For Seekers Of Every Spiritual Blessing

For Seekers of Every Spiritual Blessing

by Andrew Chan, PBC Vancouver, BC

Ephesians 1:3-14

“…blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing…”

Is it true? Many perhaps wonder where is this blessing. How can God be blessing. Look at the world… not much blessing, …

But from the very beginning God’s intention was to bless humanity.

Genesis 1:26 “Then God said: ‘Let us make man in our image, in our likeness….’ (27) So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created them, male and female he created them. (28) God BLESSED them and said to them, Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it…’ (31) God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.” (NIV) What was God’s original intention? To bless humanity, it is not? Only thing created that is blessed with His image. That gives purpose dignity, made to be blessed, not cursed, spat on, ridiculed, to exist with fear as an overriding emotion. God’s heart - filled with joy when He created humanity as He blessed them….

As the work of creation was completed God rested and he blessed the 7th day and made it holy. (Genesis 2:3) God intended 7th day of rest to continue, He blessed this rest day is to be the perpetual day that never end. Blessedness of this rest of God is where people were made to exist, we were made to be blessed. Made to enjoy with God who took pleasure in it his work of creation, saw all that he made it was good! It was good -statement “completely perfect” - statement: no evil was laid on this world by God’s hand, God just wants to blessed and take.

But u and I know man and women fell from that perfection, state of blessedness, by their own choice to become their own gods instead of following God’s created order. World fell into chaos, murder, lying, hatred, accusations against each other, blame, bit by bit as people take matters into their own hands, blessedness was lost.

Yet in you and I, God sees value, He sees His image, His creation, rebelling, lost… I began to understand this more as I see a bit of my own image in my own sons and daughter when they disobey and oh how the hearts aches, groans… so does God give up? Thank God NO, Genesis tells - God will not just wipe us off the map, He intends to redeem people made in His image, for to completely wipe humanity off the map, destroy them all, is to really destroy himself. So can you sense why Paul was excited about this insight from God he received. It was so exciting according to original Gk. These 12 verses constitute a single complex sentence. “As Paul dictates, his speech pours out of his mouth in a continuos cascade. He neither pauses for breath, nor punctuates his words with full stops” (Stott) “like a snowball tumbling down a hill, picking up volume as it descends.”

Color, movement, grandeur - impression made on reader’s mind. Praise, doxology begin by blessing God for blessing us with every conceivable blessing.

A. The past blessing of election (v.4-6)

1. This is a divine revelation, not a human idea

“For he chose us in him before the creation of the world”

This insight tells the fact that God knew people will sin, yet he created world. Why? “In love he predestined us to adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will.” Only explanation given somehow out of love, out of pure delight, He enjoys it, pleasurable, to have us around him… see that as I see my kid Michael got his first base hit in Little League Ball, my kid Jesse drew first cartoon, Nathan’s first day at preschool, Kaylene’s first little attempt to walk, blessing of those moments fade away as they fight, squabble, hit on the head, blame, not me, he started it. Take those old pictures and videos of every accomplishment, graduations, marriages, victories, joy, warmth, glow, as see images of yourself , know the love invested in them pays off – get a sense of purpose, love, completeness about life. YES~LIFE has value!!! Not impersonal matter that just happen to form out of chance…

I believe when God first chose us in him before the creation of the world, He saw the potential of people made in His image, He saw the great things we can do, He knows the potential that things can go awfully wrong, yet he did it, completeness about love…, he wants to have that happen, in love he predestined us to be adopted through Jesus, life must flourish, love must grow, cannot be held back. Even in a fallen state and in love he brought us back from a place of destruction, no love, purposelessness, to be saved. It was his pleasure His will to do it.