When God Blesses
- Rev. Jerry Lepasana
- Sep 4, 2005
- Series: Blessed to be a Blessing
When God Blesses
Genesis 14:17-24
- After Abram returned from defeating Kedorlaomer and the kings allied with him, the king of Sodom came out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King's Valley).
- Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High,
- and he blessed Abram, saying, "Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth.
- And blessed be God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand." Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.
- The king of Sodom said to Abram, "Give me the people and keep the goods for yourself."
- But Abram said to the king of Sodom, "I have raised my hand to the Lord, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, and have taken an oath
- that I will accept nothing belonging to you, not even a thread or the thong of a sandal, so that you will never be able to say, 'I made Abram rich.'
- I will accept nothing but what my men have eaten and the share that belongs to the men who went with me--to Aner, Eshcol and Mamre. Let them have their share."
A TV host was interviewing a world-famous bodybuilder. He was enormous, with defined muscles bulging out all over his body. The host playfully pointed to his arms and asked, “So what do you do with this?” Without a word, the bodybuilder flexed his biceps and a small mountain appeared between his elbow and his shoulder. “What about this?” and the host pointed to his stomach, and the washboard abs tightened to become a 6-pack of steel. “Well, what do you do with all these muscles?” And the body builder did a striking pose. “No, what do you use them for?” And the puzzled bodybuilder replied, “What do you mean? I have them to display.”
I would like to use this as a picture of many of us today. God in His goodness and grace has allowed us to be recipients of His bountiful blessings, and yet we have constantly failed to understand the purpose on why He blesses us.
For the month of September, I would like to spend some time showing from the Bible the ultimate purpose of God’s blessings to His people. I believe with all my heart that a better understanding of this truth will bring greater joy into our lives and at the same time will open us to God’s greater blessings. The title of this series is Blessed to be a Blessing.
Our text this morning highlights Abraham after he victoriously rescued his nephew from the hands of four Mesopotamian kings who invaded Sodom and other Jordanian countries. This victory causes this godly man to respond the way each of us needs to be responding on a regular basis. I believe his response is based on his consciousness about God’s calling in his life found in Genesis 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."
Right from the very start of Abraham’s walk with God, he was impressed with the fact that God was going to bless him so he can be a blessing to others. His blessings are not the end in itself. He was not being blessed because his better or more deserving. Or he was not blessed because he worked harder compared to others. No, he was blessed for one reason and for one reason alone: so that he may be a blessing to others. Now, this is what we can see in our passage. In all of all Abraham’s blessings, he knew the honorable way to respond to God. Let’s learn together his responses:
I HE ACKNOWLEDGED HIS BENEFACTOR: (vs. 17-20)
After Abraham returned from battle, he was met by two kings. The first was the king of Sodom, king Bera; and then the king of Salem, king Melchizedek. Here for the first time we are introduced to king Melchizedek, who is said to a priest of the most high God. His name Melchizedek literally means king of righteousness. His name suggests a righteous ruler who is God’s representative. Many theologians would even believe that Melchizedek was a theophany, an appearance of the preincarnate Christ.
As he met Abraham, he blessed him and attributed his victory as part of God’s blessing. Without any resentment, it appears that Abraham acknowledged this fact.
I personally believe that one of the most important things we need to realize as Christians is that God is the ultimate source of everything. Everything we have literally belongs to Him. That’s the reason why the Bible refers to Christians as stewards. What is a steward? A steward is a person who manages the property of someone else.
The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;
for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills.
Everything comes from God and therefore He is the owner. If He owns it all, we are just the managers of what he has. This is a tough concept. We often think of our things, our time, our money, and our very lives, as ours, to do as we like. We were put here on earth not just to enjoy our lives, but to fellowship with God and bring glory to him. Our lives our not our own. If we serve God with our lives and all we have. We will indeed be fulfilled. But if we squander or misuse them, we will pay a dear price.
II HE ADORED GOD BY GIVING HIS TITHES: (v. 20)
Secondly, the reminder to Abraham by Melchizedek that his victory came from the Lord resulted in a form of worship that is done for the first time – worship through the giving of tithes.
What is a tithe? The word tithe is actually an Old English word and it literally means one tenth.
With regards to Abraham, the tithe was a tenth part of all the spoils he had taken from the kings he just defeated. He understood that tithing was the best expression of his gratitude to God. Thus, his giving came out of adoration, rather than compulsion.
What a contrast! For many of God’s people today, giving has become a very touchy subject. However, when you go to the Bible, you will realize that it is an important subject. How do I know that? Well, if you go to the Bible and count the number of times the words give, giver, or giving, you will be amazed how God had emphasized it compared to other topics that we also consider as really important. For example:
- Believer/Believe/Believing - 272 times
- Prayer/Praying - 371 times
- Love/loving - 714 times
- Give/giver/giving - 2,162 times
One thing is really clear: God wants all of us to be givers.
I would like to believe that we are all aware of our responsibility to also give our tithes. God has some strong words to people who are not giving their tithes:
- "Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. "But you ask, 'How do we rob you?' "In tithes and offerings.
- You are under a curse--the whole nation of you--because you are robbing me.
- Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the Lord Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.
Abraham was such a blessed man because he knew how to honor the Lord through his tithes.
III HE ABOUNDED IN SHARING TO OTHERS: (vs. 21-24)
Lastly, in the last verses of our passage, we will find Abraham’s generosity to others. The king of Sodom recognized that Abraham had the right over the recovered goods. However, he refused to take anything from Sodom believing that God was able to fulfill His promise of greatness to him. He knew he would become more prosperous through the Lord. Instead of getting for himself, he generously gave to his men what they deserve. Customarily, being the leader of the Hebrew family, he could have taken it all, but he understood the benefit of sharing.
One of God’s expectations of His people is that we will reflect His generous blessings of us in the ways in which we seek to bless others. He promises to prosper the generous givers:
- One man gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty.
- A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.
Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.
Do you know what the root word is for Miserable? It is MISER. The most miserable people in the world are the misers, who are stingy, and with a greedy mind set. We will be more blessed if we give generously. Always remember that God expects us to seek being a blessing to others because of his blessings to us.