Every spiritual blessing #2

March 12, 2021 (Friday)

 

We are looking at “every spiritual blessing” found in Ephesians 1. In Ephesians 1:4 we learned we are chosen to be “holy and blameless before Him.” Ephesians 1:5 tells us we are destined for adoption “through Jesus Christ.” Ephesians 1:7 informs us we have redemption and forgiveness. This is through Jesus’s blood and by God the Father’s grace. There is no possible way to overstate exactly how obscenely excessive God’s grace is in meeting our need and transforming us.

 

This obscenely excessive grace “which he poured over us with wisdom and understanding.” [Ephesians 1:8 CEB] The image of “poured over” is translated “abounded” or “lavished.” This is an image of excessive. Imagine you need a glass of water and God sets you under Niagara Falls. Instead of a faucet you get 85,000 cubic feet of water per second. (Wikipedia.org) You think your sin is overwhelming (glass of water) but God’s grace pours over (Niagara Falls) you.

 

God does not lavish His grace on us ignorantly. He does it with wisdom and understanding. God knows us completely. God understands our strengths and weaknesses. God knows if we are going to fail. Yet despite knowing us better than we know ourselves, God loves us. Understanding is the “result of wisdom, concerned with practical application.” (Vincent)

 

Not only does God HAVE those qualities but it seems God GIVES them to us. God’s obscenely excessive grace in His “unalterable purpose” (John Wesley) grants wisdom and the practical application of that wisdom. In other words, as you stand under the obscenely excessive force of God’s grace pouring over you; your mind, will, and behavior will be in line with experiencing grace.

 

Paul continues, “God revealed his hidden design to us, which is according to his goodwill and the plan that he intended to accomplish through his Son.” [Ephesians 1:9 CEB] The tendency to focus on God’s sovereignty can miss the fact that God has a unalterable plan or purpose. We see all this accomplished in Jesus. As Wesley called this, “The gracious scheme of salvation by faith, which depends on his own sovereign will alone.”

 

What has God planned? “This is what God planned for the climax of all times: to bring all things together in Christ, the things in heaven along with the things on earth.” [Ephesians 1:10 CEB] In my mind, I calculate the reality of things that stand in eternity. Someday, the reality of what we accomplish on earth will meet the reality of eternity. I suspect we will be both surprised and saddened.

 

On top of all these blessings, Paul adds another, “We have also received an inheritance in Christ. We were destined by the plan of God, who accomplishes everything according to his design.” [Ephesians 1:11 CEB] The adopted children have an inheritance! Or as Paul would tell the Romans, “Now if we are children, then we are heirs--heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.” [Romans 8:17 NIV]

 

Wait there’s more!!! “You too heard the word of truth in Christ, which is the good news of your salvation. You were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit because you believed in Christ.” [Ephesians 1:13 CEB] On top of all this, “you were sealed.” In ancient days the seal was the proof of the document, contract, or exchange. The proof of believing in Christ is the Holy Spirit. The proof of the Holy Spirit is the fruit He produces in our lives (see Galatians 5:22 – 23).

 

But the Holy Spirit is more!!! “The Holy Spirit is the down payment on our inheritance, which is applied toward our redemption as God’s own people, resulting in the honor of God’s glory.” [Ephesians 1:14 CEB] The idea of “down payment” is that of a guarantee. The Holy Spirit is the first installment of eternity, of “every spiritual blessing.” The result is God’s glory.

 

God has taken diseased, dying, and decaying sinners and transformed us into His masterpiece. God has bought, washed, and freed us by the blood of Jesus. To God be the glory!