DOES GOD BLESS THE BELIEVER WITH MATERIAL THINGS TODAY PT.1
I understand the issue of us being ‘blessed’ by God in this present dispensation of His grace to be sort of like the counterpart to the issue of chastening in this dispensation; or the ‘flip side’ of the same sonship coin, so to speak. And so just as I understand that chastening in this present dispensation is of the ‘sonship variety,’ and as such differs from the physical, circumstantial type chastening of childhood common in God’s program with Israel, so also do I understand the same to be the case with God’s blessing. It too differs from the physical, material, and circumstantial type blessings of childhood common in God’s program with Israel. Therefore, we have ‘sonship blessing’ today, if I can put it that way, in contrast to ‘childhood blessing.’ And since it by nature differs from the blessing concept set forth in the law and experienced by Israel, then the blessing of God for us today differs not only in the fact that it is in contrast to ‘childhood blessing,’ but it also differs because of the kind of impact that God has designed for us to make to His glory in this dispensation.
Deu 28:1 And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth:
Deu 28:2 And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God.
Deu 28:3 Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field.
Deu 28:4 Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep.
Deu 28:5 Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store.
Deu 28:6 Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out.
To be a bit more specific in this regards, as Deuteronomy 28-29 for example make clear, the blessings and cursings of the law covenant that Israel received were not only commensurate with God dealing with Israel as “children” and not as “sons,” but they were also commensurate with, and fitting to, the particular type of impact God designed Israel to have upon the nations of the earth. The physical, material, and circumstantial nature of Israel’s “blessings” and “cursings” were designed not only to indicate something to Israel, but also to make an impact upon the nations around them. Very simply put, when Israel was “blessed,” (whether God did so in accordance with the law or simply on the basis of His mercy and grace as under David and Solomon), those physical and material blessings were designed to impact the nations of the earth. And the nations upon hearing of them and seeing them would be attracted to Israel, which made it so that they could then be favorably influenced by Israel to the weakening of the hold and working of Satan’s policy of evil in that nation. So in view of God dealing with Israel as “children” under the law and not as “sons,” and in view of the particular way God designed to impact the nations of the earth by either His “blessing” or “cursing” of Israel, the issue of Israel being blessed by God with blessings of a physical, material, and circumstantial nature, was clearly a natural, common, and looked for thing in God’s program and dealings with Israel. Such physical, material, and circumstantial blessings fit Israel’s program ‘to a tee,’ naturally enough.
However I am persuaded that such is not the case in God’s program and dealings with us in this present dispensation of grace. (Unfortunately, though, I am also persuaded that this is something that is not well understood, nor much appreciated, by very many saints today, including a number of those who do clearly recognize the distinctive nature of this present dispensation with its numerous differences from the way things operated in God’s program with Israel. In fact, the mere mention of the idea that physical, material, and circumstantial blessings from God do not fit in with God’s program and dealings with us today, is enough for some to just ‘write me off.’ Nevertheless, I am persuaded that physical, material, and circumstantial blessings from God are not part of God’s program and dealings with us today, and that this is in perfect accordance not only with the issue of God making us “sons” and dealing with us as such, but it is also in perfect accordance with the particular kind of impact that God has privileged us to make to His honor and glory in this present dispensation.
Now in this present dispensation of grace when it comes to us making an impact upon others, Paul makes it clear (to me anyway) that the impact God wants made by us pertains to the issue of the excellency of who He has made us to be “in Christ” coupled with the excellency of the power of His word operating within us enabling us to put who we are “in Christ” into practice. And in view of who God has made us to be “in Christ,” God is putting on display the excellency that belongs to the effectual working of the power of His word within us, especially as it gives us the ability to face anything that can naturally occur in this world and/or happen unto us while we are in it. Moreover in connection with this, we are privileged to be equipped to face anything and to respond to it in a manner that redounds to God’s glory to the praise of the excellency of who He has made us to be “in Christ” and the excellency of His word’s power operating within us. In essence, this is our ‘blessing of God.’ And we are ‘blessed’ by God with this privilege right from the outset. Simply put, once we believe “the gospel of Christ” and are both taught about, and get established in, the fact that God has justified us unto eternal life, and sanctified us unto functional life, and made us members of His “new creature” the church the body of Christ that He is now forming, God then in His word to us gives us specific doctrines which by their effectual working within us enable us to put our position “in Christ” into practice in this world, and to do so in the face of anything that can naturally occur in this world, and to do so also in the face of anything the Satanic policy of evil can naturally produce in its opposition to us.
Rom 8:16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
Rom 8:17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
Rom 8:18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
Rom 8:19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.
Rom 8:20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,
Rom 8:21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
Rom 8:22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
Rom 8:23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
Rom 8:24 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
Rom 8:25 But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.
Therefore we are equipped to handle any of “the sufferings of this present time” to the glory of God, just as Romans 8:16ff makes plain, without God ‘blessing’ us by delivering us from the experience of any of them, or by altering any of them, or preventing any of them from happening to us.
2Co 4:7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.
2Co 4:8 We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;
2Co 4:9 Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;
2Co 4:10 Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.
2Co 4:11 For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.
2Co 4:12 So then death worketh in us, but life in you.
2Co 4:13 We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak;
2Co 4:14 Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you.
2Co 4:15 For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God.
2Co 4:16 For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.
2Co 4:17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;
2Co 4:18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.
In addition to this we are equipped to be to the glory of God in whatever personal, economic, cultural, societal, political, or national situation we may find ourselves. Likewise we are equipped to handle any of “the sufferings of Christ” to God’s glory, just as for example all of II Corinthians makes plain; and this too without God ‘blessing’ us with deliverance from them, or preventing any of them from occurring, etc.
Once again, my understanding is that all of our blessings from God are received by us ‘up front,’ so to speak, at the moment we believed in our Lord Jesus Christ as our all-sufficient Savior and God justified us unto eternal life, sanctified us unto functional life, and made us members of His “new creature,” the “one new man,” the church the body of Christ. All of our blessings from God, therefore, are contained in who He has made us to be “in Christ” and what He has privileged us to do to His honor and glory during this dispensation. Now we naturally do not learn about them all right away. Coming to understand, appreciate, and utilize them is part of our “godly edifying.” Nevertheless we still received all of our blessings from God at the very moment God justified us, sanctified us, and made us members of the church the body of Christ.
And in view of the impact we are privileged to make to God’s glory in this dispensation, all of our blessings from God are commensurate with God dealing with us as “sons” in this dispensation, and they are fitted to the issue of us being privileged by Him to labor with Him in what He is doing; specifically to labor together with God in extolling the virtues and praises of the excellency of the power of His word as it operates within us regardless of whatever comes our way, whether it be adversity or prosperity; whether it be physically delightful or grievous; whether it be perceived by us, or by others, to be a hindrance or a boon; whether it be gain or loss; whether it be for a short time or a long time; whether it makes us glad or sad; etc., etc., etc.
Therefore my understanding is that we are not supposes to look at the physical, material, or situational circumstances of our lives and say that we have been blessed by God, or not blessed by Him, because of the nature of our circumstances. Instead, if we are going to talk about being ‘blessed of God,’ we should realize that we have been fully ‘blessed by God’ in view of who He has made us to be “in Christ,” and that through our position “in Christ” and the effectual working of the excellency of the power of God’s working within us, we have the privilege now of living to the glory of God in the face of whatever comes our way. And whatever comes our way of a ‘good’ nature has other reason for occurring than being the result of God blessing us physically or materially. Likewise whatever comes our way of an ‘adverse’ nature has other reasons for occurring than being the result of God not blessing us.
Keith Blades
Enjoy The Bible Ministries