Spiritual Blessings
We returned to a touch of winter today. Cold with some snow flurries. After a morning conference call, I headed off to my Chiropractor appointment. Then before my afternoon fitness workout, Mike Patrick (Patrick Plumbing and Heating) came to give me an estimate on some work in our basement. I was delighted to find out that he not only has years of connection at Timberline Church, but knew Debbie’s parents and had even done a service call for Debbie’s mom when she owned our house.
BIBLE VERSE FOR TODAY… “Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens.” Ephesians 1:3 HCSB
It is often easy to “gloss over” the opening verses of a New Testament letter and get to the “real” message. Perhaps I am just sharing my own pattern. I recall studying and memorizing many verses from Ephesians when I was a teenager, so I consider myself familiar with the text.
However, as I was reading through this book once again, these first few verses arrested by attention. Paul expresses his praise to the Lord for the spiritual blessings we have in Christ and then he shares some of those blessings in details. Perhaps it is good for us to pause and to understand those spiritual blessings and to give praise to God for what He has done for us in Christ.
We are chosen. “For He chose us in Him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in His sight.” (Eph. 1:4 HCSB) When God made Adam and Eve, He created them as holy individuals. That is, those who were “set apart” to know God and have fellowship with Him. Yet sin entered the world and broke that fellowship and created a barrier between God and man. Yet God from the beginning of time, worked through time, to make way for sinful humanity to be “blameless” and set apart (holy) in His sight.
We are God’s children. “He predestined us to be adopted through Jesus Christ for Himself…” (Eph. 1:5 HCSB) All are part of “God’s creation” but we become part of God’s family through faith in Jesus Christ. God, once again, predetermined that through Christ sinful people would be part of God’s family, loved and accepted. Those who are children have special, “favor.” Paul says all this was “…according to His favor and will, to the praise of His glorious grace that He favored us with in the Beloved.” (Eph. 1:5-6 HCSB)
We are redeemed. “We have redemption in Him through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.” (Eph. 1:7,8 HCSB) Redemption means to “buy back.” That is what God for us in Christ. Through Christ the curse of sin and death is broken, we have forgiveness of sins and His grace is provided in “lavish” amounts. He also grants us wisdom and understanding to see God’s plan and purpose for our life and the world.
We are heirs. “We have also received an inheritance in Him…” (Eph. 1:11 HCSB) An inheritance is the provision and blessing passed on to a future generation. In Christ we have the promise of a glorious future. We don’t have to worry about what the future may hold, it has already been provided for through Christ. The good thing is that we are already recipients of the inheritance that belongs to us through Christ.
We are sealed. “…when you believed in Him, you were also sealed with the promised Holy Spirit. He is the down payment of our inheritance…” (Eph. 1:13,14 HCSB) A seal is the “mark” of ownership, it is a symbol of security. The power of the Holy Spirit is the evidence of God’s work in our life and through our life. It is a reminder that “we belong to Him.” It is the down payment of the glories that await those who place their hope and trust in the Lord. The best is yet to come!
We are chosen, children, redeemed, heirs and sealed by God, through Christ. To what end has all this happened? “…to the praise of His glory.” (Eph. 1:14 HCSB) With all the challenges of life and the trials that can our way, we need to remember all the blessings we have in Christ. When we do, we have strength for all that confronts and assurance of victory through Christ.