 In the Old Testament, a father’s blessing to his child was very important. Isaac, son of Abraham, had two sons, Esau and Jacob. In his old age, Isaac decided to give his blessing to Esau because Esau was his favorite. At that time, Isaac was blind. Disguised as Esau, Jacob fooled Isaac and got his blessing. When Esau found out, he was furious.
It is unclear why Isaac could not just take back the blessing. When therapists tell us even off-hand comments, simple words and symbolic actions, could have an impact on us. How much more is a blessing from your father who is about to die? As we know, words can have significant influence, especially on our children, so we must choose them carefully. Based on what we know of our children, we should use words to empower, encourage, and affirm. We need blessings from those we value. The main figure we should value is God. How do we, the sinful ones, receive God’s blessing? Through Christ’s sacrifice. Whenever Christ prayed, He always addressed God as the Father, except once. When He was on the cross, Christ cried out in a loud voice, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46) At that point, Christ had lost His sonship. He took on the curse we deserved so we could get God’s blessings (Galatians 3:13-14). We can receive God’s blessing exactly as we are, unlike Jacob, who had to hide his real self to get his father’s blessing. Because of Christ, God loves us as much as He loves Christ! (John 17:23). We become just like Christ in the eyes of God (Hebrews 12:23). Abraham received God’s blessing. Then he became the channel of blessings to all on earth because Christ was Abraham’s descendant (Genesis 12:2-3). Similarly, after receiving God’s blessing, we also can bring blessings to others. In conclusion, through Christ, we get God’s blessings. God loves us as much as He loves Christ. From that, we become a source of blessings to others. Summarized from a Tim Keller sermon: https://gospelinlife.com/downloads/the-problem-of-blessing-5247/ 我们为什么蒙福？ 在旧约中父亲对子女的祝福极为重要。 亚伯拉罕的儿子以撒生以扫和雅各。他年老时决定将祝福赐给最爱的以扫。当时以撒已经眼睛昏花，不能看见。 雅各伪装成以扫欺骗以撒，得到父亲的祝福。以扫发现自己的祝福被骗走后非常愤怒。 不清楚为什么以撒不能撤回这祝福。心理治疗师告诉我们即使是随便的评语、简单的话语或象征性的举动都可以影响我们，更何况是父亲去世前的祝福呢？ 话语可以产生重大的影响, 尤其是父母对儿女讲的话。仔细选择言词，根据对儿女的了解用话语来加添他们的力量，鼓励和肯定他们。 人都需要得到自己看重之人的祝福，而我们最应该看重的乃是上帝。 但我们这有罪的人怎么能得到上帝的赐福呢？答案是藉着基督的牺牲。 每当基督祈祷时，除了一次以外,祂总是称呼上帝为父。只有一次，就是在十字架上的时候，祂大声喊着说：“我的上帝，我的上帝，为什么离弃我（马太福音27:46）？”那时基督失去了儿子的身份，承担我们应得的诅咒，使我们可以得到神的赐福 （加拉太书3：13-14）。 今天我们照着自己的本相就能得到上帝的赐福，不必像雅各必须隐藏自己 才能获得父亲的祝福。 因为基督的缘故, 天父爱我们就像爱基督一样（约翰福音17:23）！我们在天父眼中都可以像基督 (希伯来书12:23)。 因为基督是亚伯拉罕的后裔，亚伯拉罕接受上帝的赐福后成为世上所有人蒙福的渠道 (创12：2-3)。同样地，我们得到神的赐福后也可以将福份带给别人。 总而言之，我们籍着基督得到上帝的赐福，上帝爱我们就像爱基督一样。从此，我们便可以成为其他人蒙福的渠道。
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