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Every book of the Bible is a treasure chest that can become your favorite, as you devote yourself to studying and applying it through the power of the Holy Spirit in you, and His anointing upon you. This can be said also about the book of Ephesians, the Apostle Paul’s letter to the church at Ephesus. And it remains even today, a very sound description and teaching concerning the body of Christ, namely the church, and the saints who make up the church, which is every single believer in Christ. Therefore, it is a valuable resource to you and I today, in our Christian walk.
The first three chapters of the book, describe the hope that you have when you are in Christ, and the next three chapters of it, set forth how it influences your normal day to day life, to see a change in your conduct and character from within. It begins with your call to be a special people unto God, through faith in Christ. Being a saint in the kingdom of God, is the title of grace that is given to you then. Paul is sure about his call, and it is what you and I need to be too . Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints who are in Ephesus, and faithful in Christ Jesus. [Ephesians 1:1,2] Peace in Christ is where it takes you, even as Paul declare next, Grace to you and peace from God our Father in Jesus Christ. [Vs 2] It is the redemptive blessing of God that you receive by grace and through faith in Christ that is described above, and in the verses to come.
1. Blessed in Christ :
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. [Vs 3] ‘God bless you’, is a phrase that is becoming increasingly common these days, as it is used even by people who do not know Lord Jesus as their Savior, and hence are ignorant in their knowledge of the one true God, the Creator of Heaven and earth, from whom all blessings flow. But, for anything to be a blessing in your life, it has to come from God. The blessing of the Lord makes one rich, and He adds no sorrow to it. [Proverbs 10:22]
And, in the same vein, it is the peace of God that guards your heart and mind in Christ Jesus, while it is the joy of the Lord that becomes your strength. Also, the riches mentioned in the verse above, is not about how much you possess, though it could be a part of it. More importantly, it is about having all that you need, to do the will of God in your life. But, you will observe in the world that, there is a parallelism in every sphere, a counterfeit that goes very close to God’s original scheme of things.
Thus, you will find trouble and sorrow accompanying riches that come into your life, only when it is not a blessing from God. For, every good and perfect gift comes from the Father, the good, good Father. And, it all comes to you by grace, and through faith in Christ, that sees you opening your hands to receive it all. A prudent wife is from the Lord, His favor upon your life, and so is every blessing, every good thing that comes to you from God. He is a good God, and therefore has nothing that is bad to give you.
Why then do bad things happen in people’s lives ?
It is a fallen world, a world that lies under the sway of the evil one. But still, because He is God, even when seemingly bad things happen in your life, God can turn it all around, for the good, when you are called according to His purpose, and you love Him. [Romans 8:28] Jacob, in the Old Testament learnt the power of the blessing of God, the hard way ! For, having very willingly colluded with his mother, to obtain his father Isaac’s blessing, by devious and deceptive means, he earned the wrath of his brother, to flee away. And, he found much trouble and sorrow following him, though his flocks and herds increased, for he did not know the truth that he was chosen and blessed by God, even in his mother’s womb.
Thus it was that, after enduring the ruthless and cunning ways of his father in law, though his riches and his livestock increased, he once again had to flee. It was then, that he realized the truth and power of God’s blessing, to wrestle with the Angel of God in a miraculous encounter all through the night, and received the full assurance of the blessing of God; one that was attested by his very name being changed from Jacob, to Israel. In his life there was a dramatic change after that, for in the midst of challenges that arose, he increased in his prosperity in all aspects. For, it is the blessing of God that endows in you, the power to prosper.
God began His conversation with Abraham, to call him out, and make his name great, with a blessing. ‘Surely I will bless you, and make your name great..’, the Almighty God declared as He entered into an unconditional covenant with Abraham, that He would make him the father of many nations. [Genesis 12:1-3] And, true blessing is, the power to prosper, in the context of doing the will of God, not in the extent of your material wealth. ‘For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed’, are the words of Mary. [Luke 1:48]
And when did this declaration become possible in her life ?
It was when she had committed herself to doing the will of God for her life, even though it seemed extraordinary and inexplicable, being as she was a virgin. But the Angel’s reassurance, gave her the enabling to say, ‘I am the Lord’s servant. May it be unto me according to your word’. [Luke 1:37] And when she surrendered to the will of God, it was then that blessing came upon her life, to such an extent that even this day she is called ‘ the blessed Mary’ ! True blessing is, when the fruit of the all that God has blessed you with, is used by you, to accomplish God’s will for your life.
Then Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundred fold, and the Lord blessed him. [Genesis 26:12] God’s blessing came when in a time of famine, Isaac did the will of God, and in obedience to His word, did not go to Egypt. So, Isaac dwelt in Gerar, and he sowed in the land to reap the blessing of increase and prosperity. It is God who is the source of all blessing, and in the new covenant, it all comes through Christ.
2. Blessed through Christ :
Being a child of God, by grace and through faith, you now have a family Name, ‘in Christ’ ! It is special and specific, and it declares that you are now a new creation in Christ. He who knew no sin became sin so that you can become the righteousness of God in Christ; the old things have passed away, and the new has come. And the primary importance of being in Christ, is with clarity defined in the words of Peter, to the Jews, his own people, who stood awestruck at the healing of the lame man at the Gate Beautiful . ‘To you first, God having raised up His Servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you in turning away every one of you from your iniquities’. [Acts 3:26]
God sent His Son to bless you ! What could be greater than that ? Then again, it is parallelism, the humanistic philosophy of the world, which births in people the desire to have all the good things that come from God, but without Christ. This cannot happen though, for God is concerned also about your future. ‘I come to give life in all its abundance’ is the promise of the Lord. [John 10:10] And, the God kind of life that the Lord wants to give you is not something that can come apart from Him. The height of blessing therefore, is having Christ in you, the hope of glory.
From curse to blessing :
Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyman who is hung on a tree’) That the blessing of Abraham may come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promised Holy Spirit by faith. [Galatians 3:13,14] Curse is the handiwork of the devil that is destined to destroy you, to make you ineffective and worthless, a nothing, while a blessing on the other hand comes to lift you up. And on the Cross, where the sinless Lamb, the Son of God, bled and died for the sins of the whole world, a divine exchange took place, when He became sin, became a curse, and carried all our sorrow and pain.
And what He became on the Cross, you no longer need to be in your life, when you put your trust in Him, and in what He has accomplished through the finished work of the Cross. It is how you are no longer under the curse, but instead made worthy to receive the blessing of God, the blessing that He spoke over Abraham. And therefore, you go into a cursed and sinful world, as a blessed person, as a light. Small it may be, but a light that can transmit hope in the darkness around you. Being blessed by God, you will now know that the Cross has rendered every curse, including the generational curses that even some Christians tend to believe in, powerless in your life, and in the life of every person who puts his trust and faith in the Lord.
You will know the truth that your genealogy now is ‘in Christ’, and nothing else ! And, as you know more and more of the truth of God’s word, more and more of the darkened misunderstanding from within you will leave. You will know that though you are not a biological descendant of Abraham, the God who blessed Abraham is with you, through the new covenant in Christ that is better and superior, for it has been ratified through the Cross.
And even in the Old Testament times, this was the word that came from the mouth of Balaam the prophet, who was hired by an enemy king Balak, to curse the Israelites, the chosen people of God, His treasured possession – ‘He has blessed, and I cannot reverse it’. [Numbers 23:20] Today, you are blessed ‘in Christ’. For, no man can go the Father, except through His Son, Jesus Christ. And nothing can come to you from the Father, except through Christ. Paul, in his letter to the Romans writes, He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all, will He not together with Him, freely and graciously give us all things ? [Romans 8:32]
If Christ is with you, and even if you have nothing else, you have it all ! It is why the writer to the Hebrews, is able to say that you can be content with what you have. For He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you or forsake you’. So we may boldly say, ‘The Lord is my Helper. I will not fear. What can man do to me ?’. [Hebrews 13:5,6] But on the other hand, if you have it all, but you do not have Christ, you have nothing. It is the sad truth of emptiness, for it is in Christ that you are complete. [Colossians 2:3] And of His fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. [John 1:16]
Blessed wih spiritual blessing :
You have been blessed with every spiritual blessing, in the heavenly places in Christ, is the gracious truth in which you can find your rest. And, every blessing that comes into your life through the Holy Spirit is a spiritual blessing; it includes the good health that you enjoy, the good house that you live in, the good family who rally around you, the work that is in line with your calling, whatever that is good in your life. For, there is no division of secular and sacred in the eyes of God. When the hands lifted in worship on a Sunday in the house of God are stretched out in work on a Monday for the glory of God, it becomes worship.
And, it is the Holy Spirit who administrates God’s blessing, His grace, and the truth of God’s word in you. He is the Spirit of Truth, and the writer of the scriptures. And therefore, He can never be wrong in His administration of it ! Thus primarily, it is a change in perception that needs to happen in you, to know that the Holy Spirit can give you every blessing, and that it is through Him, that blessing is ministered into your life. And, the first step to it is to receive by faith in Christ, the gift of the Holy Spirit in you. It is what Peter declared on the day of Pentecost, to the people who listened to the gospel and were cut to their hearts, wanting to know what they ought to do. Then Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call’. [Acts 2:38,39]
The Lord Himself has promised that when an earthly father who is evil, still knows to give what is good to his children, our Heavenly Father will certainly give the good gift of the Holy Spirit to those who ask of Him. [Luke 11:13] And, every good and every perfect gift comes from above, from the Father of Lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning, declares the book of James. [James 1:17]
Blessed in the heavenlies :
You are already blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, is the written word of God. [Ephesians 1:3] In simple terms, it would mean that while heaven is the registered office, where every spiritual blessing, every good thing that needs to come into your life, has been manufactured or prepared, now and here on earth, in your life, is the field office, where it is executed or manifested. And so, you are already blessed; it has already been done. The fact that it is grammatically in the past tense, means that you no longer need to be tense in your life’s circumstances, however challenging they appear to be.
CROSS – the place of blessing :
It was on the Cross of Calvary, where the Savior laid down His life for you, to overcome death and the grave to rise again, that you were blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ. And, it will be manifested in your life, to see a change in your circumstances, as you appropriate it all through the precious promises, the word in season that comes to you in God’s word.
WORD – the seed that brings a rich harvest :
God’s divine power has given to us everything that we need for life and godliness, says the apostle Peter, and goes on to mention how they come to pass in your life and mine. [2 Peter 1:3] By which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. [2 Peter 1:4] The seed is the word of God that needs to be sown more and more in the land, which is your heart, the heartland, in order to see a rich harvest, the harvest of blessing in your life. From this day, I will bless you. [Haggai 2:19]
It is a reassuring promise of God that you can readily receive. But, prior to it, ‘Is there seed in the barn ?’ is the question that comes from the Lord. And it is that, which ought to make you consider your ways for the truth is that, more the seed you sow, more would be the harvest. There is seed aplenty in God’s word. Every promise of God is a seed, which when planted in the soil of your heart, will bear much fruit in and through your life. Isaac sowed, and reaped a hundred fold. What ‘a hundredfold’ signifies is that as you sow the seed, the word of God, the full potential of the seed will definitely be manifested in your life. The tree is in the seed, and the fruit is its ultimate expression. Salvation is the full expression of the blessing of God, where your heart becomes the garden of God.
He has blessed you with the incorruptible seed of His promised word. And, appropriating the blessing happens by sowing it in your heart, and continuing to water it, to see a rich increase, a small seed that develops into something beautifully great in all respects. One promise from God, about pleasant places and a delightful inheritance, [Psalms 16:6] has seen many people building good houses to live in, as they held on to His promise, and to the Father of Lights, who delights in doing good to you. He has already blessed you with His word. And, He will surely bless you, even in the days to come, with every good gift, and a harvest of righteousness. God is the source of all blessing; and you are His precious child. Give thanks unto Him therefore, for blessing you, as you surrender yourself into His loving Hands, that you may be a channel of His blessing in the lives of others.
In the Name of Christ Jesus Amen.
