"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ
Two of Paul's letters seem to be written not so much as letters, but as statements of faith. In Romans, Paul gives his theology of salvation. In Ephesians he discusses our unity with God through Jesus Christ and then how we need to live out our unity with God in our relationships here and now. He begins this with reminding us about all the blessings we have from God through Jesus. Verse three begins this section and continues through verse 14.
Often when we think of being blessed we want it to be in a material form such as extra money that unexpectedly comes in the mail or physical healing and recovery. We may apply it to our relationships here and now, making a new friend, finding the love of our life. But Paul begins with pointing us upward. Our greatest blessings are spiritual. What God has done for us in establishing our relationship with him as far more important, much more a blessing then just putting an extra hundred dollars in our checking account.
Why is that? We have to consider what is real. We are wrapped in flesh, this world is what we see and experience. Physical blessings are things that we see now. Yet the spiritual world is the one that will outlast the here and now. Spiritual reality is more real than physical. So a spiritual blessing is one that stays with us always. We receive extra money today and by tomorrow we have spent it and by the next day after that we are wishing for more. We recover from one illness only to come down with something else later on. Spiritual blessings, our life with God, is for eternity. Now that is a blessing worth having.
Two of Paul's letters seem to be written not so much as letters, but as statements of faith. In Romans, Paul gives his theology of salvation. In Ephesians he discusses our unity with God through Jesus Christ and then how we need to live out our unity with God in our relationships here and now. He begins this with reminding us about all the blessings we have from God through Jesus. Verse three begins this section and continues through verse 14.
Often when we think of being blessed we want it to be in a material form such as extra money that unexpectedly comes in the mail or physical healing and recovery. We may apply it to our relationships here and now, making a new friend, finding the love of our life. But Paul begins with pointing us upward. Our greatest blessings are spiritual. What God has done for us in establishing our relationship with him as far more important, much more a blessing then just putting an extra hundred dollars in our checking account.
Why is that? We have to consider what is real. We are wrapped in flesh, this world is what we see and experience. Physical blessings are things that we see now. Yet the spiritual world is the one that will outlast the here and now. Spiritual reality is more real than physical. So a spiritual blessing is one that stays with us always. We receive extra money today and by tomorrow we have spent it and by the next day after that we are wishing for more. We recover from one illness only to come down with something else later on. Spiritual blessings, our life with God, is for eternity. Now that is a blessing worth having.
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