Ephesians 1:3

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ”

“Blessed”: To be adorable or blessed. “Placed first in the clause for emphasis” (Vincent p. 363). “Praise be to the God” (Phi). “When we bless God we acknowledge His grace, praise His glory, we admit that this greatness and goodness deserve all praise and glory” (Boles p. 201). “Blessed is translated from. root verb from which we get our words eulogy and eulogize. The verb denotes the idea of praising or speaking well of” (Caldwell p. 8). As Lenski observes, “No task should delight us more. There is too little contemplation of God, too little praise of Him” (p. 351). The Biblical writers often paused to declare the greatness of God (Psalms 145:1; Psalms 66:20; Psalms 41:13; Psalms 72:18; 2 Corinthians 1:3; 1 Peter 1:3).

“Who has blessed us”: God is the source or origin of every blessing that we enjoy. His initiative is set forth plainly. "He chose" (Ephesians 1:4); "He predestined" (Ephesians 1:5); "He freely bestowed" (Ephesians 1:6). These are wonderful verses for anyone to read who complains, “What did God ever do for me?” “With every spiritual blessing”:

Those outside of Christ are even allowed to share in God's physical blessings (Matthew 5:45; Luke 6:35; Acts 14:16). But the same is not true for His spiritual blessings. Every Spiritual blessing is found "in Christ"---which means that none exist outside of Christ. Remember the only way into Christ, is through faith and baptism (Galatians 3:26). Hence baptism stands between one and every spiritual blessing. Obviously, one is not saved prior to being baptized. This is why Paul places baptism among. list of very essential and important truths (Ephesians 4:4). Specific spiritual blessings are mentioned in this context. Only those "in Christ" share in these blessings, such as sonship (Ephesians 1:5); grace (Ephesians 1:6); redemption, and forgiveness of sin (Ephesians 1:7). Unfortunately, we often seek God's physical blessings more than we praise Him for the spiritual blessings He has freely and abundantly given us. Boles makes. good point when he says, “It may be. good index of our own spirituality to consider for which kind of blessings we are most likely to cry out, ‘Praise the Lord!'” (pp. 202-203). “Every”: How naive for any Christian to claim that they are "deprived"! “The expression was evidently used by Paul to convey the idea that the totality of all blessings of. spiritual nature and having eternal value are to be found exclusively ‘in Christ'” (Coffman p. 118). The practical application here is that the unfaithful Christian can never blame their failure to remain faithful upon God. Seeing that God has given every spiritual blessing. any failure must be our fault in not making good use of these blessings (2 Peter 1:3; 2 Timothy 3:16; Judges 1:3).

“In the heavenly places”: “ Places is supplied, the Greek meaning ‘in the heavenlies'” (Vincent p. 364). This expression is found five times in this letter (Ephesians 1:20; Ephesians 2:6; Ephesians 3:10; Ephesians 6:12). “The realm of spiritual things is. realm of reality which reaches beyond the earthly” (Caldwell p. 15). “Christ is exalted to the heavenly realm, and thus those who are ‘in Him' belong to that heavenly realm also” (Coffman p. 118).. higher reality exists than mere physical existence. Hence atheists do not live in reality, they deny it. It is the Christian who lives in the "real world", the realm which will exist long after this physical realm is gone (2 Peter 3:10). To be successful, Christians must accept and live in this higher reality. Our decisions concerning what we say, believe, or do on earth, must always take this higher reality into consideration. Here is where our "mind" must be focused (Colossians 3:1). Only when we embrace this reality can we properly evaluate the world or value of any earthly object or experience. Temptation can only be successfully resisted when we are focused on this realm (James 1:2; 12). Or, in other words, only when we meet the devil on. spiritual plane, can we be consistently successful against his attacks (Ephesians 6:10; 1 Peter 5:9 “ But resist him firm in your faith”).

I like what someone called the church, a colony of heaven upon the earth (1 Peter 3:21). Vincent said, “The meaning is that the spiritual blessings of God are found in heaven and are brought thence to us” (p. 364).. think he is on the right track. "In Christ", spiritual blessings that exist in heaven, such as fellowship with God, communication with God, true sonship with God, grace, and the freedom to worship God and have God accept that worship, are found. You see,. am forgiven in heaven, God hears my prayers in heaven, when. worship or pray,. draw near to the throne of God (Hebrews 4:14). Thus being “in Christ” is as near as one can come to heaven, and still be in the physical body!