“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.” (Eph. 1:3)
Every spiritual blessing in Christ
The word blessing in Ephesians 1:3 is a translation of the Greek word eulogy, and it means “to speak well of.” And, God has spoken well of you and He has pronounced good things for your benefit. The good things that God has decreed are beyond our ability to number, but we can outline a few by looking at the verses that follow the statement (Ephesians 1:4–13).
Good things for you from God
God chose us. Ephesians 1:4 says that He has “chosen us in him before the foundation of the world.”
God made us to be holy and without blame. God has chosen to make us holy and blameless, and all because of His love, His good pleasure, and His grace (verses 5–6).
God extended His grace to us with salvation. This is even more amazing when we realize that He made that decision before sin even entered into the world. (Eph. 2:5)
God adopted us as His children. (Eph. 1:5). Not only has God chosen us to be made holy, but He grants us full status as His children, with all the benefits thereof. John 1:12 says, “Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, even to them that believe on his name.” When we believe the gospel, we receive full access to the Father, able to call out to Him as His children.
God made us “accepted in the beloved.” (Eph. 1:6). The blood of Christ has taken away the guilt of our sins, and we stand before the Father as perfectly accepted.
God gave us redemption through His blood. (Eph. 1:7). Redemption speaks of buying one’s freedom, paying a ransom. The price for our sins, the payment to buy us out of eternal condemnation, was fully paid by the blood of Christ. In Christ, we are no longer slaves to sin, but we become slaves to God. Since we are bought and paid for by His blood, we have an obligation to glorify God in our body and spirit. (1 Corinthians 6:20).
God gave us the forgiveness of sins. (Eph. 1:7). It is closely related to redemption, but looks at the other side of the coin. In paying the ransom for our sins, the debt of sin was canceled, and we were forgiven. We no longer have the burden of guilt for violating God’s holy laws.
Knowing the mystery of His will. (Eph. 1:8–10). God has given us wisdom and insight through His Word and has shown us His desire to bring all things together to glorify Christ.
The inheritance that is given to us through Christ. (Eph. 1:11). What is included in that inheritance? The riches of glory, the presence of God, the eternal home – these don’t even scratch the surface of all the blessings that belong to our inheritance.
The sealing of the Holy Spirit. (Eph. 1:13). When we become God’s children, He places His mark of ownership on us, guaranteeing our eternal security. This is spoken of as the down-payment of our full redemption, to hold us until the day Christ brings us to Him.
How to get these blessings
These blessings are readily accessible to everyone who is in Christ Jesus. The way to be in Christ is to repent, or turn away from our sins (Acts 17:30), confessing to God that we are sinners (Proverbs 28:13; Romans 10:9). When we believe that Christ died to take our punishment and now lives to give us new life (1 Corinthians 15:3–4), He grants us forgiveness of sins and all the blessings that accompany that salvation.
Therefore…
Given the spiritual blessings we have received through Christ in the heavenly realms, we should give praise to God the Father.
Today, take a moment to consider the spiritual blessings God has given you and give Him praise for all of them.