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(Ephesians 1:3) |
The moment an individual receives Christ as Saviour and Lord, he/she enters immediately into indescribable treasures. He/She becomes a spiritual millionaire.
Paul writes to his friends at Ephesus with the desire of sharing with them the treasures he has discovered in Christ. Like a father who wants his children to receive their full inheritance, he writes to them, urging them to enter into the full treasure that is their birthright in Christ. God longs for all His children to realize and relish the treasures that are theirs now in this present life, as well as hope for and await the treasures of the Coming Kingdom.
Notice in this passage
Not just a home in glory someday in the future--
But treasures to make the trip more satisfactory.
A man dreamed of taking a cruise to the Caribbean, that was his lifelong ambition. Finally the day arrived. He had saved enough for the ticket. He traveled to Florida, purchased the ticket, and noted that he had spent most all of his money. Just a few dollars for his expenses remained. He thought, "How will I survive on the cruise?" He went to a grocery store, purchased some cheese, crackers and peanut butter. Put in a bag, and boarded the ship. What a wonderful cruise. Everything was great except the meals. He could smell the food, and he looked in the beautiful dining room and saw how the people were enjoying the meal, but alas, he had no money, so he went to his cabin, opened his bag, had his peanut butter and crackers with cheese, and drank some water. The last day of the cruise, he was talking with a friend. The friend said, "Joe, I noticed you haven't been coming to the dining area and eating with us. Have you been sick?" Joe replied, "Well, I'm a little embarrassed to tell you, but I didn't bring quite enough money, and I couldn't afford to eat in the dining room with you folks." His friend responded, "Why Joe, didn't anyone tell you the meals are free? When you bought the ticket, the meals were covered."
Many people are on the Good Ship of Zion, they are safe on board, in that they are truly saved, but they are miserable, poor, and missing out on the treasures that are part of the package of salvation. The Lord intends that the journey to heaven be adorned with a taste of heaven on earth.
These Blessings Are Spiritual Blessings. When the Lord saves us, a part of us that was dead comes alive. Our spirit (that part of us that can relate to God, and know Him) comes alive, we are resurrected with Christ. That part of our being is the most important area of our life to God. He longs to pour out blessings on us spiritually, in order that we may have intimate fellowship with Him.
Some teach that the most important blessings are physical and financial. They teach that if you have faith, you will always have health and wealth.
Is that true? Look at Paul, the example of what God can do with a sinner, the best Christian who ever lived, in my opinion. Yet, Paul had financial problems, was a bi-vocational pastor, had to work in the mobile home construction. (Tents were mobile homes in those days). Things didn't always work out for Paul. What about his health? He was plagued with eye-problems and suffered pain from the tortures he endured for Christ. God does heal when it will bring glory to His name, but not always according to our time table. He does bless us with financial resources, but it is all a matter of His grace, and His timing.
These Blessings Are Sufficient Blessings. "He has blessed us with all spiritual blessings" -- not one is lacking -- all the spiritual blessings we need from Grace to Glory.
From the day we are saved by grace to the day we enter His Glory, He provides spiritual resources.
When a normal baby is born, he/she comes with all the equipment he/she needs to exist in this life. He/She has arms, legs, etc. The only thing missing is teeth, and some folks have learned you can live without teeth. Medical scientists tell us that even the teeth are there, just litttle seeds of teeth waiting for the right time to grow out of the gums. So, all he/she needs is there. When he/she is ready to walk, he/she doesn't need a new set of legs, he/she just needs to learn to use what he/she has. When he/she wants to talk, he/she has the equipment, he/she just doesn't know how to use it. He/She spends a lifetime developing the use of the equipment that was his/her's all along.
When you are saved, the Spirit of God enters your life and brings all the resources you will ever need to live the Christian life. But you spend a lifetime discovering what was yours all along. That is what the Christian life is all about: growing in the knowledge of Christ and the resources He has given us.
These Blessings Are Heavenly Blessings, "in heavenly places." They are also in the highest sphere:
it is not in Canaan or Emmanuel's land. These blessings are granted us in the heavenly places.
As we walk with the Lord, as His Spirit fills us with the fullness of the blessed life, heaven invades our lives, and THE JOY OF THE LORD IS OUR CONSTANT COMPANION. It is as though there were an invisible pipeline between us and heaven. The Spirit of God is in us, and the Spirit of God is in heaven....our direct contact with heaven.
I was converted through the testimony of a Sunday School teacher named Genevra Andrews. We visited her home one Sunday. We had been told she was dying. When we stood around her bed, she was rejoicing in the Lord, and all she could talk about was how wonderful the Lord is. I couldn't believe my ears. I thought, "If I were dying, I would be frightened, but she is unafraid, rather she is radiant. I must have what she has." The next Sunday I was saved.
Later when I visited Genevra, I told her that she was responsible for my salvation. She told me, "Bill, when you young people came, I had been praying. At first, I was discouraged to think I would die so young, but as I prayed, it seemed that heaven filled my soul. I was rejoicing in the Lord when you kids came. All I could talk about was Jesus!" I was saved through the witness of a sick woman who was experiencing a little bit of heaven on earth.
By the way....God did heal Genevra, and she is alive today. God heals when the healing will bring glory to His name.
The Blessings Are In A Relationship With Jesus Christ. "In Christ" they are granted us in the most excellent way — one which leaves room for no comparison — it is "in Christ."
When by faith one places his/her life into the hands of Jesus Christ,
When one makes the surrender of repentant faith,
When one calls on the name of the Lord Jesus,
he/she is baptized into the body of Christ by the Holy Spirit, united with Christ, one with Him.
In that relationship one finds the riches about which we have written. Joining some organization, even though church membership is very important, will not save you. Turning over a new leaf and trying to live better, will not save you. Repenting of personal sins and looking by faith to Christ who died as our Substitute and rose again from the dead, thereby begins the richest life this side of heaven.
The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. This flows from the heart of God Himself, from a thought outside the circumstances in which He finds us in time.
What blessing, what a source of joy, what grace, to be thus the objects of God's favor, according to His sovereign love!
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