Every Spiritual Blessing

The writer and the readers. Paul wrote “to the saints who are in Ephesus, and faithful in Christ Jesus” (1:1). He had taught in Ephesus for a long time, and he was most likely in prison when he wrote. Even there he opens with praise. Blessed (1:3). “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.” The blessing runs both ways. God blesses His people with gifts, and His people bless Him with praise. Every spiritual blessing. Spiritual does not mean unreal. These blessings come through the Holy Spirit and meet our deepest need: to be right with God and to belong to Him. Money and health do not last; these blessings are kept safe by God in Christ. In the heavenly places. The blessings are kept where Christ is, beyond the reach of thieves, sickness or death. In Christ. Paul says “in Christ” or “in Him” again and again (1:3, 4, 6, 7, 10, 11, 13). Every blessing is found in union with Jesus. Faith joins a person to Christ, and in Him the believer receives everything the Father gives. Father, Son and Spirit. The Father chose and planned (1:4-6), the Son redeemed us by His blood (1:7-12), and the Spirit seals believers (1:13-14). The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are one God, three Persons working together in our salvation. Epainos. Three times Paul says God’s work is “to the praise” of His glory or His grace (1:6, 12, 14). “Praise” is epainos (say: EP-eye-noss), praise or approval given to someone. Everything God does in saving us is meant to show how good He is. Application. A believer who feels poor can read 1:3 and remember what he already has in Christ. Let thanksgiving come before your requests.

Before the foundation of the world (1:4). “Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world.” God’s love for His people did not begin when they began to love Him. It reaches back before creation. Chosen in Christ. The choosing is “in Him.” It rests on Christ and His grace, not on our goodness. That is why it humbles us instead of making us proud. Amomos. God chose us “that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.” “Without blame” is amomos (say: AH-moh-moss), a word used for a sacrifice with no spot or flaw. Sinners become blameless before God only because the spotless Christ took their sin. In love. God’s purpose for His children is that they be “holy and without blame before Him in love.” His plan was never cold or harsh; it flows from love. Adoption (1:5). He planned “adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself.” In the Roman world an adopted son received the family name and a full share in the family. A child who is adopted is chosen and welcomed with joy, and God brings believers into His family through His Son. The good pleasure of His will. God saves “according to the good pleasure of His will” (1:5). Salvation flows from God’s delight, not from reluctance. Accepted in the Beloved (1:6). “To the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.” The Beloved is the Son. The Father’s delight in His Son overflows to everyone who is in Him. Open to all who believe. God’s door is not shut to anyone. The gospel is for everyone who believes: “in whom also, having believed, you were sealed” (1:13). Worship, not worry. God’s choosing is meant to lead us to praise, not to fear. He loved first, He planned well, and He welcomes everyone who comes to Christ. Application. Your worth before God does not rise and fall with your performance. It rests on His love in Christ, a love that began before time.

Redemption (1:7). “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.” Redemption is release by the payment of a price, the word used for setting a captive or a slave free. Through His blood. Blood here means a life given up in death. The price of our freedom was the death of the Son of God on the cross. Forgiveness. Paul explains redemption as “the forgiveness of sins.” To forgive is to send away. Our guilt is removed, not merely ignored. A Passover picture. Many Christians see the Passover lamb, whose blood marked the doors of Israel’s homes in Egypt, as a picture of this redemption. Grace that overflows (1:7-8). His grace “He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence.” God’s grace is generous, and it is also wise; He knows exactly what we need. The mystery (1:9). God has made “known to us the mystery of His will.” In Scripture a mystery is not a riddle. It is a plan God kept hidden until He chose to reveal it openly in Christ. Secrets and safety. God’s secret is good news told openly to the world. Secrets that hurt children are different. If anyone asks you to hide something from the grown-ups who care for you, or something makes you feel unsafe, tell a parent or a trusted adult. Gathered under one Head (1:10). “That in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ.” When God’s plan is complete, everything in heaven and on earth will be under Christ as Head. The counsel of His will (1:11). God “works all things according to the counsel of His will.” His plans are never random and never fail. He has also given His people an inheritance, a share in all He has promised. First trusted (1:12). “That we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.” Paul most likely means himself and the Jewish believers who trusted Jesus first. Then “you also” (1:13) brings in the Gentile believers of Ephesus. Application. Guilt that has been paid for does not need to be paid again. A forgiven believer can stop trying to earn God’s pardon and live to praise Him.

Heard, trusted, sealed (1:13). “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.” Hearing the gospel, believing it and being sealed belong together. You also. After “we who first trusted” (1:12), Paul says “you also.” Gentiles who had once been far from God are included on the same terms. The seal. A seal in Paul’s world was an impression in wax or clay. It marked ownership, proved a document genuine and protected it from tampering. The Holy Spirit does all three for the believer. The Spirit of promise. He is the One the Father promised and Jesus promised to send. He now lives in every believer. Arrabon (1:14). The Spirit “is the guarantee of our inheritance.” “Guarantee” is arrabon (say: ar-rah-BOHN), a merchant’s word for a down payment: real money paid now as a pledge that the full amount will follow. The Spirit is a real first share of what God has promised, given now. The purchased possession. The guarantee holds “until the redemption of the purchased possession.” Believers are already redeemed (1:7), and yet their full redemption is still ahead, when God brings His people fully home. Assurance. A believer can know he belongs to God. That confidence rests on God’s seal and God’s pledge, not on feelings that change from day to day. To the praise of His glory. Paul says it once more in 1:14, as in 1:6 and 1:12. Father, Son and Spirit are praised together for one salvation. Application. Ask God to help you live as someone who carries His seal: grateful, confident and eager to praise Him.