All Spiritual Blessings Are Yours!!

 Many Christians treat God like the Cosmic Santa Claus! They are frequently ‘naming and claiming’ “blessings” of sort believing that God is obligated to come through for them financially. And no wonder, they are following the preaching and example of their ‘preachers’ and ‘pastors.’ Many of these ‘pastors’ have ‘bling’ that is comparable to Hollywood superstars, and the people seem to view God as a means to the same end! Yes, they esteem God to be no more than a means and not the end! Some even believe they can COMMAND God to deliver on their highly specific prayer requests! They believe if they name it, define it, and claim it, then certainly God will give them their requests if they fervently believe Him for answers. Yes, the Bible does speak of wealth and riches, but is this wealth primarily material or spiritual? First, consider what the Apostle Paul actually said in the Word,

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: 4, According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love (Eph. 1:3, 4).

Where do these blessings come from? Notice that Paul says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” God the Father has made us, Believers, SPIRITUALLY wealthy in Jesus Christ! When we were born again into God’s family, we were born rich. That is correct! Again, do not overlook or dismiss the fact that these blessings are "spiritual" in  nature and not necessarily "material." It is the incredible difference between a new Cadillac and the grace of Almighty God. God has not blessed all Believers with material wealth, but He has already blessed everyone of His children with spiritual riches in Christ. Note that through Christ, we share in the riches of God’s grace (Eph. 1:7; 2:7), God’s glory (Eph. 1:18; 3:16), God’s mercy (Eph. 2:4), and “the unsearchable riches of Christ” (Eph. 3:8). These are our non-material and essential assets as the people of God. It is unfortunate that many Christians readily disregard these as having any essential value! But, without them we cannot be saved, the heirs of God, joint-heirs with Christ, citizens of Heaven, and capable of functioning as a genuine believer. Our Heavenly Father is not poor! While God is extremely generous to us regarding material stuff, that is not what He is referring to in Ephesians 1:3, 4. He is loaded beyond our ability to comprehend, and He has made us spiritually wealthy in His Son, Jesus Christ (Wiersbe, MacDonald, and Walvoord). These are references to spiritual wealth and not automatically temporal and material riches. 

Did you know that John D. Rockefeller, who established Standard Oil when he was 31 years old, is said to have been worth $192 billion by the time he died? He still holds the record for the richest man in American history. At last count, Bill Gates had an estimated net worth of $58 billion dollars. Warren Buffett is said to be worth over $62 billion dollars making him the richest man in the world. In fact, in 2006 he generously donated $31 billion to the Gates charitable foundation. Wiersbe observed, “The weekly income of some of the “oil sheiks” runs into the millions.” These folks have money to burn! Many believers seem far more interested in these types of riches than they are in spiritual wealth. I am convinced that if some believers had to choose between material riches and spiritual wealth they would select material riches! American "Christianity" is far too wealth-driven and much of what is done in the name of Christ merely feeds the pride and arrogance of sensual leaders. It is scandalous what too many supposed 'spiritual leaders' resort to in order to secure more money and material advantages. They are more like the Pharisees Jesus rebuked (Matt. 23:14; Mark 7:9-13) than they are like Christ! Once again consult the Word which says,

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: 4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love (Eph. 1:3, 4).

Spiritual blessings come to us through the Spirit, from the Father of Lights, and were paid for by Jesus Christ. God is Spirit and He is the all sufficient Source of these blessings; this fact has bearing on their nature. Again, where do these blessings come from? Notice that Paul says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” God the Father has made us, believers, spiritually wealthy in Jesus Christ! When we were born again into God’s family, we were born rich in spiritual assets. Immediately after the new birth, God adopted us and gave us the status of adult sons capable of putting His wealth and gifts to work. As adopted sons, God will not disinherit us. That is correct! Again through Christ, we share in the riches of God’s grace (Eph. 1:7; 2:7), God’s glory (Eph. 1:18; 3:16), God’s mercy (Eph. 2:4), and “the unsearchable riches of Christ” (Eph. 3:8). These are not material or temporal, they are spiritual and eternal advantages, opportunities, and assets available to us because of a spiritual relationship with God through Jesus Christ. We may not have much money at all in the bank, but every genuine believer owns these grand riches. Our Heavenly Father owns a cattle on a thousand hills, He owns the hills, and all the material wealth in them; He is so far from material poverty that it cannot be calculated! He is hyper-loaded beyond measure, but God has made us "spiritually" wealthy in His Son, Jesus Christ. It is unfortunate in the extreme that some believers will find this realization unacceptable and utterly repulsive….It is not that God does not give material blessings also; the problem is we seem to value the temporal more than the spiritual. Its like misunderstanding that silver is more valuable than copper, gold is more valuable than silver, and platinum is more valuable than gold. Well, spiritual blessings are far more significant than material ones, and the eternal far outweighs the temporal. Modern American Christians are largely blinded by materialistic values and have little appreciation for these truths. 

Do not be fooled by materialism and the influence/yearning for stuff that generally characterize our generation of Christians. Covetousness is still sin according to the tenth commandment! "Thou shalt not covet" is still a biblical moral standard of the Almighty (Rom. 13:9; Ex. 20:17; Duet. 5:21). The Lord Jesus insists that we beware of the power and traps of covetousness in Luke 12:13-21. He indicates we can become very rich in this worlds goods, but utterly impoverished towards God! Jesus calls a person living primarily for material gain a "fool" in this same passage. It seems we have made a gross mistake of sanctifying greed, avarice, and a general longing for money, power, and status elevating these to virtues in this materialistic society. God still calls this sin! It lies at the very heart of cheating, stealing, and even murder at times! God desires for some to be rich in this world's goods, and that is good and well. It is not wrong or sinful for Christians or a preacher to be rich. I suspect God would have these rich individuals use some of their wealth to advance His genuine ministries and mission in the world. Still the LOVE of money (1Tim. 6:10) is the root of all forms of sinfulness, lies, manipulations, and deception. Some folks are so far gone that they make all their investments for this life on this earth (Matt. 6:19, 20), and they are absolutely bankrupt towards God (Luke 12:16-21). Unfortunately, many believers are trying to manipulate Bible promises made to Israel as a nation by applying them or claiming them for themselves. Contrary to popular belief, every promise in the Book does not belong to us Christians. What God promised to Israel will be realized and fulfilled in the experience of that nation as God sees fit. We are not free to take all the blessings ascribed to the nation of Israel for ourselves while leaving them with all the curses and judgments! There are many promises God made to Christians, let us qualify for these and trust Him for what He actually promised in the Word of God. Just because someone said, "God said" or "God is going to do this for you" does not obligate God at all! These are more the promises of people, often well intention, but incredibly wrong for raising false hopes and lying on God!

Yes, there is no crime in being rich or well off, yet all of these material riches are but “pennies” when compared with the spiritual wealth we have in Christ. In fact, our spiritual wealth is peerless and far beyond any comparison! I am challenging believers to rightly assess and appraise their spiritual portfolios to appreciate what God has provided for us in Christ! In the Book of Ephesians, we discover exactly what this wealth is and how we may draw on it for effective Christian living (Wiersbe). Yes, through our Lord Jesus, fellowship, and devotion to God’s will, Christians can receive and activate every spiritual resource necessary to execute the Father's will (2 Pet. 1:2, 3)! Some of our spiritual wealth pertains to our past, others to our present, and yet others to our future! Beloved, our Heavenly Father freely shares our spiritual inheritance with us presently! Certainly we can praise God for the spiritual wealth we have in Christ!

I.        Praise the Father for His Spiritual Blessings (Eph. 1:3-6a).

A.     He has blessed us (1:3)

B.     He has chosen us (1:4)

C.     He has predestined us (1:5)

D.     He has adopted us (1:5)

E.      He has accepted us (1:6)

II.     Praise the Father for the Son’s Spiritual Blessings (Eph. 1:6b-13a).

A.     We are accepted in Him (Beloved) (1:6b)

B.     We have redemption in Him (1:7)

C.     We have forgiveness in Him (1:7)

D.     We know God’s will in Him (1:8-10)

E.      We have an inheritance in Him (1:11-12)

F.      We have salvation in Him (1:12b-13a)

III.   Praise the Father for the Spirit’s Spiritual Blessings (Eph. 1:13b-14).

A.     We have been sealed by the Spirit (1:13b)

B.     We have the earnest of our inheritance in the Spirit (1:14)

Beloved, we are rich in God concerning spiritual blessings and non-material privileges. We are not orphan children, but we have been greatly honored as the people of God. We have a blessed relationship with the God of the universe. We know the Lord in a personal way. We can fellowship with Him freely in righteousness and true holiness. We not only know Him, but He really knows us and loves us still. As a result of God's grand work of grace, we have love, joy, peace, hope, and holy power always. Believers will never know the bankruptcy of being lost, undone, condemned in sin, and destined for hell ever again! Such poverty and separation from our heavenly Father is a matter of our past, but not our present or future. We presently have a precious relationship with God and that is something to treasure! Beloved, have you appraised your wealth in Christ recently? Meditating on this portion of the Word is like counting your heavenly wealth! Have you counted your blessings lately? You see this is the prosperity God designed for you and me for now.

So what if we never own a 1 million dollar home! It is not really that big a deal if we never park a Bentley in our drive way or garage. It is okay to not have a 7-figure salary at some sheikh job in a major city USA! No, these matters will not matter at all in less than 150 years! They are only temporary and material wealth only takes on eternal significance when used wisely for the Lord's work. I must emphasize using your money wisely. Please do not waste your hard earned money on any and everything claiming to be a ministry. Check it out first to discern the reality with any ministry you give to. It is okay to be skeptical about 'ministries' today...especially those that emphasize money all the time and promise you material prosperity or great health because you give to them. Beware!

Take some time here to count your spiritual blessings. All spiritual blessings are yours...understand? Are you counting and counting on these? If you have, then you also have a great deal to praise your Heavenly Father for...correct? Why? It is because all spiritual blessings are indeed yours!