Blessed with All Spiritual Blessing - Part 1
Blessed with All Spiritual Blessing – Part 1
We all love blessings. The word blessing implies we are getting something free that we have not worked for. Webster defines the word bless as follows: 1. To make holy by religious rite: sanctify to invoke divine favor on, to honor as holy, glorify to confer well-being or prosperity on, to endow as with talent. From bless we get blessings, the act of one who blesses and something that promotes happiness, well-being or prosperity. Blessing also implies praise as in ‘Bless the Lord O my soul”.
In Ephesians 1, Paul makes this all-encompassing proclamation:
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.
What exactly is Paul talking about? What are these blessings? If the word “all” or “every” means anything, does it mean we do not need any more blessings if we have the ones Paul is talking about?
The first blessing is that God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world. If God chose us before the foundation, it implies that He chose us before Adam and Eve sinned in the garden. It therefore means that our salvation (from the consequence of sin) is not just the only reason why God sent Christ to die for us. Christ also died to restore us to relationship with the Father who on his own will and good pleasure had chosen us. The Scripture says the Father had also predestined us to be like Jesus through adoption.
So what does these all mean in our lives? It is overwhelming to comprehend the blessings of God- His choosing us, predestined us, adopted us, made us holy and blameless and have unconditionally accepted us in Christ. It all means we have too much blessings going for us that Paul calls for “Blessed be the God and Father”. In other words praise the Father.
In as much as we can bask in these numerous blessings, I believe Paul does not want us to forget the giver so that we ascribe all our praise and honor to our God. It is very easy to forget to “bless” or “praise” God. We often concentrate on seeking His blessings.
The Lord wants to transform our minds to the truth that He has already blessed us with all spiritual blessings. The Spiritual blessings in heavenly places by implication are more superior to the earthly material blessings. I would submit that material blessings are just leftovers of the Spiritual blessings. Jesus talks about them when He said, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added to you”. Matthew 6:33. My brother and sister, you have been blessed with superior “spiritual” blessings. Don’t let anyone deceive you with “leftover earthly” material blessings. The Father will take care of those too according to His will.
Next time we will uncover the other Spiritual blessings. For now, let us bless the Lord. Let us praise Him for all He has done even before we were born and before the world began. I am excited to know this God who chose me according to the good pleasure of His will. He was not forced to choose me. I will never understand why He chose me but I thank Him for choosing me. I willingly respond to His love which constrains me to love Him back. By the time we get to Ephesians 4, we will then have every reason to “walk worthy of our calling” because we have been called and loved too much by God.
In the words, “who has blessed us”, there is certainty, assurance and confidence of our salvation and our relationship with God. It is all in the past tense; it is already done. We need not worry about falling out of grace because we did not start the journey. He who began the good work in us will surely complete it. Hallelujah! It is all “to the praise of the glory of His grace” There is nothing whatsoever from us to boast about except to boast about His GRACE poured lavishly on us.
“Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name, Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits”. Psalm 103:1-2
We all love blessings. The word blessing implies we are getting something free that we have not worked for. Webster defines the word bless as follows: 1. To make holy by religious rite: sanctify to invoke divine favor on, to honor as holy, glorify to confer well-being or prosperity on, to endow as with talent. From bless we get blessings, the act of one who blesses and something that promotes happiness, well-being or prosperity. Blessing also implies praise as in ‘Bless the Lord O my soul”.
In Ephesians 1, Paul makes this all-encompassing proclamation:
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.
What exactly is Paul talking about? What are these blessings? If the word “all” or “every” means anything, does it mean we do not need any more blessings if we have the ones Paul is talking about?
The first blessing is that God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world. If God chose us before the foundation, it implies that He chose us before Adam and Eve sinned in the garden. It therefore means that our salvation (from the consequence of sin) is not just the only reason why God sent Christ to die for us. Christ also died to restore us to relationship with the Father who on his own will and good pleasure had chosen us. The Scripture says the Father had also predestined us to be like Jesus through adoption.
So what does these all mean in our lives? It is overwhelming to comprehend the blessings of God- His choosing us, predestined us, adopted us, made us holy and blameless and have unconditionally accepted us in Christ. It all means we have too much blessings going for us that Paul calls for “Blessed be the God and Father”. In other words praise the Father.
In as much as we can bask in these numerous blessings, I believe Paul does not want us to forget the giver so that we ascribe all our praise and honor to our God. It is very easy to forget to “bless” or “praise” God. We often concentrate on seeking His blessings.
The Lord wants to transform our minds to the truth that He has already blessed us with all spiritual blessings. The Spiritual blessings in heavenly places by implication are more superior to the earthly material blessings. I would submit that material blessings are just leftovers of the Spiritual blessings. Jesus talks about them when He said, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added to you”. Matthew 6:33. My brother and sister, you have been blessed with superior “spiritual” blessings. Don’t let anyone deceive you with “leftover earthly” material blessings. The Father will take care of those too according to His will.
Next time we will uncover the other Spiritual blessings. For now, let us bless the Lord. Let us praise Him for all He has done even before we were born and before the world began. I am excited to know this God who chose me according to the good pleasure of His will. He was not forced to choose me. I will never understand why He chose me but I thank Him for choosing me. I willingly respond to His love which constrains me to love Him back. By the time we get to Ephesians 4, we will then have every reason to “walk worthy of our calling” because we have been called and loved too much by God.
In the words, “who has blessed us”, there is certainty, assurance and confidence of our salvation and our relationship with God. It is all in the past tense; it is already done. We need not worry about falling out of grace because we did not start the journey. He who began the good work in us will surely complete it. Hallelujah! It is all “to the praise of the glory of His grace” There is nothing whatsoever from us to boast about except to boast about His GRACE poured lavishly on us.
“Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name, Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits”. Psalm 103:1-2
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