We do not deserve any of the blessings God blesses us with. We, as Christians, fall short all the time. Yet, God continues to bless us, because He is merciful and loving. God loves us despite our faults and flaws. If it was not for God blessing us and keeping us safe, who knows where we would be. The height of God’s favor and protection is demonstrated through the birth and death of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the way, truth, and life. He is the perfect example of how to live that’s pleasing to God. Jesus purchased our salvation by giving up His life on the cross for our sins. This alone shows us how we all are favored by God. If we accepted God as our Savior, we are forever favored and protected. A lot of blessings are taken for granted such as the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross. Other blessings which are often times overlooked is living to see another day, having food to eat, and clothes to wear. The Bible is filled with stories of blessings upon the children of God and unbelievers. I intend to present blessings and how its meaning evolves from the Old Testament to the New Testament.
THE OLD TESTAMENT DISCUSSES BLESSINGS DIFFERENTLY THAN THE NEW TESTAMENT
There is more emphasis on outward blessings or material blessings in the Old Testament. The New Testament helps us to focus more on the inward or spiritual blessings of God (Elwell, Walter A., 1997). God’s promise to Abraham that all people would be blessed through him is an early example of this idea of outward blessings. In Genesis 12:2, God speaks of prosperity in Abraham’s life making his name great and enlarging his territory through his descendents and those he fathers in the spiritual sense (NKJV). There are three main themes that attach themselves to the meaning of blessi...
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.... Last, the Old Testament uses prayers for God’s favor to symbolize blessings. The forgiveness of sins brings us closer to Christ so that we can experience an abundance of blessings. Sometimes we take for granted the blessings of having joy in times of sorrow, a peace of mind, all our needs met, and even our salvation. The New Testament brings attention to those things and helps us to recognize the greatest blessings of all. Sin is what separates us from receiving all that God desires for our lives. Grace and mercy allows us to still be blessed in spite of our sins. God’s forgiveness sets us free and puts us in position to receive more of the blessings that He wills for our lives.
Works Cited
Elwell, Walter A. "Entry for 'Blessing'". "Evangelical Dictionary of Theology". . 1997
Thornhill, A. Chadwick. The Resurrection Of Jesus and Spiritual Transformation…2012
... showed all this and rewarded us so that one day we would be notice his kindness. The Christian is made alive in God and does good works for him. He does this to show his everlasting grace to everyone.
God is sinless, loving, forgiving and full of wisdom. God’s love is shown throughout the Old and New Testaments. Many times throughout the Old
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In the first section of his book (What You Have Received as Gift, Give as Gift) really make an impact on my views on living a fulfilled life. Everyone has a purpose and a gift on this life and everyone should know that they are somebody and everyone should know this to fulfill a good life. Everyone should work together and use our strengths to help others. God gave all of us a different and unique talent or gift and we should place that gift on others as God has done to us. When we showcase our gifts and talents, we should be grateful and show humility. We should not gloat our talents, but instead help others in order to gain a better understanding of others and the world around us. As Gula says “Gratitude is the virtue that gladly recognizes everything we have received as gifts to be shared, not possessions to be hoarded. Gratitude remembers, too, that God is the giver of these gifts” (Gula 30). My view on this is that gratitude and humility are one of the core values on living the good life because we can use these talents to gain understanding of our own self and others around us. Like God, we can use our gifts to also gain companionship, which God believes to be in reaching a good
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Elaborated on throughout the course of the Hebrew Bible, the literary pattern that appears to be both present and prevalent is the idea of “Exile and Restoration.” This first comes to achieve predominance early on in Genesis; where Adam and Eve – having been deceived by the Serpent into partaking of the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, against God’s express wishes – are soon discovered, cursed by God himself, and are henceforth banished from the Garden of Eden indefinitely; exiting to the East, and later returning from the West. Further circumstances where this duality becomes more clear follow Abraham’s original Covenant with God, leading onto the story of Moses – who kills an Egyptian quarreling with a Hebrew, and, in turn, flees to avoid the Pharaoh’s wrath; only to come into contact with God and be granted his next holy mission, recounted in the Book of Exodus – in which Moses liberates
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