Discover Your Spiritual Identity!
The Revelation of the Names and Titles God Has Given His People
“Then the King will say to those at His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you since the foundation of the world” (Matt. 25:34, MEV).
The word “blessed” means supremely happy, enriched with benefits, spiritually prosperous and highly favored. It is also used to describe someone with character traits God considers the highest expressions of goodness.
Bible words translated “blessed” are also translated “happy” — because blessedness and happiness go together.
Such was the spiritual atmosphere of the world at its start. After creating the creatures of the sky and sea, “God blessed them, saying, ‘Be fruitful and multiply'” (Gen. 1:22). Then, having made Adam and Eve, “God blessed them, and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth and subdue it'” (Gen. 1:28).
So, the power of procreation — the privilege of giving life and existence to offspring — was the first and most powerful sign of blessedness. This is true spiritually now. The most “blessed” Christians are those who reproduce faith in others and bring them into the experience of spiritual rebirth.
From the start, the blessing of God was released by the spoken word (a lesson we need to learn). However, after Adam and Eve transgressed, God introduced “the curse” (also by the spoken word) (see Genesis 3:14-19). Since that day, every human being has entered this world in a cursed state — conceived in iniquity, born in sin, spiritually stained, separated from the Creator and stalked by death (see Psalm 51:5, Romans 5:12). Nevertheless, God’s plan from the start was to create a pathway back to blessedness.
The Return Path Unveiled
Humanity arrived at a spiritual milestone, centuries later, when after the flood, “God blessed Noah and his sons” (Gen. 9:1). Then after ten generations, God revealed Himself to a man named Abram, saying:
“Go from your country, your family, and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing . . . And in you all families of the earth will be blessed” (Gen. 12:1-3).
By obeying God’s call, Abram (who was “blessed . . . in all things”) became the catalyst for the release of God’s blessing of God into all the world (Gen. 24:1). When his descendants entered the Land of Promise, thousands stood on the slopes of Mount Gerizim shouting “Amen” to blessings God promised would “overtake” Israel if they strictly adhered to the commandments of the law. This former model failed, though, because it depended too much on human performance. But then the Messiah came.
The Superiority of the New Covenant
The Old Testament may have ended with the word “curse” but Jesus’ first main sermon in the New Testament began with the word “blessed”:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5:3).
In other words, supremely happy, enriched with benefits and highly favored of God are those who admit their spiritual bankruptcy “in Adam” and their need of a Savior. Such choice persons inherit God’s kingdom (all that God has and all that God is). In a sense, they go from nothing to everything simply because they honestly confess their great need before God!
During His life on earth, the Messiah opened many gateways to blessedness. But through His death, the door swung open even farther. Galatians 3:13-14 explains:
“Christ . . . redeemed us from the curse of the law, by being made a curse for us . . . that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.”
After rising from the dead and ascending to heaven, on Pentecost, Jesus sent forth the Holy Spirit into the upper room where the disciples were waiting. Malachi’s prophecy was then fulfilled as God opened the windows of heaven and poured out such an overflow of His blessing there simply wasn’t “room enough” in Israel to contain it (see Malachi 3:10). It burst through the walls of Judaism and gushed into all the world.
Now we who are born again need not beg, for God already has “blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ” (Eph. 1:3). We possess these blessings — God’s love, peace, joy, authority, wisdom, victory and much more — by holding “fast the profession of our faith without wavering (for He is faithful who promised)” (Heb. 10:23, KJV).
More Blessed to Give
As we reach out to claim our inheritance, though, we need to remember heaven’s mindset that it is “more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35). What a mystery it is that in “The Parable of the Sheep and the Goats” (our foundation scripture), the status of being “the blessed of the Father” was not imparted because of what believers received but what they gave away (like food to the hungry and clothes to the naked) (See Matthew 25:31-46.)
We need to remind ourselves of this often and look for opportunities to bless others in significant ways that the real status of blessedness might be established in our lives — for time and eternity.
To explore this wonderful subject more deeply, listen to a past episode of Mike Shreve’s weekly podcast called, “Discover Your Spiritual Identity”—on our call to be “The Blessed of the Father.” {eoa}
A product of the Jesus Movement Era, Mike Shreve has traveled evangelistically in the United States and overseas since 1970 with an emphasis on healing and the prophetic. His primary biblical teaching for over 35 years has been the spiritual identity of believers. This powerful insight is featured on his weekly podcast on cpnshows.com and his TV program—both titled Discover Your Spiritual Identity. It is also the theme of his Charisma House book titled WHO AM I? Dynamic Declarations of Who You Are in Christ. The first three categories on his YouTube website expand on this amazing revelation: YouTube.com/mikeshreveministries.
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