“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...” Ephesians 1:3

Enter In

Our exclamation of blessing upon the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is the direct result of our being brought into the sweetest communion and fellowship that our souls have ever or will ever know. That communion and fellowship is of course with our Lord Jesus Christ. Notice that it is not stated by Paul in an impersonal way – the Lord Jesus Christ – but in a personal and intimate way – “our Lord Jesus Christ.” God the Father is first and foremost the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. This primary relationship that Jesus has with His Father in heaven has direct impact on our relationship with the Father. Because we are in Christ Jesus and the Father is first the Father of our Lord, then He also has become our Father by our adoption as sons and daughters. We have been brought deeply into this sweet communion and fellowship that exists between God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Freely Receive

Because we are in this deepest communion between the two through the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit, then we are blessed in Christ Jesus with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. I see in these blessings that the greatest and highest and most profound spiritual blessing into which we believers have entered is indeed the sweet communion and fellowship of having God as our Father and Jesus as our Lord (and Brother). From this communion flows every other spiritual blessing bestowed upon us from God. In fact, this communion is now our very life. This communion with God is now our very joy and every pleasure.  Jesus expressed it Himself in His high priestly prayer: 

“Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” John 17:1-3

Eternal life is knowing God and all of the blessings that come with life eternal flow from our deepest communion and fellowship with God through the gospel…and Jesus is the gospel…our Lord Jesus Christ is the good news.

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” James 1:17

Let’s not stop there in our quotation of James. He goes on in the next verse: 

“Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures.” James 1:18

And we know that this word of truth is bound up in the living Word who became flesh and tabernacled among us, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14) Jesus is our light and our life and in Him is bound up every spiritual blessing in heavenly places and chief among those blessings that we have received is a new relation to the God of glory, our Father who is in heaven. 

Bless His Name

Welcome to the family of God all who are, by faith, in Christ Jesus! Paul is just getting started in this first chapter of Ephesians, unfolding the blessings of this new relationship. In the verses ahead he expounds on the how and why of our newfound life and communion with God the Father. But for now, know and be encouraged that God our Father has blessed everyone who is in Christ Jesus with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places. Bless His holy name! And after we know it and allow its encouragement to flow through our spiritual arteries, we ought to live in the wondrous truths of this new life-giving and life-sustaining fellowship that we have with God. Let the sustenance of this sweet fellowship with God provide spiritual nourishment and energy and power by the Spirit of God to fuel our heart’s desires to be directed to living out the will of God as followers of Jesus Christ. 

May each one who knows Him experience the fullness of every spiritual blessing given in Christ Jesus our Lord. Blessings and praise to our God!