I love the book of Ephesians. Well, I guess you could also say that about Philippians and Colossians because, oftentimes, I read these epistles together in one sitting. As I laid in bed recently, I heard the latter part of Ephesians 1:3 being rehearsed in my mind. Holy Spirit had put the verse on repeat.
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.”
As I read the verse, Blessed, blessed, and blessings leaped off the page like they were jumping up and down and waving their hands to get my attention. Well, it worked.
But, before we looked at them, let’s go back and read verses one and two.
(1) Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus;
(2) Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
The phrase faithful in Christ Jesus is the thread that runs throughout Ephesians. It means we are convinced, unwavering, and uncompromising in our knowledge and belief that Jesus is the Christ, that Jesus is the only Son the Father Himself raised from the dead, and that Jesus now sits in heaven next to His Father. We believe this and live our lives accordingly because we know that where we will spend our eternity depends on it!
Grace and Peace
Paul opens each of his epistles with grace and peace from the Father and the Son as we see here in Ephesians 2. (He also adds mercy in three of his epistles. Yep, I checked. 😊) We know that it is through God’s grace that we receive the promises that the completed work of Jesus made available to us.
(4) But God, who is rich in mercy for His great love wherewith He loved us,
(5) Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace are ye saved;)
(6) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
(7) That in the ages to come He might shew the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
(8) For by grace ye are saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God. (Ephesians 2:4-8)
Turn with me to Second Corinthians 9:8. The verse says “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.”
We also know that because we have been born again and received a nature that is just like God’s, we are no longer at war with Him and we see this in Romans 5:1.
“Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
The word peace is eirene (pronounced "i-ray-nay"). It means “one, harmony, quietness, rest + set at one again. We rest in God because we are now one with Him!
It is our faithfulness to Jesus, and receiving His and the Father’s grace and peace that precede us being blessed with spiritual blessings.
The person who is not faithful to Jesus, who is not willing to lay down his life for Him, the person who is not willing to say “not my will, but your will Jesus”, is leaving spiritual blessings on the shelf unclaimed. Paul says it this way in First Corinthians 4:1-2.
(1) Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God.
(2) Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.”
Faithfulness, showing ourselves worthy of Christ’s trust and confidence when handling the Word of God, is the foundation on which we receive the fullness of the Father’s blessedness and the fullness of the spiritual blessings He has given to us.
Blessed, blessed, and blessing
Once again, Ephesians 1:3 says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.”
In the Greek, each word is slightly different. Blessed is eulogetos, blessed is eulogeo, and spiritual blessing is eulogia.
The word Blessed, eulogetos, means “inherently worthy to be praised” and always, without exception, refers to God the Father and to Christ. No one else is eulogetos.
The second blessed, eulogeo, means “to distinguish with favor.” Because it is His nature to bless, when God blesses us, He is acting for our good and does this when He intervenes in our lives. An example of this the promise that God made to Abraham, which we read about in Hebrews 6.
(13) For when God made promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no greater, He sware by Himself,
(14) Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee; and multiplying I will multiply thee.” (Hebrews 6:13-14)
Finally, blessing, eulogia, could be rendered “gift, benefit, or bounty” and is preceded by spiritual, pneumatikos, which means “spirit.” When spiritual is joined with blessings, it refers to the spiritual things communicated or imparted by the Holy Spirit to and through our born again spirits. A good example is praying in the spirit. Oh, but there is more!
In Ephesians 1:3, we see that
(1) God is the One who is inherently worthy to be praised and
(2) He has set us apart with His favor so that
(3) we can receive spiritual gifts, benefits, or bounties.
Why does the Blessed want the ones He has blessed to have spiritual blessings?
To fully grasp why we have been given spiritual blessings, we must fully grasp why we are here. Jesus gives us the why in John 17, in His prayer for the disciples, which also applies to us today.
(16) They are not of the world (Jesus is speaking prophetically about the disciples being born again after His death and resurrection.), even as I am not of the world.
(17) Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. (18) As thou hast sent Me into the world, even so have I sent them into the world. …
(20) Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on Me through their word.
Why did the Father send Jesus into the world? We find the answer in Matthew 18:11, Luke 19:10, and Acts 10:38.
Matthew 18:11 says, "For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.”
Luke 19:10 says, “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
And Acts 10:38 reads as follows: “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with Him.”
Jesus didn’t come to heal the blind so that they could see. But He did.
Jesus didn’t come to heal the lame so that they could walk. But He did.
Jesus didn’t come to raise the dead to life again. But He did.
Jesus didn’t come to feed the thousands. But He did.
Jesus didn’t come to cast out devils. But He did.
Jesus came to die on the cross so that the spiritually dead could be made spiritually alive!
The miracles that Jesus did on His journey to the cross showed the people how the spiritual life in Him dominated the spiritual death that lived in them and, that one day, that same spiritual life would be available to them.
Why did Jesus send us into the world? (Do you think it could be for the same reason that the Father sent Him? 😊)
Turn to the book of Matthew, chapter four.
(17) From the time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. …
(19) And He saith unto them (Peter and Andrew). Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.
Now turn to Matthew, chapter 10.
(1) And when He had called unto Him His twelve disciples, He gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease. …
Jump down to verse seven.
(7) And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.
(8) Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils, freely ye have received, freely give.
Now turn to Luke, chapter 10.
(1) After these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before His face into every city and place, whither He Himself would go.
(2) Therefore said He unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He would send forth labourers into His harvest. …
Jump down to verse 9.
(9) And heal the sick that are therein, and say unto them, The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.
In these verses, we see that the assignment that the Father gave to Jesus is the same assignment that Jesus has given to us – to preach the kingdom of God and then demonstrate the life that is found in the kingdom.
Our spiritual blessings in a nutshell.
We see in the above verses why the Blessed has blessed us with spiritual blessings. He wants us to –
? Be fishers of men because the harvest is truly great. Our Father wants us to help Him bring people into His kingdom.
? Preach the kingdom of God. Our Father wants us to boldly proclaim the life-changing gospel of the kingdom in all its magnificence and beauty.
? Demonstrate the life that’s in the kingdom by healing the sick, cleansing the leper, raising the dead, and casting out devils.
The spiritual blessings, the spiritual gifts, benefits, and bounties that we have received through our fellowship with the Holy Spirit are ours to use as we co-labor with God to bring the lost into His kingdom and to rescue His children who have gone astray.
Ladies and gentlemen, the harvest is truly great, and the outpouring is happening now. It is time for us, our Father’s labourers, to bring in His harvest. We have been given the spiritual blessings – what we need – to partner with our Father to bring to Him the full harvest!
