By Nicole Leeper | Office Manager
There is a saying that goes around a portion of the charismatic church in America: “What God has for me, is for me!”
It’s just one more way that people take the blessings of God, and make it all about themselves. A few years ago, I tweeted, “What God has for me, is for Him.” I didn’t realize at the time, the doors it would open for conversation and how a little phrase would be such a convicting point for some people. Furthermore, I didn’t even fully grasp God’s plan for His blessings…His plan for the nations.
I’m currently enrolled in Perspectives (a course examining perspectives on global outreach and mission) as well as part of BSF (Bible Study Fellowship), studying Genesis. In both of these classes over the last two weeks, I have learned about God’s purpose in blessing us to be a blessing to the nations, for the glory of God. It’s something that I always knew of God, but I had never seen it laid out from the beginning of scripture, to the end. In the Old Testament, God looked to bless Israel, but the purpose was not just for them, but for them to reach the nations. In Genesis 12:2-3 God says to Abraham,
“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.”
In the New Testament, God uses His church to reach the nations. Matthew 28:19-20 says,
“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
In Revelation we see God’s picture before the throne,
“After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb.”
I for one, eagerly long for the day that we stand before the throne of God, looking around at the beautiful picture of the nations before the Lamb.
“Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”
Check out this video – God’s heart for the nations, from Genesis to Revelation: