“Gospel as Blessing”

"Gospel as Blessing"

Seung-Chan Park

Lead Pastor, ICMC

(Gal. 3:8) Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.”

We see that in the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth and every other creature. He was pleased with His work of creation as Gen. 1:31 says: 31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day. In our previous sermon, we explored how God’s creation had unique beauty, order and great diversity, unlike a mechanical product that normally has strict regularity and order, but lack vibrant creativity, spontaneous beauty and diversity. Beauty and diversity in creation evoke a sense of wonder in us, as we are amazed by all colours and liveliness around us. Diversity in God’s creation, at the same time, did not destroy the order of unity. Seemingly random and spontaneous creatures in their being and deed manifest not only beauty, but also order. Scripture shows that since then, God continued to be present in His creation and fulfilled His will in creation. And in this creation, God created the human beings in His image, and they were called to rule over the creation as His faithful stewards. He says in Gen. 1:26-28:

Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

John Walton comments that the word “image” ‘refers to something that contains the “essence” of something else, while “likeness” is more connected to substance,” expressing a resemblance at some level (NIV Cultural Background Study Bible, 8; IVP Background Commentary, 29.).’ In the ancient Near East, the idols were supposed to be a medium through which gods execute their work. In the same manner, it is clear that God decided to bless the creation through the hands of humanity who were created in “His image”. Through their work and rule, the creation was going to receive God’s blessing. And their characters and actions were in harmony with God, as they were created “in the likeness of God.” “Ruling” clearly had a royal connotation, and humanity, as they were created in God’s image and likeness, were to rule creation as faithful and resembling “agents” of God.

But a drastic change happened once sin was introduced to the scene. Nowadays, people tend not to touch upon this most serious problem of the fall of humanity. Because since the fall, we start seeing darkness and destruction dominating the scene, and the word “curse” begins to appear in Scripture. Scripture shows the corrupting and destructive impact of sin in the case of Cain’s murder of his brother Abel, ever-deteriorating and increasingly aggravating human sinfulness in Noah’s time, and the Tower of Babel. God even made a verdict over the humanity in Gen. 8:21 that “every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood”.

This is a picture of a radical change. The beauty and order of creation changed into the chaos, destruction, death and curse. “Blessing” in a biblical sense, indicates a state of being in a harmonious relationship with God – especially that we have His favour. In contrast, “curse” has to do with a state of being in estrangement from God – especially that we are under His judgment. “Curse” was introduced through human sin, and we see the ever-worsening result of sin until Gen. 11 in a universal scale.

However, we see another drastic shift in Gen. 12. “Abram” was called by God. From this point onward, we notice God’s decision to turn things around. He chose a particular individual and revealed His will to him in Gen. 12:2-3:

“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. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

God reaffirmed this calling and promise in Gen. 15, and Abram “believed”. God showed his true intention to Abram that He wants to endow “blessing”. The word “bless” appears 5 times in these verses. The Lord will bless Abram and his descendants, and they will “be a blessing”, so that “all peoples on earth will be blessed through them”. Here God’s determination to turn the tables for all creation is made visible – from the state of curse to the state of blessing. But how? He will bless all peoples on earth through “a specific nation” He elected and blessed. His chosen people were supposed to be “a vessel” of blessing to all peoples. And we see God’s determination to keep, protect, save and lead this particular people throughout the ups and downs of history, “so that” this vision of “blessing” for all peoples would be fulfilled – “so that” His Name be glorified throughout the universe.

So, God reaffirmed His promise to Isaac in Gen. 26, and confirmed it again to Jacob. Afterwards, God made a “covenant” with the Jacob’s descendants through Moses. But it didn’t happen out of nowhere. First, God demonstrated His faithfulness, care, lordship, power and authority by saving this people of Israel from the immense control of Pharaoh, and also by guiding them with a pillar of fire and cloud. He initiated this covenant with this people because of His promise to Abraham. In this covenant, God graciously gives all good things and promises to the people of Israel. But this is not the end of the story. God reaffirms their identity in Exod. 19:5-6:

“Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation’. These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites”.

The people of Israel were supposed to “be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” before all nations. They received the commandments of God that addressed their way of life, worship and social responsibilities. By faithfully keeping the commandments, they were to reflect the true nature of God before all nations. Through “being” a genuine people of God, Israel was to proclaim His glory to all nations, as “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation“. Then the nations may see the light of His glory and worship Him, too. So, Israel was never supposed to be just a happy and self-centred nation for their own good, but to uphold their identity and calling as “a kingdom of priests“.

But Scripture shows that the people of Israel lost their identity and calling that God gave them. They lost their understanding of the commandments of God. They lost holiness and they were no longer distinguishable from the idol worshipers. Even though they were called to be “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation,” they became a kingdom of idols and an unholy and impure nation. They lost resources, power, desire and understanding to demonstrate God’s holiness. In other words, they lost their missional identity – and thus, themselves. The heart of the commandments – loving God and loving neighbours – was no longer present. Love to God was not there to see, and instead of love to neighbours, oppression, injustice, hatred, jealousy, division and violence were part and parcel of their life on earth. Pure devotion to God was lost, and a selfless giving of oneself for others disappeared. Divided heart to God and idols, and desire for selfish gain and greed for themselves became a catchword for blessing, which is a fundamental distortion of their identity and calling.

We know that Jesus said “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father (Jn. 14:9).” Jesus manifested the most true and pure image of God, and through Him, we received the greatest and the most perfect blessing – that we are now living in God’s presence as His “saved” children and in the unshakable promise of God’s Kingdom. And Jesus renewed our calling to be a “blessing” to all nations – particularly by proclaiming the message of the gospel. In the light of the gospel of the cross and the resurrection of Jesus Christ, all shadows of selfishness, greediness, self-centredness, love for idols, impurity and ulterior motives are blatantly exposed. All fake messages or half-truths of blessing – that stimulate the selfishness and greediness of human heart and cannot go beyond this-worldly things – are put to shame. Because, in the gospel, we see the meaning of blessing under the cross of Christ – the true message of salvation.

The most basic spiritual discernment does not have to do with having some repeated fantastical spiritual experiences. The most basic part is to attend to the gospel of Jesus Christ, the message of the cross. The gospel discerns and sheds light on all things. Lies can be camouflaged in passionate and relatable speech, darkness can be hidden behind the look of brightness, and death can hide itself in the image of life. The gospel exposes the most fundamental nature of the schemes of the devil. Didn’t Paul say “Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light” in 2 Cor. 11:14? The gospel glorifies God single-mindedly, but other teachings glorify other beings than God – including ourselves. The gospel identifies the meaning of “blessing”, and it glorifies God, whereas fake gospels interpret the meaning of blessing to glorify all kinds of idols in the world.