The Manifest Blessing Of God

“God shall bless us; and all the ends of the earth shall fear Him.” Psalm 67:7

What is the blessing of God, and what is the extent of that blessing? In the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Ephesian believers, he wrote at the beginning of the letter the following: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.” (1:3) What did he mean by this? In Paul’s letter to the Colossians, he begins to clarify this matter by writing of Christ, “For in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.”(2:9) He then adds, “…And you are complete in Him, which is the head of all principality and power.” (v.10) Paul is unveiling to the Christians in the early church the meaning of a mystery, “…hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to His saints.” (1:26) This mystery has multiple aspects to it, the first and most fundamental being that of Christ coming to dwell in the heart and life of the believer by virtue of the Father’s work in placing the believer IN Christ at the new birth.  That act of placing him in Christ was not only an act of one being born again of the Spirit, but being placed in LIVING UNION with Christ by the Holy Spirit.  The blessing of one’s inseparable union with Christ, and all that this means with respect to the infinite riches which are IN Christ, is the basis and key for the blessing of the entire world, especially by the living testimony of Christ dwelling in the heart by faith, but also by the powerful, saving message of the Gospel.  How far and how extensive is this blessing of God in Christ, not only to save from sin and death, but to manifest the very life of God by the Holy Spirit, that men might know Him, believe and serve Him, showing forth the beauty and wonder of His eternal Life?

In Francis Havergal’s great hymn, “Jesus, Thy Life Is Mine,” she writes: “Thy love, Thy joy, Thy peace, Continuously impart, Unto my heart, Fresh springs that never cease, But still increase.” Ms. Havergal is seeking most certainly to communicate that one’s union with Christ is to have a definite and far-reaching effect, even the manifestation of the love, joy, and peace of Christ, communicated and demonstrated by the Spirit of Christ.  In other words, she is dealing with the great truth of one’s union with Christ, but then going further, to appropriate the expression of that blessing in the life.  It was for her, not enough to know about this truth, but to live the Life.  It was to be something known not only objectively but lived subjectively by faith in the faithfulness of God.  All the riches in Christ were hers for the receiving, but it would take a faith that was undaunted by obstacles, resistance, and opposition from without and from within.  What then was the secret of receiving the blessings of God in Christ, knowing them, and ultimately, knowing HIM?

Catherine Booth was a young servant of Christ, who at the age of twenty-one, was sent to Paris, France, to establish the Salvation Army around the year 1880.  Brimming with desire and conviction to reach many in France with the saving message of the Gospel, she wrote of the great need of the French, their logical rejection of Christianity, and Christ. However, she spoke also, not only of them recognizing the “comedian in religion,” but also the real thing.  She wrote as a result: “France is more sensitive to disinterested love than any nation I have ever known. France will never accept a religion without sacrifice.”  The key to her power was Love, and the key to having that love was sacrifice.  Nothing less than absolute abandonment to Christ would result in receiving the Divine power of God to LIVE Christ, to not only speak of Him and the great truths of Scripture, but to make known, and reveal, His life.

Dear Father, Strengthen us to surrender. In Jesus’ name, Amen.