Every Spiritual Blessing

Every Spiritual Blessing

Daily Reading: (Ephesians 1:3):

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.”

Normally what I do to help bring clarity to a text is to look at a verse’s context but in this instance all we have that comes before it is Paul’s address to the Ephesians. What this means is that the very first thing that Paul wants the Ephesians to know after his address to them is that God has blessed them in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ and then from this starting point, he will go on to explain what that means for them and for us.

Ephesians 1:3 tells us that there is not a single spiritual blessing that isn’t yours right now in Christ.

“Has blessed us”

It is a done deal, in Christ you are blessed. You didn’t earn your salvation it was a gift of His grace, in the same way, you don’t work for forgiveness, holiness, righteousness, peace, or any blessing. God who freely gave us his Son—will he not also freely give us all things (Romans 8:32)? Everything we need for life and godliness has already been provided for you in Jesus (2 Peter 1:3).

 “Blesses us” comes from the Greek word eulogeō[1]  which means to bestow blessing on, to be favored of God. In Christ this is what you are, you are immensely blessed. No matter what happens to you, the good, the bad, the ugly, God’s favor goes with you through your life. You have been blessed in your past, and you are being blessed now in your present, and your future contains His blessings over you.

Now when you put the “He has blessed us in the heavenly realms” together people can misinterpret this as being that my blessings are all waiting for me on the other side of eternity, in the heavenly realms. Maybe you have heard a pastor say, “just grin and bear whatever comes your way because you have an eternal reward waiting for you one day.” Is that what this means here? No, it’s not. Paul would say in 2 Corinthians 4:17, “for our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” While it’s true that even the bad things we experience are working together for our good (Romans 8:28), and that we have God’s favor upon us even during momentary troubles, that is not the point of Ephesians 1:3.

The Word for heavenly realms “epouranios” is an adjective meaning existing in Heaven or things that take place in Heaven.[2]  The blessings that exist in Heaven belong to us now on Earth in Christ. This makes sense when you read later in the same letter to the Ephesians, “And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:6). Ephesians 2:6 is describing your present position in Christ which reinforces the point that we are blessed with what takes place in Heaven “every spiritual blessing”.

The context of Ephesians 1:3 begins to shine as you work through the chapter. Paul doesn’t give a nice-sounding phrase, ”spiritual blessings” and then leaves us to figure out what those are. The rest of the chapter is all about what those spiritual blessings are and what they mean for us who are living on Earth. There are 15 spiritual blessings that Paul lists directly after Ephesians 1:3:

Blessing #1: Chosen Before the Foundation of the World (v.4)

Blessing #2: You are Holy and Blameless (v.4)

Blessing #3: In His Love (v.4)

Blessing #4: Predestined to Adoption (v.5)

Blessing #5: Accepted in the Beloved (v.6)

Blessing #6: Redemption through His Blood (v.7)

Blessing #7: Forgiveness of Sins (v.7)

Blessing #8: Riches of His Grace Abound To You (v.7-8)

Blessing #9: Made Known to You the Mystery of His Will (v.9)

Blessing #10: Obtained An Eternal Inheritance (v.11)

Blessing #11: Heard the Word of Truth (v.13)

Blessing #12: Sealed with the Holy Spirit of Promise (v.13)

Blessing #13: You Know the Hope of His Calling (v.18)

Blessing #14: You are the Riches of His Inheritance (v.18)

Blessing #15: The Exceeding Greatness of His Power (v.19-20)

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[1] https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g2127/niv/mgnt/0-1/

[2] https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g2032/kjv/tr/0-1/

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