Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. (Eph 1:3)Really remarkable. "Has blessed us." Not "will bless us." He already has. And "every spiritual blessing." Not holding back. He lists some of those spiritual blessings in the following verses (Eph 1:4-14). But there's an interesting repetition.
Paul says He has blessed us "in Christ." That is, the blessings we have are found in Christ. Only those in Christ receive those blessings. But Paul hits this theme hard. In the examples that follow, Paul says "in Him" or "in Christ" or "in the Beloved" seven times. That's real repetition. Why? Because our blessings which we already have are a product of our standing in Christ. The fundamental message of the book seems to be our standing in Christ. That is, Christ is definitely the focus, and our position in Him is essential.
This becomes really important in the "application" portion of the letter. He spends the first three chapters telling us our position in Christ. Then he says, "Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called" (Eph 4:1). He calls for a lot in this walk, but it only becomes possible if we begin "in Christ." It only makes sense if we are positionally and permanently in Him. And we are. So, for instance, we can "stand firm against the schemes of the devil" (Eph 6:11) because we are "in Him." It's the only place we can stand. It's important, then, that we remind ourselves that it's not us. It's not our strength. But ... in Christ, we can stand in our struggle against the dark forces (Eph 6:12).
