No Matter

Ephesians 1
1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus: 2 Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places [ἐπουρανίοις] in Christ: 4 According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love: 5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, 6 To the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved. 7 In Whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace; 8 Wherein He hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; 9 Having made known unto us the mystery of His will, according to his good pleasure which He hath purposed in Himself: 10 That in the dispensation of the fulness of times He might gather together in One all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in Him: 11 In Whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will: 12 That we should be to the praise of His glory, who first trusted in Christ. 13 In Whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in Whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, 14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of His glory.

15 Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, 16 Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; 17 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him: 18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of His calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, 19 And what is the exceeding greatness of His power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of His mighty power, 20 Which He wrought in Christ, when He raised him from the dead, and set him at His own right hand in the heavenly places [ἐπουρανίοις], 21 Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: 22 And hath put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be the head over all things to the church, 23 Which is his body, the fulness of Him that filleth all in all.

Note: 3-14 comprise a single, if complex, sentence.

And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places [ἐπουρανίοις] in Christ Jesus: Ephesians 2:6

To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places [ἐπουρανίοις] might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, Ephesians 3:10

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places [ἐπουρανίοις]. Ephesians 6:12

God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in truth.  John 4:24

[Spirit God (is) and those worshiping Him in spirit and truth it is necessary to worship.] Pay no attention to that “a” added to satisfy English grammar.

Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: Colossians 1:13

Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if My kingdom were of this world, then would My servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is My kingdom not from hence. John 18:36

Reading the opening of Ephesians brings some remarkable statements to light. I wish to focus on the phrase in the third verse: “blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places”.  But not so fast. Let us back up to the beginning, for this astounding assertion is preceded by a qualifier. It applies to those who are “in” Christ. The first verse says, “the faithful in Christ Jesus”. This does not mean that those who have, in and of themselves, manufactured some faithfulness to Jesus. No! Faith, and the trait of faithfulness that follows it, are a gift from the only One who is unswervingly faithful.

God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord. 1 Corinthians 1:9, and please see all of 1 Corinthians 13 and all of Galatians 5.

Regarding what it means to be “in Christ”, I find it useful to consider the discourse of Jesus, as he was relating to His listeners His unity with the Father;

“… the Father is in Me and I Am in the Father [that is, I am One with Him] (from John 10:38, Amplified).

So, the message of Ephesians one is to those who are in a saving relationship with Jesus, and thus, with the Father and with the Spirit. It should be obvious that there is nothing within us that can live up to this standard until we have invited Jesus in.

Please do not take the tongue-in-cheek “no matter” theme of this post to imply that our physical lives are unaffected by the spiritual. Saying so, would be as an obviously false assertion that God, who is Spirit, is incapable of effecting the incalculable material universe by His Word. The point here is not that the material world is, well, immaterial. Rather, the starting point is in the realm of His Spirit. In the Spirit realm (in the kingdom, in other words) is where power has been applied and the resultant shift in our reality has taken place. Several passages (enumerated above) include the high places reference, Greek ἐπουρανίοις (ep-oo-ran’-ee-os). It refers to the spiritual realm. Ephesians 6:12 highlights that the term is not limited to the kingdom of light. No blessings are issued from the darkness. Please allow me to make a further observation about the material realm that we engage daily with our physical senses. In the body, Jesus suffered on our behalf, in our place. Still, He held Himself to that self-sacrificial task from within the spiritual realm. Absent the motivation of limitless love toward us, the flesh would have quailed at the prospect of the cross. (Hebrews 12:2, Matthew 26:26-46)

Now, back to being blessed with all spiritual blessings! Blessed with blessings. Gifted with gifts. This passage tells us we are on the receiving end and God is the Giver.

Lest any suspect I am “cherry picking” the point that “all” means unfathomable all, consider this as well:

He who did not spare [even] His own Son, but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things? Romans 8:32 AMP

It is impossible for the presence of Jesus in our hearts to be inconsequential. But we may fail to see those happy results manifest in our emotional state and in our physical circumstances because we are creatures of habit, and our expectation (faith) is generally that things will continue the same trajectory that we have been on. Countering that predisposition is one reason for the importance of paying attention to this promise of “all spiritual blessings”.

While scripture is replete with passages letting us know what is to be ours in Christ. Paul does dedicate some space to list a few of the spiritual blessings that come under the “all” heading. I won’t explicitly point them out, but please recognize that we are traversing a deep sea worth a few minutes of meditation. Suffice to say that the passage is positively breathtaking if one considers it carefully.

Postscript: Predestination (προορίσας) – from Ephesians 1:5 Pre-establish boundaries, i.e. before establishing the world, God established the boundaries that define our adoption into His family, namely the substitutionary sacrifice Jesus would make for us.

For the death that He died, He died to sin [ending its power and paying the sinner’s debt] once and for all; and the life that He lives, He lives to [glorify] God [in unbroken fellowship with Him]. Even so, consider yourselves to be dead to sin [and your relationship to it broken], but alive to God [in unbroken fellowship with Him] in Christ Jesus. Romans 6:10-11 AMP

Nevertheless, do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years is like one day. The Lord does not delay [as though He were unable to act] and is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is [extraordinarily] patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:8-9 AMP

Hmmm. There is that “all” again. Please don’t remain outside the established boundary. It matters.

No Matter, Start in the Spiritual Realm.