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Speaker: Jerry Cisar

By the time we arrive Genesis 12:2-3, we should realize that the word bless or blessing has significance in this book. It is loaded with meaning. When He first created man, God blessed them, male and female, and said to them…” Then after the flood, Noah received the blessing.

If we fast-forward in Genesis, we discover that this blessing is the very thing which people strive for…at times even sinfully, fighting for. Jacob first negotiates for it, then deceives in order to secure it (at his mother’s behest), and finally wrestles an angel all night insisting upon it. At that moment, he receives the name Israel for which God’s people will always be called – a people who inherit that blessing and value it above all else.

Is this blessing merely an Old Testament fascination? Evidently not, for there are numerous mentions of it in key places in the New Testament. What are these blessings? How do they relate to the blessing Abraham receives? How do they relate to the blessing Adam and Eve received?

When we understand the answer to these questions it greatly increases the value we place on the blessing of God. This blessing comes with responsibilities, but when we understand it aright we too would wrestle with the Lord all night for it. This blessing is the most important thing which can be upon a man’s life.

Handout: http://media.gccc.net/2015/12/20151213.pdf