Ephesians 1:3-14 The blessings of Eternal Salvation
Please read verses 3-6 The plan from eternity past
Paul wants us to see God as the blessed One because God blesses us. To the extent God has blessed us is with all spiritual blessings and Paul is going to expand upon them. In Philippians 1:6 Paul said;
Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:
Philippians 1:6
Now Paul will tell us why he is so confident that God will perform it until we meet Jesus. If God blesses us with ALL spiritual blessings, then that should indicate that He plans continue with us. The term “spiritual blessings in Heavenly places” is important as it should keep our eyes on Heaven and not what happens here on earth. If one does not truly believe, in their heart, that there is a heavenly reward they will live only for what they experience in this world and will judge God’s blessing by what takes place in the here and now.
In verse four people will take off in either one of two directions. The words “chosen us in him before the foundation of the world;” to some means we were chosen to be saved and to others, it means saints are chosen for blessings. We need to focus our attention on the words “in him.” It says God chose the “in him” to be blameless. We should not make it say God chose us “to be in him” because that would change the meaning of what we are being told. The proposition in as “in him” is important. This verse is not telling us how these people got to be in Him. What it does tell us is what God wants for those who are in Him.
Now let us fast forward a little bit to verses twelve and thirteen where we are told who are the “in Him.” All the blessing, that Paul reveals to us, are given to those who “first trusted in Christ.” It also address how they came to trust in Christ; “after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation…” That my brother is free will! So be wise and use your free will to trust Jesus and all that we will read will be yours.
Now that you have trusted in Jesus and are in Him we can see what God has planned for believes from the foundation of the world. Believers are to be blameless. What a wonderful feeling to know that because of Jesus, we will not have to stand in judgement for the sins we have committed. The unrepentant will be call before God’s righteous judgement and it will be a most horrific sight and an unimaginable feeling for those who hear their name. However, the joy of never having to experience that is beyond comprehension as we will not fully experience this until that time.
Okay, so we are cleared from judgement; great, but what then? Are we left in an existential vacuum? That is not so because God also allows us to be heirs of His kingdom. Adoption is the act of making someone an heir of their wealth. Their wealth? God’s wealth! Yes, and it is God’s good pleasure to make us His heir. We did absolutely nothing to deserve to be an heir of God’s wealth, it is simply out of His grace that we are accepted in this relationship.
Action: Tell yourself that you made the right decision to trust in Jesus Christ. Then thank God for choosing you to be blameless and making you His heir. Next get your favorite drink and sit down to meditate on the fact that you will be an heir in the greatest Kingdom. Think what that will be like.