God's Promise to Abraham
When the Lord told Abraham to leave his homeland, He told Abraham that all peoples on earth will be blessed through him. However, there is no record of Abraham blessing anyone in the Bible, not even his own two sons, Issac and Ishmael. So, how are all peoples blessed through Abraham?
The Lord said to Abraham .....you will be a blessing ..... all peoples on earth will be blessed through you. Genesis 12:1-3
The Answer is in Abraham's Seed of Faith
When Abraham was born, the earth was so filled with idolatry that no one remembered their Creator God. Abraham was the only one at that time who had the knowledge of God and faith in Him. Through Abraham, this "seed of faith" was passed onto his sons, who later became nations and tribes, and finally this seed was spread throughout the whole world.
The Seeds That Ripened Follow Jesus
Some people with this seed of faith believed the prophets and waited earnestly for their Messiah. That was why many people followed Jesus almost immediately when He started to preach.
This is How All Peoples on Earth Are Blessed
The Bible tells us that the consequence of sin is death, and there is no distinction between big and small sins. All men on earth have sinned, and therefore the destiny of all men is death.
For this reason, Jesus came to die for us so we can be resurrected with Him and receive our new eternal life. Jesus then gave this authority to His disciples:
Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Matthew 18:18
What Does it Mean?
This means Disciples have been given the authority to give remissions to sinners! In the End of Days when all men on earth are judged, only the Disciples of Jesus, people who have received Abraham's "seed of faith", who can make intercessions for them. This is even prophesied in the following verse:
Thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘In those days ten men from every language of the nations shall grasp the sleeve of a Jewish man, saying, “Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you. Zechariah 8:23
How Do We Know This is True?
We know this is true because Jesus said it. In addition to Matthew 18:18, Jesus also said the following to His Disciples:
I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven; whatever you bind on Earth will be bound in Heaven, and whatever you loose on Earth will be loosed in Heaven. Matthew 16:19
If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained. John 20:23
Demonstration of Stephen, the First Martyr
This was demonstrated by the first martyr Stephen when he was stoned to death
But he (Stephen), being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and said, “Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!" ..... Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep. Acts 7:55-60
If Stephen could not intercede for these people, why would he ask the Lord to forgive them with his last breath? I could imagine Jesus saying to Stephen, "These people are shedding innocent blood, and none of them can escape God's judgement". Then out of love for his fellow kinsmen, Stephen cried out, "Lord, do not charge them with this sin."
A Personal Testimony
Writing this blog brought back to me the memory of an incident which happened some years ago. At that time I was working on a project, and a man came to help me on several occasions. However, he was not popular among our group because he truly was an unfair person. Later when he faced some challenges in his life, I prayed to God for him but there was no answer. Then I said to the Lord, "Lord, please help him, just because he was kind to me." Then I felt my prayer was answered, and he overcame his difficulties soon after.
They Know Not What They Do
When Jesus was crucified, He prayed to the Lord,
Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.” And the soldiers gambled for his clothes by throwing dice. Luke 23:34
The soldiers were killing the only person in the world who can save their lives! And they were so indifferent that all they cared was how to divide his clothes!