What Does the Benediction Mean?
Summary of a Lesson by Tim Keller
Sunday services regularly end with the benediction: “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace” (Numbers 6:24-26). What does this mean?
First, “[t]he Lord bless you and keep you.” In old Jewish tradition, a father near the end of his life would bless his children by wishing them well and dividing up his property among them. Similarly, if God blesses us, God is delighted in us, wishing us well and committing His power to help us get there.
Next comes wishing for the Lord’s face to shine on us. Before His face can shine on us, we need Him to turn His face toward us. God turning His face toward us implies God desires a personal relationship with us.
After the Garden of Eden, we lost that personal relationship with God. That’s why God told Moses that no one could look at His face and live. In order to have His face turn toward us and shine on us, we need God’s grace.
Where does this grace come from? In the days of the Old Testament, the benediction came after offering sacrifice, which provided redemption for sins. Now we receive God’s grace via Christ’s sacrifice. Now God’s face can turn toward us and shine on us, and we even can have God’s glory (John 17:22).
The Latin root of “benediction” is to “speak well of,” denoting our wish to have God affirm us. As social beings, we like to have someone of importance speak well of us.
God’s blessing is the ultimate affirmation. That’s one reason the benediction ends with peace from God. If God speaks well of us, we don’t need to seek others’ approval. Only God’s affirmation will bring us peace.
We have God’s blessing because we are welcomed into God’s almighty family as His children. This gives us: Identity (the confidence), powerful support, freedom from sin, the security of a loving Father, and intimacy with God.
May we enjoy the benediction. May we share this benediction with others and build them up.
Summarized from a Tim Keller sermon:
http://www.gospelinlife.com/free-sermon-resource
https://gospelinlife.com/downloads/benediction-5601/
First, “[t]he Lord bless you and keep you.” In old Jewish tradition, a father near the end of his life would bless his children by wishing them well and dividing up his property among them. Similarly, if God blesses us, God is delighted in us, wishing us well and committing His power to help us get there.
Next comes wishing for the Lord’s face to shine on us. Before His face can shine on us, we need Him to turn His face toward us. God turning His face toward us implies God desires a personal relationship with us.
After the Garden of Eden, we lost that personal relationship with God. That’s why God told Moses that no one could look at His face and live. In order to have His face turn toward us and shine on us, we need God’s grace.
Where does this grace come from? In the days of the Old Testament, the benediction came after offering sacrifice, which provided redemption for sins. Now we receive God’s grace via Christ’s sacrifice. Now God’s face can turn toward us and shine on us, and we even can have God’s glory (John 17:22).
The Latin root of “benediction” is to “speak well of,” denoting our wish to have God affirm us. As social beings, we like to have someone of importance speak well of us.
God’s blessing is the ultimate affirmation. That’s one reason the benediction ends with peace from God. If God speaks well of us, we don’t need to seek others’ approval. Only God’s affirmation will bring us peace.
We have God’s blessing because we are welcomed into God’s almighty family as His children. This gives us: Identity (the confidence), powerful support, freedom from sin, the security of a loving Father, and intimacy with God.
May we enjoy the benediction. May we share this benediction with others and build them up.
Summarized from a Tim Keller sermon:
http://www.gospelinlife.com/free-sermon-resource
https://gospelinlife.com/downloads/benediction-5601/