Have you ever heard about someone who was living in poverty, yet they actually had a great deal of money? They either didn’t know about their wealth, or know how to access the money. I’ve heard the tale, whether genuine and true, or just a tall tale, about an impoverished farmer in western Oklahoma. After years of drought and poor crops, the farmer and his family were so behind on their mortgage, the bank had to repossess the house. As one of the bank employees came out to put a for sale sign in the yard, oil gushed from the hole he made! This poor family had been sitting upon a multi-million dollar fortune that whole time, and didn’t know it. Someone else may inherit a fortune, but just don’t know how to access the money in some special accounts. Until they learn, they live as though they don’t have the money. You may think that would never happen to you, that if you had a multi-million or billion dollar fortune, you would know it and figure out how to get at it! How about the spiritual fortune that you, as a believer, have? Some Christians might ask, “What spiritual fortune?” Let’s look into today’s Scripture.
As Paul wrote this letter to the Christian church in Ephesus, the first thing he did was tell them about the spiritual blessings that God has for them, for us, stored up in heaven (vs. 3). As we think about heaven and God, we would never think of it as a poor place. It’s not like the poor, depressed neighborhoods of a big city, or that poor, run-down community in the backwoods. God never has to tell us that He can’t help us today because He’s running short on anything, that His account is overdrawn! God’s Word tells us that we have every spiritual blessing which is retained in heaven for us.
So, who are the ones who have this magnificent inheritance? How can we know whether we are eligible for these spiritual blessings? These are for all those who have put their faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, and are saved and born-again. Before the foundation of the world, God set a plan in motion for us to be born into His family, that plan being the sacrificial death of His only-begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ (vs. 4). God chose us, not due to anything good in ourselves, but due solely to His kindness (vs 5).
We can feel special and wanted, because the Sovereign of the universe loved us so much that He set this plan for our salvation before the foundation of the world. As the Apostle Paul stated, we are “accepted in the Beloved” (vs. 6). Some people have never really felt accepted by others. Their friends are few and far between, co-workers never really accept them, and their family members brush them off. Perhaps even in some churches they never feel accepted by the popular cliques. We might feel completely alone, even rejected by many people. However, we are accepted by Jesus! He loves us so much that He died for us, and now shares with us all of His riches in glory.
In Jesus Christ we have all the benefits of knowing God - salvation, adoption into His family, the forgiveness of our sins, the gifts of the Holy Spirit (such as love, joy, and peace), the power to do His will, and the hope of life everlasting. All of God’s blessings are being progressively dispersed to us on earth in accord with our need and Christian growth.
God’s grace is always with us, though we don’t always know it. We can be easily distracted by stress in our lives. When we focus on the mechanics of Christianity instead of a relationship with Jesus, we are more likely to live as spiritual paupers. However, the more we look for God’s grace, the more we will find it.
Remember that couple I mentioned at the beginning, that didn’t know they were sitting on vast wealth. Many Christians go through life like that impoverished couple, not knowing what is rightfully theirs. They are stuck thinking only “I’m saved and someday I’ll go to heaven, but that’s it.” Jesus offers abundant life now (John 10:10). We need to tap into the reservoirs of God’s grace now. We don’t have to wait until heaven to enjoy the Lord’s spiritual blessings that He has for us through the Holy Spirit now.
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