The Blessings of God (Ephesians 1:3)

After the salutation, which we looked at in our last study in November, Ephesians follows the usual structure of Paul’s letters. First comes doctrine, the great spiritual truths that God wants to set before us; then comes application—what this looks like in everyday life. 

Paul began his teaching in Ephesians writing about the notion of blessing: “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” (Ephesians 1:3). Paul’s starting point in this verse concerns the One who is the source of all blessing, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. A common problem many of us have is that we tend to think of our relationship with God in the narrow context of our own life experiences, past and present, rather than from the perspective of who God is, who we are in relation to Him, and how He views our circumstances.  

The second point for Paul in Ephesians 1:3 is that God “has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Messiah.” Once we can recognize the blessings of God upon our lives, we can only stand in awe and amazement—possibly belting out the words of the great hymn, “My God, how great Thou art!” Spiritual blessings, such as salvation and being seen as righteous by God, relate to our spiritual life in contrast to our physical life. Additionally, spiritual blessings are those the Holy Spirit confers. Since God already gave us those blessings through our faith, we do not need to ask Him for them but believe we have them by faith and give thanks. 

The third point of Ephesians 1:3 is that all these blessings are “in Christ.” All blessing comes to us in Messiah—in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Himself. Paul repeatedly stressed the idea of being “in Christ” throughout his letter to the Ephesians. No two words appear in it more frequently than “in Christ,” or “in Him.” Only by acknowledging the significance of Jesus in our lives can we claim God’s spiritual blessings. Stated another way, spiritual blessings from God can only ever come to us in and through Jesus. There is no other way we can receive God’s spiritual blessing.

Finally, notice that the locale where all spiritual blessing occurs is “in the heavenly places.” That does not mean heaven as we usually conceive it. Rather, Paul is talking about how the present experience of these spiritual blessings engages us with the heavenly places right now. The kingdom of heaven is at hand and has broken into our physical reality (Matthew 3:2, 4:17). These heavenly places, which are mentioned throughout Ephesians and other passages of Scripture, are the realm of invisible reality. It is the spiritual reality and truth about life in our universe that we cannot fully see or touch but deeply influence our lives—the transcendent. 

At times, we can gain clear insight into the heavenly realm. One of my favorite examples of someone having access to the heavenly places is a well-known story from the Hebrew Scriptures. Surrounded by enemies, Elisha and his servant seem to face certain death. The narrative picks up in 2 Kings 6:15–17:

Now when the attendant of the man of God had risen early and gone out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was circling the city. And his servant said to him, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?” So he answered, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” Then Elisha prayed and said, “O Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.” And the Lord opened the servant’s eyes and he saw; and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.