And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith
Our opening Scripture speaks of the blessing conferred on man by God in the beginning. It says “and God blessed them…” The word ‘blessed’ in context in the Hebrew language is Barak, which simply means to empower, to prosper, to favour, to cause to have an advantage; to cause to advance. It also means to “kneel” in order to receive. This word also reveals the blessing as God’s empowerment, or an empowerment conferred by a greater one on someone who is lesser. Hebrews 7:7 says “And without all contradiction the less is blessed of the better,” therefore the idea of the blessing is the greater one standing, to confer an advantage or an empowerment on the lesser. The empowerment that the blessing brings is that which comes to you in a posture of submission. So, this means that the Word blessed simply means ‘submission to receive’. Hence the blessing works in us, on us and through us in the posture of submission to God. The posture of submission to God is also known as worship, which is fully expressed in prompt, implicit, total and willing obedience to the Word of God. Faith and obedience are two sides of the same coin. You cannot express faith in God and not obey His Word. True, biblical faith is expressed in obedience to God.
When God conferred the blessing on humanity in Genesis 1:28, Adam was in a posture of kneeling before God, in submission to receive; because that’s what it means to be blessed or to receive the blessing from the Lord. This positioning made it possible for God to confer the blessing on him, but when he transgressed the commandment of God, he stood in rebellion and disobedience; so, he departed from that place of the blessing. He left the posture of the blessing by standing against God. However, God’s blessing is irreversible. He is not going to take His blessing back, but Adam had forfeited the privilege and opportunity to be the carrier and the federal head of the blessing that God had conferred on humanity. So, God began to look for another person to place the blessing on. God sought for another man that will take the posture of surrender, submission, reliance, dependence on Him and He found Abraham, who then became the heir of the world through faith. Abraham inherited the blessing because he obeyed the voice of God (Genesis 22:17-18). Beloved, take the posture of worship, of obedience to the Word, and you will walk in the blessing of God all the days of your life.
MY SOLID FRONT (Confession):
Father, thank You for showing me the importance of taking a posture of surrender, of worship, of obedience to You in order that the blessing may work for me; therefore, in the Name of Jesus Christ, I take the posture of obedience to the Word for the rest of my life. Amen!
Further Meditation: Genesis 22:14-18; Genesis 12:1-4.