Heaven Doesn't Have to Wait
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. (Eph. 1:3)
Eph. 1:1-3, 1:20, 2:6, and 3:10; Ps. 68:19; Ps. 73:25; Mt. 6:30; Jn. 3:11-13; Heb. 3:1
What Is God Saying?
Paul was under house arrest in Rome. He was allowed visitors and was free to write many letters. Ephesians is one of these. Paul was held captive physically, but his mind and the Word to which he gave his full attention were not in chains. He was far from idle in his two years of imprisonment. Because of his faithful preaching, he was arrested, but out of his arrest came words that helped to set us free.
Try to imagine a person under the watchful eye of a guard, bound in life and bound for death, during much of his arrest suffering the wretched environment of a prison cell, and still able to say that he was ‘blessed in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.’ The certainty and the beauty of Heaven were constantly on Paul's mind (Eph. 1:20, 2:6, 3:10). For him ‘to live was Christ, and to die would be gain’ (Phil. 1:21). To die only meant more of Christ, more of His blessings, and more joy in His Presence. Paul had a faith-founded bias toward the heavenly. It was his single greatest hope. The more the dark walls of earth-bound captivity closed around him, the more real the glory and the joy of Heaven became. Such were the words of Paul from prison. Such was the message of hope and encouragement to faithful Christians in all places and all circumstances.
How Does This Apply To Us?
Heaven is where God is. It is a place, and just as now is the day of salvation, so now for the believer is the time Heaven begins. We are blessed now. The gifts of the Spirit belong to us now. The power to do God's will is a present blessing as well as a present need. Redemption and forgiveness, by the riches of His grace, are lavished upon us now. And now is the time to enjoy them. In Christ, we already have been blessed with every blessing. It is past tense. Let us praise God, it is done and it is not just something we will enjoy someday, somewhere, somehow.
Pray With Me
O Lord, I do not pray that I may be blessed in Christ. Instead, I praise You that I am blessed in Him. The blessing is now. To me is given every spiritual blessing. The blessing is imperishable and unfading for it is spiritual and eternal. It is not subject to circumstance or time. The blessing is unmingled with regret or frustration, for the blessing of God has led me to, and keeps me in, heavenly places.
In Him is all my blessing. It is sufficient, undying, and glowing with the joy of heaven. In Him, I am chosen to lead a blameless life and in Him, I find the strength to do it. In Him, I have redempti0n. It is beyond all understanding that I who had become entangled with sin and spurned the yearning love of God should be worth the infinite cost of redemption, for I am redeemed through His blood. In Him, I am destined to live for the praise of His glory. In Him, I have been sealed with the promised Holy Spirit who is a constantly present companion. His nearness speaks to me with assurance of that time when I will live in the joy of a fellowship that will never know the stain of evil, the shame of denial or the pain of separation.
As all my hope, so all my praise and all my prayers are in Him. Amen.
Moving On In The Life of Prayer
The more we concentrate on this great verse, the more our hearts overflow with thankfulness for God's unmerited goodness. Before we ask for a single thing and after we ask for many things, let us be sure to ‘Praise God from whom all blessings flow’ now. Have we taken time to count our blessings now? Are we aware of the blessings we can count on now? Praise God for every spiritual blessing in Christ both in a glorious forever and in a meaningful present.
