Divine Blessing and the Fullness of Life in the Presence of God Quotes

“To bless the Lord is not to take up some divine power that is to be directed back to the Lord, empowering and supporting him. Christopher Mitchell is certainly right when he says, “God is not praised in order to elicit greater blessing from God; he is praised because he has already blessed the people.”31”
― William R. Osborne, Divine Blessing and the Fullness of Life in the Presence of God: "A Biblical Theology of Divine Blessings"

“As the Psalms show us that prosperity ≠ righteousness, Job reveals that suffering ≠ wickedness.40”
― William R. Osborne, Divine Blessing and the Fullness of Life in the Presence of God: "A Biblical Theology of Divine Blessings"

“However, Moses pleads with the Lord, “If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here. For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is it not in your going with us, so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?” (Ex. 33:15–16). Israel’s blessing and favor before the Lord and before the nations could only be experienced by walking in his presence.”
― William R. Osborne, Divine Blessing and the Fullness of Life in the Presence of God: "A Biblical Theology of Divine Blessings"

“However, God’s deliverance from Egypt is not out of mere covenant obligation to a place—he is bringing his people to himself!2 Ex. 4:23: “Let my son go that he may serve me.” Ex. 6:6–7: “I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God.” Ex. 19:4: “You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.” Ex. 20:24: “In every place where I cause my name to be remembered I will come to you and bless you.”
― William R. Osborne, Divine Blessing and the Fullness of Life in the Presence of God: "A Biblical Theology of Divine Blessings"

“So, the question that contemporary Christians should ask when evaluating whether this thing or that circumstance is God’s blessing should be: Does this “blessing” draw me closer to the triune God? Does this need being met bring me nearer to the giver, or is it a distraction? No perceived “good gift” will ever drive you away from the Lord, because in God’s economy that is not good. And Romans 8 tells us that he is working good for his people. In God’s economy, wealth can be a precursor to judgment (Ps. 73), and poverty can be a sign of godly surrender (Mark 10). However, God can bless the godly with wealth to better meet the needs of others, while sinful decisions can often lead to pain and loss. There is no simple answer to these questions.”
― William R. Osborne, Divine Blessing and the Fullness of Life in the Presence of God: "A Biblical Theology of Divine Blessings"

“The church in the present age is called not only to experience God’s blessing through the work of the Spirit, but to be a blessing by the power of the Spirit. Through the ministry of reconciliation afforded us in the gospel, we are called to pronounce the reality of God’s kingdom come in Christ, thereby expanding God’s covenant blessings promised to Abraham—the reception of “the promised Spirit through faith” (Gal. 3:14). Peter exhorts the church to “bless, for to this you were called” (1 Pet. 3:9), with the result of receiving a blessing. The body of Christ is to mediate the blessings of God to the present age through lives no longer shaped by the passions of the surrounding culture (1 Pet. 2:11–12), but as those who know the reality of God’s kingdom blessings, even in the midst of—indeed, fueled by—suffering and trials. Peter writes, “But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you” (1 Pet. 4:13–14). By the Spirit, we bless and experience blessings, anticipating the day when the glory of Christ will be revealed. Instead of wealth and power revealing Christ’s kingdom to the world, Peter explains, when we come to know the blessings of the kingdom in the midst of trial, we thereby bless those around us by allowing our lives to bear witness to the reality of Christ’s kingdom.”
― William R. Osborne, Divine Blessing and the Fullness of Life in the Presence of God: "A Biblical Theology of Divine Blessings"

“In typical fashion, Peter jumps in and clarifies how much he and the disciples have given up to follow Jesus: “See, we have left everything and followed you” (Mark 10:28). Jesus responds with a significant explanation of self-denial and kingdom blessings: Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first. (Mark 10:29–31) Is Jesus teaching us a simple formula that if we give up our possessions, we can receive the kingdom? Is this a divine promise that if you forsake family and lands, God is obligated to restore family and lands, like he did at the end of Job? No. Jesus is applying a kingdom filter to his disciples’ understanding of blessing in the present age. As we saw in the Old Testament, a growing family and fertile land were both ideas frequently associated with divine blessing. However, Jesus redefines these very images based upon a transformed vision of blessing in Christ’s kingdom. “Jesus speaks of the extended family of his followers (cf. 3:34–35) with new familial relationship and the sharing of possessions (cf. Acts 2:44–45; 4:32–37)—a new reality whose value is far greater than the security that personal possessions can ever give.”23”
― William R. Osborne, Divine Blessing and the Fullness of Life in the Presence of God: "A Biblical Theology of Divine Blessings"

“The words of Isaiah 35:5–6 also point to a prophetic perspective of a new creation that reveals the transformation of a fallen, post–Genesis 3 world. Jesus’s miracles were not simply “spiritual healings.” He miraculously altered the material world in real time and space. Blind eyes received sight, lame hands were transformed, and the dead were raised. The blessings of the kingdom of God were a reversal of the brokenness of human sin, frailty, and even mortality. Jesus’s kingdom ministry was no less than a holistic transformation of reality into a new creation. His ministry met people who were broken both spiritually and physically and brought spiritual transformation and physical healing. Jesus then concludes his comments to John’s followers stating the blessed happiness experienced by those who respond rightly in identifying him as the “one who is to come.”
― William R. Osborne, Divine Blessing and the Fullness of Life in the Presence of God: "A Biblical Theology of Divine Blessings"

“Unlike what is commonly heard in prosperity circles, you don’t go through God to get his blessings. Conversely, we might say you go through his blessings to get to God! God is the end to be pursued because his blessing is experienced only by living in his presence.”
― William R. Osborne, Divine Blessing and the Fullness of Life in the Presence of God: "A Biblical Theology of Divine Blessings"

“In Matthew 7 Jesus recognizes that parents love to give good gifts to their children. In fact, he assumes this is common knowledge when teaching his followers about how much more his Father loves to give good gifts to his children! As a parent, I love to give gifts to my kids for several reasons—to make them happy, meet their needs, surprise them . . . but most importantly because they’re mine and I love them. To borrow Jesus’s words, even we “evil parents” understand that gifts to our children are never the ends in themselves (7:11). They are always a means of care and concern, cultivating a familial love relationship. Simultaneously, every child (and all who remember childhood) resonates with the temptation to lose sight of the relationship over the excitement of the present. I can hear my wife sternly instructing my children, “Read the card before you rip open the paper,” trying to drive them back to the relational realties that produced their newest trinket.”
― William R. Osborne, Divine Blessing and the Fullness of Life in the Presence of God: "A Biblical Theology of Divine Blessings"

“I have never seen Genesis 15:6 held up in the stands of a sporting event, but for the apostle Paul, this text was pivotal in understanding God’s work of redemption. In Romans 4 Paul unpacks the significance of Abram’s faith in the promise of God for an offspring. However, Paul’s focus is on contrasting righteousness through faith instead of works, and for Paul, this is not divorced from the idea of God’s blessing. In the middle of Romans 4, he comments on and quotes from Psalm 32:1–2: “David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works: ‘Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, / and whose sins are covered; / blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin’” (Rom. 4:6–8). As Paul reflects on the faith of Abram in Genesis 15, he sees the profound relationship between Abram’s faith in the promise of God and the sin-covering righteousness accounted to him for that faith. For Paul, Abram’s blessing was not simply to get children; it was to get God! The blessing was not stuff but status—being declared righteous by God (Rom. 4:24). And this was not simply for himself—“The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe” (Rom. 4:11).”
― William R. Osborne, Divine Blessing and the Fullness of Life in the Presence of God: "A Biblical Theology of Divine Blessings"

“In the Old Testament, the significance of a blessing is grounded more in the person speaking the blessing than the content of the blessing uttered. So blessings—like prayers—were given differing weight based upon the person speaking them and the context in which they were said. The words “I do” have much more significance when spoken by couples adorned in white dresses and tuxedos than they might with two college students answering “Do you love me?” over a cup of coffee. A person might utter a word of blessing as an everyday greeting or when sending someone off on a good journey, whereas these same words would have had much more gravitas when uttered by the priest over the people gathered before the temple, or a father at the birth of a child.”
― William R. Osborne, Divine Blessing and the Fullness of Life in the Presence of God: "A Biblical Theology of Divine Blessings"

“Divine blessing in the Bible is always physical and spiritual because it is fixed upon the reality of the fullness of life in the presence of God. The message of this book is that divine blessing in the Bible looks like God’s creatures experiencing the fullness of life—both physically and spiritually—in his presence. The way human beings experience God’s blessing changes with the redemptive storyline that traverses the major peaks of creation, fall, redemption, and final restoration. However, blessing always flows out of God’s benevolent creative design for his creatures and coincides with obedience to his will.”
― William R. Osborne, Divine Blessing and the Fullness of Life in the Presence of God: "A Biblical Theology of Divine Blessings"