Every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ

Ephesians 1 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,

To the saints who are at Ephesus and who are faithful in Christ Jesus: ² Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

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, ¹⁴ who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.

¹⁵ For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you and your love for all the saints, ¹⁶ do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers; ¹⁷ that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. ¹⁸ I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, ¹⁹ and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might ²⁰ which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, ²¹ far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. ²² And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, ²³ which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

Paul begins his letter to the church at Ephesus with a powerful statement:    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.         What does it mean that we are blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places? Paul says we “are”, not we will be blessed, so it is something we have, something we possess now. It is not a future hope or promise of what we will have or enjoy when we die. He also says we are blessed with “every” spiritual blessing, not just with many but “every” spiritual blessing in heavenly places.    Throughout His ministry on earth Jesus frequently said:   “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.”  In Luke 7:20-21, Jesus says it a little differently:    Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation;  nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’  For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.”     The kingdom of heaven, every spiritual blessing in heavenly places is within us, it is ours in Christ, here and now.

In Matthew 16:15-19, Jesus asks the disciples who He is and then declares the authority we have in Him.       He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”  Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”  And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.  I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.  I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.”      Upon the rock of the revelation that Jesus is the Christ, the church has been given authority, the keys to the kingdom of heaven, to bring things on earth into alignment with things in heaven. We have every spiritual blessing in heavenly places. Jesus taught us to pray: Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.    On earth as it is in heaven, every spiritual blessing in heavenly places, in Christ.

Paul says in light of these things, his prayer for the church is:   that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him.  I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will 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 toward us who believe.      We need a spirit of wisdom and revelation, revelation and wisdom by and from the Holy Spirit. We need to know and to understand God’s Word, written through the inspiration of the Spirit. We also need to hear His spoken Word, His current living, prophetic Word, spoken through the Holy Spirit. Spiritual wisdom and revelation comes with the knowledge and understanding of what God is saying today, for our times and for our daily circumstances. God’s present prophetic Word for today will not contradict His written Word. Those who believe God’s Word needs to be updated to be relevant to our current culture and society, believe a lie. Neither God Himself, nor His Word changes. A spirit of wisdom and revelation helps us to reconcile God’s current prophetic Word, with His written Word. Each of us needs that spirit of wisdom and revelation so that we know and understand by the Spirit of truth, not by man. Paul says:  I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened.  Jeremiah 17:9 says:   The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?      We need enlightened hearts, hearts that have been made new in Christ. The world says it is enlightened, that its wisdom and knowledge surpasses God’s outdated wisdom. True enlightenment effects our hearts and minds when we see as God sees.

With God’s wisdom, with our hearts enlightened by Him, we:  will 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 toward us who believe.    God has given both the riches of the glory of His inheritance and His great power to us who believe; every spiritual blessing in heavenly places, in Christ.

Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth, here and now, as it is in heaven, then, now and forever.     Amen