Blessed to Be a Blessing
February 13, 2025 | by: Dale Thiele | 0 Comments
Posted in: Pastoral Encouragement
The promises made to Abram in Genesis 12:1-3 are foundational promises for the outworking of redemption. God promises to make Abram a great nation and give him the land of Canaan. These two promises establish Israel as God’s representative people during the Old Testament. God preserves this nation, even when the people rebel, as the channel through which the promised Messiah will come.
The nation and land are not ultimate promises but serve the ultimate promise that comes in verse 3, “in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” Paul quotes this promise in Galatians 3:8, asserting that its fulfilment is found in the gift of justification by faith made available to all people. The nation and land served as the conduit through which Jesus came to provide atonement for the sins of the world.
Sandwiched between the promises of nation and land and the promise of blessing all the families of earth is the promise found in verse 2, “I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.” Some commentators interpret this promise as the same one as the one at the end of verse 3: All the families of the earth will be blessed in Abram. But there is a distinction between the two promises. In verse 2, God says Abram will be a blessing. In verse 3, God says others will be blessed in Abram. Verse 2 says there is a direct link from Abram to the blessing. Verse 3 says Abram’s family line will produce the ultimate blessing for the world, fulfilled in Jesus.
God not only wants to use Abram’s family line as the channel through which the Messiah is born into the world, but he also wants his people to be a channel of his grace wherever they are. And this same promise, “I will bless you so that you will be a blessing,” is for the church today. Let me point out the Scripture that draws this out.
When God brings the Israelites out of Egypt to Mt. Sinai, he declares to them, “You shall be my treasured possession among all peoples… you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Ex. 19:5-6). Israel was blessed in their covenant relationship with God, but that blessing was not for them alone. They were to be a “kingdom of priests” for God. Priests are to be mediators between God and the people. God wanted Israel to mediate God’s presence in the world, to be a conduit of his blessing to the world.
Peter uses this same language to speak about the church. He writes in 1 Peter 2:9, “You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” Peter makes explicit the promise of “blessed to be a blessing.” The church is blessed by God so that they may be a blessing to others by proclaiming the excellencies of Jesus. Jesus is the ultimate blessing for the world, but God still intends for his people to be a conduit of his blessing. We have the privilege of sharing the excellencies of Christ not only through words, but also through our actions.
Jesus highlights this “blessed to be a blessing” principle multiple times. He says in Matthew 5:16, “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” The blessing of being rescued and transformed by Christ should be evident in how we live so that others may see. Jesus emphasizes this blessing-of-others-through-good-works after he washed his disciples’ feet. He says, “If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet” (Jn. 13:14). I believe this is where Paul pulls Jesus’ statement in Acts 20:35, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Jesus set the example for his followers: we are not to be served but to serve. Jesus has blessed us so that we might be a blessing to others.
One more verse. After exalting in God’s saving grace in Ephesians 2, Paul says in verse 10, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” The word “for” at the beginning of the verse draws out a conclusion. God saves us by his grace because we are his workmanship; God has plans to use us in bringing his blessing to others. God does not save us to be self-indulgent. God saves us so that we can bless others.
You and I are blessed so that we might be a blessing. In what ways are you blessing others?
