Spiritual Blessing of Redemption

Ephesians 1:3-14

By William R. Cunningham
March 19, 2000

What is the ultimate blessing that we can obtain? Is it that brand new house, the new car, or the great job? The greatest blessing that we can obtain is the blessing of redemption through Jesus Christ. The ultimate blessing for the Christian is the completion of our redemption through Christ. We are going to discuss the blessing of redemption in this lesson from Paul's letter to the Ephesians. Our lesson's text is Ephesians 1:3-14.

The first word blessed is used as a form of praise and commendation of God. God is also identified as the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The word Lord in the Greek means to have supreme authority or to be the master. This is different than the word Lord used in the Old Testament. The word Lord in the Old Testament means the self-Existent or eternal; Jehovah, Jewish national name of God.

Paul then tells us that we are blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. The word bless here means to speak well of religiously, to thank or invoke a benediction upon, prosper, praise.

The spiritual blessings in the heavenly places (heavenly realms) refer to the fact that all blessings, including what we call material blessings, originate from God and therefore originate in the spirit. All of our blessings from God are spiritual that may manifest themselves as material in our lives.

The heavenly realms refers to the place where God resides or to where the angelic powers live. The perception of heaven at this time was that the heavens were divided into many levels (3-7). Various spiritual beings lived in certain levels where God, the most pure being, lived at the highest level.

We were blessed with every spiritual blessing. The word every here refers to the fact that we have complete or total blessings from God. That is, God has totally blessed us with all things. See Romans 8:28, Colossians 2:10, James 1:17, 2 Peter 1:3. Some are given below.

2 Peter 1:3 (NKJV) as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue,

James 1:17 (NKJV) Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.

The spiritual blessings should not be confused with the idea that God has not blessed us in the physical realm. The term "Spiritual blessings" enhances the idea that all blessings originate from the spirit realm. It is interesting as a side note that all matter (material on this earth, including gases) is various forms or states of energy. Einstein gave the relationship of energy and mass in the famous E = mc2 formula. Just a side note.

In Christ. This identifies that all of our blessings are for those that are a part of the body of Christ. All spiritual blessings are not given to those whom are not saved.

This verse alludes to the doctrine of election, which is that God has chosen the body of Christ for himself since the beginning. Consider the following scripture.

This doesn't suppose that God chose who would be saved and who will not be saved. He has predestined that the Body of Christ would be in the image of his son, Jesus Christ. He purposed in himself that he would have this relationship with the body of Christ (to foreknow).

So the body of Christ has already been chosen to be without blame and holy before him (righteous) in Christ. This can only be done through Jesus Christ so it only applies to those that are born again.

We were first aliens (foreign) to God but now, through Christ, we are grafted in as adopted children into the family of God. God did this according to his own good pleasure and according to his own will. We had nothing to do with it. We are now acceptable to God in Jesus Christ.

The word redemption means, in this context, means to free from what distresses or harms as to free from captivity by payment of ransom, to extricate from or help to overcome something detrimental, to release from blame or debt (clear), to free from the consequences of sin, to repair or restore. So our deliverance from the penalty of sin is through Jesus Christ.

Our redemption is through Christ's blood because the shedding of blood is necessary for the remission of sins (see Hebrews 9:22). See also Acts 2:38, 10:43 and Romans 3:25. Now God did with great wisdom and carefulness such that his great magnitude of grace would me greatly manifested towards us.

God has revealed to us the secrets (things he didn't say before) of his will. He revealed His will to us according to his good pleasure, which he had already purposed he would do.

The "dispensation of the fullness of times" refers to the end of earthly history (the current earth). We may call it the end of the age. At that time all Christians (those who are in Christ) will be gathered together. This alludes to the second coming of Christ and the gathering of those that are still living on the earth as well as those who are already with the LORD in heaven. These will be gathered together.

A common Jewish belief was that all of history is indeed moving towards a climax. History is not merely a series of events that is looked upon from the present to the past. History is actually a road that everything is moving on and by looking back we are only observing where we have traveled. The climax is the realization of the hope of our salvation when all that are in Christ are brought together as one with God according to God's purpose. We have inherited all things that Christ has. Consider the following scripture.

Romans 8:17 (NKJV) and if children, then heirs-heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.

God was already determined that we, the body of Christ, according to His own purpose and according to what he wants will receive an inheritance in Christ.

Those who were first to believe in Christ should be the objects of commendation to God's glory. The first probably referred to the Jews that were converted before any Gentiles were converted.

During this time, a wax seal with an identification marking stamped into it that would identify the origination of the message sealed message. The Holy Spirit is a seal in us to assure us of the day when our redemption would be complete. For example, God's presence among the Israelite people in the Old Testament assured them that God would indeed bring them to the Promised Land. The Holy Spirit in our hearts is our assurance (guarantee) that God would bring us to the "promised land."

There is a distinction between salvation and redemption, which is why redemption can be incomplete. Salvation is the state that we are in once we are born again. We have been snatched from the dangers or penalty of sin. Redemption is the separation of our sins and its consequences from us. This will not be totally complete until the end. Currently we still battle with sin, since it hasn't been completely removed from us both individually and collectively as a human race (those who are in Christ).

The greatest blessing that we have is that of our redemption. Our sins have been removed from us by the justification and corresponding righteousness bestowed upon us through Jesus Christ. All the material things that we accumulate on this earth are nothing compared to our heavenly blessing. This is why it is so important to put your treasures on earth because this earth will one day pass away (See Matthew 6:19-24). Our destination is heavenly so our priorities should ultimately be heavenly.

God has decided before the creation of the earth that the body of Christ would be with him forever. Those who are born again and believe in Jesus Christ become part of the family of God, the body of Christ and will enjoy the inheritance of Jesus Christ. We have been indeed blessed with all spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus. Amen.