You Will Be a Blessing Genesis 12:1-4, NIV The LORD had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” So Abram left, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Haran. I would like to share the grace of God under the title, “You Will Be a Blessing,” which is based on Genesis 12:1-4. Please repeat after me, You Will Be a Blessing. You Will Be a Blessing. The God we believe in and serve is truly a good God. He paid the price for our sins by the blood of His one and only Son Jesus; and saved us from a life of hopelessness. God wants His saved children to be blessed in Him. He wants us to prosper in spirit and in body and in all circumstances. He wants us to have life?life to the fullest. I pray that you will enjoy God’s grace and blessings by believing in Jesus. Genesis 12:1-4 talks about the scene in which God called Abraham. Since God did many great things through Abraham, we will find our message and a demonstration of a work of God for us through today’s Scripture. We have to remember three things in this scripture passage. First is “leave.” Second is “Go.” Third is “Be a blessing.” I pray that this message will be a message of blessings for you. I pray that this message of blessing given to Abraham will equally be a message of blessing for us. I pray that we all will hold on to this Word and live a year of blessings, victory, and miracles. First, God tells us to leave in order for us to be blessed children of God. Genesis 12:1 says, “The LORD had said to Abram, ‘Leave your country, your people and your father’s household.’ ” In order for us to live as the blessed children of God, there are things that we have to leave behind. Unless we leave from something, we cannot be blessed. God told Abraham to leave his country, his people, and his father’s household. First, God told Abraham to leave his country. Abraham was living in Ur of the Chaldeans. Ur of the Chaldeans was located near the Euphrates River. This land was fertile and rich. The inhabitants had a high level of knowledge and standard of living. Even though they were rich, they worshipped idols and sin prevailed. Terah, Abraham’s father also worshipped other gods. Joshua 24:2 says, “Joshua said to all the people, ‘This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Long ago your forefathers, including Terah the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the River and worshiped other gods.’ ” In the days of Terah, idol worshipers, while asking their gods for fruitfulness, did lewd acts in the temples of their gods. If Abraham had stayed in his country full of sin, he could not have lived faithfully. He could not have lived in accordance with God’s will. God told Abraham to leave his country so that he would start a new life of God’s blessings. After believing in Jesus, we as well must first leave the country of sin. We must take off our old self. However, there are people who cannot take off their old self even after believing in Jesus. They are entangled with bad old habits, habitually committing sins and living in pain and agony. We must completely leave this life of old self. We must leave the bad surroundings of our past. We must leave our sinful nature. True repentance is attained when we completely leave our old self. When we leave our old self, we will be led into God’s grace. We must leave the country of sin. We must also leave our negative thoughts. What hinders church revival? It is negative thoughts. As long as people complain and spread negative aspects about church life, saying, “There are many problems in the church. We cannot do it. It is hard to do anything,” the church cannot grow. We will never experience the grace of God in our lives if we speak negatively. God works with people of faith. God never works with those who are negative or those who complain. Therefore, after believing in Jesus, we must boldly leave our country of negative thoughts and sin. Next, after God told Abraham to leave his country, God told him to leave his people. People try to build strong human relations in order to gain something. They are likely to lean on people with power, trying to get some help from them. In ancient communities, large family meant power. People with a large family assumed important positions in their community, with an increased standard of living and much power. However, trusting people will never bring us true satisfaction and joy. Worldly power disappears too soon. We must leave our tendency of trusting people. Instead, as the precious children of God, we must trust in Him. When we march forward, trusting in God alone, He will bless us abundantly. Only God can wholly protect us, leading us to righteousness and blessings. We must leave man-centeredness. We should never dwell in human relations and in circumstances wherein people sin so often. One wrong and bad Korean tendency is their drinking habits. They gather together and drink. I went to my high school alumni meeting after graduation. The second part of the meeting was a drinking session. My alma mater was a Christian school but I was the only one who did not drink. After that, I have been reluctant to return to any further alumni meetings. Now, many years later, my friends have changed. They have become elders and deacons in their churches. However they could not initially leave their bad habits of drinking. Leaving your people means you have to cut off relationships with wrong people. It also means that you should not go to a place of sin. There are also people who make their own elite groups. These groups are in churches as well. As children of faith, we must leave the tendency to want to belong to such a group. We should not make sects or exclusive groups inside of the church. Making a group of richer people, a group of more learned people, or a group of those who have some special identity is absolutely wrong. The Church is a gathering of brothers and sisters who form the body of Christ through the same blood of Jesus Christ. We all are brothers and sisters in the Lord?the educated, the ignorant, the rich, the poor, the powerful and the powerless. We must therefore reject sects or exclusive groupings within the Church. God also told Abraham to leave his father’s household. It means that Abraham had to leave from his background. Abraham was the first born. He had the birthright as the firstborn and could inherit a lot of wealth from his father. He had to take care of his parents and his nephew Lot in return. However, to have a life of God’s blessing, to live faithfully in the Lord, he had to give up all things. He had to give up his birthright as the firstborn. He had to march forward with faith, leaving his father’s household and all his accumulated possessions behind. After believing in Jesus, we, too, must leave our background. Some people have a wrong self image. Some people dwell with the deep wounds of their past. Some say, “I am ruined. It is all my parents’ fault.” Whenever they drink, they lament and blame their parents. We must take off this wrong attitude. We must leave our fathers’ household. No matter what kind of parents you may have had, no matter how terribly your parents might have hurt you; all that is in the past. Your past does not change you. It is your future that will renew you. Therefore we must take off our wrong self image. We must get out of narrow-mindedness. We must take of our timidity lest we should be easily hurt and dismayed. We must leave from shocks, pain, and wounds from our past. There are people who are easily hurt and discouraged by small things, becoming obsessed by a wrong self image. Some people are bound by their bad personality. Some are so hot-tempered that they cannot control themselves. Since they cannot control their feelings, they cannot have good relations with other people. We must also leave such hot-temperedness. We must take off our old self. We must march forward with faith, leaving the country of sin, the people with bad customs, and our background -- our fathers’ households. Then God will bless us with His miracles. Ephesians 4:22-24 says, “You were taught with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” Put on the new self. Hallelujah! The Scripture clearly tells us to put off our old self and to put on the new self. In the early Seventeenth Century, British Puritans ventured to cross the Atlantic Ocean in search of their freedom of faith, leaving their country, their people, and their fathers’ households. In those days the Anglican Church joined hands with the politics of England and degenerated into carnality. The church had long lost the work of the Holy Spirit. Worldly values entered into the church and turned ritualistic and formalistic. It was hard for faithful Christians to endure. They proclaimed that they could no longer cooperate with the Anglican Church and wanted to reform the church. They called themselves Puritans because they were going to purify the church. They started a reformation movement under a slogan, “Purify the church and restore the original form of the church. Restore the purity of worship and doctrine.” And so they began to be persecuted for this intention. They decided to leave their country, their people, and their fathers’ households to worship God faithfully and to keep the purity of their faith. They left England and first went to the Netherlands. However, they were unable to settle there so they got on board a ship, crossed the Atlantic Ocean, and arrived at Plymouth, Massachusetts on the North-eastern shore of America. This land was an uncultivated wasteland with only American Indians living there. The Puritans arrived at Plymouth in the late fall, built a church and worshiped God, leaving all things to Him. A year later, they again worshiped God, with thanks for the harvest they had gathered. This thanksgiving worship became the origin of Thanksgiving Day. God saw their faith and blessed America. In less than 400 years, America has become the superpower of the world. Some say, “Even though America may fall into debauchery, as long as the blood of the Puritans flows in their veins, the history of America will last forever.” This means that God has blessed America for the faith of the Puritans. This is true. Christianity is about leaving and separating. When we leave something we should leave behind, and when we give up what we should give up; God will pour His grace upon us. In order to receive greater blessings from God, we must leave wrong things and we must leave from wrong places. As Lot had to leave Sodom and Gomorrah, and as the Israelites had to leave Egypt from the oppression of the Egyptians; we must leave. We must leave from the cities of sin. We must leave our old self. When we leave such things and march forward with faith, God will change us and pour His grace upon us. Second, the Lord tells us to go. After leaving wrong things, we then need to go towards our goal. Genesis 12:1 says, “The LORD had said to Abram, ‘Leave your country, your people and your father’s household.’ ” The Lord told Abraham to go to the land that He would show him. Abraham did not know his destination when he left his home. The Lord said to Him, “I will lead you to the land of your destination. Trust in me and follow me.” The Lord says to us, “I will lead you throughout your journey. I will protect you. I will take care of your life.” When we march forward with faith before the Lord in this blessed New Year, God will pour His marvelous grace upon us. He will take care of our lives. Let us hold on to the Word and march forward with faith. Then all the days of our future will be filled with God’s blessings. Despite the fact that Abraham did not know where to go when he was called by God, he obeyed God and set out; and God blessed Abraham greatly for his obedience. Hebrews 11:8 says, “By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.” It is true. Faith is going forward, trusting the Word. We may not know where we are going, we may not see anything, anything, hear anything, or touch anything; nevertheless when we trust the Word and march forward; miracles will happen. Blessings will be ours. What did Abraham do when God told him to leave? Genesis 12:4 says, “So Abram left, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Haran.” What did Abraham follow? He followed the Word of God. When we listen to the Word of God and obey promptly, miracles take place. Abraham was 75 years old. He was an aged man. It must have been very hard for Abraham to leave everything he had built to that date behind, and leave his home! He had to leave his country, his people, and his father’s household. Despite all things, because Abraham left and marched forward with faith, God blessed him greatly. The reason why the Korean church is so blessed with 12 million Christians is because many missionaries planted the seed of the gospel in Korea. Many missionaries left their countries, their people, and their fathers’ households and came to Korea in obedience to God’s Word. They wanted to devote their whole lives to preaching the gospel in Korea. They also wanted to be buried here when they were called home to heaven. Missionary John Heron, a U.S. Presbyterian missionary and the Royal physician of Korea, was the first missionary to be buried in Yanghwajin, the missionaries’ cemetery, in July, 1890. 167 missionaries are buried in Yanghwajin. They came to this land only because of the gospel and devoted their lives for the Lord. Their lives and sacrifices were beautiful beyond description. The epitaph of Missionary H. G. Appenzeller says, “He did not come to be served but to serve.” On the back of the tombstone, his prayer after he landed at Jemulpo on April 5, 1885 was inscribed. It says, “We arrived on Easter Sunday. May the Lord who broke the power of death on the day of His Resurrection give these people the freedom and light as the children of God by breaking their bondage.” The epitaph of Missionary Homer Bezaleel Hulbert says, “I would rather be buried in Korean soil than the Westminster Abbey.” The epitaph of Missionary Ruby Rachel Kendrik is more touching. It says, “Even if I am given a thousand lives, I will dedicate them all to Korea.” She was saying, “Even if I have a thousand lives to live, I will dedicate them all to Korea because God has sent me to this land.” They came to Korea and preached the gospel, dedicating their whole lives, before they went to their eternal home in heaven. Thanks to these missionaries, the Korean Church has been blessed by God. When we receive a Word from the Lord and obey it, God’s blessings and miracles will follow us. I pray that you will always be attentive to the Word of the Lord, meditate on it, and be guided by it throughout this year. Psalm 1:1-3 says, “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.” Live by the Word. I want you to experience the grace of the Lord through the Word. Meet the Lord through the Word. Change yourself through the Word. Be healed through the Word. And experience the miracles of the Lord through the Word. What is the Word? It is Jesus Christ. The Word testifies to nothing but Jesus Christ. The work of Jesus Christ comes into our lives through the Cross of the Lord. It is the grace of God. When we hold on to the Cross of the Lord, trust the Word of the Lord, and march forward with faith, the Lord will bless us. Hymn No. 214 confesses: So with the banners unfurl’d to the breeze, Our motto shall “Holiness” be, Till the crown from His hand we shall seize, And the King in His glory we see, I believe, Jesus saves And His blood makes me whiter than snow I believe, Jesus saves And His blood makes me whiter than snow. Hallelujah! Hold on to the Word and march forward with faith. And expect God’s blessings and miracles in your life. Somebody gave me a book entitled, I Write Hope With My Eyes. The book is an auto-biography of Mr. Seun-gil Park who is suffering from Lou Gehrig’s disease. I was deeply touched while reading this book. In the 1990’s Mr. Park was a star basketball player in a College basketball league. He was one of the ace players of Yonsei University Basketball Team under the leadership of director Hee-am Choi. In 2002, after coming back from further study in the U.S., he was appointed as the youngest coach of a Korean professional basketball team ever in history. When he began to fly with wings of his talent, he was struck by a disease. One day, he was trying to lift barbells but could not do it. He felt no strength in his arms. He went to a doctor and was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease. The cause or treatment for Lou Gehrig’s disease is still unknown. Viruses enter the nerve systems and kill cells. This disorder causes muscle weakness and atrophy throughout the body, killing the patient in two to five years. Louis Gehrig, a former Major League baseball player had this disease and died. Since then this disorder is called Lou Gehrig’s disease. More than 30,000 Koreans are curently suffering from this disease. A year after Mr. Seun-gil Park was diagnosed with this disease, he had to use a wheelchair. After 20 months, he had to be confined to a hospital bed. He is two meters tall but cannot move a muscle. Excepting his eye muscles, all his muscles have become stiff and useless. Since he could not move anything but his eyes, his helpers connected a computer device to his eyes. He expressed his thoughts by using the eye mouse. As the focus of his eyes moved, a computer keyboard was struck, writing his thoughts. However, at the time of his auto-biography, his eye muscles had grown weaker making it impossible for Mr. Park to move his eyes altogether. Now he cannot even move or roll his eyes. The only way for him to communicate is through the blinking of his eyes. Now his assistant will show Mr. Park letters on a letter pad and touch the letters to communicate with him. When Mr. Park’s eye moves a little, the assistant knows it is the letter he wants to select. Letters are selected and written one at a time, forming a word and then a sentence. He has been fighting this dreadful disease for eight years now but Mr. Park is a man of faith. He trusts in God. He prays, “God, give me strength and make my dream come true. There is no special hospital for Lou Gehrig’s disease patients in Korea. I wish a special hospital for Lou Gehrig’s disease patients to be built.” Since Lou Gehrig’s disease patients need care around the clock, it is crucial for them to have a special hospital for their treatment. No one knows when they will stop breathing. Since Korea has no special hospital for Lou Gehrig’s disease patients, Mr. Park strives for the construction of this special hospital. He talks about life in front of death. He speaks of hope in an absolutely hopeless situation. Since he is a man of faith, he is fighting death even now. Some time ago, SBS showed a special program on Mr. Park. As long as we have faith, we should not despair. We should not give up. Even though Mr. Park is constantly fighting death, he is still holding on to his faith and hope, spreading his dreams among people. His only hope is to have a special hospital for Lou Gehrig’s disease patients. A land has been donated for this cause. Now a hospital and a recuperation center need to be built. What kind of trouble are you in? What kind of problems do you have in your life? Never lose hope. Never give up. Never step backward. The Lord is with you. The Lord says, “Go to the land that I will show you. Go.” Change your thoughts in the Lord. Have holy dreams. March forward with faith. Confess your faith. The Lord will be with you and perform wonderful things. When we leave wrong things and march forward with dreams and faith, the Lord makes us into a blessing. Third, I want to share the grace of the Lord with the Word “Be a blessing.” Genesis 12:2-3 says, “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.’ ” When we leave wrong things and march forward towards our goal with faith, God will make us a blessing. After believing in Jesus, we have turned in the direction of a blessing. God promises to turn our lives into a blessing when we believe in God, obey Him, and do His will. What kind of blessing did Abraham receive? Genesis 12:2 says, “I will make you into a great nation.” Even though Abraham was 75 years old and childless when he left, God promised that He would make him into a great nation. How could a 75 year old man have a child? It may look impossible. Nevertheless, nothing is impossible to the God Almighty. The Lord said in Mark 9:23, “‘If you can’? Everything is possible for him who believes.’ ” Everything is possible for him who believes. As promised, when Abraham was 100 years old, God gave him a son, Isaac. Thereafter God made Abraham into a great nation by giving him innumerably many descendents. We as well have become the children of God by believing in Jesus. As spiritual descendents of Abraham, we can also enjoy the blessings from God. God will make a great nation through us. Moreover Scripture says in Genesis 12:2, “I will bless you; I will make your name great.” God promised Abraham that He would make his name great. Making his name great and highly honored was a promise God gave to Abraham. Abraham was an ordinary person, who was not too much different from us. All he did was obey the Word and leave his country, his people, and his father’s household. God saw his faith and made him a blessing. God made him into a great nation and his name great. God blessed Abraham so much that in many ways he was called the father of nations, a prophet, and a leader chosen by God, a friend of God, the servant of the Lord, the forefather of Israel, the forefather of faith, and so on. As He had promised, our faithful God made Abraham great in human history. After believing in Jesus our name has been made great. Our name is now the children of God. Our names are written in the Book of Life. God’s glory shall be manifested wherever we go. We will create hope in places of hopelessness. We will create joy in places of sorrow. We will create blessing in all cursed places. Therefore, we must realize that we have been changed by believing in Jesus. With an understanding of this marvelous truth, we must come to the Lord with faith. God gave Abraham a wonderful promise. Genesis 12:2 says, “…you will be a blessing.” Without Abraham having anything, God said that he would be a blessing. Abraham had nothing at that time. He had given up all things he had once had. Nonetheless, the Lord said to him, “You will be a blessing. You will be a blessing.” God made Abraham into a channel of blessings. Genesis 12:3 says, “I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” Hallelujah! God gives us the same blessing after we believe in Jesus. God bestows marvelous spiritual blessings to us. Ephesians 1:3 says, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.” God promises that He will forgive all our sins after we believe in Jesus. He will bless us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. It is the blessing that was promised to Abraham. Galatians 3:9 says, “So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.” After we believe in Jesus, through the power of the precious blood of Jesus shed on the Cross, we will be blessed in the spirit, in the body, and in all our circumstances. Through the grace of the Cross of our Lord, we have received salvation. Through the grace of the Cross of our Lord, we are filled with the Holy Spirit. Through the grace of the Cross of our Lord, all diseases are healed. Through the grace of the Cross of our Lord, we will be prosperous while living on earth. Through the grace of the Cross of our Lord, we will live with hope for heaven and will be called home to heaven. We will meet with our Lord when He comes again. Therefore now that we have been so much blessed by God, we must live like a blessed person. Now that God has made us a blessing, we must live like one. We should preach the gospel all over the world, sharing the blessings of the Lord with others. We must take the Lord’s blessing to those who suffer from trouble and difficulties. We must share joy, love, healing, and forgiveness with them. We must go into Korean society, which is severely marred by conflicts and antagonism, and bring reconciliation and peace. As Christians we must be the first ones to start movements of reconciliation and harmony through the love of Christ, beautifying and brightening Korean society through the light of the love of Jesus Christ. This cannot be done by our own strength or power. It requires the help of the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit comes, He will solve all problems of prevailing conflicts and antagonism in every corner of Korean society. He will unite us in love and harmony because God has made us into a blessing. Now that we are made into a blessing, we must practice God’s love in our lives. We must practice forgiveness. We must be united in harmony. God performs His marvelous works through us wherever we go. Since He has made us a blessing, He will make us into a great nation. He will make our names great. He will manifest His glory all over the world through us. God has given this marvelous blessing to each and every one of us. Let us confess the blessing of God promised in Genesis 12:1-2 while inscribing the blessings of the Lord in our hearts. As we make our confession with faith, our lives will overflow with these blessings. Let us confess all together. “The LORD had said to Abram, ‘Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.’ ” You will be a blessing. You will be a blessing. You will be a blessing. I earnestly pray that you will all receive this blessing in the name of the Lord. It is my earnest prayer for you. Let us pray. Our Father of infinite love, grace, and mercy, we give our thanks to You for saving us from sin and hopelessness. We thank You for making us Your children and blessing us with the promises given to Abraham. On this first Sunday of the New Year, we take off our old self, trusting Your Word, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you.” We leave the country of sin. We leave the wrong habits. Be with us as we march forward with faith. Make us a blessing so that we will share the blessings with others. Bless us so that we will heal the sick and our ailing society as a whole. I pray in the Name of Jesus. Amen. 2