Ephesians 1:3a
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…
Reflection
My favorite book in the Bible is Ephesians. We have the privilege at the church to be doing a sermon series through this book, and I am so excited about it. I had the privilege a few years ago to preach through this very book in a verse-by-verse fashion. It took 32 weeks (LOL) in my previous ministry. One thing I did as a practice… when I preached through a book (often it would only take a few weeks), I would read the book as my devotional time every day. I did this nearly every day through Ephesians. So, I read this little Pauline letter a couple hundred times. Needless to say, I felt like an “expert” in Ephesians, and I grew to love this book. It is at once a deeply rich and theological study while also being a tender, pastoral letter to a beloved church.
This book begins with a bang in verse 3. Note, God is blessed! And a God who is blessed and embodies blessedness… that God blesses. He blesses us first and foremost “in Christ.” That is, God the Father has given us the capacity to have a relationship with (in) Christ. God does not bless us apart from the connection we have with His Son. Christ is the source of the blessings from God. He is, as it were, the conduit of God’s blessings. And those blessings are abundant… “every spiritual blessing.” All of them “in the heavenly places.” You thought your home, or your car, or your possessions were blessings?! No, the blessings God pours out on us are spiritual and deep and not from this earth. Now, I read that, and I feel like I have not nearly understood the depths of his blessings, but they are many. Read chapter one and discover a thorough treatment by Paul of the spiritual blessings God gives us!!!!!
Prayer
Lord, help us to know the blessings of God. May we think deeply about the “things of God” and learn to appreciate the riches of your grace today!
