The Spiritual Blessings of Ephesians 1:3-14

Ephesians 1:3-14: 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 would be holy and blameless before Him. In love 5 He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. 7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace 8 which He lavished on us. In all wisdom and insight 9 He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him 10 with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth. In Him 11 also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, 12 to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory. 13 In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, 

One day in a chapel session, we were just doing a session of song, prayer, and scripture reading. I didn’t get to read this passage because of time constraints, but I flipped over to the book of Ephesians and just started reading. The passage that really spoke to me was Ephesians 1:3-14. This passage is so powerful to me when thinking about how fortunate we are to be the inheritors of the Kingdom of God. And it brought me to the question:

What other blessing is more vital, important, and awe inspiring, than the blessing of being able to have a relationship with our Lord Jesus? The answer would be none other blessing. I believe that Paul writing to the Church in Ephesus would argue that nothing would be better than the gifts that Jesus has given to us. 

Verse 3 says “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.” In verses 4-5 it talks about our adoption as sons (and daughters) through Jesus, and then in verses 6 and 7 it addresses what those blessings are. 

• IN HIM we have redemption through his blood. 
• IN HIM we have forgiveness of sins through that blood. 

And this was the plan from the beginning! Verse 9-10 says that his will was set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time to unite ALL THINGS IN HIM,that is things in Heaven and things on earth. But blessed be Christ. Blessed be our Lord and God who is in Heaven. IN HIM we have obtained an inheritance. IN HIM when we have heard and believed (and of course acted upon that belief), we are sealed with the promised Holy Spirit (v. 13). 

Let us focus on that as we have the opportunity to do good work here on this earth. Let us focus on the gift we have through Christ. Let us focus on Christ, who through our faith always leads us in triumphal procession (2 Corinthians 2:14). Let us give thanks for the time and opportunity we have as workers of The Lord, for there is no greater reward than the one that is provided. Paul understood that, and wrote it down as such. There is nothing more important. So praise be to God, who has provided us our inheritance. Praise be to Christ who is our mediator and savior. And praise be to the spirit which seals us, as the guarantee of our inheritance. 

Praise be to God, and praise be to His Glory. 

Written by: Mason MacDonald

 New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995)