“God’s Faithful Blessings 1" Ephesians 1:3-6
Heavenly
Holy
Has made us His Children
F.E. Marsh has spoken of some of God’s blessings:
An acceptance that can never be questioned. (Eph.1:6). An inheritance that can never be lost (I Peter 1:3-5). A deliverance that can never be excelled (2 Cor. l:10).
A grace that can never be limited (2 Cor. 12:9).
A hope that can never be disappointed. (Heb. 6:18, 19).
A bounty that can never be withdrawn. (I Cor. 3:21-23).
A joy that need never be diminished (John 15:11).
A nearness to God that can never be reversed (Eph. 2:13).
A peace that can never be disturbed (John 14:27).
A righteousness that can never be tarnished (2 Cor. 5:21).
A salvation that can never be canceled (Hebrews 5:9).
F.E. Marsh.
Let’s start to examine this issue of blessings today…
Heavenly
Ephes. 1:3 (NIV)
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.
As heirs of Christ we have heavenly and pneumatikos, Gk; not of the flesh but of the spirit blessings, not those material blessings that the world seeks after.
Man has often found themselves at odds between God and the material around them..
The Lord had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you. Genesis 12:1
The Lord said to Abram after Lot had parted from him, "Lift up your eyes from where you are and look north and south, east and west. Genesis 13:14
You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. John 4:22
We need understand the following:
Spiritual blessings are of the Spirit.
Spiritual blessings are the opposite of temporal blessings.
Spiritual blessings are vastly superior to material blessings.
Spiritual blessings are found only in Christ.
As the children of God we should desire our spiritual blessings above the material things of this world.
“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6).
“Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).
“For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time” (1 Tim. 2:5-6).
Holy
Ephes. 1:4 (NIV)
For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.
God has indeed chosen us to be hagios, Gk, sacred--physical pure, morally blameless, holy, a saint or saintly.
Holy and amomos, Gk., unblemished (literal or figurative) :- without blame (blemish, fault, spot), faultless, and to hold ourselves blameless before this world we serve.
Imagine! God determined before the world was ever created that He would have a people...
·who would be “in Him,”; in His Son, Jesus Christ.
·who would be “holy and without blame.”
·who would live “before Him in love”—forever and ever.
The word “holy” hagios means to be “set apart” and “consecrated” to God.
“Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (2 Cor. 7:1).
“And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness” (Ephes. 4:24).
“Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14).
“But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation [behavior]; because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy” (1 Peter 1:15-16).
We are to be like Christ, our lamb, without blemish.
“That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world” (Phil. 2:15).
“And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight” (Col. 1:21-22).
“Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless” (2 Peter 3:14).
Has made us His Children
Ephes. 1:5-6 (NIV)
In love [5] he predestined us to be adopted as his (children) sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will-- [6] to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.
What a glorious privilege to be adopted as a child of God!
It was Gods pleasure to adopt us—in accordance with His “good and perfect” will.
God also purposed to adopt us, we are indeed blessed.
What makes this even more difficult to understand is what we are before becoming one with Christ.
When I consider how much I cursed, rejected and rebelled against God.
And that God still counts it good to adopt me and anyone else who believes on Jesus as God’s son and confesses Jesus as Lord of their life.
The word predestined proorizo, Gk., means to limit in advance, predetermine.
Yet when people say God chooses who will be saved and who will not--this clearly flies against the very known intent of God.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
“For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:13).
“For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:3-4).
Additionally,
“For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time” (1 Tim. 2:5-6).
“The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).
“And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 2:2).
The basic Greek word (proorizo) means to mark off or to set off the boundaries of something.
The idea is a glorious picture of what God is doing for the believer.
The boundary is marked and set off for the believer: the boundary of being adopted as a child of God.
If we accept his adoption, we will be re-made in the image of Christ.
Have you come to the blessings available in Jesus Christ?
“According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord: in whom [Christ] we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him” (Ephes. 3:11-12).
Thus far in examining how we are to “live in Christ” we’ve looked at our calling and at the first of many blessing we have in and through our walk with Jesus Christ.
Will you be faithful to God for the many blessings He brings into our life.
We are blessed by Christ who allows us to be a “light” to the world through our blessings.
Because of God’s blessing towards us let us be faithful in bringing the “hope” of God’s blessings to others…as we “Go ye therefore to all nations…” to the glory of God.
