June 22, 2022 -- Ephesians 1:3 -- Reverberating and ricocheting praise

People loved by the Father, in the Spirit's power: Sh'ma ~ hear and obey Jesus!

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…
Ephesians 1:3 ESV

The imagery is of reverberating blessings, ricocheting back and forth. The people of the LORD, Who are in Christ, bless the Father, the Source of every blessing in their lives. The Father declares His blessing over His people and these echo through the ages and across all generations as believers rise up in faith to receive Jesus Christ as King and Lord—the Captain of Salvation.

Sinclair Ferguson states it this way, “We speak well of the Lord (Blessed be…God) because in Christ, the Living Word, He has spoken well of (blessed) us” (Let’s Study Ephesians, S. Ferguson, page 7).

The spiritual blessings we receive fill the rest of the letter to the Ephesians. Such blessings include: the fact before the foundation of the world He had already chosen us in love. We have a new spiritual reality—sin has been defeated and it is no longer our master. We are adopted by the Father, kept safe by the Spirit and are the reward of Christ’s work. Life is purposeful for the Christian—it is to bring glory to God as we live holy lives in the power of the Spirit.

All this sounds too much for us to achieve on our own. No doubt! But remember the opening blessing of Ephesians. “Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ”. All these spiritual blessings given us in the heavenly realms rest on the accomplished work of Jesus—this is grace. It is Christ’s work. And this gives us great peace. We know He Who started a good work in us will see it to completion! No wonder saints rise up each day, every day, to bless the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and do so in the power of the Spirit. The more we learn, the greater is our joy in praising Him, the strong our desire to praise Him and serve Him all our days.

God of wonders and expansive blessings, forgive us for the feebleness of our praise and the murmurings of mumbled songs. As Your Spirit once again takes hold of our hearts and shows us the extravagance of Your salvation poured out in Jesus Christ, may we bless You and praise You, honour You and thank You over and over again, praising the Name of Jesus in Whom such riches of grace flood our lives. As the praises reverberate in our days and nights, our activities and our rest, may others rise up to take up the Song of Jesus and His salvation. Amen.

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