There are many who would like to shape us into a mold that they believe that we should be. It is important that we allow the proper source to show us our identity as Christians, or we may find ourselves living a false life.

The Bible is clear in what our identity looks like as Christ-followers. The New Testament letter of Ephesians is a great place to start as it lays our identity in Christ out plainly in the first chapter.

Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavens in Christ.

Ephesians 1:3 (CSB)

One interesting point that you need to know is that verses 3-14 of Ephesians 1 is actually one long run-on sentence in the original language (Greek). While this may make a grammar teacher go nuts, it was more common than you might think in the first century.

As Paul was writing this letter to the church in Ephesus, he gets excited here at the beginning and goes on a righteous praise rant about who God is and what He has done for us.

We are blessed

When we think about the terms “blessed” or “blessing”, our minds can go to different places. One might think of being blessed as having everything going good in his or her life. The sun is shining… no bill collectors harassing you… not fighting with anyone… things are going good. Another person might think about someone who has a lot of stuff (money, possessions, relationships, etc). Some may even think about gathering around a meal and bowing heads for “the blessing.” While these pictures may fill many people’s minds at the hearing of these terms, the Bible speaks about something much more than this.

The Trinity

In Ephesians 1:3, Paul actually dives deep into what should be the proper beliefs of God’s people especially when it comes to our belief about God Himself. In this one verse, Paul touches on what we call the Trinity. The Trinity is the belief that there is one God in three distinct Persons – God the Father, God the Son (Jesus), and God the Holy Spirit. These three are together the one true God. God does not sometimes appear as Father and at other times as the Son and then again at other times as the Holy Spirit. All three Persons of the Trinity have always been and always will be God.

It is the three Persons of the Trinity that will help us with an outline for this message. As Paul shows that one of the identity markers of a Christ-follower is that we are truly blessed, he also shows us how this blessing comes to be.

The Origin of Blessings

The word blessed appears twice in many translations of Ephesians 1:3. What we should know is that these two terms have the same root but are different words completely.

The first use of blessed is at the very beginning of verse 3. It is an adjective that describes God the Father. This word has the idea of “someone or something being worthy of praise or commendation”^[1]Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), 429. Paul says in this verse that God the Father is worthy of all praise. Interestingly, t his word is only used in reference to God in the entire New Testament. No other person is seen worthy to hold this title.

God has proven Himself worthy of all praise. He has made all of creation with either His words or His hands. He holds it all together. He alone is perfect and sinless. While there is no one who has ever fully known all that there is to know about God, the more that you do learn of Him, the more that you see how worthy of all praise that He is. Is it any wonder that Paul in thinking about who God is would go on and on about how awesome our God is?

Because God the Father is worthy of all praise (blessed), we can see that He alone is the source of all blessings. The blessings that we get to experience are an outpouring of what God has and pours on His children. Because God is worthy of all praise, He is able to be the One that gives good gifts to His children.

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

James 1:17 (CSB)

Not only is God able and willing to give good gifts, but He is able and willing to meet all of our needs.

And my God will supply all your needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:19 (CSB)

We are blessed because the God that we worship is worthy of all praise (blessed) Himself. It is out of His blessedness that we find our blessings. This is where the second ‘blessed’ in verse 3 comes in to play. This second blessed is a verb that talks about “provided benefits usually from a divine source”^[2] Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), 749.

The Nature of Blessings

Paul continues in verse 3 to tell us about the nature of the blessings that we have as Christ-followers. The blessings that mark us are spiritual in nature. Paul calls them “every spiritual blessing in the heavens.” Some commentators have made note about how there seems to be a contrast with the blessings that are promised to the Jewish people of the Old Testament. As God brought them out of slavery to become His people, He promised to provide for them in material ways (land, food, children, etc). There is nothing inherently wrong about these material things, but one truth about each of them is that they do not last very long on the timeline of eternity.

With these blessings being spiritual in nature, we see the work of God the Holy Spirit coming into play here. It is the Holy Spirit that applies these blessings to the lives of each person who has trusted in Jesus Christ for salvation. It is the Holy Spirit that works and unpacks them in our lives.

We may be tempted to think that spiritual blessings are nice, but what about the material things? There is a push in our day to get blessed materially as much as possible. YOLO (You Only Live Once) is the mantra for many. The one who dies with the most toys still dies. When they do, everything that they have spent their lives acquiring becomes the possession of someone else. Ever think about that?

Jesus tells us of a much better blessing that we should be concerned with…

Don’t store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves don’t break in and steal.

Matthew 6:19-20 (CSB)

There is nothing sinful about the treasures of this world. The fact is that they are temporal. They cannot last forever. Jesus calls us to pursue those treasures that will last throughout eternity.

Are we seeking the blessing of this world or the blessing that comes from the Father? These spiritual blessings that are ours at the moment of salvation are far better than anything this world could ever promise us.

Paul reminds us of two facts about spiritual blessings:

1. Every spiritual blessing is ours. We may not understand what they are or how they are to work in our lives, but when it comes to possession, they are ours. God doesn’t hold out on us.
2. Every spiritual blessing is protected. Paul says that we are blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavens. This is the idea of a place where God Himself is the guardian. There is no one who is able to overpower Him and swipe them away. These are blessings that will last for all eternity.

The Sphere of Blessings

As Paul concludes verse 3, he shows us how we got these blessings with two simple words: “in Christ.” Paul uses either the phrase “in Christ” or “in Him” 11 times in the first 14 verses of Ephesians 1. If something is repeated in the Bible, we would do well to pay close attention.

We are not blessed because of anything that we have or haven’t done. It is not something that we have to earn like a child does an allowance or an employee does at his job by doing religious or “right” chores. We are not blessed because we have a worthiness about us. Yes, every person is created in the image of God, but sin has marred that image. It has also deeply affected us. If we were left to ourselves, we would mess everything up every time. We are selfish by nature. We are greedy by nature. We are hateful by nature.

But when we come to Jesus by faith and turn our lives over to His direction, a change takes place.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come!

2 Corinthians 5:17 (CSB)

We are no longer judged by our doing but by what Christ has done. Our identity as Christ-followers is wrapped up in who He is. We receive these blessings because we are found “in Him.”

I don’t know if the Bible could be any more clear on this issue. If we are found in Christ, then we are marked as blessed. We have been given every spiritual blessing, and they are protected for us by God Himself.

Are you living in this identity? Are you living as one who has received every spiritual blessing from the only One worthy of all praise?