In Christ: Know It, Live It - 6 (Blessed, not Blasted!)

Ephesians begins with one long sentence in Greek, from verse 3 to verse 14. It is a pure burst of praise and blessing to God. When you look into the content of this blessing, you see why it is non-stop.

In chapter 1, v. 3, the Apostle Paul begins with this burst of blessing:

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places."

Note:

• There are 2 blessings here: Paul blesses GOD and God blesses US. Are they the same? No indeed! To bless God means to speak well of Him, to declare Him to be worthy of praise. Blessing God is recognizing and proclaiming His worthiness and greatness. However, when God blesses US, He does good to us, He benefits us, He gives us what we desperately need but do not deserve. Blessing God recognizes His eternal and infinite fullness. We can never benefit God by supplying a lack in Him. God blessing us is God supplying what we lack and need. God blessing us ALWAYS supplies a need in us. So...let us BLESS the BLESSING God for His gracious supply to us.
• Paul blesses God because He has blessed us. This is astounding. How so? God has BLESSED us when the Scriptures make it plain that God should have BLASTED us! We deserve judgment and wrath and eternal separation. Take a brief glance at 2:1-3 for our spiritual biography before Christ. I should live each day cringing at the expectation that the holy and almighty God has marked me out for wrath. But instead, I can live each day with the glorious expectation of BLESSING, favor, grace, intimacy, love. Amazing grace. What is your daily expectation from God?
• This blessing comes from God to us IN CHRIST. Tomorrow I'll share one of my favorite examples of how God's blessings come to us because we are IN CHRIST. For now, it is good to realize that the blessings are SECURE and eternal because they are in Christ. Why? Because His work was ABSOLUTELY COMPLETE (remember: "It is finished," the torn veil in the temple, and the RESURRECTION!). What security.