are in Him, that they will inherit a new heaven and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. In other words, the inheritance is Heaven!
So, let’s sum up the blessings that come through Jesus to the world. God finds a sinner dead in trespasses and sins. What does He do? He makes Him alive together with Christ (regeneration). Then He declares that He is righteous in His sight by imputing Christ’s righteousness to his account (justification). Then He begins the life long process of actually making that person more and more righteous. He finishes up the entire process, by taking that person to a new world where there is only righteousness! Hallelujah, what a Savior!
3. The Scope Of The Blessings
Families – Nations – Gentiles: The scope of these blessings is sometimes called “all the families of the earth” (Gen. 12:3), “all the nations of the earth” (Gen. 22:18), and “the Gentiles” (Gal.3:8). Indeed, when we come to the book of Revelation, we see a vision of the Lamb taking the scroll out of the right hand of God. Jesus is worthy to bring to pass God’s eternal plan. Why? “Worthy art Thou to take the book and to break its seals; for Thou wast slain, and didst purchase for God with Thy blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation” (Rev.5:9). There you have the fulfillment of the promise made to Abraham, that in him all the families of the earth would be blessed. Jesus, as the seed of Abraham, brings eternal and spiritual blessings to men from every family of the earth!
You see, a radical shift takes place between the old and new testaments. In the Old Testament, God’s people are comprised almost entirely from one nation, the nation of Israel. There are a few proselytes like Rahab the harlot, and Namaan the Syrian, but by and large, the light of God’s truth concerning salvation has come only to one nation, and the rest of the nations are in spiritual darkness, blinded by the god of this world, the devil.
So, what happens in the New Testament? Jesus, through His death and resurrection, binds the strong man, the devil, so that he can’t deceive the nations any longer. Now, for the first time, men begin streaming to all the world to proclaim the glad tidings of salvation in Jesus Christ. No longer is the gospel of salvation limited to the Jews. Now, it goes out to every family of the earth. The light of gospel truth breaks in upon those nations in darkness, and God redeems people out of every tribe and tongue on the face of all the earth. In order to accomplish this, Jesus gives a mighty outpouring of the Holy Spirit. In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit came upon only certain men for certain tasks. Now, in the New Testament, the Holy Spirit is given to every child of God to be a witness to the remotest part of the earth.
Life Application:
So, what does this ancient promise made to Abraham 4,000 years ago have to do with us today?
Christians: What this promise means is that God has promised that He is going to save people from every people group under heaven, and that we have the unspeakable privilege of laboring with Him to see that accomplished! I’m speaking now of world missions. We have talked a lot about the fact that God has called every Christian to be a missionary. However, we have been thinking of missions in a local sense. I want you to think about missions now in a global sense.
Let me tell you the story of one of the greatest missions movements in the history of the world. It all began in 1700, when a wealthy family in Germany gave birth to Nicholas Ludwig von Zinzendorf. Although Nicholas was raised in a Christian home, he became a spoiled nobleman who was unconcerned about the plight of the poor around him. But when he turned 16 he visited an art museum and saw a painting of the crucifixion with this inscription, “All this I have done for you. What have you done for Me?” Nicholas’ heart was cut to the quick, and he completely surrendered his life to Jesus.
When Nicholas was 22, a group of Protestant refugees from Moravia asked him for shelter from persecution at his large estate. Nicholas allowed them to move in, but there was much bickering among the residents. Nicholas worked hard to try to settle the quarrels and pastor this flock. Nicholas and the leader of the refugees began to cry out to God in prayer. On an August night in 1727, God answered their prayer in a powerful way. The Holy Spirit descended one night in such a powerful way that it totally transformed the community. There was great spiritual renewal. Offended parties repented and went about asking for forgiveness. Nicholas organized a prayer meeting that went on, non-stop, around the clock, every day, for over 100 years! In 1731 Nicholas met a black slave from St. Thomas island who pleaded with him to send missionaries to his village. A fire for missions was kindled in this fellowship of 300 people. Two young men volunteered to go to St. Thomas Island and reach the slaves with the gospel. According to tradition, since the slave owner on the island was an atheist, and would not allow anyone to come and preach the gospel to his slaves, these two young men sold themselves into slavery, so that they could bring the gospel to the 3,000 slaves on this island. It is said, that as they sailed away from their families, never to see them again, they cried out, “May the Lamb that was slain receive the reward of His sufferings!”
This one fellowship in Germany sent hundreds of missionaries to far flung outposts all over the world: the Caribbean islands, North and South America, the Arctic, Africa and the Far East. People were trained in practical skills like shoemaking so that they could move anywhere on the planet and make a living while they preached the gospel. In just 2 decades the Moravians sent out more missionaries than all Protestants had sent out in the previous 2 centuries! Within 150 years this movement sent out a total of 2,158 of its members to countries all over the world. Of course, this was in the day when there was no electricity, computers, cars or airplanes. Usually only two or three would move to a new location to spread the gospel there. Nothing stopped them from making Jesus’ name famous to the ends of the earth. They did all this without paid clergy, or bible schools. It was truly a grass roots movement ignited by the Spirit of God.
Folks, we have the great privilege of seeing Jesus glorified and worshipped around the globe. We should pray for the gospel to bear fruit in all the world, and we should give generously to see that take place. Currently The Bridge has been giving $90 a month to Gospel For Asia. I would like to see us increase that amount to 10% of our total income. We are already setting aside 10% for local church planting. I think we should give another 10% for global evangelism and church planting. Sometimes people say, “I just wish I had a heart for missions.” Well, you can! The answer is actually quite simple. Jesus said, “where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Start giving to global missions, and you will soon have a heart for it!
Unconverted: Apart from a saving relationship with Jesus Christ, you have no blessings from God. Instead of being justified, you are condemned. Instead of being regenerated, you are spiritually dead. Instead of being sanctified, you are living in sin. Instead of being glorified, you will be raised from the dead, only to bear the awful wrath of God in your body forever. However, there are unspeakable, spiritual blessings God offers to you freely! You may have the guilt of every sin you have ever committed removed forever as far as the east is from the west. You can receive the very life of God changing your heart and your affections, giving you new heavenly desires. You can experience the work of the Holy Spirit to make you more and more like Jesus. And you can have the sure hope that you will spend eternity in heaven getting to know the infinite glories of God!
All this is offered to you in Christ, but you must come! “Ho! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and delight yourself in abundance. Incline your ear and come to Me. Listen, that you may live, and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, according to the faithful mercies shown to David” (Is. 55:1-3).
Come, and trust Christ right now, and these blessings are yours!
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