Blessed

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)

Interesting verse. It says that "the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ" "has blessed" us. It's past. It already is in effect. These blessings already exist for us. It isn't some "pie in the sky" future event. It has already happened.

Further, it says that He has already blessed us not with some, but "with every spiritual blessing." Now, we understand that there are a variety of blessings. There are physical and emotional and economic and social and ... well, you get the idea ... lots of various types of blessings. This one is referring to spiritual ones. But it says that all of the spiritual blessings are already ours.

Keep in mind that "blessing" doesn't mean merely "happy". We tend to distill it to that shallow term, but biblically it is much bigger. Peter says that Christ, by His "divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us to His own glory and excellence." (2 Peter 1:3) In this connection, the "blessings" are that which brings Him glory. In a more general use of the term, to be "blessed" is to have God's face toward you (Num 6:24-26). It is to have a close and personal relationship with God. Happy? Surely, and so much more. And keep in mind that this is not a general statement; it is to "us". He has "blessed us" with every spiritual blessing. That "us" refers to the faithful saints (Eph 1:1).

He has blessed -- an already accomplished fact -- us with every spiritual blessing -- all that there are to be had. I guess it's time to appropriate those blessings. Maybe a good place to start would be to read what they look like (Eph 1:4-14). Big ... really big. And a real reason to rejoice in Christ.