We Are Blessed

Alba 1-15-2023

WE ARE BLESSED

Ephesians 1:1-14

One night a wife found her husband standing over their infant's crib. As she watched him looking down at their very first baby, she saw on his face a mixture of emotions: ...disbelief, doubt, delight, amazement, enchantment, skepticism.

Touched by this unusual display and the deep emotions it aroused, with eyes glistening she slipped her arm around her husband. "A penny for your thoughts," she said.

"It's amazing!" he replied. "I just can't see how anybody can make a crib like that for only $46.50."

He missed the baby for the crib. But too often we are like that. We miss the best because we are focused on other things. And we miss living in the reality of God's blessings because we live as if we are on our own.

Ephesians 1:3 says that “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,... has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.”

Sadly we don't recognize it as we should. We tend to forget the blessings and look at the troubles. It is natural to complain, to see the problems of our life, to get fixated on the wrong things.

The Israelites fell into this temptation - time and time again. God miraculously intervened to free them from slavery in Egypt, a powerful empire.

He led them, defended them, provided even their daily food. And, what did they do? They complained! I am sure that living in tents, in a wilderness was not always a lot of fun. But God was providing all that they needed.

They were abundantly blessed! And so are we! The reality is that in Christ we have blessings that can't compare with anything here on earth. The first verses of Ephesians chapter one give us a view of what our situation really is – we are blessed!

Let's take a look at these verses and read from Ephesians 1:1-14.

1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and faithful in Christ Jesus: 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, 5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.

7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace 8 which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, 9 having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, 10 that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him. 11 In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, 12 that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.

13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.

Did you notice how many times it says, “in Him”?

In Him we are chosen by God (vs. 4).

In Him we have redemption through His blood (vs. 7).

In Him we have obtained an inheritance (vs. 11).

In Him we have trusted (vs. 13).

God has many blessings to pour out to every one who comes to Him in obedient faith, “Whosoever will may come”. But only through Jesus. Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life. We receive our blessings in Jesus! Let's look at these blessings.

First, we are blessed by God's choice (verse 4). There are those who say that God has pre-decided who will be saved and who will be lost. But that doesn't leave much room for “whosoever will”.

It also doesn't agree with scripture that says that God is “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”

(II Peter 3:9)

Still God has made a choice. His choice from the beginning of time was to send His Son, Jesus Christ, into this world to be the way, the only way, for us to “be holy and without blame before Him in love.”