Has God blessed you? We live in a world today that's
obsessed with being blessed. When you sneeze, people say,
Lord bless you. Everywhere you go, someone says,
have a blessed day. Parents teach their children
to pray, and their prayers are, bless mommy, bless daddy, bless
Auntie Susie, bless Fido, their dog, and they go down that list
of all that are to be blessed. Sadly, most people don't have
a true understanding of what the word blessed means in the
scriptures. Men and women and children alike
flippantly use the word blessed and have no idea what it really
means. They say, I'm blessed. Well, you're blessed. We're blessed. Everybody's blessed. But are
they? The world's definition of blessed
means many things. You can ask 10 people, and you'll
get 10 different answers. To some, being blessed means
good fortune. It means money, wealth, possessions,
land, material things. Someone wins the lottery and
folks say, oh, they're blessed. Someone receives an inheritance
and we say, oh, they're blessed. Are they? Can a sinner without
Christ be blessed? Do you consider yourself blessed
by the standard of the Bible? Or blessed by the standard of
the world? Has God blessed you? The world and those of the world
consider a man to be blessed if they have fortune, wealth,
great success, as I said, notoriety, fame, popularity, prestige, power. Oh, they're blessed. They're
blessed. But oftentimes, those things prove to be more of a
curse than a blessing. The scriptures say, if you will
not hear and if you will not lay it to heart to give glory
unto my name, saith the Lord a host, I will even send a curse
upon you and I will curse your blessings. Yea, I have cursed
them already because you do not lay it to heart. Malachi 2.2. The Lord Jesus asked this question
in Mark chapter eight. He said, what shall it profit
a man if he should gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Faithful man shall abound with
blessings, but he that maketh haste to be rich shall not be
innocent. Proverbs 28 20. So let me ask
you, what do you believe it is to be blessed? I have for several
days now asked and considered that question myself. Now let
me say this so that you don't misunderstand me. I know that
everything we have and that everything we are, apart from being wretched
sinners who deserve eternal wrath and eternal judgment in hell,
is in one sense a blessing. I get that. I do. All things
are determined by the predestinating purpose and power of God. Yet
I seriously ask you, as serious as I know how, how can any sinner
who is without Christ, who is without hope and without God
in this world, can be thought to be blessed? If you would turn
with me to the 72nd chapter of Psalms, Psalms chapter 72. I want to read one verse here
and then We'll move on to another passage, one other anyway. But
Psalm chapter 72. I want to look at verse 17. Here in verse 17, speaking of
the Lord Jesus Christ, we read, His name shall endure forever. His name shall be continued as
long as the sun, and men shall be blessed in Him. All nations shall call Him blessed. Now notice that here in our text,
in verse 17, we have the word blessed used two different times. And it's used in two different
ways. Actually, if you look up the original Hebrew word for
both times this is used, they're actually two different words,
both translated blessed. The first time it's used here
in verse 17, we read, and men shall be blessed in him. That
will be our subject, but Here the word blessed in the original
Hebrew language, and I'm not a Hebrew or Greek scholar, but
I do have a concordance, and I like to do word studies because
sometimes it helps us to understand what a particular passage of
scriptures is actually saying. The first time the word blessed
is used there, and men shall be blessed in him, the word blessed,
that word in the Hebrew is pronounced balrak, balrak. And it means
an act of adoration. An act of being made holy. Men shall be blessed. Men shall
be holy and adored in Him. Matter of fact, you can look
up the word blessed in the English dictionary. And it will tell
you the same thing. It means the same thing. It means
to be made holy or to be endowed with divine favor and protection. And then the second time the
word blessed is used here in this verse, we read all nations
shall call Him blessed. Now there the Hebrew word is
a different word. It's called Ashar and it means
to be holy. It means to be straight. It means
to be right. It means to be honest. David
says, all the nations shall call Him, speaking of Christ, they
shall call Him holy, they shall call Him perfect, they shall
call Him righteous and just. So, here's our subject. Just six words, men shall be
blessed in Him. We're talking about being blessed.
What does it mean to be blessed? Our subject is about being blessed
as God defines it. And as I said in the beginning,
I propose to you this morning a question, and it's the title
of this message. Has God blessed you? So we know
that being blessed is an act of God towards us. Because if
any man or woman or sinner is going to be blessed, there's
only one way that they can be. Men shall be blessed in Him. That's pretty plain. It's only in Christ that sinners
are blessed and made adorable. Men, women, sinners, even the
elect of God are going to have to be adorned in Christ to really
be biblically blessed. And I like that word adorn. I
like that word adorned. It means to be made beautiful
and made attractive. That'll mean something to you
if you see that you're ugly and undesirable in the sight of God.
That'll mean something to you. To be adorned, to be made beautiful,
to be made attractive to God in Christ. My, my. For a sinner
to be adorned, it means you're going to have to be made holy
and without blame before Him in love. It means to be made
unblameable and unreprovable in God's sight. It means that
when God looks at you, He finds you adorable. My, adorable in
God's sight. And one day, according to the
Scriptures, the church of God will stand as the bride of Christ. And the Scriptures say, adorned,
made beautiful, attractive, holy and without blame before their
heavenly husband. Revelation 21 verse 2. And this
divine act of being made perfect, being made adorable, being made
acceptable, being made holy and without blame is what it means
to be blessed. And you can only be blessed in
Christ. For men shall be blessed in Him. God's sovereign act of blessing
and conforming a sinner to Christ, making that sinner accepted in
the Beloved is the very glory of God. Did you know that? Because
of our redemption being blessed in Him, being blessed in Christ,
that's the reason the sinner blesses God. It's the reason we give God all
the glory. He deserves all the glory. For
men shall be blessed in Him. Look at verse 18 here. Blessed, that's the same word.
Holy, adored, worshipped, praised, kneeled, and submitted to. Blessed
be the Lord God, the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things. You see, we bless God, we adore
God, we kneel, submit, and bow to God because of His loving,
choosing, calling, justifying us in Christ, and we did nothing
to deserve it. He does not bless us because
we bless Him. We bless Him because He first
blessed us, just as we love Him because He first loved us. And that's where sinners go wrong.
They think that God loves them because they first loved Him,
or that they chose Him, or that they made a decision to let Him
be their God. That's not in this book. Not
in it. You won't find it anywhere. John
very plainly says, we love him because he first loved us. Isn't this a glorious subject,
being blessed of God? Isn't this a glorious salvation? Men shall be blessed in him. They didn't deserve to be blessed.
But they shall be blessed in Him. Some will. Some will. Are all men blessed? A man or woman who does not know
Christ is certainly not blessed. Not as the Word of God describes
being blessed. Men and women by nature are not
blessed. By nature, we're all born under
a curse. As our federal head, Adam, forfeited
the blessing for us. That curse still abides on all
mankind. By the sweat of the face, men
eat bread. That was part of the curse. The
blessings that were freely provided by God for the sustenance of
man and woman in the garden is now obtained only by the work
of the hands and the sweat of the brow. That's part of the
curse. With sorrow, women bring forth children. It's part of
the curse and it's a reminder of the curse that we're under.
Apart from Christ, dear friends, men and women are not blessed.
They're accursed. Bad news, the scripture says,
for as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse.
For it is written, cursed is everyone that continueth not
in all things which are written in the book of the law to do
them, Galatians 3.10. Good news, Christ has redeemed
us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us. For it's written, cursed is everyone
that hangeth on a tree. And the first thing God shows
a sinner after He gives them life is this, for men shall be
blessed in Him. In Him. No other way. No other
way. Spiritual life, eternal life,
is totally dependent on the Him of whom this verse speaks. Men,
women, sinners, as I said, even God's children are blessed, made
holy, accepted, adorned one way and only one way and that's in
Him, in Christ, the one mediator between God and man. And I'm
telling you, I mean to be repetitive here. I mean to be. You're blessed in Him and in
Him alone, no other way. Where are sinners blessed? Blessed
in Him. And as I said in the beginning,
men say, have a blessed day. God doesn't bless days. He doesn't. God blesses sinners, and He blesses
them in Christ. May the Lord bless you. Well,
maybe He will, and maybe He won't. But if He does, it's going to
be in Christ. and in Christ alone. I sure am blessed. Well, maybe
you are. But if you are, it's only because
God chose you, God called you, God saved you, and God is conforming
you to his beloved son. That's the only reason that you're
blessed. It's not because you've received,
achieved, or believed to have some temporal earthly possession.
The blessed man or woman has Christ, and in having Christ,
they have all they need. All they need. Christ is all
and in all, and that's what that means. He's all that we need. He provides for us everything
that God requires of us. Look at Ephesians chapter one
with me. I'm not going to keep you long,
but I want you to give me your attention, if you would. Ephesians
chapter 1. Verse 1. Paul, an apostle of
Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus,
and to the faithful in Christ Jesus. Now let me just pause
right there for a moment. If you're faithful to God, if
you have faith in God, remember that even our faith is God's
gift to a chosen sinner. If you're faithful, it's only
because God made you so. It's only because God gave you
that faith. We're saved by grace through
faith. That's not of ourselves. It's the gift of God. faithful
in Christ Jesus. Men shall be blessed in Him. Saving faith is given only to
those who are found in Christ Jesus. Now look at this. This was just such a revelation
to me. Hope it is to you. Verse three, blessed. That's
how it starts. That's what we're talking about,
blessed. And here the Greek word means the same as that Hebrew
word for blessed in the Old Testament in Psalms that we read a moment
ago. It means holy. It means adorable. Blessed, holy,
and adorable be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who
hath blessed us. And there the word, just as a
small variation of the same word, and there it means to invoke
or appeal for, or it means basically to call or to cause. God caused us to be blessed. He caused us to be holy and adorable. That's the only way that we can
be. This shows us how we are blessed. This shows us what Christ did
for us. You see, as our perfect substitute,
His sacrifice for sin was accepted. He knew no sin. And yet He was
made to be sin for us that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. God accepts His sacrifice for
sin because He was perfect. He was the God-man. And He perfectly
kept God's law. As our sacrifice for sin, our
debt of sin was paid in full by Him. As our advocate, His
cry of, it is finished, was His appeal and His address to the
justice of God. God's justice says, the soul
that sinneth, it shall die. The wages of sin is death. God's
going to have to punish sin. And because Christ was perfect
and knew no sin, His sacrifice was accepted. God accepted it.
He said it's finished. And now being in Him, we're told
here in verse 3 that all spiritual blessings, there's that word
again. And heavenly places are given
to the blessed believer in Christ. You see, believing sinners shall
be blessed in Him. In Him. Believing sinners are made adorable
to God in Christ. I like the thought of God seeing
me as adorable. You know why? Because I know
I'm not in and of myself. Deplorable? Yes. Despicable? Most certainly. Repulsive? Yes. But adorable? No. But he sees me that way in Christ.
And that's the message of the gospel. Blessed, adorable, worthy
of worship is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who's
made us holy and adorable by blessing us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places. And that's only in Christ. Men shall be blessed in Him. Verse four. According as He had
chosen us in Him, Notice these words, let's go read over these
words quickly. He's chosen us where? In Him. There's those same two words. Before the foundation of the
world that we should be holy and without blame before Him
in love. Now where are sinners chosen? In Him. When are sinners
chosen? Before the foundation of the
world. Why are sinners chosen in Him? That they should be holy
and without blame before Him in love. How are sinners chosen? Look at verse 5. Having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children. How? By Jesus Christ to Himself. That's the only way you can be.
According to the good pleasure of His will. I hear people talk
a lot today about what they've done for God. I'm not interested. Not interested. You know what
I'm interested in? In what God's done for me. What God's done
for sinners. What God has done for those who
deserve nothing but wrath, judgment, and eternal condemnation. Because
that's what I am. I'm a sinner. And I need mercy. And I need grace. I need to be
blessed. Has God blessed you? having predestinated us into
the adoption of children by Jesus Christ Himself according to the
good pleasure of His will." Verse 6, "...to the praise of the glory
of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved."
Now listen, if you're blessed, if I'm blessed, if we're blessed,
it's to the praise of the glory of His grace. Who has made sinners
accepted? Jesus Christ has made us accepted. For men shall be blessed in Him.
Where are we accepted? In the Beloved. That being Jesus
Christ. He is God's Beloved. Men shall
be blessed in Him. Now look at verse 7. In whom
we have redemption. Where do we have redemption?
In Him. How do we have redemption? It's
through Christ's blood. It was Christ's blood that was
shed to provide a perfect covering of righteousness for God's people. Redemption is the forgiveness
of sins. Do you see that right here in
this verse? If you're blessed with redemption, then you've
been forgiven of your sins and you're blessed in Him. Why are your sins forgiven? Why
are you blessed? According to the riches of His
grace. Verse 8, wherein He hath abounded toward us in all wisdom
and prudence, having made known unto us the mystery of His will,
according to His good pleasure, which He hath purposed in His
self. Now, I'm not a smart man, but
that sounds to me like salvations of the Lord. Does it to you? Have He made known unto us? Who
makes known unto us? God does. I didn't just look
out and see creation one day and go, Oh, God made. Well, there
must be a God. No, no, no. He made known unto
us. The mystery of His will. How? According to His good pleasure.
When it pleased Him. How it pleased Him? By the preaching
of the gospel. which He hath purposed in Himself."
Your will and your way didn't have anything to do with it.
Oh, that makes people mad. Well, I have a free will. You will not come to me, Christ
said, that you might have life. Now that's your free will. You will not come. You will not
come that you might have life. It was man's will to take and
crucify the Lord of Glory with wicked hands. You want to see
something about your will? Look to Calvary and see God in
the flesh hanging there. Your hands put Him there. Your
will put Him there. Oh, I wouldn't be too quick to
brag on my will. No, sir. The mystery of God has
been made known to us. The mystery of redemption is
revealed to us. What is that mystery? Sinners
are blessed only in Christ. Why is that mystery made known
to us? Simply because it pleased Him to do so according to His
good pleasure. It seemed good in His sight. That's the only reason God gives. God doesn't have to give you
a reason to do anything. He's God. I'm tired of hearing
about this mamsy-pamsy God and Jesus who wants to do this, if
you'll just let Him. That's not the God this book
declares. It's not. Better read your Bible. How did redemption come about?
He purposed our salvation to be found in Christ. And every
one of God's people, Christ Himself said, all that the Father giveth
me shall come to me. God's going to see to it. Every
single one is going to be saved. Is there any in hell for whom
Christ died? Not a one. All of them are going
to come to Him. Paul writing to the church at
Rome penned this, he said, now to him that is of power to establish
you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ.
How does God save sinners? Through the foolishness of preaching.
According to the revelation of the mystery by God revealing,
that's what revelation means. God's showing it to you, God
revealing it to you. Oh, according to the revelation
of the mystery, that mystery which was kept secret since the
world began, but now is made manifest, and by the scriptures
of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting
God, made known unto all nations for the obedience of faith. That's
speaking of the gospel of Christ. The preaching of the unsearchable
riches of Christ. The revelation of the mystery
of God. Men shall be blessed in Him. It's still a mystery to many
because God has yet to reveal it. Made known by God to all
His people out of every nation. Not every person in all the world,
but men and women out of every kindred tongue and tribe. Out
of all the nations of the world God calls His people. Jesus Christ
did not die for everybody. If that offends you, I'm sorry,
but be upset with God, because that's what God says. And I remember that old bumper
sticker just come to mind. God said it, I believe it, and
that settles it. God said it, that settles it. Doesn't matter if I believe it
or not. Doesn't change it. Salvation is to all whom God
gives the obedience of faith. That's what I just read to you
in Romans. Men shall be blessed in Him.
I know that. I know that much. If you're going
to be blessed, it's going to be in Him. Look at verse 13. In whom you also trusted. What
a blessing to be able to trust in Christ alone. After that ye
heard the word of truth, it pleased the Lord by the foolishness of
preaching to save them that believe." That's how God saves sinners,
through preaching. Why is it important to come to
church? Because that's where preaching is. That's the ordained
means by which God saves His people. The gospel of your salvation. What is the gospel? No, that's
not the right question. Who is the gospel? That's the
right question. in whom also after that ye believed."
Salvation is in a person. Salvation is in Christ. Men shall
be blessed where? In Him. He says, you were sealed
with that Holy Spirit of promise. Verse 18, which is the earnest
down payment of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased
possession unto the praise of His glory. Now listen, our redemption
was free to us. Come by without money, without
price. But it was purchased by Christ. It was a purchased possession.
You see that? He paid for our redemption with
His blood. And if you want to see something
of how horrific your sin is, it took the blood of God to pay
for your sin. Our redemption is a purchased
possession by which God gets all the glory. Lost one, this
is my prayer for you. Look at verse 17. That the God
of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto
you the spirit of wisdom and revelation and the knowledge
of Him. Who? Christ. Men shall be blessed
in Him. the eyes of your understanding
being enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of His
calling, and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance
in the saints, and what the exceeding greatness of His power to us
who believe according to the working of His mighty power.
which He wrought in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead,
and set Him at His own right hand in heavenly places, far
above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and
every name that is named, not only in this world, but also
in the world which is to come. And He hath put all things, all
things under His feet." Whose feet? Christ's feet. and gave
him to be the head over all things to the church, which is his body,
the fullness of him that filleth all and in all." Boy, we ought
to read that every day and rejoice. Well, what am I endeavoring to
say? Just this, chosen sinners are
blessed in him and in him alone. That's why the scriptures say
all the blessings, all the promises, the promises of God in him are
yay. God says, yes, yes. And in him, amen. So be it. Let it be done. God saying, let
it be done. Amen. And to the glory of God
by us. Oh, may God enable you to be
blessed in Christ. For men shall be blessed, where? In Him.