When someone asks the question: “Why did Jesus die on the cross?” the most common response is, you guessed it, “to forgive our sins.” Or you may hear something related such as: “So we can be with him in heaven” or “so we can have eternal life.”

But they are not the only ones given in Scripture. Consider these words penned by the apostle Paul in Galatians 3:13-14.

Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us…that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. (Galatians 3:13-14)

 

What is this “blessing of Abraham” that has come upon the Gentiles, that is, you and me?

 

Here are some verses from Genesis that should give us an idea:

“I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Genesis 12:2-3)

 

Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold. Lot also, who went with Abram, had flocks and herds and tents. Now the land was not able to support them that they might dwell together, for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together. (13:3, 5-6)

 

“I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you. Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.”(17:6-8)

 

As you can tell, the blessing of Abraham includes God’s eternal covenant, promises of descendants, land and other material possessions. We see an expanded version of what the blessing looks like in Deuteronomy 28:14. Here are the opening verses:

 

“Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the Lord your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the Lord your God.”

 

I would encourage you to read the rest of the verses to get the full extent of these blessings…here are a few of them:

“And the Lord will grant you plenty of goods, in the fruit of your body, in the increase of your livestock, and in the produce of your ground, in the land of which the Lord swore to your fathers to give you. The Lord will bless all the work of your hand. You shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. And the Lord will make you the head and not the tail; you shall be above only, and not be beneath.”(vs. 11-13)

 

The blessings do not simply come upon the descendants of Abraham, they overtake them, so that you have to run after them simply to catch up with them J

 

Sure sounds like the life of Abraham, doesn’t it? This is our portion as well, as spiritual heirs of Abraham through faith in Jesus. (Romans 4:16-18).

 

So, go ahead, descendant of Abraham, decree this: THE BLESSING OF ABRAHAM IS UPON ME.

 

You may also wish to decree an additional consequence of this blessing, as stated by the apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 9:7-8: HAVING ALL SUFFICIENCY IN ALL THINGS, I HAVE AN ABUNDANCE FOR EVERY GOOD WORK.