Random Quotes & Articles to Provide Food for Thought
Read Ephesians 1:1-3
Our reading is from the book of Ephesians, which deals with the subject of LIFE IN THE HEAVENLIES. It’s the New Testament counterpart to the book of Joshua in the Old Testament. The book of Joshua, you will remember, describes the entrance of the Children of Israel into the promised land, the land of plenty, the land flowing with milk and honey. It describes a life of triumph and victory through the power of God. It describes a life of conquest and overcoming. And so likewise Ephesians describes a life lived in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. That doesn’t mean of course that the book is impractical and removed from everyday circumstances. Paul was writing from a dungeon, in all probability chained between two soldiers 24 hours a day. The epistle was written to Ephesian believers, most of whom were probably slaves of some sort or another. So although it talks about life in the heavenlies, it is also very down to earth. Someone has said that the book of Ephesians begins in the heavenlies and ends in the kitchen. In other words, it begins by pointing out the rich inheritance that we have in Christ as believers, and describes us as seated with Christ in heavenly places; and then it applies that to everyday life–for example the life of a household slave working in the kitchen.
I want to focus our attention for a few moments on verse 3 of chapter 1. Paul has given his usual salutation in verses 1 and 2: “Paul an Apostle of Jesus Christ….and so on….Grace be to you and peace….and so on,” and then in verse 3 he starts into his letter with these words, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who HATH blessed us….” Let’s stop there a moment: “Who HATH blessed us!” Not MIGHT bless us, not WILL at some future date bless us, but HATH blessed us! He HATH blessed us–He’s already done it. If we are believers here this evening, if we are in Christ by faith in His atoning death, if we have trusted in His finished work on Calvary, then ALREADY God has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies.
Now this evening we might not feel like He’s blessed us. It might not seem like He’s blessed us. The devil might be telling us this very moment that He hasn’t blessed us. Our circumstances may be so trying and so difficult that it may be hard for us to REALIZE that He has blessed us. But none of these things changes the fact that this morning we are blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. He HATH blessed us. That’s the first thing.
The second thing I want us to notice is that He “hath blessed us with ALL spiritual blessings in heavenly places…” Did you get THAT? ALL spiritual blessings. ALL. Not some, but ALL. Not a few, but ALL. Not most, but ALL. Everything that you and I need to take us from earth to Heaven has already been made available to us in Christ. Every possible spiritual benefit, everything that we need to make us holy, everything we need to keep us from falling, everything we need to make sure we don’t just scrape into Heaven but that we have an abundant entrance, all this has been given to us and is available to us at this very moment through God in Christ. Nothing has been left out. Nothing has been overlooked. Nothing has been forgotten. Nothing has been neglected. ALL doesn’t mean some, it means ALL. That’s the second thing–that little word ALL. Peter says a similar thing in 2 Peter 1:3, “According as his divine power hath given unto us ALL THINGS that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue.”
Thirdly, He “hath blessed us with all SPIRITUAL blessings in HEAVENLY PLACES….” Let’s think about that for a moment: All SPIRITUAL blessings in HEAVENLY PLACES. He is not talking about temporal blessings, but spiritual ones. Not earthly, passing, fleeting blessings, but ones that will endure eternally. We find that in the Old Testament God’s blessing was indicated in earthly and visible ways. God blessed His people by providing an abundance of crops, of cattle, and of land. But when we move into the New Testament, we find this is not the case at all. Our blessings now are not temporal and earthly, but spiritual and heavenly. They are in another realm—on another level entirely. We can be in abject poverty physically, just as some of these slaves probably were to whom Paul was writing; and yet if we are in Christ, we are richer than all the millionaires in the world, because our treasures, our riches, our blessings are on a higher plane altogether. For example, the blessing of forgiveness—having our past life of sin totally blotted out; knowing that our sins are in the sea of God’s forgetfulness—as far as the east is from the west—what a blessing that is! A clean slate with God, a clear conscience, that enables us to live without fear in the day time and lets us sleep soundly at night. Peace. Love. Joy unspeakable and full of glory. And many more.
Fourthly, and lastly, He “hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places IN CHRIST.” In CHRIST. Not in Buddha. Not in Mohammed. Not in the blessed virgin Mary. Not in my pastor. Not in the church. Not even in the Bible! In CHRIST! All God’s spiritual blessings are treasured up in Christ, and it’s only through Him that they are made available to us. Every spiritual blessing that we have comes to us by virtue of the fact that we are “IN CHRIST.”
God has chosen to deal with the whole human race through Christ. There are no spiritual blessings outside of Him. Everything comes through Him. The Christian religion is exclusive in this sense—the only way to experience God’s blessings is through Christ. Peter said in Acts 4:12, “There is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” There is no second name! There is only one, and that name is Christ. He needs no assistant, no supplement. In 1 Timothy 2:5, Paul says, “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”
If we are in Christ, we are truly rich tonight. No matter what our circumstances are and no matter how we feel, if we are in Christ, we possess all spiritual blessings in heavenly places. May the Lord help us to realize how truly blessed we are, and may He help us to live as spiritual millionaires—which is what we are if we have truly given our heart and life to Jesus Christ and He is dwelling in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.
May God bless you. Amen.
Want your say?
You must be logged in to post a comment.