Blessed

DEVOTION

THE BOOK OF ACTS

BLESSED

Acts 3:24-26

24 "Indeed, all the prophets from Samuel on, as many as have spoken, have foretold these days. 25 And you are heirs of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your fathers. He said to Abraham, 'Through your offspring all peoples on earth will be blessed.'   26 When God raised up his servant, he sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways."

NIV

All the peoples on earth will be blessed. Of course we know that Jesus was sent to Israel first, that they are the chosen people of God. It is not that they are any better than any other nation on the earth, but the fact remains he chose them to reveal himself to the whole world. It decided to use Israel as a showcase of his power, his might, and his method of redeeming mankind from their wicked ways. He used Israel to demonstrate that man could not live by his set of rules, his laws, that they needed a Savior, a Messiah, to redeem them from that Law. He used Israel to bring his Son into the world in order that he could be that sacrifice for the world. Yes, he came to Israel first, but he came for us, the rest of the world. He came for all of us. What a blessing it is to have a life in Christ. This life has all sorts of ups and down, highs and lows, but the one constant in our life is the blessing God has given us in Jesus. Although it is true the people of Israel can trace their ancestry to Abraham who God had made a covenant with, we can trace our ancestry all the back to Noah, who God has also made a covenant with. But the greatest ancestry anyone can have is to Christ. Even if we are what is called adopted, we are co-heirs with Christ, which makes us family. Yet we may be actual descendants of Abraham, in a way, then we think. If we are circumcised of the heart, we are true Israel which would makes Abraham our ancestor. Although this is just an exercise of sorts, the real point here is that we are indeed blessed because of Jesus. We are forgiven our sin, we are saved from the wrath of God, we are going to get to be in the presence of God at the conclusion of this life on earth, what greater blessing can there be? Yet while we are still here we have the blessing of turning from our wicked ways. Life can be of two forms, one living in our wicked ways, or turning from them and living to please God. The first results in receiving the wrath of God, the second results in eternal life. So no matter what else happens in our  life, having the blessing of God upon us is really all that matters.