His Heart, My Home

During this holiday season, from Thanksgiving through Christmas, we are reflecting on the loving-kindness and gracious generosity of our Heavenly Father, and thanking Him for His most precious gift to us, His Son, Jesus, the Christ, our Lord and Savior.

³  “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, ⁴ just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, ⁵ having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, ⁶ to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved, ⁷ in Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.” (Ephesians 1:3-7, NKJV)

BLESSINGS ARE MORE THAN WORDS
The Greek word for “blessed” is “eulogeo”. It is used three times in verse 3. “Eulogeo” means “to speak good words; to speak well”. It is the same word from which we derive our English word “eulogy.”

Throughout the Bible, God uses the power of faith-filled words to pronounce blessings upon His people. One of the best examples is Aaron and his sons in the performance of their priestly duties.

They were instructed to speak God’s blessing upon His people with the words recorded in Numbers 6:23-26: “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace.”

This was an exercise in faith, and there was an expectation that God would respond to that spoken blessing with the power of His divine presence.

The essence of the word “eulogeo” extends far beyond the concept of “mere kind words”. It encompasses every conceivable spiritual gift, favor, and blessing that God has to offer.

THESE BLESSINGS ARE OURS NOW
Notice this: the verb phrase “has blessed” in this verse is in the past tense. As far as God is concerned these blessings have already been given. They already belong to us “in Christ”. They originate in and flow out of Christ to those in spiritual union with Him.

Christ is now in heaven, seated at the Father’s right hand. But where are we right now? We are “in Christ”, and we are seated together with Him in heavenly places. That is the truth of our position in Christ, therefore, these blessings are our present possession. (2 Corinthians 5:17 and Ephesians 2:6)

Other translations of Ephesians 1:3 read as follows:

● (Hayman) – ” Praised, be the God and Father of Jesus Christ, our Lord, for His blessing extended to us, carrying every spiritual privilege, which heaven contains and Christ bestows.”

● (Lovett) – “…who has endowed us with every last blessing available, through Christ, in the heavenlies.”

● (Norlie) – “… who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing that heaven itself enjoys.”

● (Phillips) – “… every possible spiritual benefit as citizens of heaven!”

The apostle Paul was so excited about the truths in this passage, that he may have burned up his quill-pen, as he wrote at about 120 miles an hour. His “stream-of-consciousness” revelation is one incredibly long sentence in the Greek text, exactly 202 words!

We are going to look at some of the important points, as they relate to our blessing in Christ.
Just as we have a “Bill of Rights”, enumerating what belongs us as American citizens, we also have our “In Christ Rights” detailing the blessings and benefits that belong to us as citizens of heaven.

OVERFLOWING BLESSINGS IN CHRIST! Ephesians 1:3-7 – God tells us we are:

● CHOSEN – Before He even created the world,
we were His highest priority. We were chosen to populate the creation God was about to construct. I sometimes wish there was a book of the Bible called “Genesis, the Prequel“. In it, we would learn about Jesus, as the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world, and how God always knew that He loved us and that we would become a part of His family. What an awesome account of the Father’s wisdom and love!

● HOLY – “…without a single fault” (Living Bible)
“… holy ones and without blemish before His searching, penetrating gaze.” (Wuest)

● LOVED – “… settled on us as the focus of His love.” (The Message)

● ADOPTED as HEIRS – The laws of Rome and the Roman concept of adoption were observed and adhered to in the nations and cultures that were part of the Roman empire.

When a child was born biologically, the parents had the option of disowning the child for a variety of reasons. The relationship therefore was not necessarily desired by the parent, nor permanent.

Not so, however, if a child was adopted. By Roman law, adopting a child meant that the child was freely chosen by the parents. Therefore, that child would be a permanent part of the family. Parents could not disown a child they had adopted.

An adopted child received a new identity. Any debts associated with that child were erased. The child received new rights and was made an heir of the father, a joint-sharer of all the father’s possessions and fully united to him.

● FAVORED – Both the KJV and the NKJV translations read, “He made us “accepted” in the Beloved.” The Greek root word used here is “charitoo”, from the root word “charis”and it goes way beyond “acceptance.”

It is used in only one other place in the New Testament; in Luke 1:28, in the angel Gabriel’s greeting to Jesus’ mother, Mary.

He said,  “Rejoice, highly favored (charitoo) one. The Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women!”

The Old Testament equivalent of “charitoo” is the Hebrew word “chamad.” It means, “to find something precious and desire it to be your own.” This word was used when the angel Gabriel appeared to Daniel and said, “O, man greatly beloved, (chamad) fear not! Peace be to you; be strong, yes, be strong!” (Daniel 10:19)

We are “highly favored” and “greatly beloved”!
Father-God found us to be precious and desired to make us His own, even though it would cost the life of His Son.

And when God wanted to reveal this to us, He didn’t send Gabriel, or some other angel to us. He sent His Son… not only to communicate His love with words, but to demonstrate His message of eternal, unconditional, unfailing love through His birth, life, death, and resurrection.

● REDEEMED – We are ransomed, released, and redeemed by Jesus’ powerfully precious blood. As the redeemed of the Lord, we are to “say so”. (Psalm 107:2)

SELAH: Please listen, and be blessed!

● FORGIVEN– Forgiveness on a human level is often incomplete. Old Bill was dying. For years he had been at odds with Joe, formerly one of his best friends. Wanting to straighten things out, he sent word for Joe to come and see him. When Joe arrived, Bill told him that he was afraid to go into eternity with such a bad feeling between them. Then, very reluctantly and with great effort, Bill apologized for things he had said and done. He assured Joe.that he had forgiven him for his offenses. Everything seemed fine until Joe turned to go.  As he walked out of the room Bill called after him, and said, ” But remember, if I get better, this doesn’t count!”

Fortunately, God’s forgiveness is on a much higher level than Bill’s. The word translated in verse 7 as “forgiveness” is translated elsewhere in the New Testament as “remission” and it means “the total cancellation of a debt; the complete removal of a charge or penalty.”

God forgives “according to (Greek = kata) the riches of His grace.” The word “kata” means “depending on; on the authority of; in light of”
It expresses a motion downwards from a higher place to a lower place.

God’s forgiveness is unlimited because His grace is unlimited. It’s not beyond the reach of our faith!

Psalm 103:12/Isaiah 44:22/Micah 17:18-19
God says: You are forgiven. There is no more debt. Let it go. Don’t ever bring it up again!

WE TRULY ARE BLESSED WITH EVERY BLESSING IN CHRIST!