Calling On Jesus For God's Blessing
Calling on Jesus for God's blessing is a practice rooted in the understanding that Jesus Christ is the mediator through whom believers access God's grace and favor. The New Testament frequently portrays Jesus as central to the believer's relationship with God, including prayer and the reception of blessings [4].
The concept of "blessing" in a biblical context can refer to God bestowing gifts, whether temporal or spiritual, upon His people [7]. Conversely, humans "bless God" by thanking Him for His mercies [7]. When individuals "call upon the name of the Lord," they are engaging in an act of prayer and invocation [6]. This act is not merely a formality but a means of seeking God's intervention and favor. For instance, Joel 2:32, as interpreted by Adam Clarke, declares that "whosoever shall call upon, invoke, the name of the Lord Jesus Christ... shall be saved" [12]. This salvation encompasses the pardon of guilt and purification of the heart [12].
Scripture indicates that access to God is "by Christ" [4]. Jesus Himself stated, "I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me" (John 14:6, cited in [4]). This mediatorial role means that prayers offered "through Christ" are heard by God [6]. Paul, for example, calls upon the brethren "through our Lord Jesus Christ" to strive together in prayers to God [3]. Early Christian writers also emphasized this connection. Clement of Rome, in the first century, prayed that God would grant blessings "through our High Priest and Protector, Jesus Christ, by whom be to Him glory, and majesty, and power" [8]. Another patristic text records a prayer to Christ, "O God, the King of the ages, the only-begotten of the Father, to receive Thine handmaid" [13].
The "call of God" itself is often described as being "by Christ" [5]. Believers are called to a "high calling of God in Christ Jesus" [1, 5]. This calling is of grace and according to God's purpose, leading to fellowship with Christ and to holiness [5]. The grace of the Lord Jesus is a common benediction in the New Testament, signifying a wish for His favor to be with believers [2, 10]. John Gill, a Baptist commentator, notes that the New Testament form of blessing shifted from "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel" to forms like "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ," acknowledging Christ's central role [11, 14]. He also interprets calls to "bless ye God in the congregations" as an exhortation to bless the Lord Jesus Christ, recognizing Him as "God over all, blessed for evermore" and the source of all blessings [9].
Sources
- King James Version “[KJV] Philippians 3:14 — I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”
- Revelation “Revelation 22:21 (NASB) — The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.”
- Romans “Romans 15:30 (YLT) — And I call upon you, brethren, through our Lord Jesus Christ, and through the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in the prayers for me unto God,”
- Torrey's Topical Textbook “Torrey's Topical Textbook: Access to God — Is of God -- Ps 65:4. Is by Christ -- Joh 10:7, 9; 14:6; Ro 5:2; Eph 2:13; 3:12; Heb 7:9, 25; 10:19; 1Pe 3:18. Is by the Holy Spirit -- Eph 2:18. Obtained through faith -- Ac 14:27; Ro 5:2; Eph 3:12; Heb 11:6. Follows upon reconciliation to God -- Col 1:21,22. In Prayer -- See Prayer. De 4:7; Mt 6:6; 1Pe 1:17. In his temple -- Ps 15:1; 27:4; 43:3; 65:4. To obtain mercy and grace -- Heb 4:16. A privilege of saints -- De 4:7; Ps 15:1; 23:6; 24:3,4. Saints have, with confidence -- Eph 3:12; Heb 4:16; 10:19,20. Vouchsafed to repenting sinners -- See Repen”
- Torrey's Topical Textbook “Torrey's Topical Textbook: Call of God, The — By Christ -- Isa 55:5; Ro 1:6. By his Spirit -- Re 22:17. By his works -- Ps 19:2,3; Ro 1:20. By his ministers -- Jer 35:15; 2Co 5:20. By his gospel -- 2Th 2:14. Is from darkness -- 1Pe 2:9. Addressed to all -- Isa 45:22; Mt 20:16. Most reject -- Pr 1:24; Mt 20:16. Effectual to saints -- Ps 110:3; Ac 2:47; 13:48; 1Co 1:24. To man is Of grace. -- Ga 1:15; 2Ti 1:9. According to the purpose of God. -- Ro 8:28; 9:11,23,24. High. -- Php 3:14. Holy. -- 1Ti 1:9. Heavenly. -- Heb 3:1. To fellowship with Christ. -- 1Co 1:9. To holiness. -- 1Th 4:7. To liber”
- Torrey's Topical Textbook “Torrey's Topical Textbook: Prayer — Commanded -- Isa 55:6; Mt 7:7; Php 4:6. To be offered To God. -- Ps 5:2; Mt 4:10. To Christ. -- Lu 23:42; Ac 7:59. To the Holy Spirit. -- 2Th 3:5. Through Christ. -- Eph 2:18; Heb 10:19. God hears -- Ps 10:17; 65:2. God answers -- Ps 99:6; Isa 58:9. Is described as Bowing the knees. -- Eph 3:14. Looking up. -- Ps 5:3. Lifting up the soul. -- Ps 25:1. Lifting up the heart. -- La 3:41. Pouring out the heart. -- Ps 62:8. Pouring out the soul. -- 1Sa 1:15. Calling upon the name of the Lord. -- Ge 12:8; Ps 116:4; Ac 22:16. Crying to God. -- Ps 27:7; 34:6. Drawing”
- Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Bless — (1.) God blesses his people when he bestows on them some gift temporal or spiritual (Gen. 1:22; 24:35; Job 42:12; Ps. 45:2; 104:24, 35). (2.) We bless God when we thank him for his mercies (Ps. 103:1, 2; 145:1, 2). (3.) A man blesses himself when he invokes God's blessing (Isa. 65:16), or rejoices in God's goodness to him (Deut. 29:19; Ps. 49:18). (4.) One blesses another when he expresses good wishes or offers prayer to God for his welfare (Gen. 24:60; 31:55; 1 Sam. 2:20). Sometimes blessings were uttered under divine inspiration, as in the case of Noah, Isa”
- Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “ANF Vol 1: Clement, Polycarp, Ignatius, Barnabas, Papias, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus — CHAP. LVIII.--BLESSINGS SOUGHT FOR ALL THAT CALL UPON GOD.: May God, who seeth all things, and who is the Ruler of all spirits and the Lord of all flesh--who chose our Lord Jesus Christ and us through Him to be a peculiar(1) people--grant to every soul that calleth upon His glorious and holy Name, faith, fear, peace, patience, long-suffering, self-control, purity, and sobriety, to the well-pleasing of His Name, through our High Priest and Protector, Jesus Christ, by whom be to Him glory, and majesty, and power,”
- Psalms (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Psalms 68:26: Bless ye God in the congregations,.... This was what they said as they sung and played; they called upon the churches, and the members of them, and upon one another, to bless the Lord Jesus Christ, God manifest in the flesh; not by invoking or bestowing a blessing on him, which cannot be, and of which he has no need; but by proclaiming him to be God over all, blessed for evermore, as he is in himself; and the perfections of his nature, by attributing all the blessings of nature, grace, and glory to him, in whom they are, and from whom they come; and by exercising fai”
- 2 Thessalonians (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on 2 Thessalonians 3:18: 3:18 Ancient letters frequently ended with a wish for health or prosperity, but Paul’s blessing is much grander: He calls on the Lord Jesus Christ to grant grace to the recipients (see 1 Thes 5:28).”
- Ephesians (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Ephesians 1:2: Grace be to you, and peace from God,.... See Gill on Rom 1:7. . Ephesians 1:3 eph 1:3 eph 1:3 eph 1:3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,.... God, the first person in the Trinity, is the God of Christ, as Christ is man and Mediator; he chose and appointed him to be the Mediator, and made a covenant with him as such; he formed and prepared an human nature for him, and anointed it with the Holy Ghost above measure, and supported it under all his trials and sufferings, and at last glorified it: and Christ, as man, prayed to him as his God, believe”
- Romans (Methodist/Wesleyan) “Adam Clarke on Romans 10:13: For whosoever shall call, etc. - Nor shall any one who hears this doctrine of salvation, and credits it as he is commanded, be permitted to pray or supplicate the throne of grace in vain: for the Prophet Joel hath declared, Joe 2:32 : Whosoever shall call upon, invoke, the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior of sinners, shall be saved - shall have his guilt pardoned, his heart purified; and if he abide in the faith, rooted and grounded in him, showing forth the virtues of him who was called him out of darkness into his marvellous light, he shall be saved with”
- Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “ANF Vol 8: Twelve Patriarchs, Excerpts, Epistles, Apocrypha, Decretals — THE ACCOUNT OF ST. JOHN THE THEOLOGIAN(1) OF THE FALLING ASLEEP (part 9): and said to him: Lay Thy right hand upon me, O Lord, and bless me. And the Lord stretched forth His undefiled right hand, and blessed her. And she laid hold of His undefiled right hand, and kissed it, saying: I adore this right hand, which created the heaven and the earth; and I call upon Thy much to be praised name Christ, O God, the King of the ages, the only-begotten of the Father, to receive Thine handmaid, Thou who didst deign to be brought for”
- Luke (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Luke 1:68: Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,.... This was a form of blessing of long standing, Psa 72:18 and very likely was in use, more or less, ever since Israel was distinguished from other nations, became a body politic, and were settled in the land of Canaan, in the enjoyment of peculiar privileges, both civil and religious; see other forms before it in Gen 9:26 and now, this was very near being antiquated, and out of date; for upon the birth of Christ, the Son of God manifest in the flesh, the New Testament form of blessing runs, as in Co2 1:3 The reason of its being now m”