Blessings

Eph 1:3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ.

INTRODUCTION

Good morning, Southpointe! We are starting a new series this morning. Titled Blessings.

So I want to talk to you on the context of blessings, how we are blessed and why we are blessed.

Look at "WHO HAS BLESSED US WITH ALL SPIRITUAL BLESSINGS IN HEAVENLY PLACES."

I want you to get a very strong understand that Apostle Paul is not saying physical blessings.

There has been some very bad teaching that has been popularized by many of the T.V. evangelists that as Christians we should all be rich and driving expensive cars and living in luxury.

This doctrine was not known by the disciples who were challenged to leave all to follow Jesus.

In Luke 6 in speaking to His disciples Jesus said,

Luke 6:20 Then Jesus turned to His disciples and said, "God blesses you who are poor, for the Kingdom of God is yours.

In that same chapter He said,

Luke 6:24 "What sorrow awaits you who are rich, for you have your only happiness now.

Paul said,

Php 4:11 Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have.

Php 4:12 I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little.

King Solomon said that he saw this:

ECC 5:12 The sleep of a labouring man [is] sweet, whether he eat little or much: but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep.

Paul told Timothy

1 Tim 6:9 But people who long to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction.

1 Tim 6:17 Teach those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which is so unreliable. Their trust should be in God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment.

If a person is more interested in the material blessings than the spiritual blessings, he is carnally minded which is to be at enmity with God.

Rom 8:7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

The word —enmity-The quality of being an enemy; hostile or unfriendly disposition, 2) A state of opposition; hostility,

But the blessings of the child of God are not in the riches of this world but they are in the heavenly places.

Here in chapter one Paul speaks of the greatness of God’s power which He gave to us in Christ when He raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand in heavenly places.

Eph 2:6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

All blessings come to us because we are in Christ.

As you read through the book of Ephesians, it leaves you with a sense of awe and wonder. Awe at the majesty and splendor of God. Wonder in the fact that God chose you ... before the world was created.

In this grandest of all of Paul's Epistles, he lays out for us the grander and greatness of what God has done in Christ.

And then Paul beckons you in as the church, showing you what part you have to play in the eternal plan and purpose of God.

Over and over again, Paul will use the phrase "in Christ" to show the riches and glory that we have as we are in Him.

In fact, Apostle Paul uses the phrase “in Christ” over 35 times.

It's in Ephesians that our understanding of the Gospel, the "good news" about Jesus, is deepened.

But Ephesians is not only theologically deep, it's also immensely practical. Paul will show us who we are and how to changes how we live.

Eph 2:4 But God is so rich in mercy, and He loved us so much,

Eph 2:5 that even though we were dead because of our sins, He gave us life when He raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God's grace that you have been saved!)

Eph 2:6 For He raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus.

Paul is writing to believers who were in the midst of a pagan society. Idolatry was rampant. The Christians were a small minority.

The Ephesian believers were trying to live a godly life in an ungodly world. Sound familiar?

Yet in this small book of the Bible, it gives us so much hope. Because if the Gospel can take root and flourish in Ephesus, it can certainly do the same in Fort Smith, Arkansas and beyond.

I want you to look at how Apostle Paul started this book:

Eph 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus:

There in verse one the phrase “in Christ” and it is the dominate themes in the epistle.

All the blessings that God has for us, are given in, by, and through Jesus Christ.

This is what Jesus said to His disciples,

John 15:5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

It is also true that apart from Him we have nothing.

Every blessing that God bestows upon you comes to you through Jesus.

James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

You say, I need more love. You need more of Jesus.

You say, I need peace. You need Jesus.

You say, I need more patience. You need more of Jesus.

IN VERSE 4 PAUL BEGINS TO LIST THE SPIRITUAL BLESSINGS.

Eph 2:4 But God is so rich in mercy, and He loved us so much,

Eph 2:5 that even though we were dead because of our sins, He gave us life when He raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God's grace that you have been saved!)

If you were to list your blessings in order of appreciation, what would you put at the top of your list?

What would you consider to be the greatest blessing that God has bestowed upon you?

When you think of God's blessings, what do you think of first?

It is interesting to me what Paul put at the top of his list. He has chosen us in Him.

Notice that you were chosen in Him.

Eph 1:4 Even before He made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in His eyes.

Choice is a wonderful gift of God for which we give thanks.

This is a part of being created in the image of God.

God is a self determinate being, so he gave you the power of choice so that you also may be self determinate.

By self determinate we mean that you have the capacity to choose your own destiny.

You can choose your own master.

Joshua 24:15 But if you refuse to serve the LORD, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the LORD."

The people in Joshua's day were challenged to choose whom they would serve.

Elijah also challenged the people to choose, he said, "If Jehovah is God then follow Him, and if Baal be god then follow him."

For choice to be valid there must be something to choose.

For instance, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the garden.

If there is nothing to choose, then the power of choice is not good.

For choice to be meaningful, the alternative must be attractive.

Gen 2:9 The LORD God made all sorts of trees grow up from the ground—trees that were beautiful and that produced delicious fruit. In the middle of the garden He placed the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

The tree in the garden was very desirable. It was good for food, pleasant to the eyes, and desired to make one wise.

Gen 3:6 The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too.

The world is very attractive to the flesh, and offers great pleasures for a time.

Heb 11:24 By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter;

Heb 11:25 Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;

For choice to be valid, there must be an honoring of the choice.

If every time you choose something your choice was overridden, then you really do not have a choice.

God will not override your choice. He will seek to influence your choice, but He will not override it.

I do appreciate and I am thankful for this special blessing of choice.

I do not believe that I would care to live in a society where marriage was by arrangement.

I am thankful that I had a choice in the matter.

Don’t you want to choose who you are going to spend the rest of your life with, or are you not thankful that you got to choice who you were going to spend your life with.

Well God did too, and God chose you for all eternity.

Eph 1:4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:

How do I respond to the fact that I was chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world?

This should make me realize how blessed I am that God chose me. I am blessed!

God has allowed you to choose your own destiny. How fair can He be?

God has given you the capacity of choice, He has provided something to choose, and He will respect the choice you make, even if it is the wrong choice. Nothing could be more fair than that.