The Book of Ephesians
Spiritual Blessings II
Article III
Review
As we begin this third article in the series of the Book of Ephesians, let us look again at our key scripture verse:
Eph 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: KJV
In the last article you were asked to underline (or highlight) this verse as the key verse of the Book of Ephesians. We began to look at what are the blessings we have in Christ in heavenly places. While these certainly are not comprehensive, there are a total of 16 throughout the Book of Ephesians. In chapter one, there were seven blessings alone that we centered on. We examined each of the seven scripture verses that used the words “in Christ,” “in Him,” “by Him” “through Him,” “through Christ,” etc. You were asked to put a number that corresponded with the blessing in the margin next to the verse that tells us what we have “in Christ.” Then you were asked to underline or circle the words “in Christ,” “through Christ,” etc. Just this step alone will help you remember the blessings because they will always be marked in your Bible.
As a review, let us go through the seven blessings in chapter 1 before we complete the other 9 blessings in chapters 2 and 3.
Blessing #1: Eph 1:4: We learned that God planned the Church, meaning the body of Christ, before the world began. He chose us, individually and corporately as the Church, to be a part of His Kingdom. As such, because of what Christ did for us, God sees us as holy and blameless before Him. He sees us through the blood of Christ. And because God sees us as holy and righteous, we need to see ourselves in the same way. We are saints in God – and the more we think of ourselves as righteous, the more righteous and holy we will become.
Blessing #2: Eph 1:5 : God predestined, in other words, preplanned us before the foundation of the world, as a Church, and as individuals, to be His adopted sons and daughters to be part of His body.
Blessing #3. Eph 1:7: As such, we have been redeemed, ransomed from hell into salvation of God’s Kingdom by Jesus through His blood shed on the cross. Jesus became our substitute for our sins. We then have forgiveness of sins and stand holy before God - all because of what Jesus Christ did for us.
Blessing #4. Eph 1:9: We learned that it gave God pleasure to reveal to us the mystery of His will – that secret plan of God. God foreordained us, as the Church, with a plan and a purpose. As His family, He has revealed the miracle, and mystery, of what happened in Christ’s death and resurrection. This is something that those outside of Christ does not understand.
Blessing #5. Eph 1:10 : There will be a time, at the right time - when the time is ripe, when Christ will come back to gather, all in one, His body unto Himself. As a part of His body, we will then rule and reign the earth with Him during the period of time known as the Millennium. What a plan and purpose is meant for us as believers in Christ. That plan and purpose begins here on earth. What we have now in Him is only a forerunner of what is to come. Remember, as was pointed out in article 1, we must learn to think like Easterners – in other words, relational. That is how God view us – we are a part of His family, and as such, we receive the benefits of being a member of His family.
Blessing #6. Eph 1:11: Our inheritance is our rule and reign with Christ. Remember, we were predestined to be a part of the body of Christ, according to His purpose to rule and reign not only for the 1000 year millennium period, but through all eternity.
Blessing #7. Eph 1:13-14 : The Apostle Paul was reiterating that when the Ephesians believers heard the Word of truth, which is also meant for you and me 2000 years later, we were given the ability to trusted in Jesus and what He did for us. When we believed, we were then sealed with the Holy Spirit, which is our guarantee of our inheritance. It is our belief in Jesus that keeps us sealed with the Holy Spirit.
For the balance of the chapter one, the Apostle Paul prayed for the believers in Ephesus – that they would get a revelation of this knowledge and that the eyes of their understand would be enlightened to all that God has instored with them. This is a prayer that we can all pray over one another.
Chapter #2
As we begin chapter 2, we see that the Apostle Paul is emphasizing that we, as unbelievers were spiritually dead in our sins and acts of disobedience. The apostle is introducing the topic of how the Jew and Gentile believers in Christ have been joined together into a single people of God through the Messiah. The apostle is telling us that our life was once ruled by Satan and his cohorts, who are the rulers and the powers of the air. As such, we followed after our own flesh and disobeyed the things of God. We will talk more on that when we get to chapter 6.
Blessing #8
Eph 2:5 Even when we were dead in trespasses made us live together "with Christ" by grace you have been saved.
Mark #8 in your margin next to Eph 2:5
Underline (or circle) “with Christ.”
We were once spiritually dead, walking in disobedience under Satan under the control of our own fleshly desires and lust. God, however, tells us here that in His richness and mercy, He made us alive. We are no longer spiritually dead – we are alive. We are not going to hell – we have heaven as our eternal home. By God’s richest grace, meaning His love, compassion, and generosity, upon us, because of Christ we have been saved. Hell is not our future home, as those in unbelief,but heaven belongs to us.
As believers,the Holy Spirit resides in us – He is that powerful force, which is our greatest blessing. Because of Christ, we have been made alive in our spirits. As such, we are no longer forced to follow the desires of our flesh - we are no longer slaves to sin. We have the power of the Holy Spirit operating in our lives so that we can operate under the system of God. The world can’t do that – only believers who have the power of the Holy Spirit operating in their lives. We have been saved - by God’s richest grace upon us. Because we are alive to operate under the system of God, we then have the inheritance of blessing #9.
Spiritual Blessing #9
Eph 2:6 and raised us up together and made us sit together in the heavenly places “in Christ Jesus."
Mark #9 in your margin next to Eph 2:6
Underline (or circle) “in Christ Jesus
When we accepted Christ we became a part of the Kingdom of God. That means we became a part of His family. You and I are identified with Christ – His death and resurrection. We are identified with His ascension into heaven - we are “marked” for God. Because we are identified (marked) with Christ, being saints of God, we have the ability and responsibility to live and act as such. We need to recognize that by being saved, by being a saint, marked by God as righteous means we have the ability live as God wants us to live. Remember, you are chosen, you are God’s saint, forgiven, and receiving an inheritance that will last forever. You are related to God – by the blood of Jesus. Being you are related to Him, you positionally belong to Him. While we are not bodily sitting next to Christ on the throne right now, we spiritually hold that position. Spiritually, we dwell there now, and a time will come where we will physically sit there. The Jewish Bible says: Eph 2:6 God raise us up with the Messiah Yeshua and seated us with Him in heaven. We hav been raise together with Christ and will sit together with Him in heaven.
The Apostle Paul told the Church at Philippi that our citizenship is in heaven and we will be transformed from this lowly body to a glorious body to one day to sit next to Him to rule and reign. In the book of Revelation, God promises for those who overcome are granted to sit with Christ on His throne. Remember, we are the body of Christ. We are a partaker of what is His. We belong to Him. We were raised from death to a life of righteousness, having the Holy Spirit help us live a life of righteousness, and we spiritually sit with Him in heaven and will day sit with Him in heaven to rule and reign with Christ. This brings us to the next verse and our next blessing.
Spiritual Blessing #10
Eph 2:7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ.
Mark #10 in your margin next to Eph 2:7
Underline (or circle) “in Christ.”
The position we have in heaven with Christ will be shown to us as the right time. In other words, when we get to heaven God is going to show us our inheritance – His exceeding riches that He has given us. Again, it’s all because of Christ. We been saved by grace because of our faith in Christ and what He has done for us. It is nothing that we should brag or boast about – but simply be grateful. It is a gift from God. There is nothing that we can do to earn it. We can’t work for it because it is a gift.
The Gnostics(refer to article II) thought they had the elitism (meaning they were superior to others), believing they received special knowledge which gave them the ability to work their way into heaven. This cust was overtaking Christianity in the Valley of Lycos in Ephesus when the Apostle Paul wrote this letter to the Church at Ephesus. He emphasized that there is no special knowledge that anyone learn or earn to gain access to heaven. Elitism, like that of the Gnostics, is anti-scriptural, and against the very core of Christianity. We need to keep that in mind. We are called to be servants of God and one another, not puff ourselves up in superiority. All of the blessings that we have in God have been given to us so that we can serve one another. That brings us to our next blessing.
Spiritual Blessing #11
Eph 2:10 For we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
Mark #11 in the margin next to Eph 2:10
Underline (or circle) “in Christ Jesus”
We have been created as God’s workmanship - we are His creation, His handiwork. Think of it like we are His masterpiece - one of a kind. In II Cor 5:17, the Bible states we are a “new creation” in Christ. This corresponds with what we have learned in that we were chosen before the foundation of the world. God has a plan and purpose for our lives.
II Cor 6:20 tells us that we were bought with a price. We belong to God - He is our daddy, and we are His sons and daughters. Because of the shed blood of Christ, and our belief in Him, we are members of His family. According to the second half of Eph 2:10 here, as masterpieces of God's handiwork, He prepared us for good works. We need to understand that this does not mean good works toward our eternal salvation, but good works toward serving God while we serve one another, fulfilling His plan and purpose in our lives. In other words, faith without works, as the Apostle James says, is dead. We have a job to do – we are a part of God’s plan on this earth and throughout eternity. With privilege comes responsibility.
Spiritual Blessing #12
Eph 2:13 But now “in Christ Jesus” you who once were far off have been made near by the blood of Christ.
Mark in your margin #12 next to Eph 2:13
Underline (or circle) “through Him”
Because we are God’s masterpiece, created for good works, to serve God and one another, we no longer are distant from our Father. Through the power of the Holy Spirit within us, we have been drawn near to God. We have close access to Him because He lives in us
Spiritual Blessing #13
Eph 2: 18 For “through Him” we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.
Mark in your margin #13 next to Eph 2:18
Underline (or circle) “through Him”
Our nearness to God is through the Holy Spirit that lives within us. Remember, the Holy Spirit is part of the Godhead, and because the Holy Spirit lives in us, God lives within us. How much nearer can we get to God on this earth. Church, we need to have a real revelation and understanding that God lives within us. He isn’t someone who is way up in outer-space heaven – He resides within us. Verse 22 of Ephesians 3 tells us more - which is our next blessing
Spiritual Blessing #14
Eph 2:22 “in whom” you also are being built together for a habitation of God in the Spirit.
Mark in your margin #14 next to Eph 2:22
Underline (or circle) “in whom”
Because of Christ and what He has done for you, your physical body is a habitation of God in the Spirit. The verse before this states you are a holy temple of God. God, through the power of His Holy Spirit, resides in you. Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit
The Jewish roots of the holy temple
Going back in Jewish history, the Jews first had a physical tabernacle in the wilderness that housed the Ark of the Covenant and it was there where the presence of God dwelt. Only the high priest, who was appointed as the mediator between God and man, could go into the inner sanctuary of the Holy of Holies – into this presence where God dwelt. And the high priest, this mediator, had to come in physically clean, bringing a blood sacrifice for the sins of the people. He was fully washed in the laver outside the tabernacle that was meant for his physical cleansing. Everything was physical – the water to cleanse and the blood for forgiveness. Each year this sacrificial feast had to be observed. The high priest had to confess the sins of the people every year. In the fullness of time, years after entering into the promised land, the Jews built a temple, made of gold and splendor. In the inner sanctuary of the temple (called the Holy of Holies) housed the Ark of the Covenant and the presence of God. As before, the high priest had to be fully cleansed, bringing in sacrificial blood - coming in to the presence of a Holy God seek forgiveness for the sins of the Jewish nation.
In 33 A.D. Jesus became that one time and final sacrificial lamb for the sins of the world. He was offered up on the cross of Calvary and physically died, shedding His blood, not only for the Jewish nation, but for the sins of the world. The curtain that led into the Holy of Holies was torn in two, opening it up for everyone to come into the presence of God. No longer did man need a mediator to go to God, but man could come to God on His own – all because of what Jesus physically did on the cross. Sins were forgiven, the healing of the world was laid upon Jesus, and we all have atonement in God. We can come into the presence of God.
Most of the Jews refused what Christ did for them, so God created, as preplanned before the foundation of the world, a Body of Christ to serve Him with a plan and purpose. There He would house His temple – His Holy of Holies temple - inside the hearts of His believers – His body. God no longer wanted His presence to be inside temples of gold and splendor. And to make sure that the temple was of no use any longer, He had the Romans level it in 70 A.D. It has not been temple ever since
Through the power of the Holy Spirit, God’s temple resides in the hearts of believers in Christ. Our physical bodies are now the holy temple of God. The Apostle Paul was trying to tell the believers in Ephesus that Christ’s blood became the atonement for sins. It wasn’t the knowledge of Gnosticism that saves. And for the Jews who came into salvation in Jesus – it wasn’t their old laws of bringing sacrifices to a mediator that saved them. The temple was destroyed. The high priest and the priesthood was absolved. There were no longer any high priest to go to. It is not confessions of one’s sins to someone else that gives forgiveness of sins. It was done through Jesus Christ who did everything that was needed on the cross of Calvary to bring forgiveness of sins. Jesus said on the cross – “It was finish.” Finished are the old laws. Finished was the physical temple and the mediation of the priesthood.
The Apostle Paul stated we are a new creation in Christ. The old has passed and the new has come. God does not want man to go to anyone else or any thing for forgiveness. God doesn’t want the Body of Christ going to a physical person for forgiveness. God doesn’t want the Body of Christ under the old law which claimed that forgiveness of sins meant bringing a blood sacrifice, or any other sacrifice to God. Even confession of one’s sins to a mediator does not forgive. Jesus already accomplished forgiveness. The Apostle Paul told us in 1 Tim 2:5-6 ...For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all men-the testimony given in its proper time. NIV If we try to have a mediator between us and God – guess what – we are nullifying Christ’s death on the cross. If we want to obey our Bibles, we need to get rid of any mindset that says we must go to anyone outside of Christ for forgiveness of sins. He died so He could become our mediator. Our life is now in the spirit. The Spirit of God dwells within our hearts. We go to God directly through the power of the Holy Spirit that dwells within us. And Jesus is our mediator.
Chapter #3
The beginning of chapter three becomes a recap of what the Apostle Paul wrote in the first two chapters. He reminds the believers at Ephesus that God’s grace has most assuredly been upon them. He was so clear to reiterate that the mysteries of Christ were in His blood sacrifice. They now have the Holy Spirit indwelling them to show that they are fellow heirs and partakers of God’s promises to them – just like He gave to the apostles. This brings us to blessing #15, which includes Ephesians 3: 9-11.
Blessing #15
Eph 3:9-11 9 and to make all people see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things “through Jesus Christ.” 10 to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places. 11 according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished “in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Mark #15 in margin next to Eph 3:9
Underline (or circle) “through Jesus Christ.”
Earlier, in verse 8, the Apostle Paul points out that he is nothing special in the eyes of men – but that he, being the least of the saints, was given then gift and calling of preaching the unsearchable riches of Christ, of which we have been learning about, to the Gentiles. The Apostle Paul was called to make known to all men what the “fellowship of the mystery,” which we have already learned, and was from the beginning of the ages, and had been hidden in God until now - and it was all done in Christ Jesus. That mystery, which we have learned has been revealed to us, and we as the Church of Christ need to make it known to the powers of the heavenlies, which is Satan and his cohorts.
We need to put Satan in his place. We need to remind him that his destination – his eternal purpose - has been preplanned and ended because of what Jesus Christ our Lord did on the cross. As a reminder, Gnosticism that was infiltrating the Church at Ephesus carried the Gnostic belief that Jesus did not come in the physical flesh to earth – neither did he die a physically death shedding His blood on the cross of Calvary. Neither did God physically raise Jesus from the dead (Refer to article #2). Remember, they believed that what they thought they saw of Jesus was simply a figment of their imagination. He came in the spirit, and as such roams in the heavenlies as a spirit, just like the gods of the pagan Gentiles. The Apostle Paul is reminding them that Jesus shed blood was physical, and the principalities and powers that roam in the heavenlies ARE NOT OF GOD, but they are dark and evil – they are of the devil. Eph 6:12 states...For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. NIV
Last, but certainly not least, the Apostle Paul shows us a great blessing – blessing #16
Spiritual Blessing #16
Eph 3:12 “in whom” we have boldness and access with confidence through faith “in Him.”
In your margin write #16 next to Eph 3:12
Underline (or circle) “in whom.”
God did not leave us abandoned in a spiritual world of darkness to fight the forces of Satan alone. We have the Holy Spirit residing within us. As such, we have access to come into the presence of God, andcome anytime. When we come into His presence, we can do so with boldness and confidence because we belong to Him, and He belongs to us. He is our Father, our abba daddy. He gave us the power of the Holy Spirit Who dwells within us. He works on our behalf. What blessings that is.
While these 16 blessings do not encompass all of the spiritual blessings, it gives us a sample of what Christ has done for us. These were given as an encouragement to the Church as Ephesus to not lose heart at any tribulation. God's spiritual blessings belong to them and they need to rely and use the blessings that God has given them.
Another Pauline Prayer
As a closing, the Apostle Paul tells the Church at Ephesus how he is praying for them. This last section in chapter 3 is considered another one of the Pauline prayers. The apostle is praying that they are strengthened with might through God’s Spirit in their inner man – their spirit. He prays that they may comprehend the depth, width, length, and height of God’s blessings upon them, so they may know the love of Christ and be filled with all of the fullness of God. This is a prayer that each of us can pray over others as well.
Eph 3:16-21 Forthis reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend, with all of the other saints what is the width and length and depth and height - to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in he church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. NKJV
Amen.