Ephesians; 1:3 – Heavenly blessings are for time.

Thursday November 1, 2018

 

The spiritual blessings comprise the life of the elect. The Lord defined poverty by telling the story of a rich man, whose fields had produced such abundance that he had to build bigger barns to store it all. And then one night God came for his soul and said, “You fool. Now who will own all this grain?” In other words, “You can’t take bring the corn along – or the barns. You may bring only whatever you have given away.” If the man had used his riches in accordance with the spiritual blessings and was therefore gracious and sacrificial, then he would have been poorer on earth but leaving earth as a far richer man. As it was, he was leaving earth a poor man.

 

Eph 1:3 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

 

“with all spiritual blessings in the heavenly places …” en [with]pase [all] eulogia [blessings]pneumatike [spiritual]en tois epouraniois [in the heavenlies] …

 

The phrase en tois epouraniois is used four other times in this epistle. The heavenly places are the source of the blessings.

 

“Places” is added by the translators because the noun is in the neuter, which means it refers to the heavenly realm.

 

One might think that we have to wait for heaven to enjoy blessings in the heavenlies. The other uses of this phrase show us they are in full operation now.

 

Eph 1:19 These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might

 

Eph 1:20 which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,

 

Eph 2:6 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus,

 

Christ is seated in the heavenlies, but so is every believer seated with Him and in Him.

 

Eph 3:10 in order that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places.

 

The rulers and authorities are in the heavenlies, but the wisdom that is being made known to them is coming from the church on earth.

 

Eph 6:12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.

 

If I’m going to fight heavenly beings then I better have use of heavenly blessings right now. And I do.

 

2Co 10:3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh,

 

2Co 10:4 for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.

 

We don’t wait for heaven to have and enjoy the spiritual blessings from God, and yet in heaven they will be only more enjoyed.

 

Some say there is a second blessing. This is a false doctrine based on misinterpretation of scripture. In this false teaching, the believer gets extra blessing from God when he learns to behave well enough.

 

H.A. Ironside writes: “People often ask me if I have obtained the second blessing yet, and I generally say, ‘Second blessing? Why I am somewhere up in the hundreds of thousands as far as that goes, if you refer to experience; but actually, I obtained every blessing that God has for a redeemed sinner when I put my trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.’”

 

God the Father does not give us a little now and a little later, but gives us everything in Christ. It’s all yours. Enter into it and enjoy it.

 

They are yours. We may say that you have to make them yours, meaning take them, appropriate them, and use them and enjoy them. We are not to be like that man who has a 0,000 meteorite and uses it as a doorstop.

 

Every Christian has been blessed with election, predestination, adoption, redemption, forgiveness of sins, justification, wisdom, a robe of perfect righteousness, the indwelling Christ and Holy Spirit, heavenly citizenship, a divine inheritance, a place in the body of Christ, and all the riches of Christ Jesus. And yet how some of us struggle along, eking out a poor, wretched, miserable existence! We act like spiritual paupers when we should be like spiritual billionaires.

 

Despite the ugliness around us and within us, we have heaven within us, clothing us, with us, and surrounding us.

 

In the heavenlies means that heaven has come down to earth. And although the believer is surrounded with decay, ugliness, pettiness, greed, lust, sin, and although he has these things also lurking inside of him in the sin nature, tempting him and pressuring him to live in the ugly things surrounding him, he has heaven within him, clothing him, with him, and surrounding him.

 

Joh 6:32 "Truly, truly, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven.

 


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