Because of Jesus’ death and resurrection, we have peace with God (Romans 4:24-5:2). He has restored the broken relationship between us and God. Jesus paid the price for our sins (1 Peter 2:24). Out of love, Jesus died for us while we were still enemies of God (Romans 5:6-11). Because of Jesus, God forgives our wrongdoing and thoughts and counts us as righteous (Romans 4:6-8; Psalm 32:1-5). We are truly blessed (Ephesians 1:3-8)!
This blessing stretches all the way back to Abraham, when God promised Abraham that he would bless Abraham and through Abraham (in particular, his descendant, Jesus) all peoples would be blessed (Genesis 12:1-3). The blessing comes to us too through faith (Galatians 3:14, 29).
Blessing may be physical wealth or physical well being but many times it is not. Jesus stretches the definition of blessing. Jesus blesses those who struggle in life for righteousness sake and for those who promote peace and God (Matthew 5:1-12). Jesus blesses those who suffer for his sake. It is a different blessing that assures us and brings hope. In his grace, Jesus calls us to be salt and light to the world (Matthew 5:13-16). We are to share that blessing. We are not a reservoir, keeping God’s blessing to ourselves, rather we are like a river, sharing God’s blessing. This means we are blessed so that we can abound in every good work (2 Corinthians 9:6-15; Ephesians 2:10) and by doing so give glory to God. (Note God does not need our good works but those around us do.)
Since we are called to be salt and light to the world (Matthew 5:13-16), we repay evil with blessing (1 Peter 3:8-9), and we overcome evil with good (Romans 12:21). We are even called to love our enemies and bless those who curse us (Luke 6:27-28). We are to be conduits of God’s love, and not just consumers of his grace. The Jesus revolution is one of blessing and not one of power and control. So because of the great blessing we received, let us share that blessing of God’s love with the world.
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