As
Paul the apostle began his introduction in his letter to the Ephesian
church members, he told them about his calling as “an
apostle”
or “sent out one” by “the will of
God”. He
also greeted them with typical Pauline greeting which consisted of
both the Gentile greeting, “charis” or
“grace” and
the Hebrew greeting “Shalom” or “peace”
“to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from
the Lord Jesus Christ.” In chapter one and
verse three of his letter, Paul blesses“God
the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ” and
recognize how the people are “blessed”
“with all spiritual blessings in heavenly
places” where we read:
Blessed be
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who has
blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places
in Christ:
The
verse begins, “Blessed be
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,...” Paul
began with the word, “Blessed”
which means
“adorable and praised” “be the
God” or
“the Godhead and trinity which is comprised of God the Father,
Christ the Son and the Holy Spirit” “and
Father” which
refers to “generator or male ancestor” “of
our Lord” which
means “he to whom a person or thing belongs, about which he has
power of deciding; master and the title given to God the Messiah”
“Jesus” whose
name means “Jehovah is Salvation” and refers to “the Son of
God, the Savior of mankind and God incarnate” “Christ”
or “the
anointed one, Messiah and the Son of God”. Paul begins his
“blessing”
by directing it to “the God and
Father” of
“our Lord Jesus Christ”.
The
verse goes on to say, “...who
has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places
in Christ:” Paul
added, “who has blessed us” or
“invoked praise, consecrated a thing with solemn prayers, made
happy, bestowed blessings on and had the favor of God” “with
all spiritual” which
means “relating to the human spirit or rational soul as part of the
man which is akin to God and serves as his instrument or organ”
“blessings” or
“invoked praise, consecrated a thing with solemn prayers, made
happy and bestowed blessings on and had the favor of God” “in
heavenly” which
means “existing in heaven and heavenly regions” “places”
or “by,
with and in relation to” “in
Christ” or
“the anointed one, Messiah and the Son of God”.
When
we meditate upon Paul's words, we see a great balance between
“blessing” God and His Son “Jesus” and how we
are “blessed” with “spiritual blessings”. Paul
felt this important enough to mention it in his introductory
greeting, and if he acknowledged “God the Father” and
“Jesus the Son” in this manner, how much more should we be
doing this to receive our “spiritual blessings in heavenly
places in Christ” as well?
Next
time Paul shares how we are “chosen before the
foundations of the world”, so
read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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