Sermon Central
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Channel Of Blessing To Others Series
Contributed by Dr. Dave Hartson on May 10, 2021 (message contributor)
Summary: According to the Scripture in 1 Peter, those who believe in Jesus Christ are now the priest of the New Testament. And what is the role left for the priesthood? To be channels of blessings.
Introduction
According to Jewish tradition, in the beginning only God could bless the people. He blessed Adam and Eve and told them to be fruitful and multiply. God blessed Noah and his family as they departed the ark with the same blessing to be fruitful. And then we come to in Genesis 12, a turning point because God did something incredible: God passed on to Abraham the ability to bless others. God tell Abraham, you shall be a blessing.
And the ability to bless continued to be passed down after Abraham. Isaac passed a blessing to Jacob in Genesis 12:30. And Jacob passes his blessing to Joseph and his brothers in Genesis 48 and 49.
And then we come to the Book of Numbers, and we now encounter another turning point. Let's read the Scripture and see that turning point.
22 The LORD said to Moses, 23 “Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them: 24 “The LORD bless you and keep you; 25 the LORD make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace.”’ 27 “So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.”
And so, in the Torah (which was like the rabbis' rule book to interpret the Scriptures), the Jewish rabbis concluded that God passed down instructions to Moses that blessing will now flow through the priest. As they saw it, blessing will come from God to the priest who passes them to the people. Make no mistake it is God who blesses, but the priests were to be the channel of blessings.
The result is that the priest will now have a dual function. They will be mediators between God and man offering sacrifices to God on behalf of man and their second function was to be channels of blessings to the people. And so, the usual daily Jewish service was the sacrificing of animals up to God (that was their meditator role) and then upon the conclusion of the sacrificing, the blessing would be given (that was their channel of blessing role.)
Enter Jesus Christ into the world. He came and offered the perfect sacrifice of Himself on the cross. He was buried, rose the third, and ascended into heaven, and the Bible says sits at the right hand of God. And there, He is our High Priest who makes intercession to the Father on our behalf. So, Jesus' sacrifice once and for all does not have to repeated. So, the function of the priest shifts from meditator to channel of blessing. They no longer had to serve as meditators between God and the people; praise God, Jesus became that meditator.
Now listen to the words of Peter: 1 Peter 2:9 (NKJV) 9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.
According to that Scripture, those who believe in Jesus Christ are now the priest of the New Testament. And what is the remaining role left for the priesthood. To be channels of blessings. God has blessed us and taken us out of darkness and placed us into light and we are to show the world how God blesses. We are to share the blessing.
Ephesians 1:3 (NKJV) 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, And that blessing we are to pass on to others in our role as priest.So, my question to you: Are you passing the blessing of God to others in your life? Today, I want to share with you three things that will hinder my role as a channel of blessing to other.
My First Point
If I am not living the way that I should be living, then the blessings that are to flow from me to others is hindered.
16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
I must make sure you understand that you and I are not the one who blesses anybody. It is God who blesses. He says so clearly in Number 6:27. "I will bless them." I am just the channel, so I got to make sure that I am clean before God, so the blessing flows through me.
And James picks up that idea in James 5:16. But sometimes I am afraid that we miss it because we tend to quote the second half of the verse and not the first. You are not going to get a prayer that is powerful and effective without the confession. We must be right before God before the power of God flows through us.
