Word of Encouragement (5/3/2021)
The prayer we are going to consider this morning is, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places...” (Eph. 1:3). This is another prayer of praise to God. In this prayer, too, Paul addresses God as “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (which we talked about before so I won’t go over it again). This time, Paul blesses God for “bless[ing] us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.”
Notice how Paul blesses God for “every spiritual blessing.” Here, Paul is consciously drawing a contrast between the blessings of Israel under the old covenant and the blessings of the church under the new covenant:
The old covenant blessings were of the promised land while the new covenant blessings are of the kingdom of heaven, “in the heavenly places.” The new covenant blessings can never be stolen or destroyed.
The old covenant blessings were earthly in character (Deut. 28) while the new covenant blessings are spiritual in character. The new covenant blessings are therefore eternal and imperishable.
The old covenant blessings had to be divided among the twelve tribes of Israel while each of the new covenant believers receives every spiritual blessing. If this is so, then the spiritual blessings are unlimited in their riches. There is no need to be jealous of others and compete with others for more.
The old covenant blessings were under the Mosaic Covenant while the new covenant blessings are under the new covenant in Jesus Christ. The new covenant blessings are on the basis of Jesus’ perfect merit, given to us by His grace. Therefore, they cannot be taken away from us.
What are the spiritual blessings, every one of which each believer has received in Jesus Christ? Paul goes on to provide some examples: our election in Christ to be holy and blameless before Him (v. 4); our adoption as sons through Christ (v. 5); redemption through the blood of Christ, the forgiveness of our trespasses (v. 7); the knowledge of the mystery of His will for the fullness of time (vv. 9-10); a heavenly inheritance (v. 11); the seal of the Holy Spirit (v. 13) as the guarantee of our inheritance (v. 14), etc.
Paul tells us that God has already blessed us with every spiritual blessing. The moment we put our faith in Jesus Christ, all these spiritual blessings are given to each of us regardless of our earthly status and condition, regardless even of the measure of our faith. God’s earthly blessings come and go. Of them, we have to say, “Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD” (Job 1:21). This will have to be our confession about everything in this life when we die. But not with our spiritual blessings. Once God has given them, He will never take them away from us. God loves us too much to take away what we truly need. If God should take anything away from us, it is because we don’t really need it (even if we feel like at the moment our life is not worth living with it) to be what God wants us to be—perfect in God’s image.
Our true wealth is to be measured by these eternal, imperishable, undefiled blessings of God, not by the perishable treasures of this world. If so, we are already so rich in Christ, equipped with everything we need to be loving and generous and magnanimous. Let’s take time to bless the Lord for all the spiritual blessings God has given to us! And let our conduct and dealing with others show how rich we are in Christ!