Twin City church of Christ Blog
“Oct 9, 2024 - Every Spiritual Blessing”
Categories: 2024 Reading DevotionalsEvery Spiritual Blessing
Reading: Ephesians 1:1-14
Paul has barely said “hi” to the Ephesians before he begins to praise God and enumerate what he has done for us. “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”(Eph 1:3). God has done wonderful things for believers, but Paul refuses to leave it at that; he wants to detail how God has blessed us. He “chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ”(Eph 1:4-5). God chose us to be a people he would make holy and blameless. He predestined us to be his adopted children. We are beneficiaries of his grace.
Paul expounds further, letting the metaphors fly. “We have redemption through his blood”(Eph 1:7), emphasizing how Jesus’ sacrifice frees us from our slavery to sin. We have “the forgiveness of our trespasses”(Eph 1:7), which highlights salvation as eliminating our debts. God has revealed to us “the mystery of his will”(Eph 1:9) by sending his Spirit, working in us toward his goal “to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth”(Eph 1:10). We await an inheritance (Eph 1:11), which promises greater life in the future than what we enjoy now. In the meantime, he has sealed us with the Holy Spirit (Eph 1:13) as a guarantee of those blessings we anticipate.
We are the objects of God’s love and grace. He has met our every need and far more. We now belong. We have a Father. We are free and forgiven. We know God’s will and stand in hope of eternal life. The Spirit guides us until we receive it. All of this is God’s gift; we deserve none of it. What more could we ask for?
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One Thing to Think About: Why do we sometimes struggle believing that God has given us all we need?
One Thing to Pray For: Deeper gratitude for what God has done for me
