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Pastor Chris White says to all of you: HELLO MY FRIENDS. May the Lord bless you today.
HOLA MIS AMIGOS. Que el Señor los bendiga.
Ephesians 1:3 says
that we have been blessed with all spiritual blessings in Christ. What are
these spiritual blessings, and what do they do for us? Contrary to some
beliefs, they are not some mysterious power or cosmic connection reserved for a
select few. They are the key benefits of a relationship with God through Jesus
Christ.
The word blessing in Ephesians 1:3 is a
translation of the Greek word eulogy,and it means “to speak well of.”
Since God is the one acting in this verse, we can say that God has spoken good
things about us, or pronounced good things for our benefit. The good things
that God has decreed for us are probably beyond our ability to number, but we
can outline a few by looking at the verses that follow the statement (Ephesians 1:4–13).
The first blessing listed is the election as saints. Ephesians 1:4 says
that He has “chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we
should be holy and without blame before him in love.” God has chosen to make us
holy and blameless, and all because of His love, His good pleasure, and His
grace (verses 5–6). What a blessing, that “even when we were dead in sins” (Ephesians 2:5), God
chose to extend His grace to us and offer us salvation. This is even more
amazing when we realize that He made that decision before sin even entered into
the world.
The second blessing listed is found in verse 5—our adoption as His children.
Not only has God chosen us to be made holy, but He grants us full status as His
children, with all the benefits thereof. John 1:12 says,
“As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even
to them that believe on his name.” When we believe the gospel, we receive full
access to the Father, able to call out to Him as His children.
The third spiritual blessing is in verse 6, where we are made “accepted in the
beloved.” The word is related to grace and gives the idea of making us graceful
or favorable through Christ, the beloved of God. When we put on Christ, the
Father sees His loveliness when He looks at us. The blood of Christ has taken
away the guilt of our sins, and we stand before the Father as perfectly
accepted.
This leads us right into the fourth blessing (Ephesians 1:7), the
redemption through His blood. Redemption speaks of buying one’s freedom, paying
a ransom. The price for our sins, the payment to buy us out of eternal
condemnation, was fully paid by the blood of Christ. In Christ, we are no
longer slaves to sin, but we become slaves to God. Since we are bought and paid
for by His blood, we have an obligation to glorify God in our body and spirit (1 Corinthians 6:20).
Verse 7 also describes the fifth blessing, the forgiveness of sins. It is
closely related to redemption, but looks at the other side of the coin. In
paying the ransom for our sins, the debt of sin was canceled, and we were
forgiven. We no longer have the burden of guilt for violating God’s holy laws.
The sixth spiritual blessing listed is knowing the mystery of His will (Ephesians 1:8–10). God
has given us wisdom and insight through His Word and has shown us His desire to
bring all things together to glorify Christ. Since all of creation was made by
Him and is for His good pleasure (Revelation 4:11), the
consummation of His plan is when everything and everyone is brought in line to
glorify Him. By aligning ourselves with Him by faith, we become part of His
perfect plan and purpose.
Verse 11 says that another blessing is the inheritance that is given to us
through Christ. What is included in that inheritance? “But as it is written,
Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man,
the things which God hath prepared for them that love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9). The
riches of glory, the presence of God, the eternal home – these don’t even
scratch the surface of all the blessings that belong to our inheritance.
Another blessing is found in Ephesians 1:13, which
is the sealing of the Holy Spirit. When we become God’s children, He places His
mark of ownership on us, guaranteeing our eternal security. This is spoken of
as the down-payment of our full redemption, to hold us until the day Christ
brings us to Him.
The list could go on and on speaking of the privileges that are ours in Christ.
We are laborers together with God (1 Corinthians 3:9); we
are ambassadors bringing the message of reconciliation to a foreign land (2 Corinthians 5:20); and
we are the bride of Christ (2 Corinthians 11:2). We
have available to us the peace that passes understanding (Philippians 4:7) and
the assurance that nothing is able to separate us from the love of God that is
in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:39).
How do we access all of these blessings? They are readily accessible to
everyone who is in Christ Jesus. The way to be in Christ is to repent, or turn
away from our sins (Acts 17:30),
confessing to God that we are sinners (Proverbs 28:13; Romans 10:9). When
we believe that Christ died to take our punishment and now lives to give us new
life (1 Corinthians 15:3–4), He
grants us forgiveness of sins and all the blessings that accompany that
salvation.
Thank you to Got Questions Ministries
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