Daily Devotions
Ephesians
"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."
Text: Ephesians 1:3
JUDEO-CHRISTIAN
The Christian religion today is described as “Judeo-Christian”. This phrase acknowledges the roots of the Christian religion to the ancient faith of the Jews. In another epistle Paul wrote, he discussed the subject of both Jew and Gentile sharing the same God.
“Or is He the God of the Jews only?
Is He not also the God of the Gentiles?
Yes, of the Gentiles also, since there is one God
who will justify the circumcised by faith
and the uncircumcised through faith.”
ROMANS 3:29-30
In Paul’s theology, Jew and Gentile may speak of blessing the name of God with equal right and boldness!
CLEAR DISTINCTIONS KEPT CONSISTENTLY
Paul ensured, in all his writing, that he kept the distinctions between God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ consistent.
1. Tracing the blessings back to God the Father
That this line of thought be kept strong and consistent was both right and necessary. Paul would have no problem agreeing with the psalmist who penned the following words.
“Bless the LORD, O my soul;
And all that is within me, bless His holy name!
Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:
Who forgives all your iniquities,
Who heals all your diseases,
Who redeems your life from destruction,
Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies;
Who satisfies your mouth with good things,
So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.”
PSALM 103:1-5
Paul blessed the God of his father Abraham, “who (had) blessed us… with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places”.
2. “In Christ”
How could anyone, Jew or Gentile obtain “every blessing in the heavenly places”? This simple phrase more than equaled the elaborate way in which the psalmist sought to describe God’s blessings.
Paul decidedly traced the role that Jesus played in making these supernal blessings possible. These glorious blessings were made possible only “in Christ”. There was no mistaking the fact that Paul saw Jesus as the Christ of God. He was the Anointed One, the Messiah of ancient prophecies. It was in and through this Christ Jesus, the fullness of God’s blessings were poured out on “the saints and faithful”.