“May God bless you.”
I hear this phrase thrown around a lot, both by Christians and non-Christians. I hear it when I part ways with someone, when someone’s praying for me, and perhaps most often when I sneeze. Usually I hear it twice then, because my sneezes tend to come in pairs. Double the blessing!
But seriously, what is a blessing? How are we blessed? These are some questions I’ve been asking while reading through the Apostle Paul’s letter to the saints in Ephesus:
Ephesians 1:3 – Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places…
It seems that Paul had a sharp understanding of blessings. First, blessings come from the Father, through Christ. We can’t separate spiritual blessings from Christ, not even a single one. They don’t come from anywhere/anyone else and they don’t come by any other method. Blessings are in Christ. He goes onto imply a distinction between those which are “spiritual blessings in the heavenly places” and those which are not (simply by not stating them). This doesn’t mean that certain types are true blessings while others are not blessings at all. It may be that there are primary blessings and secondary blessings; one of the heavenly and one of the earthly.
The rest of the chapter really flows from verse three. Paul reminds the church of what spiritual blessings they have in Christ. Just in v.3-10, he mentions roughly six blessings and they all relate back to Christ. When it matters, I think he thanks God for these specific blessings and not others because quite frankly, they are superior. The chart above lists these blessings in black and some other “earthly” blessings in orange. It’s my poor adaptation of v.3-10 (click to view large).
Now here’s something to think about. If you’re a Christian, would it make any sense to thank God for any of the orange blessings before the black ones? ”Lord I thank you for my education (since graduations are upon us). Thank you for allowing me to attend college. It was such a privilege. Oh and by the way, I’m also very thankful for the redemption I have in you.” Does this make sense? No, it doesn’t. But you see, I don’t even think this is the problem… Because what we generally tend to do is we “count our (orange) blessings” and that’s it. Often times we’re not even aware of our spiritual blessings. Then a lot of us wonder why our relationship with God is so up and down. When money’s rolling into our businesses, man, God is really close. We love Him. But when our health fails, where’s God? He’s abandoned us.
Spiritual blessings on the other hand are set. They are ours in Christ. Once received, no one can take them away. We must feed our relationship with God by dwelling in His spiritual blessings. Let’s see how this can start to change my perspective in my relationship with God:
Unity – I am one with the Lord. I am NOT God, but I am unified with Him and He is the bond. My union with Christ can’t be severed. He is always with me. Sometimes I feel like God is not there. Now I know that it’s a deception.
Holiness – I will get there. He has already declared that I should. He is faithful and he will do it. This helps when I feel like I’m taking one step forward and three steps back. I will be perfected. God chose me and He said I should be holy and blameless before Him.
Sonship – I am God’s child. I can trust Him. I need Him. He is my Comforter. He is my Love. I can run to Him. He is my Father.
Redemption – I’ve been bought back with a price. I’ve been restored. I no longer have to live as though I’m outside of God’s Kingdom. I need to live like a Kingdom dweller. I don’t have to earn my way in. I have a home. I belong.
Forgiveness – When Jesus died on the cross as my substitute, he atoned and the Father forgave. I don’t have to live trapped in guilt and shame. I don’t have to hide and cover up. I am free. I’m not free like a certain preacher in Houston says I’m free; that’s reserved for heaven. But I am free to lead a life built on God’s grace. Sin has no dominion over me. Even death has lost its sting.
Understanding – A mystery of His will has been revealed. I know God loves me. I know I have been blessed. I know what awaits me. It’s crazy to think about it.
What a God we have. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places…
If you just happened to drop by the blog and you’re not familiar with Christianity, let me just say thank you for reading all the way through. More importantly, I want to tell you that the spiritual blessings discussed here are all yours to claim, in Christ. They are the effectual products of the g.o.s.p.e.l. To claim is quite easy. You just need to believe with your heart and confess with your mouth who Jesus is and what he has done.
May God bless you.
