What Is Blessing?
Blessing in the Bible names both the word that wishes good and the good that comes with that word. Its source is God: at creation God blesses humankind, and he calls Abraham with the words 'I will bless you and make your name great. You will be a blessing' — the horizon of that call being all peoples of the earth blessed through him. The priestly blessing in Numbers is Scripture's best-known blessing: 'The LORD bless you, and keep you.' Blessing also flows between people: parents bless their children, and communities send travelers off with a blessing. In the New Testament Jesus' 'Blessed are...' sayings are blessing turned into teaching, and they surprise: the poor, the mourning, the peacemakers are called blessed. Jesus teaches his disciples to bless even those who mistreat them. The letter to the Ephesians gathers the summit of blessing in Christ: God 'has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.'