What if you were to find out that you had inherited a very large amount of money, a truly big inheritance? For some reason, though, you believed that you were not allowed to touch that fortune until some date way in the future, many years away, and that was unfortunate as you are in real financial difficulty right now. Then, many years later, when you finally open the inheritance account, you find out that you were mistaken, and you had access right from the start! All those years living in poverty when you could have enjoyed that inheritance! We might be tempted to scold someone who allowed that to happen to themselves, for not checking the terms of the inheritance, or not believing it. What a waste, we think. Yet this is the case with so many Christians. They have an inheritance, given to them by God when they were saved, and yet they never take hold of it, living like spiritual paupers. Let’s take a look at our Scripture today.
As we open our Scripture passage from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, we read that God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing (vs. 3). Every spiritual blessing that is available, God has given to us when we accepted His Son Jesus Christ as our Savior. The Bible didn’t say that God will give that to us at some future time, or if we earn them by becoming some spiritual giant, or that we only get these blessings after we die and go to heaven. The verse says that God has blessed us with these blessings. They aren’t something that we get at some future date, or only in heaven. They are already given to us, and they come to us from Jesus in Heaven.
These blessings are in Christ and are for His children, those who have accepted Jesus as their personal Savior. What Jesus has is ours, as well, including His righteousness, resources, and privileges. In Christ we have all the benefits of knowing God. We have salvation from our sin and its power. Through Jesus we have been adopted as God’s children. Do you need forgiveness from sins you’ve committed? God gives that to His children (I John 1:9). Do you need peace in your life? That is a blessing He has also given us (John 16:33). God blesses us with His protection (Psalm 91:4). He also provides for all of our needs (Philippians 4:19). Do you need hope in a fearful world? We have that through Jesus (I Peter 1:3). The Bible is full of promises of blessings for God’s children. Believers can and should lay hold of and claim every blessing that God has provided for them. We can enjoy these blessings now, and they are eternal, not temporary. We don’t get one dose of peace, and that is all. God never says that since He provided for your needs yesterday, you will have to wait your turn to get another provision. He never runs out of His love and blessings for us.
As Paul continues in his Epistle, we read that because of Jesus Christ and His death on the Cross, all who place their faith and trust in Him are holy and blameless in His sight (vs. 4). We belong to God through Jesus, and He looks at us as if we had never sinned. We are not saved because we deserve it, but because God is gracious and freely gives salvation. The mystery of salvation originated in the timeless mind of God, long before we existed. Before the foundation of the world, God set His plan for salvation in motion. He saw us, and provided His Son, Jesus Christ, so we could be born into His family. Salvation is God’s work, not our own doing. In His infinite love, God has adopted us as His own children (vs. 5). We are brought into His family, and made His heirs along with Jesus.
Though we certainly don’t deserve it, God graciously accepts us now that we belong to His dearly beloved Son (vs. 6). We can feel special and wanted, because we are “accepted in the Beloved”. We have worth with God. We are accepted, not left to the sidelines.
In closing, maybe you are a Christian who continues to live in spiritual poverty, believing that all of the spiritual blessings from God are for later, once you get to heaven. Spiritually poor believers fail to tap into the reservoirs of God’s grace. Remember that Jesus promised us an abundant life now (John 10:10). That doesn’t mean that He will make you a multi-millionaire, as some health-wealth preachers claim. But He will provide you with every spiritual blessing promised in the Bible now. As fellow heirs with Jesus (Romans 8:17) we have access to God’s riches. Eternity begins the moment we are saved, and we don’t need to wait until heaven to enjoy the Lord’s riches for us.
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