In Ephesians 1:3 we read, “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”. This letter was written to the Ephesian brothers. This letter is considered to be a very spiritual one because it was written to some of the mature Christians of that time. To the Corinthians we see that Paul writes that they were still babes in the Christian life. In verse 1 we read that Paul writes to the saints at Ephesus. In the Old Testament we see how the blessings promised were all earthly. But here the blessings promised are spiritual blessings – the blessings of the Holy Spirit. We cannot experience these spiritual blessings if we are earthly minded and seek for the things of the earth. When we are heavenly minded and seek for the spiritual blessings, God will bless us with them. This promise in already in our account, we only need to claim them and we need to claim them every day. When I wake up every day, am I claiming this promise to be mine for that day?
We read in the Bible that when we ask, our heavenly Father is eager to give the Holy Spirit to us. If we need the power of the Holy Spirit to be witnesses for Him in our workplace, among our relatives and friends, our God is more than eager to give it to us. If you need the gifts of the Holy Spirit to serve the people of God, ask and God will give it to you. These are the blessings of the Holy Spirit that we can receive so that we can be transformed into the image of Christ. In Ephesians 1:4 we read, “just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him”. This is the purpose for which God has chosen us. He chose us before heaven and earth was created. What comfort this brings in our heart! The purpose for which God chose us is that we would be holy and blameless before Him. It is for this that we need the strength of the Holy Spirit – that we may be holy and blameless in our different areas of life. And there should be a continual growth in this area. The graph of us becoming like Jesus should be going up each day. If the growth is not there, we will definitely go backwards. There is no static position in the Christian life. If there is this inactivity in our life, there is something seriously wrong. Let us claim these heavenly blessings by being heavenly minded.
In verse 5 we read, “In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will”. God predestined us to be His sons. What a privilege! God loves us just as He loves His son Jesus. Jesus left his position as God so that we could be sons of God. If we have earthly intentions, then none of these blessings can be ours. If we are running behind money, we can’t claim these spiritual blessings. In verse 6 we read, “to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved”. In this short life we can glorify God and project the life of Jesus. In Romans 8:29 we read that those whom He foreknew He also predestined to be confirmed to the image of His son so that He would be first born among many brethren. This was the reason of God predestined us. In John 14:16, 17 we read “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.” The Holy Spirit has been promised to be with us at all times. The Spirit of truth will guide us. In the following verses we read that we can live because Jesus lives. In verse 20 we read, “In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you”. In verse 26 we read, “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.” This Holy Spirit, the helper, the comforter will be with us and teach us all things. Through every walk of our life, the peace of Jesus will be with us. John 15 talks about our dependence in Jesus. We need to abide in Jesus, we need the Holy Spirit and we need to receive our strength from Jesus. Apart from Jesus, we can’t do anything. Our life must be completely hidden in Him.
In Romans 12 we read about the body of Christ. In verse 3-5 we read, “For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith. For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another”. We need to exercise our spiritual blessings in the church as God has given us a function in the body. In Ephesians 4:1-7 we read , “Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift.” We have to practice humility and gentleness, patience and tolerance in the body that God has placed us. After Jesus attended to heaven, He has given various gifts to brothers as apostles, teachers, evangelists and preachers so that saints can be equipped and thus the body of Christ can be build. Each one has their own role in the body. If you see a lack in your life to contributing to the body, ask and God will help you. We have to do our part to encourage our brothers.
Let us claim the spiritual blessings everyday so that we can fulfill what we need to do to build the body of Christ. God bless us all!
