“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, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world…” (Ephesians 1:3,4).
The holidays are times of joyful sights and sounds, of happy gatherings with family and friends. Thanksgiving and Christmas are reminders of God’s grace to all. Unfortunately for many of us, holidays are also mixed with feelings of disappointment and sadness, because of our awareness of losses or “what might have been.” This Thanksgiving time has been sweet, but I must confess, I have been fighting some anxieties, some doubts, and have grumbled. I look at the troubles of the world right now, with Covid’s deaths and isolations, at the recent US election mess, and I complain.
You can probably relate to these frustrations and may have serious personal struggles on top of the issues I mentioned. This troubled year and the suffering with it have been a spiritual crisis for many Christians. With me, you might have said, “This is not the way things should be!” We are tempted to question God’s good management and care. He has promised blessings, yet we don’t feel blessed. We wonder at times, “If God is blessing me, how would I know? It doesn’t feel like I’m being blessed right now. When will the blessings begin, and what will they look like?” With these anxieties come a heavy burden of self-preoccupation, and we forget the infinitely greater realities from God’s word.
Some Christians will tell us that suffering in our lives demonstrates a lack of faith, and that if we had more faith to move God, His blessings would pour out on us in very tangible ways, with comfort and success. Christians often forget the infinite realities of God’s word. This is the time to resist the devil by fleeing to reality, to His word. So for refuge, let’s take cover in Ephesians 1.
God has given a strong, invincible foundation for our faith in what He has already done for us. He has already blessed us with every spiritual blessing, by choosing us, in Christ, before the world was created. Ephesians 1 shows us what our blessings are, and they are real and personal. So let’s take a closer look at this passage.
Faith in Jesus is no accident.
Faith in Jesus is no accident. Saving faith has an infinite, cosmic, eternal foundation that began before God said, “Let there be light,” before there was matter or energy, or even space. The holy Trinity counseled and willed that you would be in Christ, and receive every blessing because of Him.
Paul makes this even more personal and definite:
“In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will…” (Eph. 1:4,5).
In love He predestined us. Let’s not fear that word “predestined.” Many Christians have difficulties around that word with its big implications. Here, it means that God knew you, by name, before the beginning of creation. Paul brings in predestination to give us an unshakeable foundation for faith, the confidence that no evil power in the entire universe, and nothing within our own shaky, troubled souls, can change what God purposed and willed long ago. He chose your adoption, and that can never be reversed. If you are in Christ, you have that mighty certainty, an unbreakable membership in His family, and you will never be abandoned. His purpose for you always cancels any doubts about who you really are, despite how you feel now. Faith requires strong assurance, and here, Paul uses the strongest trust-building language to give us the confidence we desperately need.
His assurance comes with a most personal guarantee:
“In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it.”
When we truly hear the gospel and believe, we feel sorrow for our sins and repent. We realize our need of Jesus’ blood to redeem us. We receive faith as God’s gift (Eph. 2:8). He forgives us, adopts us, and seals us with the Holy Spirit. The Spirit’s presence in us is the down-payment of the full measure of inheritance that will come later.
So who is eligible for all these great blessings?
Only sinners are eligible…
So who is eligible for all these great blessings? Only sinners are eligible, those who were lost, helpless people who are now forgiven and adopted through faith in Jesus. Paul writes this letter to the “saints in Ephesus,” a certain group of people. Are they holier, more virtuous people than most Christians? No, all the Ephesian Christians are saints, and we see that Paul applies “saint” to other churches. They are the forgiven people (See Philippians 1 and 1Cor. 4:21), sealed and set apart for God. If you trust in Jesus for your salvation, you are a saint.
The Spirit is the true seal of the living God. Some of us were taught that the Sabbath is the seal of God. That day has variations and “shadow due to turning,” a temporary blessing that depends on the daily turning of our planet in the sunlight. The Holy Spirit dwelling in us has no variation, no shadows of turning (James 2:17), and guarantees an eternity with Him. Jesus told His disciples, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him” (John 14:23). The weak fluctuations of our day-keeping can never bring or keep God’s presence with us like that. Our “seal” of confidence is our living connection to Jesus and His Father, through the Spirit living in us. That is a permanent indwelling. Just as no power of darkness can threaten Christ, no evil power can tear you away from your real family in Him.
Every member of God’s family can count on vast and invincible blessings. Let’s enumerate just a few of them:
- Verse 7 – “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses.”
Your sins, past, present, and future, all of them, are forgiven. Not only that, you are fully justified before God. Our Accuser has been stripped of his best weapon, our guilt before God. Ignore Satan’s noisy accusations.
- Before the throne of God, you are considered perfect as Jesus Christ. Hebrews 10:14: “For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.”
- You have an Intercessor. You have such a high priest who stands before God, praying for you and saving you to the uttermost (Hebrews 7:25). Robert Murray M’Cheyne, a 19th century Scottish minister, said this: “If I could hear Christ praying for me in the next room, I would not fear a million enemies. Yet the distance makes no difference; he is praying for me!”
- All Your needs will be supplied. “And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 4:19).
In addition, with Christ you have an infinite inheritance (Eph. 1:11).
- You will grow in grace and become more like Him. In this life, God’s grace will abound in you, with sufficiency for every good work (2Corinthians 9:8).
“And He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6).
- You will never die. if your body dies, He keeps your spirit alive. Jesus told grieving friend, Martha, “Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die” (John 11:25-26). When you die your spirit goes to be with Jesus, and when He comes, your living spirit will be given a new body (2Cor. 5:1-10).
Why is He doing all this for us? It is “for the praise of His glory.” Nothing is better than knowing and seeing God’s glory. That is why we can look forward to the best of all blessings, that moment we will meet Jesus in person, face to face. We can eat and drink with Him, talk with Him, touch Him, and listen to His voice. No other temporary suffering or blessing can ever compare to that moment that we will see Jesus, just as He is.
Right now, the moon is rising,
exactly where it should be, and exactly on time.
Right now, the moon is rising, exactly where it should be, and exactly on time. Why is this significant? Well, I’ll tell you. In Psalm 89, David describes God’s covenant with him, with the promise of an eternal dynasty. God told David that the sun and moon rise and set, day and night, to demonstrate His faithfulness. There will always be a son of David to rule from David’s throne, no matter what happened to the nation. The sun and moon’s steady cycles would testify to God’s faithfulness to David’s offspring. God told David that the moon is His “faithful witness in the skies” (Psalm 89:37).
For the Hebrews, the moon’s phases regulated their worship and reminded them of God’s faithful covenant with them. In Genesis 1:14, the moon was given for signs and seasons. The moon also is a symbol of the Son of David who would arise and bring everlasting peace and righteousness. Psalms and Isaiah tell us that this Son, the suffering Servant, would suffer and die for the sins of His people.
It seems appropriate that over its lifetime, His “faithful witness,” the moon, has been battered and scarred by space debris while protecting earth. The moon is covered with the marks of millions of collisions, yet it faithfully rises and shines its silvery light on us. When you see our faithful moon, remember Jesus, our battered, scarred, and faithful King. Remember the eternal, invincible foundation that God has laid for your faith in Him. In Jesus, you have received every blessing in the heavens, and no one can take them away. †
The moon photo was taken with a 10″ telescope in our driveway on October 22, 2020. —Martin Carey
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