The Apostle Paul begins his letter with a long and complex sentence (verses 3-10) that is like trying to drink from a firehose. We’ll break this down into smaller segments in the coming weeks.

Bless God

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places” (v. 3).

The idea of blessing God means to give Him praise and glory, because He is worthy of all praise. This can be difficult for at times. We get so busy and distracted just trying to make it through another day that we don’t notice and thank God for all that is good in our lives. We are designed and called to praise Him. The Westminster Catechism say that our chief purpose is “to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” Even our Lord Jesus Christ praised and depended on His Father (see Luke 9:18 and 11:1-4 for example).

Reasons for Praise

God has blessed us and we bless Him. We love Him because He first loved us (1 John 4:19). He is initiating the relationship and we are responding to Him. Paul answers three questions in this first verse.

1) How Has He Blessed Us?

Paul says God has blessed us “in Christ.” This is covenant language that may not be evident to us in our highly individualized culture. Every person is born into the family of Adam. He was the head of our family, but because of Adam’s sin, we are all born into sin and the curse of damnation. But through Jesus Christ we are adopted into God’s family (Rom. 8:15). Jesus is now our head, and we are made holy in Him. All the blessings that belong to Jesus are now ours because of Him. Our blessings are secured by what He has done for us, not by anything we could ever do.

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2) With What Has He Blessed Us?

We are blessed with “every spiritual blessing.” It’s not just one blessing or a few blessings, but every blessing. But it is also every spiritual blessing—not material, physical, or financial blessings that are promised, but something better. The “prosperity gospel” claims that we are promised all the material blessings we want in this life, but that is not biblical. Spiritual blessings may not be what we think we want, but they are what we really need.

3) Where Are We Blessed?

We are blessed with every spiritual blessing “in the heavenly places.” Paul uses this phrase a few times in Ephesians. In 1:20 we learn that this is where Christ is now seated at God’s right hand. In 2:6 Paul says that we too have been seated with Christ here. Although this is not physical experience, it illustrates our position in God’s eternal family. And in 6:12 we’re told that there is a spiritual battle being held in the heavenly places, though the outcome is already secured.

The heavenly places are the place of “real life.” Like a teen playing a computer game, we can get caught up in things that are really only temporary. The things we work so hard to gain in this life will be left behind when we are raised to eternal life. Everything we have here is fleeting. For example, in verse 5 we read “He predestined us for adoption to Himself as sons.” We may have a good relationship with our earthly father, or we may not, but the best of fathers can’t compare to God’s Fatherhood. Our earthly families are just a shadow of the eternal reality.

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As we’ll see in later chapters, these spiritual realities do have an impact on our daily lives. In Christ we know our purpose and destiny, we are forgiven, our relationships with God and others are restored, and our eternity is secure. When we realize our blessings in Christ, we can be quick to bless God by giving Him the glory for all good things.

“While [Jesus] blessed them, He parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped Him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple blessing God” (Luke 24:51-53).

Discussion Questions

1) When you see #blessed or hear someone say “I’m blessed,” what is your first thought? Are they necessarily thanking God? Are they using “blessing” in the same way that Paul is in Ephesians 1:3-10?

2) Read through Ephesians 1 and make a list of the blessings mentioned. What stands out to you from this list?

3) How does this view of our “spiritual blessings in the heavenly places” help to keep life in perspective? Do financial or physical challenges seem more real than eternal blessings?