The Messenger 7
Introduction
In Ps 150:2 the psalmist exhorts the reader to praise God FOR – for His mighty deeds, for His excellent greatness. Notice, in the psalm we are being exhorted to praise God for…
When you read Ephesians 1:3 that is exactly what Paul is doing when he writes:
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us in the heavenly realms (the unseen realm of spiritual reality) with every spiritual (imparted by the Spirit) blessing in Christ (in our union with Christ).
Paul’s praise of God is a spontaneous response FOR what God has done on our behalf in Christ. And the more we appreciate just what God has done for us, the more we will join Paul in expressing our own praise to God – “praise for His mighty deeds, for His excellent greatness.”
An Overview
To get an overview of just what Paul includes in that phrase “every spiritual blessing” take a few moments to read through chapter 1. Now that you have read through that passage, let’s identify just what the believer receives in his or her union with Christ.
• In Christ we were chosen before the world began (vs. 4);
• In Christ we were adopted into the family of God (vs.5);
• In Christ God has freely given us of His grace (vs.6);
• In Christ we were redeemed (set free from our slavery to sin) (vs.7);
• In Christ we received God’s forgiveness for all our sins of the past (vs. 7);
• In Christ God has lavished upon us the riches of His grace (vs. 7-8);
• In Christ God made known to us the mystery of His will (vs.9);
• In Christ we have obtained an inheritance (vs.11);
• In Christ we were sealed in God with the Holy Spirit (vs. 13).
I want you to think about those nine things that comprise the spiritual blessings you HAVE received in your union with Christ. Remember them. Praise the Father for them. And every time you feel the world is trying to squeeze you into its mould; every time the pressures of life threaten to take away the joy of your salvation – think on those things. Recall them. Say to yourself -this is what I have received in my union with Jesus Christ. Open your mouth and, in the words of the psalmist, “praise God for His mighty deeds, for His excellent greatness.”
I don’t want to place any significance on it, but I just find it interesting that in addition to these nine blessings, in Galatians 5:22-23 Paul identifies nine fruit of the Spirit and in 1 Corinthians 12:7-10 Paul lists nine gifts of the Spirit.
Insights into God’s gift of salvation
When you look at a rainbow you are seeing light separated into its seven constituent colours. When you look at those nine blessings of Ephesians 1 you are really looking at Salvation separated into its constituent parts. Salvation embraces all nine of those blessings. If you have received Jesus as your Saviour and Lord then, in the words of Paul in verse 3, you HAVE received every spiritual blessing in Christ. It is already yours. Nothing further to be added, and nothing can be subtracted.
Salvation is not part of the good news of the Gospel – IT IS THE GOOD NEWS! We who were lost have been found. We who were blind have been given spiritual sight. We who were spiritually dead have been born again. We who were burdened with guilt have been forgiven. We who were in bondage have been delivered.
If that is so then why are we not seeing more of these incredible blessings of salvation being expressed in the lives of those who profess to believe? I am not talking here about perfection. That awaits the believer in eternity. What I am saying is that if salvation is this big deal Paul makes it out to be, why is there not more evidence of it in the church? Let me give THREE possible reasons for this:
1. The full message of the good news of salvation is not being told, if it is told at all! Result? The church is filled with incomplete Christians who are left with the impression that salvation is not enough. There must be something more. Something that has to be added. There is a vacuum there and, sadly, in this age of TV, the Internet and rampant heresies and false teaching, there is always something just waiting to fill that vacuum.
2. Salvation is not simply something that can be taught – it has also to be caught! What do I mean? Just this. Words have to be used to proclaim the good news of salvation. But words in themselves are not enough if we are to understand the depths of God’s grace and of His blessings. We need revelation, illumination from the Holy Spirit. Paul understood that and that is why he writes:
I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power towards us who believe.
Eph. 1:18-19
Beginning with ourselves, we need to pray that the Spirit will open our spiritual eyes that we may grasp what it is that we actually received in our union with Christ. It wasn’t just a one-way ticket to heaven, was it?
3. Work out your salvation. In Philippians 2:12 Paul exhorts the believers at Philippi to work out their salvation. What is he encouraging them to do? He is encouraging them to understand that when they entered into a union with Jesus Christ God worked salvation into them. Now as they continue with Jesus in fellowship and partnership, they need to work out the practical implications of what God put into them when He gave them salvation.
At salvation we received the promised Holy Spirit that He may be our encourager, helper, teacher and the One who empowers us. Without Him, you can’t. Without you, He won’t! You have to make time to pray. He won’t do it for you. You have to make time to study the Word. He won’t do that for you. What He will do is reveal in the Word what is hidden from the natural mind and encourage you to put it into practice.
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