Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:--Ephesians 1:3
Blessed be the God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ: The third verse begins with praise to the One who has bestowed such marvelous gifts to His beloved children. We praise the One who is truly good and who holds all good in His hands. Psalm 147 tells us it is good to "sing praises unto our God; for it is pleasant and praise is comely. We have only empty hands to bring to our Lord but we can offer Him the fruit of our lips from a heart that is steadfast for Him.
We can praise our God in all things...pain, grief, adversity, trials...He is good in the midst of it all for His mercy endures forever and His faithfulness rises above the heavens. Our hope is secure in Him.
And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.--Revelation 5:13
who hath blessed: God is the blesser. It is He who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing. Every good gift is from the Father of lights with whom there is no shadow or turning. The nature of God is such that only good comes from Him. ONLY GOOD COMES FROM HIM. His gifts are all good and perfect and come from the Father who never changes and is always light. How beautiful is that! Every good gift and every perfect gift comes down from above. Anything that is good about me...any talent...any good thing...all comes from Him. I can't boast about them or brag. I can't take credit for them...I did nothing to earn or deserve them. They are all just God's undeserved and unmerited kindness and favor toward me...His grace.
The word good, John MacArthur says, means just that good. There is no comparative for it. (no gooder and goodest) It is just good. It is complete and lacks nothing. Sufficient. Comprehensive. Beneficial. Are you getting the picture?
The Father of lights? What does that mean. God is the creator of the sun, the moon and the stars. Let's just take the sun...it is there in the morning and gone at night. It is dimmed by clouds. How about the stars...we can only see them during the day. The moon....it waxes and wanes. But NOT GOD. In Him there is no variation or shadow of turning. Isn't that a beautiful statement. I will never look at the lights in the sky now without remembering that He never changes...His good and perfect gifts keep coming. In Him there is no darkness at all. Only good comes from God...
Us: The blessed ones...us! (ME!) The us refers to..well...us...the believers, the saints in Christ Jesus. God has chosen to bless us! Those who are of the faith are blessed! God blesses us with goodness continually...it is our God's nature to give. He gives us every good gift and every blessing...He lavishes us with His love. We lift up empty hands to Him and He fills them with all we need.
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.--Jeremiah 29:11-12
with all spiritual blessings: The word spiritual in the NT is pneumatikos and is always used in relation to the work of the Holy Spirit. He is the source of the blessing. The word spiritual then refers to both material and immaterial blessings with the origin of the blessing being the Holy Spirit. We have been given it all in Christ. We are in want for nothing. His love poured out in our hearts, His grace that is sufficient, His strength to meet every challenge, His peace that passes all understanding, His fullness of joy....all are ours by God's grace.
in the heavenly places: This is where our blessings are located...our citizenship is in heaven. We are aliens here on earth...just passing through. Wherever we are, wherever we go we are always citizens of the heavenly realm with all its rights and privileges. We live here in the physical world but our hearts and desires should be seated next to our God in the heavenlies. Until that time we are (as the Word tells us we will be) troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.
We walk here on this earth with our eyes focused on things above and our hearts, minds and bodies surrendered to His Spirit. Our power, wisdom and guidance come from above and our blessings are received as we live in His power and walk in His Spirit. As we do this His fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness and self control is produced in us. Without Him we can do nothing...in Him we can do all things...and without faith it is impossible to please God.
in Christ: I love this term...it speaks SAFETY AND ASSURANCE to my heart. We possess every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places because we are in Christ. We enter into a spiritual union with Jesus when we place our trust in Him. All that our Father has, we who are in Christ. also possess. When we act in faith to believe and receive Christ as our Lord and Savior, God acts in grace and imputes Christ's perfect righteousness to our account. Every believer has been set apart and made holy through the righteousness of Christ It is all God and nothing of us. Our position with God is now "in Christ." We may be physically in the world but have now been made alive spiritually and our true home is now in heaven with our God. The Spirit of God now resides in our hearts and it is in Him that we live and move and have our being. We are now identified with Christ and can draw on the riches we have in Him as we sojourn our way through this world toward our permanent home in heaven.
The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.--Romans 8:16-17
But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.--1 Corinthians 6:17
Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus: That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us to the glory of God.--Romans 15:5-7
Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me...And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.--John 17:20-23, 26
For next study in Ephesians go here
Us: The blessed ones...us! (ME!) The us refers to..well...us...the believers, the saints in Christ Jesus. God has chosen to bless us! Those who are of the faith are blessed! God blesses us with goodness continually...it is our God's nature to give. He gives us every good gift and every blessing...He lavishes us with His love. We lift up empty hands to Him and He fills them with all we need.
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.--Jeremiah 29:11-12
with all spiritual blessings: The word spiritual in the NT is pneumatikos and is always used in relation to the work of the Holy Spirit. He is the source of the blessing. The word spiritual then refers to both material and immaterial blessings with the origin of the blessing being the Holy Spirit. We have been given it all in Christ. We are in want for nothing. His love poured out in our hearts, His grace that is sufficient, His strength to meet every challenge, His peace that passes all understanding, His fullness of joy....all are ours by God's grace.
in the heavenly places: This is where our blessings are located...our citizenship is in heaven. We are aliens here on earth...just passing through. Wherever we are, wherever we go we are always citizens of the heavenly realm with all its rights and privileges. We live here in the physical world but our hearts and desires should be seated next to our God in the heavenlies. Until that time we are (as the Word tells us we will be) troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.
We walk here on this earth with our eyes focused on things above and our hearts, minds and bodies surrendered to His Spirit. Our power, wisdom and guidance come from above and our blessings are received as we live in His power and walk in His Spirit. As we do this His fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness and self control is produced in us. Without Him we can do nothing...in Him we can do all things...and without faith it is impossible to please God.
in Christ: I love this term...it speaks SAFETY AND ASSURANCE to my heart. We possess every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places because we are in Christ. We enter into a spiritual union with Jesus when we place our trust in Him. All that our Father has, we who are in Christ. also possess. When we act in faith to believe and receive Christ as our Lord and Savior, God acts in grace and imputes Christ's perfect righteousness to our account. Every believer has been set apart and made holy through the righteousness of Christ It is all God and nothing of us. Our position with God is now "in Christ." We may be physically in the world but have now been made alive spiritually and our true home is now in heaven with our God. The Spirit of God now resides in our hearts and it is in Him that we live and move and have our being. We are now identified with Christ and can draw on the riches we have in Him as we sojourn our way through this world toward our permanent home in heaven.
The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.--Romans 8:16-17
But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.--1 Corinthians 6:17
Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus: That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us to the glory of God.--Romans 15:5-7
Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me...And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.--John 17:20-23, 26
For next study in Ephesians go here
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