Every Spiritual Blessing in the Heavenly Places
Dear Saints,
I saw something in my time in the Word this morning that I couldn’t wait to share with you. I was reading Ephesians 1:3-10,
[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, [4] even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love [5] he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, [6] to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed 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 upon us, in all wisdom and insight [9] making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ [10] as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.
So often, I can resort to these verses as a proof text for the doctrine of sovereign election, and it certainly is. And yet, these verses are absolutely bursting forth with overwhelmingly good news for the Christian, which ought to cause us to fall on our faces and worship God!
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ: this is not a cold theological statement; Paul’s heart is overflowing with joy at the character of the blessed God. We do not serve a God who is calloused, cold, or complacent; He is absolutely filled to His infinite brim with blessedness, contentment, perfection in every way! There is nothing in God that is incomplete, dissatisfied, or covetous, for He has all that He could ever “need” in Himself.
Who Has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing: God does not horde His blessedness to Himself; this blessedness overflows from His divine Person to His beloved people. Indeed, He delights for us to delight in His perfect blessedness. This is why the Apostle can say that He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing.
Spiritual blessings are invisible blessings; heavenly gifts that are invisible and intangible, and yet they alone are able to completely satisfy our souls. Matthew Henry says “Spiritual and heavenly blessings are the best blessings; with which we cannot be miserable, and without which we cannot but be so.”
In the heavenly places: Here, Paul gives insight as to why so many of us who profess to be Christians do not experience the abundance of blessings that are already ours through God’s sovereign grace: because we seek them in all the wrong places. These blessings are not readily apparent to the mind set on the flesh, and so we rarely enjoy them.
This reminder that these blessings are heavenly would stand in stark contrast to the attractions and idols of Ephesus. Ephesus was a town of affluence, idolatry, and sensuality, all of which war constantly to draw our minds and affections to the things of earth. As Paul begins this snowballing list of blessings in 3-10, his intent is that the heart of the Ephesians would be set aflame by focusing on the glorious things above rather than the paltry things of earth. John Calvin says, “The lofty terms in which he [Paul] extols the grace of God toward the Ephesians, are intended to rouse their hearts to gratitude, to set them all on flame, to fill them even to overflowing with this disposition.”
How often do our hearts feel so cold, our prayers empty, our affections dull? It is not because God has not been kind towards us; it is because our hearts long for ever-elusive earthly satisfaction rather than the soul-satisfying blessedness that is already ours in the Heavenly places.
If we look at verse 8, we see a wonderful word picture that illustrates this: “…which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight.” We don’t use the word lavish often because it is, by definition, extraordinary. It means to possess in overwhelming abundance. It is also the same Greek word used in Luke 15:17 as the prodigal son is longing for even a nibble of the feed he was giving the pigs, and we’re told, “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger!” The word for “more than enough” from the prodigal’s lips is the same word Paul uses in verse 8, “lavish.”
Why do you and I not live with such a constant and overwhelming sense of the lavishness of God’s grace towards us daily? It is not because He has been stingy, but because we, like the prodigal, seek blessedness outside of our Father’s house. To attempt to satisfy our hearts with earthly things is like eating from the bottom of the pigsty when a twelve course meal awaits us in our Father’s house.
I was moved this morning from the following prayer in the devotional book Into His Presence:
“When our minds are empty of Christ, as in temptation and the lack of comfort, then they grind against themselves like an empty mill.
So fill our minds with Christ through your word that we might be free from temptations and fears.” (William Bridge)
Dear ones, my heart’s desire is that you will set the eyes of your heart, not upon insatiable earthly longings, but upon the wealth of riches that are already ours through Jesus Christ in the Heavenly places. “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth” (Col 3:2).
All my love,
Pastor Alex
