An American educator, A.E. Winship decided to trace the descendants of Jonathan Edwards, a godly preacher and theologian, almost 150 years after his death. His findings are remarkable. Jonathan Edwards’ legacy includes: 1 U.S. Vice-President, 1 Dean of a law school, 1 dean of a medical school, 3 U.S. Senators, 3 governors, 3 mayors, 13 college presidents, 30 judges, 60 doctors, 65 professors, 75 Military officers, 80 public office holders, 100 lawyers, 100 clergymen, and 285 college graduates. Winship also traced the descendants of Max Jukes, who lived in New York at about the same period as Edwards. His findings are also remarkable in a different way. Jukes’ descendants include: 7 murderers, 60 thieves, 190 prostitutes, 150 other convicts, 310 paupers, and 440 who were physically wrecked by addiction to alcohol. Of the 1,200 descendants that were studied, 300 died prematurely.[1]
I believe everyone of us in this room would want to have the legacy that Edwards had left. Who doesn’t want a happy family, a loving marriage, obedient children, trusted friends, a healthy body, a successful career, financial abundance, a prosperous nation? We pray God will bless us, our family, our nation. When we have those gifts, we attribute them to “God’s blessings.” We say, “We are blessed by God.” But what does it really mean to be blessed? How should we understand the blessing of God?
God’s Greatest Blessing
Psalm 128 teaches us what God’s greatest blessing is. When we read this psalm, at first glance it looks like God’s blessings are external, material, tangible – a successful career, a great family, a prosperous nation (vv. 2-5). They are all wonderful gifts and blessings for sure, but they are not God’s greatest blessings. In Psalm 128 what the psalmist really tries to emphasize is verse 1: “Happy (Blessed) is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in his ways.” Here fearing God means having such a reverent awe for him which comes from deep respect and love. The Bible says that our core nature is corrupted by sin. The default mode of the human heart is self-centered, self-exalting, self-saturated, making much of self (cf. Jer 17:9). Though we may acknowledge God as Creator or Supreme Being, we don’t fear God, honor God, glorify God. Fearing God is not natural human nature. Fearing God comes only when we are born again. The new birth changes the default mode of our fallen heart. It changes the root, the bottom, the foundation of what makes us happy or blessed.
We know it’s possible to enjoy going to church, singing hymns, reading the Bible, praying for God’s blessings without being born again. It’s possible to do all kinds of good works and religious activities without being born again. In Matthew 7:22-23, Jesus says, “At the Final Judgment thousands strutting up to me and saying, 'Master, we preached the Message, we bashed the demons, our God-sponsored projects had everyone talking. And do you know what I am going to say? 'You missed the boat. All you did was use me to make yourselves important (MSG).” But when we are born again, it changes the bottom of what make us happy – from making much of me (self) to making much of God. God becomes the bottom of our joy and our life for the first time. God himself, not his gifts, becomes our source of all the blessings. Then, so naturally, we come to treasure him, savor him, honor him, fear him, and enjoy walking in his ways. So God’s greatest blessing is the new life, new foundation, new nature that comes through faith in Jesus Christ. In this very context, the psalmist says, “How blessed are all who fear the Lord, who walk in his ways!”
Blessings Abound
As we move onto the following verses (vv. 2-6), we find that God’s blessing is a spreading blessing. The power of one true Christian is contagious. The God-fearing individual is the means of blessing. Such a person is like streams of living water that flow out from them. Blessedness just flows from such a person out into their marriage and family, into their church, and into their wider community.
Today we are living in such a deeply divided, wounded, broken world. In this time of trouble what is the solution to this problem? What is the role of the church in this world? According to Psalm 128 the answer is the God-fearing individual. E. M. Bounds rightly said in this way:[2]
We are constantly on a stretch, if not on a strain, to devise new methods, new plans, new organizations to advance the Church and secure enlargement and efficiency for the gospel. This trend of the day has a tendency to lose sight of the man or sink the man in the plan or organization. God’s plan is to make much of the man, far more of him than of anything else. Men are God’s method. The Church is looking for better methods; God is looking for better men.
When Israel was going through the darkest hour, God proclaimed his remedy and vision through Isaiah: “Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace” (Isa 9:6-7). God’s method is the person. The world’s salvation comes from that cradled Son. When God’s people were severely persecuted by the Roman Empire, God found one person, prepared him, anointed him, sent him to comfort and preach the good news to his people – the apostle Paul. The Bible says, “The eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him” (2 Ch 16:9). God’s method is the person – the God-fearing person, the true Christian. That is how God saves his people and blesses his people.
Come on the Lion’s Terms
In this time of trouble, we should pray for our nation and our leaders. But according to Psalm 128 there is even more important and urgent prayer, that is, “Lord, change me. Change my foundation. Change my nature. Break me. Turn my heart to you. Then, make me a blessing, so that many – my family, my church, my community, my country, all nations – will be blessed through me.”
C. S. Lewis in his children’s novel The Silver Chair tells us what it means to come to Jesus and to have new life in him in the clearest of terms. Jill is just about to die of thirst. She approaches the brook but then finds the lion on the grass. Jill said, “Will you promise not to – do anything to me, if I do come?” “I make no promise,” said the Lion. “Do you eat girls?” she said. “I have swallowed up girls and boys, women and men, kings and emperors, cities and realms,” said the Lion. It didn’t say this as if it were boasting, nor as if it were sorry, nor as if it were angry. It just said it. “I daren’t come and drink,” said Jill. “Then you will die of thirst,” said the Lion. “Oh dear!” said Jill, “I suppose I must go and look for another stream then.” “There is no other stream,” said the Lion. It never occurred to Jill to disbelieve the Lion — no one who had seen his stern face could do that — and her mind suddenly made itself up. It was the worst thing she had ever had to do, but she went forward to the stream, knelt down, and began scooping up water in her hand. It was the coldest, most refreshing water she had ever tasted.[3]
Here what C. S. Lewis is saying is, when we come to the water, when we come to the Lion, we must come on the Lion’s terms, and we have to yield ourselves by faith in order to get the water, to have new life. Psalm 128 is God’s great invitation to abundant life. It calls us to the obedience of faith – to change our foundation, and to cultivate in our hearts a true fear of the Lord through faith in Jesus Christ on his terms. Then, our relationships, our families, our church and all nations will be blessed through us. God’s greatest blessing always rests in God himself, not his gifts. God’s greatest blessing always starts from the inside out. When we have that, we are truly blessed. Amen.
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[1] “Jonathan Edwards,” Family Ministries: Youth with a Mission, https://www.ywam-fmi.org/news/multigenerational-legacies-the-story-of-jonathan-edwards/
[2] E. M. Bounds, Power Through Prayer (p. 1). Christian Classics Remix. Kindle Edition.
[3] R. Kent Hughes, John: That You May Believe (Preaching the Word) (pp. 216-217). Crossway. Kindle Edition.
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