Skip to main content

Spiritual Blessings In Christ


Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
Ephesians 1:3 






            Will you imagine with me for a moment that one of the wealthiest people in the world, say Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos, in an attempt to help the disadvantaged children of a particular region, started a school. As you can imagine, there would be many who would want to receive the benefit of attending such a school supported by such a benefactor. To have such a school, some guidelines would have to be established. There would have to be age, economic, and other considerations taken into account for one to be admitted and to receive the benefits of being enrolled in the school. We all accept that to receive the benefits of such a school one must be admitted into the school. 

            The LORD has provided us a home for those who will obey the Gospel. He wants to bless each with spiritual blessings. There is a specific location and source of all spiritual blessings. It is God who has blessed us in Christ. Paul repeatedly reminds the Christians in Ephesus that the only place that can receive spiritual blessings is in Christ. There are no spiritual blessings outside of Christ. Sure, the sun rises on the evil and the good, and the rain falls on the just and the unjust (cf. Mt. 5:45), but that is not the same as spiritual blessings that are realized in Christ. If a school is built in an impoverished land, surely that society will benefit from educated children who can help the future of that society. In the same way, Christians, just by their presence in society, will improve it by the fruit that we produce. Those benefits pale in comparison to the spiritual blessings Christ offers.

            The location of being in Christ is the place where we receive the spiritual blessings in Christ. That location is where God has deposited us in His church. (cf. Acts 2:41-42;47). If you would like to receive the benefit of Christ, you must do as all Christians have done. Will you obey the Gospel and receive all the spiritual blessings that await you in Christ? 

Grace and Peace, 

Ryan 



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Can a Christian Celebrate a Secular Christmas?

         Can a Christian celebrate a secular Christmas? This is a good question and one that deserves an honest answer. This week I read the following, “If you don’t talk about Jesus at Christmas time, you miss Jesus. If you do not sing those scriptural songs focusing on Jesus, you miss Jesus. You might have grown up in a church where “Christmas” was a “Jesus-free” day.” These were some accusations leveled against some brethren by a well-known preacher in our brotherhood. In this article, I wish to set the record straight on how it is rather simple to celebrate a secular Christmas and it not be a “Jesus-free” day. I contend that no day is “Jesus free” for a New Testament Christian.            First, this brother accuses the church “of not knowing what to do with Christmas. They celebrate it in their homes, but avoid it at all costs in church.” I contend that the preachers who preach the whole counsel of God know what to do with...

Frustrating Pekah

          In the days of Pekah king of Israel came Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, and took Ijon, and Abel-beth-maacah, and Janoah, and Kedesh, and Hazor, and Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali; and he carried them captive to Assyria. 30 And Hoshea the son of Elah made a conspiracy against Pekah the son of Remaliah, and smote him, and slew him, and reigned in his stead, in the twentieth year of Jotham the son of Uzziah.   2 Kings 15:29-30                   I like movies where the villain’s plans are frustrated by the only good guy around. There is something invigorating about the triumph of good over evil. Pekah the king of Israel was evil.   In addition to the account here in 2 Kings 15, we also have some information about him in the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah 7:1-9; 8:1-8 tell us of Pekah’s intention to replace Ahaz the king of Judah with another ...

I Am So Busy!

       “I am so busy,” I said. I have this habit of letting life push me around with the various things that have to be done. Then I remembered that God has called busy men throughout all of time. I remembered that busyness nor tasks are an excuse to the Lord God.  “Now Moses was keeping the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the back of the wilderness, and came to the mountain of God, unto Horeb” (Ex. 3:1)      God called Moses, who was busy with the flocks of his father in law. It sure would have been easier to keep his eyes to the ground, keep his eyes on only the sheep and not the burning bush.  He could have said, “No, too busy.” However, he looked and listened and the children of Abraham received a great prophet.  “And Samuel said unto Jesse, Are here all thy children? And he said, There remaineth yet the youngest, and, behold, he is keeping the sheep. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Send a...