Good morning and welcome to the 5MC (5 Minute Challenge.) For those that are returning, thank you for tuning back in, I pray every day that the words that God supplies to me can bless you in your daily journey with His Word. If you are new to the 5MC, welcome. Please know that the 5MC was never created to be a daily devotional, to be read only on its own, but as a plan to discover (or rediscover) the power that lies within a deep personal study of God’s Word.
As Margie and I have served God all over, I have noticed one glaring issue. God’s people are not thirsting for His Word. In an effort to help the youth and young adults we were serving engage in a robust daily study of God’s Word, the 5MC was born. In a nutshell the 5MC is a challenge. A simple challenge. But I always tell people never to get simple and easy confused. A plan can be simple in its essence but far from easy to execute. The plan? Read God’s Word for at least 5 minutes every day. Sounds easy huh? But that is not the challenge, the challenge is to do it every day for 30 days…in a row. You can read along with me if you like and then simply use the 5MC as a study guide or as a color commentary, however it fits into your journey with God’s Word. I’ve written a few more thorough compositions about the history of the 5MC and the key components that I believe will help you find success in this challenge. To check out the “quick start” guide go to The5MC.com and click on “What is the 5MC?” at the top right of the page.
This morning we are blessed with chapter 48 of Genesis. The saga of Joseph continues and today we see Jacob engaging in the blessing Joseph’s two sons. Jacob has now been living in Egypt for 17 years after God used the famine in Canaan to move he and his family here. He is old, near the end of his time here on the Earth and as a result he calls for Joseph. Joseph, knowing what is happening, brings his two sons to receive a blessing from his father.
What God spoke to me this morning was about the picture that we receive here of the interaction between generations. More specifically, the responsibility that God gives us for the future generations. In Jacob’s prayer of blessing over the sons, I notice two requests that reoccur, requests for them to be blessed and requests that they multiply.
I read a great question this week in my research and I think it fits into our text study today. “How do you think the gospel of Jesus Christ got to you?” Now think deeply on this. Over 2000 years ago Jesus Christ was born of a virgin, lived a sin-free, perfect life and as a result was condemned to hang on a Cross to die. But three days later Jesus rose again, an act that conquered the death penalty of sin forever. He then ascended back into Heaven after appearing to over 500 people on 12 different occasions, to sit at the right hand of God the Father. If you have admitted that you are a sinner and as a result asked Jesus to come into your heart and save you from the death of your sins, then you are indeed redeemed. But how did that gospel message travel 2000 years through history to get to you?
We hear much about “multiplying” and “becoming great nations” in God’s Word. In fact, we first hear this command from God in the very first chapter of the entire Bible, Genesis 1:28 “God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.”” We also see God give this same command to Noah (Gen 9:7), Abraham (Gen 13:15), Isaac (Gen 26:3) and David (2 Sam 7:12) as well as numerous other times throughout the Old Testament. So, we get the picture here that God wants man to be fruitful, multiply and have many offspring in order that a great nation of God can occur. So, have you ever wondered why God makes all the hubbub about new generations of people? Well, it’s really a twofold answer and it all revolves around the message of Jesus.
1) In order for the gospel to go forth, someone has to exist to tell it. Without new generations, how will the gospel go forth? It’s as simple as sugar, without new people born the good news of Jesus Christ would cease to go forward. God wants all people to hear of His Son and the Salvation that only He can offer. In order to do this, He blesses and commands His people to be fruitful and multiply.
2) The new generations must be equipped to “go and tell.” You notice that Jacob is blessing Joseph’s 2 sons to do just that. He is blessing them so that they can know God, enjoy the favor of God, do God’s will and then create new generations of believers that will eventually go and tell of Jesus. You know, point one above is a given for us today, I think people today are pretty good at making babies. But this second point is one that I would have to grade us an “F minus” on today. We can make generations but to what command have we given them? Are we directing the future generations in the ways of God? Are we calling them into our presence and blessing them to live a life for God? Once again, without a new generation of God-fearing men and women, how will the gospel of Jesus Christ go forth to a sinful world that needs the precious salvation of Jesus Christ? Without this army, the world will slowly devolve into a world that denies God, rejects His commands, lives in selfish pride and openly embraces and lives in their sin. Sound like our world today? I think so.
I have several friends that are involved with the International Missions Board, the sending agency of the Southern Baptist Convention and one of the largest missionary sending agencies on the planet. And do you know what their current problem is? They have plenty of open positions and plenty of funding to send qualified people but guess what? They have a huge shortage of applications. You see there is a huge shortfall of people that are willing to go into the world and tell people about Jesus. This is a result of people multiplying that are not blessing their children with the knowledge and commission of God. You see, God saw the importance of Godly men and women creating more Godly men and women so that the gospel could be told well into the future. But today we are seeing much of the opposite, men and women that do not know God creating generations that do not know God.
This brings up a secondary discussion that stems from point #2 above. Our obligation to the younger generations today. Do you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ? Have you admitted your sin, where that sin will take you and then asked Jesus to save you from that fate? If so, I am so happy for you. You have accepted the beautiful free gift of salvation that came to us at such a great cost. But what about those around you? What about the generations that have come and will come after you? You see in God’s Word we are given a commission as believers. A commission is defined as “an instruction, command, or duty given to a person or group of people.” God’s “great commission” in Matthew 28:19-20 calls us to, “Go therefore 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.”
You see we have a duty. A command. Clear instructions. Especially to our younger generations. And we see Jacob executing that this morning in his blessing of Joseph’s young sons. I can just see Jacob, old in his years, eyes failing him as he squints tightly to see these young, fresh faces. With those failing eyes He sees two new lives that can make a difference, if they stand with God and stand for God. He has seen in his own life what it means to follow your own path instead of following God’s path. He has wrestled with God and lost. To this day his limp is a result of that great life lesson learned at the hands of God. He wants to pass on this lesson. He wants to help them and instruct them in ways that will not cause them to limp through their lives. I can see Jacob pull them in close and in a soft, wise voice, speak this out over their lives:
“Almighty God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, my God who has been my Shephard all my life, even unto this very day, my God who has redeemed me from all evil…God, bless these boys. Let your presence be manifested in them, let their lives be lived in you, blessed by you and lived daily in obedience to you. God let them grow into a plentiful nation that will inhabit the Earth and in doing so, the peoples of the Earth can know you and the Salvation only you can offer.”
What a beautiful prayer and blessing spoken over these two young men. What a glorious way to start out the journey of life, with a rich blessing from your grandfather. We are called to speak over the younger generation in just this same way. Whether it be your sons, daughters, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, or any young people that God has placed in your life. Speak over them. Pray for them. Ask God to bless them. Pray that God will lift them up to be great men and women of God and as a result they will multiply and bring forth a great nation for God.
We have work to do, let's go forth and bless the world with the message of Jesus Christ.
