BLESSINGS

Morning Meditations 1/9/16

We will consider this morning Ephesians 1:3:

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:"

1. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ" The word "blessed" means, "to speak well of," hence, to exalt one worthy of blessing and praise. The blessing is directed to "God the Father" for He is the one who has blessed us. This is simply the believer's response to God's blessing. The words, "our Lord Jesus Christ," identifies Him as "ours." We own Him and He owns us. We have been made a part of Him. The Christian cannot be considered apart from Christ. It is like the Vine and the branch. The branch is simply and extension of the vine. We are the body of which Christ is the head. When one thinks of Christ he automatically must think of His body. When one thinks of the Body of Christ he must also think of the Head. The Head is united to the body. We also see that God is the Father of OUR Lord Jesus Christ.. He is the begotten Son; He is the eternal Son. Just as He has been begotten and God is His Father, we have been begotten and in Him, His Father is our Father. And because of this we are to shower Him with praise because He is worthy to be praised. This attitude of praise leaves US in a blessed condition.

2. "Who hath blessed us" This verb form is an aor. act. ptc. The aorist participle represents action that takes place prior to the action of the main verb. The main verb "be" is understood and means that He blessed us in Christ before the incarnation. This takes us back to the plan of God in eternity past. What we need to understand by this is that God is working out a plan. That plan is being revealed here. The spiritual blessings that we get from God do not come to us as a result of an emotional appeal. They were given and stand given, therefore, available to the believer.

3. "With all spiritual blessings" The word "all" means that God has blessed us with each individual blessing. It is not just a general statement. He has matched a spiritual blessing to every need. The word blessing here means, "favor, gift, benefit." The word "spiritual" (pneumatkei) is not contrasted to the material. The thought is that the blessings come from God through the instrumentality and power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit may supply a spiritual blessing through an unsaved person. How He delievers that blessing is not the issue.

4. "In heavenly places" is literally, "in the heavenlies." This is where the believer operates. We are not of this world even though we are in the world. While we operate in this world we are constantly resorting to the Holiest; Heb 10:19-22. We get our power to witness and live godly from the heavenlies; Lk 24:49. We receive our daily orders from the heavenlies; Eph. 1:20-23. We engage in a constant battle with the unseen forces of evil. And this warfare is said to be in the heavenlies; Eph. 6:12.

5. "In Christ" states our position. Jesus said in John 14:20, "At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you." Our text is Paul stating the same truth. Chafer says, "The whole theme of the New Creation is compressed in these three words of two letters each. It is not the personal qualities which we possess that brings spiritual blessing but our position in Him. In this sphere the least saint possess all the qualities of the life of Christ. And not only that, all that the Father has given to the Son because of His perfect obedience. What Christ inherited from the Father every believer has the same. There are certain aspects of these riches named in the Scriptures: 1) The believer is made righteous in Him; 2 Cor. 5:21. 2) The believer is accepted in the beloved; Eph. 1:6. 3) The believer is made nigh; Eph. 2:13. 4) The believer is loved as Christ is loved; John 17:23. 5) The believer is no longer of this world; John 17:16. 6) The believer is heard when he prays, as though his voice were the voice of the Son of God; John 14:14. 7) The believer is as secure as Christ is; Col. 3:1-4.

This morning I am sharing my work sheet of the exegesis of this verse. It is such a blessing to discover simply what God is saying in a verse or passage. May God bless it to your heart.

In Christ

Earl White