A thank you note usually includes a description of the gift or gifts received. Paul includes a long gift list in Ephesians 1:3-14 as he thanks God for the blessings of the gospel.

Paul praises God for the fact that He has “blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing” (Ephesians 1:3, ESV). That the blessings are spiritual (Greek, pneumatikos) suggests that they come through the Spirit (pneuma), pointing to the closing of Paul’s blessing, which celebrates the work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of believers (Ephesians 1:13-14).

Image © Lars Justinen from GoodSalt.com

Ephesians 1:3-6 contains inspiring language about how God views us in Christ. Before the creation of the world, God chose us in Christ and determined that we should stand “holy and blameless” in His presence (Ephesians 1:4, ESV; compare Ephesians 5:27) as treasured sons and daughters by virtue of both Creation and Redemption in Christ (Ephesians 1:5). Since before the sun began to shine, it has been His strategy that we would be “accepted in the Beloved” (Ephesians 1:6, NKJV). In short, it’s God’s intention for us to be saved. We lose salvation only by our own sinful choices.

What does the phrase “in the heavenly places” mean in Ephesians (the only place it is used in the New Testament)? Study the uses of the phrase. (See Ephesians 1:3, Ephesians 1:20; Ephesians 2:6; Ephesians 3:10; Ephesians 6:12; compare the use of “in the heavens,” Ephesians 3:15, Ephesians 4:10, Ephesians 6:9.)

In Ephesians the phrases “in the heavenly places” and “in the heavens” or “in heaven” point to heaven as the dwelling place of God (Ephesians 1:3, Ephesians 6:9), to the location of spiritual powers (Ephesians 1:10, Ephesians 1:20-21; Ephesians 3:10, Ephesians 3:15; Ephesians 6:12), and to the location of Christ’s exaltation at the right hand of the Father (Ephesians 1:20). Believers have access to these “heavenly places” in the present as the sphere where spiritual blessings are offered through Christ (Ephesians 1:3, Ephesians 2:6). Though “the heavenly places” have become a place of blessing for believers, they are still the location of conflict from evil powers that contest the lordship of Christ (Ephesians 3:10, Ephesians 6:12).

<–Sabbath Monday–>

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How do we grow in grace if grace is unmerited mercy/forgiveness? (2 Peter 3:18) Join us as we discuss Lesson 1, Paul and the Ephesians.

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