Today I want to pick up where I left off in the book of Ephesians chapter one.  We note that Paul first praises God for the blessings that He has blessed us with, acknowledging that these blessing are spiritual blessings, in heavenly places, the best blessings that we as Christians can receive. These blessings are not physical or material blessings, so what are these spiritual blessings?  We have to look further in the text to answer this question.

I love this next verse.  He, God, has chosen us, me, before the beginning of this world to be holy and without blame before Him in love.  This is how he created man, Adam, in the garden.  God chose us to be holy and without blame but we chose to not to be holy and without blame.  It was man’s a choice.  God didn’t make the thief a thief, a liar a liar, a gossip a gossip, a homosexual a homosexual, nor the blasphemer a blasphemer, we have all chosen to be that way.  Yet God, in his infinite wisdom, knowing what we would ultimately choose, still chose us, He chose ME before the foundations of the world.  And still knowing that mankind, that I, would choose not to be holy and without blame He still created the universe and all that is within with US in mind.  Oh what a God we have!

 After Paul tells us when God chose us and what God’s desires for us to be, Paul begins to talk about the spiritual blessings God has given us.  Knowing that we would choose not to be holy and without blame, God already had a plan in mind.  God knew that through our sin of rebellion we were the enemies of God and children of the devil.  The resolution to this condition was that we would need to be adopted. Through His forgiveness and His plan of redemption we could be a part of His family if we would only accept this eternal gift.  Through accepting this free salvation gift of adoption we are made accepted, with grace and favor, with the same love in which God loves Christ.  This is the first spiritual blessing.

More spiritual blessings to come!