This verse in 1 Peter helps us understand what every spiritual blessing in Christ means. By submitting your email address, you understand that you will receive email communications from Bible Gateway, a division of The Zondervan Corporation, 3900 Sparks Drive SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546 USA, including commercial communications and messages from partners of Bible Gateway. But then God intervenes! 24and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Serving with Honor(Colossians 3:2225; 1 Timothy 6:12). Oh, what a glorious blessing in Christ. 21to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. 1As a prisoner in the Lord, then, I urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling you have received: Holy and Blameless (v.4) The blessings unfolded in this epistle are said to be in the heavenlies; that is, in the higher realm and element where we dwell in Christ, above the natural life, and in fellowship with the heavenly world. Pauls description shows how each member of the Trinity works in our salvation. I give it to you freely, with much love. Before salvation, we are separated from God because of our sin. This is our hope. Im praising Jesus for perfect timing! Verses 4-14 are a beautiful description of what God does when He saves us. To begin with, God the Father has chosen sinners to be in Christ. 4Fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath; instead, bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. You can read it here and answer the questions in a journal or you can download the PDF or Word Doc and print a hard copy. 14So it is said: 15Pay careful attention, then, to how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, Jesus Christ is the Son of God by nature, which means we are co-heirs with Him by adoption. Summary of Ephesians 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 Paul wanted this church to focus on the blessings they have received in Christ. But now we have a far grander vision. This is why reading and meditating on the Bible is so important in the life of a child of God. And we make mistakes therein, as if God needed to be besought to give, when all the while it is we who need to be stirred up to grasp and keep the things that are freely given to us of God. Weve seen what God has blessed us with and how we receive His blessings. I. I can see Paul, hunched over the papyrus, writing with excitement and joy over what God has done. 1:3 NAS) The problem is that we are so cluttered up at times with life that we don't feel blessed. It just makes my heart hurt for those that do not have this and wont give their life to Christ. 3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 1:4) that we have redemption through His blood (Eph. 31For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.e Christ shall be to us an indwelling presence, and we shall comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height, and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge. For He is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, and the only limit is, according to the power that worketh in us.. Paul isn't introducing a new doctrine. 17Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lords will is. Access 50+ premium resources. Post insights, ask questions, and discuss the lesson. Paul says explicitly that the sole ground of Gods predestinating love is His own good pleasure (Ephesians 1:5, 10; Deuteronomy 7:1-8 and not anything the elect have done or will do (Romans 9:11-16). This will take the glow from every earthly picture and from every worldly prospect, and this will make sorrow light and things present seem like empty bubbles and worthless dreams. Indeed, it is His purpose that we shall live out every particle before we pass from this earthly stage to the life beyond. Beloved, have we been thus set apart and stamped as the purchased possession of God, and made to know in our inmost experience the hope of our calling, and the foretaste of our future glory? Respectively, the pronouns refer to God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. The whole building fitly framed together groweth unto a holy temple in the Lord; in whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit., Then also it is fulfilled in the heart of each individual Christian, Ephesians 3: 16-19. Learn how your comment data is processed. 14who is the pledge of our inheritance until the redemption of those who are Gods possession, to the praise of His glory. The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is to be blessed (praised) 2. Hi Wendy, I just now saw your request. Just now a neighbor sent me a text asking if my kid could come over and play for the afternoon. Look back at your list. We are without strength, and the deepest need of our heart is for spiritual power. 1:7). Not only that, but as we look at these blessings, you will be amazed at the extraordinary gift of Christ and your position in Him. I really liked how you had us look at how the trinity plays a part in our salvation. What a beautiful insight to what God has blessed us with in Ephesians 1:3-14. In conclusion, these are the incredible spiritual blessings that we have been blessed with. Give up your use of threats, because you know that He who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with Him. 1:3) Often we are urged to count our blessings and what come to mind are things like relationships, health and the basic needs of life. They are the powers of which we were told in the first chapter, that Christ was far above them. They are conquered foes, and in Him we are already more than conquerors., But how shall we meet these terrific forces? 15by abolishing in His flesh the law of commandments and decrees. 17He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. 14 for this reason I bow my knees before the Father,d 14Then we will no longer be infants, tossed about by the waves and carried around by every wind of teaching and by the clever cunning of men in their deceitful scheming. Therefore, when Paul writes " he chose us in him" the apostle is saying that God the Father chose us, sinners, to be in . In the early morning as I was having my quiet time at her kitchen table, she came in and was upset over the things that she believed went on at the hospital. Lets consider the vital role of each. 19of the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. I had looked to my job and then my husband after I stopped working outside the home for that. So what is election? 8Though I am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, 2Honor your father and mother (which is the first commandment with a promise), All this power has been actually proved and tested, and what was true once can always be true again. What does deny himself take up his cross and follow me mean (Matthew 16:24-26)? 18For through Him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. 12In Him and through faith in Himc we may enter Gods presence with boldness and confidence. Amen! Fifthly, Ephesians 1:9-10 says,making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.God has blessed us by giving us insight through His word to do all things for the glory of God. I pray you and your women are encouraged by your study of Gods Word! The Holy Ghost has given us this Word, and He is not likely to ignore it in His own manifestations to our hearts. We are fighting a ceaseless battle and we are inadequate for the weakest of our foes and the smallest of our difficulties. Now that my kids are grown, they have told me how much my relationship with God influenced them. 30For we are members of His body.d. 3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 16I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, His promises are spiritual in nature and eternal in scope. 18I ask that the eyes of your heartb may be enlightened, so that you may know the hope of His calling, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, Subscribe to our mailing list to be notified when new studies are posted. The Holy Spirit or Power from On High Vol 2, Chapter 16 The Holy Spirit in Philippians, Chapter 14 The Holy Spirit in Galatians. Funny how you started off with a story about receiving a gift with everything you need. Ephesians 1:1-14 Greeting. (That puts way too much burden on the husband by the way.) This is the text of the whole Epistle to the Ephesians. I put her favorite drink, a book, and a grabber in the package. I Peter 1:18-21; Revelation 13:1-8).. 4For He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in His presence. In love 5 he predestined us[ a] for adoption to himself as . Work your way back through verses 4-14. We will not be shams and professions, but blessed expressions of the divine life within, and our whole being, inspired with a divine exhilaration, shall overflow in gladness, goodness, sweetness, unselfishness, and blessing, to all with whom we come in contact. Simpson Chapter 15 All the Blessings of the Spirit, Or the Holy Ghost in Ephesians. He who loves his wife loves himself. 10His purpose was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, I would go to business functions with my husband and cringe at peoples reactions to the answer to their question of What do you do? Even though I believed in the eternal value of what I was doing, my emotions often betrayed me. I start in Ephesians early in 2019. The holy triune God chose his children even before he created the world. 1:3), Paul wrote that we are chosen in Him (Eph. The first two verses of Ephesians is a conventional first-century address. (For instance, are these blessings material or something else? I n the vision of Daniel the empires of the world were represented under the magnificent image of a figure with a head of gold, shoulders and arms of silver, trunk of brass, and legs of iron. Civil War and the Death of the Democratic Party. The hidden forces of electricity and of steam were all in existence then, as much as today. God has not promised us physical health or worldly wealth. Thank God for the Holy Ghost again. New International Version (NIV). This blessing is a declaration of being released from prison, redeemed from slavery to sin because Christ paid the ransom price through His blood. I know that God has blessed me with spiritual blessings despite many material losses. This should rather be translated, the eyes of your heart. It is the deeper spiritual nature that is here referred to, the very core of our being, and the fountain of our thoughts and conceptions of divine things. The eyes of their understanding are to be enlightened. 6And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, Some suggest that in him means God foresaw who would have faith in Christ and on that basis elected them. Greeting. We have seen the glory yonder, within the heavenly gates, and amid the splendors of the throne. 22Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. 18They are darkened in their understanding and alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardness of their hearts. I love your first scripture. 25Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one another. In Ephesians 1, Paul explains how wonderful are the blessings found in Jesus and God's ultimate purpose for Jesus coming to the earth. It is because the Bible unapologetically teaches the doctrines of election, predestination and reprobation. She knew that she had never received exceeding abundantly above all that she asked or thought, and she just went to her Father, and asked Him to make His word true to her, and told Him that she would never cease until this verse had become her actual experience. Thirdly, Ephesians 1:6 says,to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.These blessings are all for the acknowledgement and recognition of Gods mercies for His people, and that should lead us to praise Him in every area of our lives. I so appreciate your insights! Spiritual Blessings in Christ. For instance in the book of Ephesians, following the statement that "all spiritual blessings in heavenly places" are in Christ (Eph. 1Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. And then he gives us an object lesson of all this in the resurrection and ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ. 10For we are Gods workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance as our way of life.a. Beginning in Ephesians 1:4, and continuing through Ephesians 1:14, the Apostle Paul details some of those blessings. So Im thankful for the opportunity to be used by Him. 9What does He ascended mean, except that He also descendedc to the lower parts of the earth? Share insights, ask questions, or simply praise our God. Every Spiritual Blessing: Ephesians 1:1-3 October 15, 2014 CBMW Share: By Monica Patterson Ephesians 1: 1-3 "Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. He was talking about the gift of the Holy Spirit I believe. 1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To God's holy people in Ephesus, [] the faithful in Christ Jesus:. What is the difference between the nineteenth century, with its blaze of light and its resources of mechanical power, and the fifteenth century with its slow and tedious processes of toil? Save on BibleGateway+ with code FAITH. God the Father had already chosen the heirs of salvation, and if you believe in Christ, you are one of them. It burst for Him the fetters of the tomb, rent asunder the sepulcher, shattered the Roman seal upon the stone, scattered the terrified soldiers that guarded the tomb, and brought forth the risen Lord in all the glory of His immortal life. To God's holy people living in Ephesus, [] believers in Christ Jesus. What a marvel of sovereign grace this is! 26to sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, Sing and make music in your hearts to the Lord, The Father initiates our salvation. Spiritual Blessings= Any blessing administered in the realm of the spiritual life; specifically the blessing of the Spirit in introducing the believer into "the heavenly places in Christ" ( Ephesians 1:3 ); a term expressing the fullness of blessing in God's gift of eternal life in Jesus Christ.
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