January 25, 2023 IN HIM
From Ephesians 1 “blessed with every spiritual blessing” “He chose us in Him” “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace, which He lavished upon us” “He made known to us the mystery of His will” “predestined according to His purpose” “sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise” “that God---may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe.”
Several times in the first chapter of Ephesians, you find the words ‘in Him.’ Everything hinges on whether or not one is ‘in Him;’ the blessings, and the promises of God are reserved for those who are in Christ; one can spend a life time discovering just what those promises and blessing are. Paul begins this letter by saying that believers have been “Blessed with every spiritual blessing;” whatever spiritual blessing there are, we have them! As we think about spiritual blessings, we may be guilty of seeing the spiritual as somewhat mystical, or untouchable, or something that is not practical, or even reserved for heaven. However, the scriptures tell us that what is unseen, the spiritual, is eternal, while what we see with our eyes is temporal. 2 Corinthians 4:18. The blessings that come as a result of being in Him impacts every aspect of our lives; we must not compartmentalize our lives into spiritual and secular; all we do is to flow from the life of Christ in us. As we read and meditate on the above scriptures and the blessing that come to those who are in Him, we may find ourselves asking if it all is too good to be true and if the blessings are for us personally. Only because we are ‘in Him,’ we have been redeemed and forgiven of all of our trespasses, we now understand the mysteries of God that He has revealed to us, He has predestined us to be conformed to the image of His Son, we are sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, and God gives us a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him! We cannot in our own wisdom and knowledge come to understand or experience the blessings that come by being in Him; that is why Paul prayed for you and I, that the eyes of our heart would be enlightened-that we might come to know the abundant riches we have in Him. May we turn our hearts fully to Him and seek to know Him, depending on the Holy Spirit to reveal to us the blessings of being in Christ.
Ephesians 1:19-21 “and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him form the dead, and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come.”
Blessings,
Buddy
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