The Baptism in the Holy Spirit (6): Releasing the BLESSING by Sowing SEED

God's BLESSING is the impartation of His SPIRIT, giving life; God’s life working within and upon us. We were made to live by His blessing, empowering us to live, thrive and be fruitful. The opposite is curse (absence of life, death). Righteousness brings blessing, but sin brings curse. In Adam, all were under sin's curse, but Christ gave us His righteousness, so we can receive His blessing. When we received Christ, His blessing came into us, recreated our spirit and His Spirit now lives in us. There is also a 2nd Blessing (the Baptism in the Spirit), the Spirit upon, empowering us to multiply ourselves and be fruitful. In Scripture, His Blessing is always 2-fold: (1) for our own life, and (2) to empower us to reproduce ourselves in others. There is a vital connection between Blessing and Seed. Blessing works through seed to produce multiplication (Genesis 1:11-12). It is spiritual power. The seed is the natural thing it acts on to produce new life. The blessing is released through sowing seed, and seed is ineffective if not empowered by the blessing. God released His blessing on all His creatures by sowing His seed (speaking His Word): “God BLESSED them, SAYING.." (v22). He blessed them (1) to thrive (v20-21), and then (2) multiply (v22). His blessing is released and goes forth through His words. His Spirit works with His Word. This is the key to release His Blessing. God is BLESSED, and releases His BLESSING by SOWING SEED. Likewise, He made each animal multiply according to its kind or seed (v24-25). When He created man, He imparted the same 2-fold Blessing: (1) WITHIN and (2) UPON. (1) First, He created man, blessing him with life (v26-27), by imparting His Spirit WITHIN (2:7). (2) Then God blessed man a 2nd time, empowering him to be fruitful and multiply - imparting life to others (v28). God’s 2-fold Blessing through Adam at Creation is parallel to His 2-fold Blessing through Christ (the 2nd Adam) in the New Creation. (1) At our New Birth, He breathed His Spirit WITHIN, through the sown seed of the Gospel. (2) At our Baptism in the Spirit, He put the Blessing of His Spirit UPON, empowering us to impart life to others, by sowing the words of the Gospel. In both cases, He released His blessing by His words (blessing is voice activated). We are God’s image, and so release His blessing the same way: (1) We must be BLESSED with the Spirit upon, and (2) have SEED to sow. Then as we sow it, we release the blessing of life. The WORD and SPIRIT work together unto fruitfulness. Abram received the Promise of this 2-fold Blessing (Genesis 12:2,3), to be transmitted through His Seed (Genesis 22:17-18). This was fulfilled by Christ, who received the full Blessing, within and upon, on our behalf, to freely give us. The New Covenant Blessing is called the BLESSING of ABRAHAM and PROMISE of the SPIRIT (Galatians 3:13-14). It is 2-fold: (1) blessing for our own life, by the Spirit WITHIN, and (2) blessed to be a blessing to others by the Spirit UPON. This 2-fold Ministry of the Spirit was prophesied in Ezekiel 36:26-27 and Joel 2:28-29. Isaiah 59:20-21 describes how this Covenant Blessing is transmitted, by (1) the Spirit UPON, (2) released by speaking God’s WORDS. Jesus received and operated in the full 2-fold Promise of the Spirit: (1) born of the Spirit, with the Spirit within, and then (2) baptised in the Spirit, when He received the Spirit upon empowering Him to bless others (Luke 3:21-22, Luke 4:18-19). He is our example, for He said: “As the Father has sent Me, so I send you” (John 20:21). He gives us the same mission to bless others through the Gospel, and so anoints us with the same Spirit upon, and like Him, we release this power by sowing His words (Acts 1:4,5,8). The purpose of the Spirit upon is to give us power to witness, released through our words (Romans 1:16), which transmit the power into men's hearts. This power upon is potential (Acts 1:8), which we activate and release, by speaking His words. It goes forth with our words, making them effectual. We need both the Word in our heart and the Spirit upon to empower our spoken words, so they enter men’s hearts with power to illuminate, convict and save. The Parable of the Sower describes how God's Kingdom works. The sower sows God's Word in men’s hearts. If received, the seed produces new life in them (1Peter 1:23,25). After Jesus was baptised in the Spirit, He became the first Sower, speaking God’s Word, releasing the Spirit's power, giving life to men (John 6:63). He then told us all to continue His mission by sowing His Word in the same power of His Spirit. The earth (man's heart) needs 2 things to bring forth fruit: (1) SEED (the Word) and (2) WATER (the Spirit). So, we need to sow the Word and release the Spirit to minister life to men (John 7:37-39). The Baptism in the Spirit empowers us to speak for Him (Acts 1:8), so His Spirit flows forth with the spoken word, causing it to be effectual in producing fruit in people’s hearts.