Life In Christ – 1

[SisterKristal]

Life In Christ – 1

(Eph 1:3) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ;

This is both one of the most foundational verses in the New Testament and also one of the most misunderstood. It is interpreted as little more than God being benevolent or nice or “blessings us” when we sneeze! Actually it is the foundational verse that Paul uses the rest of Ephesians to explain. What is “blessing” and what are the “spiritual blessings in the heavenlies” that we have been given.

Blessing and cursing begins in Genesis and is the use of words of God to alter the very tone of Creation. Blessing makes Creation open and co-operative to us, cursing makes the heavens as brass, and the earth unproductive. Before the Fall, in Eden, Adam and Eve are blessed with three blessings – “be fruitful, multiply and have dominion.” These are not instructions to Adam and Eve, they are blessings, pronouncements of destiny, they are pronounced over Adam and Eve by God. It does not say “God told them to” but “God blessed them and said”. They are invocations, not instructions, a calling into being of a very desirable future. These pronouncements are like Jesus saying “Be opened” or “Lazarus come forth”. Lazarus did nothing, his resurrection was pronounced over him, called into existence by God dwelling in Christ.

Blessings call into being a desirable existence while curses call into being a miserable existence. At the Fall the first curses were uttered and they were the precise opposites of the blessings. Satan was humbled and lost dominion and was assured of ultimate defeat, the woman lost the ability to multiply with ease and the man lost fruitfulness and his toil became arduous and difficult. Instead of fruitfulness – frustration, instead of multiplication, difficulty and pain, instead of dominion, eating the dust. The curse then went on into the future and made life difficult for Adam’s descendants.

Thus blessings and curses are God’s Words affecting the spiritual realm that undergirds the material realm. They are important because blessing is seen as destiny - Esau grieved over losing the blessing, the curse on Canaan resulted in the Canaanites being exterminated and the Abrahamic blessing is absolutely pivotal in understanding the Old Testament and the Jews and their land.

Blessings and curses are words of power that deeply affect reality. So what are the Christian’s blessings, how will they change things? and how can we appropriate them and walk in them by faith?

First of all we have the blessings of Abraham, this is stated at length in Galatians 3: Gal 3:7 Therefore know that those of faith, these are the sons of Abraham.
Gal 3:9 So then those of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.
Gal 3:14 so that the blessing of Abraham might be to the nations in Jesus Christ, and that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
Gal 3:29 And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise.

The blessings of Abraham include the early Genesis themes of “be fruitful, multiply and have dominion” and also include the Promise of the Holy Spirit and of being a blessing to the nations. These blessings are ours in Christ - but there is also much more. We have been blessed in a special way, with a special providence. Our blessings are spiritual and eternal and are located in the heavenly realms. These means that they are the most powerful kind of blessings that cannot be revoked or blocked by wizards and witches or powers principalities. We are seated with Christ, in heavenly realms and such beings cannot touch us in our heavenly existence.

(1Pe 1:3) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has regenerated us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and unfading, reserved in Heaven for you by the power of God, having been kept through faith to a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time;

Since our blessings are kept in heaven for us and operate from heaven they are indestructible by earthly means. (See also Ephesians 2:6,7 Hebrews 12:22-24, and 1 John 5:18,19). These powerful blessings will affect the deepest fabric of our lives, not just now, but forever. Chief among them is justification and being at peace with God, with access to the Throne. Because God has given us His Son, he also gives us , with Him, all things (Romans 8:32) – and for our enjoyment (1 Timothy 6:17). The Throne of Heaven delights to give us those things that will give us wise and meaningful enjoyment of life.

Another major blessing is being called a son of God, this causes the apostle John to marvel at the love of God (1John 3:1). This makes us part of the heavenly family so that Jesus is not ashamed to call us “brothers” (Hebrews 2).

Finally today we have the blessing of transformation into Christ-likeness. God calls us into holiness and creates in us a new heart and a blessed disposition like His Son. This new nature will be our eternal glory.

God is constantly calling into being a new, eternal and wonderful future for us and building us to dwell in that future in all holiness. But these blessings are not all made manifest at once, they will unfold for millennia. We have all the blessings that matter because God has given us to them in Christ but God has His timing for releasing them. He has set a day when we shall receive our immortal bodies at the resurrection, and He has set a day for many other blessings as well. God is wise in what He bestows.

However some blessings need appropriating by prayer or by repentance or by pressing in to God. Spiritual gifts should be sought (1 Corinthians 14). Prayer is given for the supply of daily needs and deliverance from temptation (Matthew 6). Wisdom is given to those who ask for it in faith. (James 1:5-8). We need to unpack many blessings here and now. God is not stingy, He is abundant in blessing and those blessings can make all the difference.


This ministry is supported by donations from those who have been blessed. To donate online go to: https://www.pillaroftruthministries.com/partners.html

[toddbaker]

This was a glorious teaching pastor!