What does it mean to be “blessed?” We hear it often and in history God blessed many. I thought maybe it would be best to go back to the beginning of the creation of the world to start studying what God has in mind when He blesses us. There are so many references to blessings in the Bible and I’m not sure of how many days I will be looking into it, but for today, we are going back to the beginning.
In Genesis 1:1, we read that in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. He turned the darkness that was without form and was void and created light and a beautiful home that we could admire and live in. On the 6th day, God said, “Let Us make man in our image, according to Our likeness . . .” and we know He accomplished this because in Genesis 1:27, we read, “So God created man in His image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them. . .” (Genesis 1:28).
But, before God created man, He created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters abounded, according to their kind, every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw it was good. And God blessed them saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth.”
The Bible also tells us that on the sixth day, God commanded the earth to bring forth living creatures according to its kind including cattle, creeping things and beasts of the earth.“ And God made the beast of the earth according to its kind, cattle according to its kind, and everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind. And God saw it was good.” (Genesis 1: 24-25). Then God created man and after noting that it was good, God blessed man.
Genesis 1:28 says that God blessed them. Genesis 1:22 says that prior to this God had blessed the great creatures of the sea and the birds of the air. He blessed them by saying “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.”
The notable difference between the blessing in Genesis 1:22 to the blessing of man in Genesis 1:28 is that in addition to God commanding a blessing to be fruitful, to multiply and fill the earth, God blessed man to subdue the earth and to have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air and every living thing that moves on the earth. God continues in Genesis 1:29 and 30 to tell man that He has given man every living herb that yields seed, every tree whose fruit yields seed, and every beast of the earth and bird of the air for food.
So, in the very beginning, God “blessed” man with everything needed for food and to have dominion of the earth. The creatures of the sea and the birds of the earth were blessed to live in the seas and on earth to be fruitful and multiply. They had shelter and food but they did not have the ability to subdue anything on earth or dominion over anything.
This is just food for thought today. God has blessed us with everything we need and we have regained dominion that was once lost through the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. So today, to walk in the blessing, we need to understand that God gave us dominion on earth and supplies us with everything that we need for we were created in the image and likeness of God and have been blessed with the highest honor of taking care of the earth while we are living on it.
Today, if you accept the fact that Jesus died as propitiation for your sins (1John 4:10 and 1John 2:2), repent and submit to becoming a new creation in Christ (Colossians 3:8-17), you can confidently walk upright knowing that you are indeed blessed by the grace of God and not by works but by His grace (Ephesians 2:1-10). Be blessed and walk in this peace today.