Eph 1:3 | KingComments | STEP | . This verse is the beginning of a long sentence that ends with . From there comes one continuous flood of blessings running over you. It is as if Paul only stops after to breathe. In this section you find the source, the center, the area, the nature, the origin and the purpose of all these blessings. This section can be divided into three parts. Every part closes with a praise on God’s glory ( ): 1. closes the part that tells about the will of God ( ); 2. closes the part in which the work of the Son is centered ( ); 3. finally closes the part that tells about the work of the Holy Spirit ( ). You see that all three Persons of the Godhead are involved with the blessings of the Christian. When after the introductory words ( ) Paul wants to write about the blessings of the Christian, first of all a praise to God arises in his heart. He is intensely impressed by all that he – and every Christian – has received from God. He praises and honors God for that. What a wonderful beginning! Through “blessed” he wants to express that there are only good things to say about God. To bless means ‘to speak well of’. He calls God here “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ”. That means God is seen here as God and as Father. These are the two ways in which He is related to His Son. In these two ways He is also related to the believer. He is also the God and Father of each of His children. The Son is “our Lord Jesus Christ”. Paul mentions Him with His full name. 1. He is “Lord”, He has all authority. 2. He is “Jesus”, that is the name He received when he was born ( ) and which expresses His humiliation and lowliness. 3. He is “Christ”, and that is ‘Anointed’. That name expresses that God will accomplish all His counsels in Him, where Christ Himself will have the central place. Both names that are used for God show His relationship with the Lord Jesus. To the Lord Jesus as Man He is God. The Lord Jesus called Him on earth ‘My God’. To the Lord Jesus as the eternal Son He is Father. In John 20 the Lord used both names and He brings the disciples in connection with Him when He says: “I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God” ( ). By using these names He points at the essence of the specific Christian blessings that result there from. These names of God, related with His Son, are the basic principle of the letter we have before us. Our blessings are connected with these two names. The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is the absolute source of all our blessings. The believers from the Old Testament were not familiar with this name of God. That is because at that time there was not a risen and glorified Lord to Whom this letter is connected. The Lord, risen and glorified by God, is the center of this letter. And we have also become partakers through our connection both with God and the Lord Jesus Christ. We have become partakers not only because these blessings have been promised to us, but they are our property. It is not written that God will bless us with them, but that He has blessed us with them. We now can take a look at the nature of those blessings. We read that it is about “spiritual blessing”. The meaning of that becomes clear if we compare it with the blessings of Israel. If Israel were obedient, it could have counted on the blessings that it could take from the land. You can read that for example in Deuteronomy 8 ( ). Their blessings were promised on condition and they were material. You could grasp them with your hands. The blessing of the Christian is spiritual. That blessing you cannot grasp with your hands, you can ‘grasp’ it only spiritually, namely with your heart ( ). Also there are no conditions for receiving them. The ‘spiritual blessing’ is the unconditional portion of every Christian. [Just a reminder: The condition indeed is that they are only enjoyed by ‘saints and faithful’ ( ).] The comparison with Israel is also clarified when it refers to the area where you can find the blessing. The blessing of Israel was on the earth, where they stood with their feet ( ). That of the Christian is “in heavenly [places]”, with further specifics “in Christ”. That addition is the essence of all blessings that are received. No blessing has been given to us apart from Christ. For God and the Father everything is connected with Him, the Man of His pleasure Who has accomplished His whole will. All that an Almighty God could think of to reward the Lord Jesus for what He did, God has given to Him ( ; ). The great wonder of grace is that everyone who believes ( ), shares in what He has received ( ). There is one more word I want to point to before we continue with the following verse and that is the word “all”. From what we saw, we can conclude that God did not hold back any blessing, but ‘all’ emphasizes that. A fullness of blessing is the portion of everyone who is ‘in Christ’. The word ‘blessing’, which is a singular form, indicates that it is about fullness. The fullness of blessing we can also summarize as: eternal life. Everyone who believes in the Lord Jesus, has received eternal life ( ). In 1 John 5 we read of Him: “This is the true God and eternal life” ( ). So everyone who has eternal life has the Son as his life. The conclusion is that all who believe have a portion in all that the Son has. If you take a look at how John approaches the blessing and how Paul does, you notice a difference. John talks about life, the Son, in us. Paul says that we are in the Son, in Christ, and in that position we have received our blessings. These different approaches do not contradict, but complement each other. Regarding this matter, I finally want to point out that many Christians are not aware of the riches they have in Christ. We can compare these Christians with the old woman who received from her son who lived abroad, a check which she could cash for a remarkable amount of money. But she did not know what to do with it. To her it was just a piece of paper. Because it came from her son she treasured it. Giving it a nice place on the wall was the only thing she could do with it. But that was not the reason her son sent the check. He wanted her to cash it in order to live without worries. This example might not be good enough, but it clarifies how many Christians look at blessings given by God. I sincerely hope that you are not like that, but that you will enjoy all that God has given to you in Christ. And what God has given, is abundantly present in this letter. Now read Ephesians 1:3 again. Reflection: What do you think when you ponder over the name ‘God’ and the name ‘Father’?

‏ Ephesians 1:3

Spiritual Blessing

Eph 1:3. This verse is the beginning of a long sentence that ends with Eph 1:14. From Eph 1:3 there comes one continuous flood of blessings running over you. It is as if Paul only stops after Eph 1:14 to breathe. In this section you find the source, the center, the area, the nature, the origin and the purpose of all these blessings.

This section can be divided into three parts. Every part closes with a praise on God’s glory (Eph 1:6 ; 12 ; 14):

1. Eph 1:6 closes the part that tells about the will of God (Eph 1:3-6);

2. Eph 1:12 closes the part in which the work of the Son is centered (Eph 1:7-12);

3. Eph 1:14 finally closes the part that tells about the work of the Holy Spirit (Eph 1:13-14).

You see that all three Persons of the Godhead are involved with the blessings of the Christian.

When after the introductory words (Eph 1:1-2) Paul wants to write about the blessings of the Christian, first of all a praise to God arises in his heart. He is intensely impressed by all that he – and every Christian – has received from God. He praises and honors God for that. What a wonderful beginning! Through “blessed” he wants to express that there are only good things to say about God. To bless means ‘to speak well of’.

He calls God here “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ”. That means God is seen here as God and as Father. These are the two ways in which He is related to His Son. In these two ways He is also related to the believer. He is also the God and Father of each of His children. The Son is “our Lord Jesus Christ”. Paul mentions Him with His full name.

1. He is “Lord”, He has all authority.

2. He is “Jesus”, that is the name He received when he was born (Mt 1:21) and which expresses His humiliation and lowliness.

3. He is “Christ”, and that is ‘Anointed’. That name expresses that God will accomplish all His counsels in Him, where Christ Himself will have the central place.

Both names that are used for God show His relationship with the Lord Jesus. To the Lord Jesus as Man He is God. The Lord Jesus called Him on earth ‘My God’. To the Lord Jesus as the eternal Son He is Father. In John 20 the Lord used both names and He brings the disciples in connection with Him when He says: “I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God” (Jn 20:17). By using these names He points at the essence of the specific Christian blessings that result there from.

These names of God, related with His Son, are the basic principle of the letter we have before us. Our blessings are connected with these two names. The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is the absolute source of all our blessings.

The believers from the Old Testament were not familiar with this name of God. That is because at that time there was not a risen and glorified Lord to Whom this letter is connected. The Lord, risen and glorified by God, is the center of this letter. And we have also become partakers through our connection both with God and the Lord Jesus Christ. We have become partakers not only because these blessings have been promised to us, but they are our property. It is not written that God will bless us with them, but that He has blessed us with them.

We now can take a look at the nature of those blessings. We read that it is about “spiritual blessing”. The meaning of that becomes clear if we compare it with the blessings of Israel. If Israel were obedient, it could have counted on the blessings that it could take from the land. You can read that for example in Deuteronomy 8 (Deu 8:7-10). Their blessings were promised on condition and they were material. You could grasp them with your hands.

The blessing of the Christian is spiritual. That blessing you cannot grasp with your hands, you can ‘grasp’ it only spiritually, namely with your heart (Eph 1:17-18). Also there are no conditions for receiving them. The ‘spiritual blessing’ is the unconditional portion of every Christian. [Just a reminder: The condition indeed is that they are only enjoyed by ‘saints and faithful’ (Eph 1:1).]

The comparison with Israel is also clarified when it refers to the area where you can find the blessing. The blessing of Israel was on the earth, where they stood with their feet (Jos 1:3). That of the Christian is “in heavenly [places]”, with further specifics “in Christ”. That addition is the essence of all blessings that are received. No blessing has been given to us apart from Christ.

For God and the Father everything is connected with Him, the Man of His pleasure Who has accomplished His whole will. All that an Almighty God could think of to reward the Lord Jesus for what He did, God has given to Him (Mt 11:27; Jn 3:35 ; Jn 13:3). The great wonder of grace is that everyone who believes (Eph 1:13), shares in what He has received (Jn 17:22 ; 26).

There is one more word I want to point to before we continue with the following verse and that is the word “all”. From what we saw, we can conclude that God did not hold back any blessing, but ‘all’ emphasizes that. A fullness of blessing is the portion of everyone who is ‘in Christ’. The word ‘blessing’, which is a singular form, indicates that it is about fullness.

The fullness of blessing we can also summarize as: eternal life. Everyone who believes in the Lord Jesus, has received eternal life (Jn 3:14-16). In 1 John 5 we read of Him: “This is the true God and eternal life” (1Jn 5:20). So everyone who has eternal life has the Son as his life. The conclusion is that all who believe have a portion in all that the Son has.

If you take a look at how John approaches the blessing and how Paul does, you notice a difference. John talks about life, the Son, in us. Paul says that we are in the Son, in Christ, and in that position we have received our blessings. These different approaches do not contradict, but complement each other.

Regarding this matter, I finally want to point out that many Christians are not aware of the riches they have in Christ. We can compare these Christians with the old woman who received from her son who lived abroad, a check which she could cash for a remarkable amount of money. But she did not know what to do with it. To her it was just a piece of paper. Because it came from her son she treasured it. Giving it a nice place on the wall was the only thing she could do with it. But that was not the reason her son sent the check. He wanted her to cash it in order to live without worries.

This example might not be good enough, but it clarifies how many Christians look at blessings given by God. I sincerely hope that you are not like that, but that you will enjoy all that God has given to you in Christ. And what God has given, is abundantly present in this letter.

Now read Ephesians 1:3 again.

Reflection: What do you think when you ponder over the name ‘God’ and the name ‘Father’?