|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
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, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him (Ephesians 1:3-4, ESV, emphasis added).
Recently I had a conversation with my brother-in-law, the potentially infamous theologian Mark Elliott (he’s my friend too, so I can poke fun at him with a moniker or two). He said, “Ephesians 1:3-4 talks about believers receiving every spiritual blessing that existed before the foundation of the world.”
We bounced this thought around a bit…
Grant: “What do you mean?”
Mark “C.S.” Elliott: “God knew what blessings we would personally need before He created us. Our blessings are already there for every situation; we just need to receive them.”
Grant: “I’m not sure what you are saying.”
Mark “Acquinas” Elliott: “Do we ask for something that has already been given to us before we were born, or do we just receive it in our prayers?”
Grant “confused” Edwards: “What’s the difference between “asking” and “receiving?”
Mark “Billy Graham” Elliott: “When we ask, often there is a question of our requests being God’s will, but with receiving there’s no doubt because it’s being offered; we just have to receive it.”
From this perspective of “receiving,” let’s read the rest of Ephesians 1, and see the blessings in this chapter, through God’s providence, offered to all of us…
Verse 5: Adoption as sons and daughters
Verse 6: Grace!
Verse 7: Redemption through His blood
Verse 9: The mysteries of His will revealed
Verse 10: Unite us with Him in heaven
Verse 11: An inheritance
Verse 13: Sealed with the Holy Spirit
Verse 17: Given a Spirit of wisdom and revelation
Verse 19: Know the immeasurable greatness of His power
Ephesians 1 has other blessings. I’ve just listed my favorites.
I’m still considering my brother-in-law Mark’s statement of the difference between asking and receiving. Let’s consider Christmas presents as an example.
When I was young, I asked, asked, asked, and asked for the gift that I wanted. I was like Ralphie in the movie “The Christmas Story,” asking for a “Red Ryder Carbine-Action 200-Shot Range Model Air Rifle.” My parents knew what I wanted, and most of the time I would find it wrapped under the Christmas tree.
On Christmas morning, I didn’t continue asking for a BB gun (yes, I was like Ralphie), a gas engine-powered airplane, a new Schwinn® bicycle, and all sorts of items that stretched my parents’ budget. But when I saw the gift, I wasn’t stupid; I stopped asking and received.
In my Christmas morning euphoria of receiving, my mother often asked afterward, “Aren’t you going to say ‘Thank you’?” As Paul writes, “To the praise of His glory!” (v. 14). And Paul teaches us to realize what we need to be thankful about: “Having the eyes of our hearts enlightened, that we may know the hope of the riches of His glorious inheritance for all the saints” (v. 18).
Amen! Let’s receive the full blessings of God’s intentions for us.