Blessing of the Great I Am

UV 624/10,000 Blessing of the Great I Am “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.” Genesis 12 v 2 As I was searching on what verse to meditate on this 2013 New Year’s day, a man of God called me and said that this verse is the promise verse for me in this coming year. It is an amazing and incredible promise made to the nomadic Abraham who was asked to move out of his comfort zone in Haran to the land of Canaan. A man who had no hope of a future was hailed by God as the father of the “as yet” unnamed and nascent nation of Israel. Abraham was the prototype to show how God deals with people who walk not by physical sight but by spiritual faith. Many people may know about our past, our background and our present status but only the Lord knows our future. The words repeated twice , “ I will make..” shows God’s active involvement in transforming our lives. The word “ will” repeated four times in one verse shows both the certainty of this happening as well as the fact that it is God’s will for every faithful person. Every promise of God has a temporal dimension and a spiritual dimension. He blesses us in both the temporal or earthly dimension as well as in the spiritual and eternal dimension. In the temporal dimension, the nation of Israel is indeed a great nation though the Jewish people have seen much strife. In the spiritual dimension, we too as believers in the covenant of God revealed through Abraham and Moses and the covenant of Jesus the Christ, are part of the great commonwealth of Israel. We are inheritors or co-parcenors of the Abrahamic blessing. The word “ bless” comes from the Hebrew word “ barack” and it means to kneel and adore God Almighty. In the very act of adoration, we are blessed. When we kneel and adore the Lord God and submit our future into His hands, He will declare us “ Barack”. Barack is the middle name of the current President of the USA. But, it is the first name of those who believe and are party to the covenants of God. We will be blessed in the temporal and spiritual dimensions. We will also be a blessing to the nations in both the temporal and spiritual dimensions. We will not only receive blessings but we will be a channel of blessings for the nation(s). Just as those who cursed Abraham were cursed and those who blessed Abraham were blessed, similarly those who bless us will be blessed and those who curse us will be cursed. In the interpretation of the dream of Joseph’s fellow prisoners, the baker and the cupbearer, the heads of both were lifted up. One head that of the baker was literally lifted up while the head of the cupbearer to Pharaoh was lifted up in the sense he was restored to his position. Another synonym of blessing in Greek is “haggios” which means to “ be lifted up.” When we are blessed, we will be lifted up. We will be envied by many as they compare their lives with ours and find that the primary difference is our faith in God and His Word. Yet another nuance of the word “ bless” is hidden in the Greek root “makarios” which means to enlarge and to prolong. It means we are supremely blessed, a condition in which congratulations are in order. People will say to us, “ it is an honour to know you. An honour to meet and hear you.” It also means that the Lord will propel us to achievements in the temporal and spiritual. We are part of the great nation of Israel, the Commonwealth of Israel ruled by the Lord Himself. We are not naturalized citizens of Israel but “ supernaturalized citizens of Israel.” He will cause us to excel. He will promote us. He will protect us. He will provide for us. He will cause our testimony to be widely known. He will magnify our impact. He will prosper us. Happiness depends on happenings. Hence, we are not just happy people but blessed. Since we are blessed, we have cause for constant joy in our lives. Prateep V Philip