PT-4 "The Aspects of Blessings" (Eph. 1:3)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/24/2018 11:21 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                           Focus:  PT-4 “The Aspects of Blessings”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                      Reference:  Ephesians 1:3

 

            Message of the verse:  “3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,”

 

            I want everyone to understand what we have been looking at as we move through verse three of Ephesians chapter one.  “Paul here presents six aspects of the divine blessing he is about to unfold.”  (John MacArthur)  We have looked at four of these aspects in the last few days and want to move onto the fifth and hopefully the sixth aspect of the divine blessing that Paul is about to unfold.  I guess one could say that this is a preview of the blessings that hopefully we will begin to look at in our next SD.

 

The Location of Blessing—The Heavenly Places

 

            I suppose that this section from Ephesians 1:3 is the most difficult part of this verse to understand, at least it has always been for me.  We read that our God and Father along with His Son, Jesus Christ has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.  Now the question perhaps most of us would ask is where is the heavenly places, and as I look at the NASB95 the word “places” is written in italics which means that it was not there in the original, but was added in the English to make it more understandable.  The Amplified Bible “Blessing (praise, laudation and eulogy) be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah, Who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual (Holy Spirit given) blessing in the heavenly realm!”  Not sure this is helpful or not.  I want to look at Philips Paraphrased Bible “3 Praise be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ for giving us through Christ every spiritual benefit as citizens of Heaven!”  I think that is more help in the section we are looking at today as he writes “as citizens of Heaven”   John MacArthur writes “The heavenly places (cf. 1:20; 2:6; 3:10) encompass the entire supernatural realm of God, His complete domain, the full extent of His divine operation.”

 

            He goes on to state that “Christians have a paradoxical, two-level existence—a dual citizenship.  While we remain on earth we are citizens of earth.  But in Christ our primary and infinitely more important citizenship is in heaven (Phil. 3:20).”  “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ;” As believers Jesus Christ is our Lord and King, thus we are citizens of His realm which is “the heavenly realm.”  Paul wrote the following in Colossians 3:1 “Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.” 

 

            It is because we are members of God’s dominion, which is unlike what Luke writes in Luke 16:8 “"And his master praised the unrighteous manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the sons of this age are more shrewd in relation to their own kind than the sons of light.”  The highlighted portion is what unbelievers are, “the sons of this age.”  We are now and so we are able to understand the supernatural things of God, things which as Paul writes the “natural man does not accept” and “cannot understand” as seen in 2 Cor. 2:14.” 

 

            Hopefully this little illustration will help us understand what we are talking about at this time.  Suppose a person from the United States of America travels to another country, now when he gets there he is every bit as much an American citizen as when he is in the United States.  It makes no difference as to where he goes he is still a citizen of America even though he is outside his homeland, and still has all the rights and privileges that such citizenship holds.

 

            MacArthur writes “As citizens of God’s heavenly dominion, Christians hold all the rights and privileges that citizenship grants, even while they are living in the ‘foreign’ and sometimes hostile land of earth.  Our true life is in the supernatural, the heavenly places.  Our Father is there, our Savior is there, our family and loved ones are there, our name is there, and our eternal dwelling place and throne are there.”  However we are presently trapped in the tension between the earthly and the heavenly.  I don’t know about you but I can truly relate to that tension.  Paul explains more about that “tension.”  “8 we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed…as sorrowful yet always rejoicing, as poor yet making many rich, as having nothing yet possessing all things (2 Cor. 4:8-9; 6:10).”  So what is the key to living as a heavenly citizen since we live in an unheavenly situation?  Well the answer is found in the book of Galatians where Paul writes “Walk by the Spirit.”  If we do that then “we will not carry out the desires of the flesh” (Gal. 5:16).  Paul goes on in verses 22-23 of Galatians 5 to show us that when we walk in His power He produces His fruit in us which is “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23  gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”  MacArthur concludes “We receive our heavenly blessings by living in the power of God’s Holy Spirit.”   

 

            I am thinking of another verse which I think goes well with what we are to be doing:  “Php 2:12  So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; Php 2:13  for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.”  We have a responsibility in all of this and I think a part of that responsibility is to trust in the Lord to do what He says He has already done for us because we are “in Christ.” 

 

            I wanted to get done with these six aspects of blessing but I have to admit that this has been a drain on me just to get through this fifth aspect and so we will, Lord willing, look at the sixth aspect in our next SD which is a shorter one.

 

Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Be continually filled with the Holy Spirit of God in order to live in the heavenly realm with power to do what God has called me to do.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Continue to trust the Lord to accomplish the things He has planned in eternity past for me to accomplish.

 

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Exodus 20.”

 

Today’s Bible question:  “For how many generations did Jehu’s sons rule?”

 

Answer in our next SD.

 

10/24/2018 12:19 PM

 

 

 

The Problem of man and the True meaning of Life (Eph. 1:3-6a)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/23/2018 11:02 AM

 

My Worship Time                               Focus:  The Problem of man and the True meaning of Life

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Ephesians 1:3-6a

 

            Message of the verses:  “3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love 5 He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace,”

 

            After finishing my Spiritual Diary yesterday it was my desire to go over some of the things that we have been looking at from the third verse of the first chapter of the book of Ephesians.  However I let time get away from me and did not do it and so I decided to go over it this morning, and so I began with the introduction from John MacArthur’s commentary, and reread it.  I have to say that I did not carefully go over all that was in the rather short introduction but I had read it a while ago.  At any rate as I read through this introduction I became convinced that I needed to quote a large part of it for today’s Spiritual Diary.  As I went over it I came to the conclusion that what he wrote has the answer to man’s problems after he gives the actual problem that all mankind has.  With that said I will quote this introductory section hoping that it will affect others as it affected me.

 

            “People today are greatly concerned about identity, life purpose, self-worth, and self-acceptance.  Consequently there is a plethora of books, articles, seminars, and schemes that attempt to fulfill those longings.  But because God and His Word are not considered in most attempts, the only source for finding the truth is eliminated, and men inevitably are led back to themselves for answers.  In spite of many variations and sometimes complex formulas, the end result is to tell men they are really all right after all and that what identity, worth, and meaning they find in life they must find in and for themselves.

 

            “We are told to think of ourselves first and are shown how to get on top by using and manipulating others, by intimidating before being intimidated.  We are told how to be successful and how to be number one.  We are counseled to find meaning in the heritage of our family and ethnic roots, with the expectation that finding out where we came from will help explain where we are and perhaps where we are headed.  But such approach gives only a psychological gloss that helps cover, but does not help remove, the underlying problem of meaning in life.

 

            “Others set about trying to establish their worth by works righteousness, some even become heavily involved in church work and other Christian activities.  They look for praise and commendation and before long they are entrapped in the same kind of hypocritical religious games that characterized the scribes and Pharisees of Jesus’ day.  As their self-satisfaction grows their spiritual lives shrivel, because such effort feeds the flesh and cripples the soul.

 

            “But every human effort and self-improvement or self-satisfaction—no matter what its religious covering may be—is subject to the law of diminishing returns.  Genuine and lasting satisfaction is never achieved, and increased achievement only brings increased desire.  More importantly, the guilt and fear that cause the dissatisfaction are suppressed but not alleviated.  The longer such superficial games are played, the deeper become the depression, anxiety, and feelings of guilt.

 

            “The only way a person can achieve a true sense of self-worth, meaning, and significance is to have a right relationship to his Creator.  A person without Christ has no spiritual value, no standing before God, no purpose or meaning in the world.  He is like ‘chaff which the wind drives away’ (Ps. 1:4).

 

            “A Christian, however, is a child of God and a joint heir with Jesus Christ.  If he has no comprehension of those blessings he needs to understand the position he already has in his Savior.   To give such Christians the right understanding of their position and possessions is the foundational thrust of Paul’s Ephesian letter.

 

            “If we belong to Christ, Paul says, we can be sure that God put our name down as part of His church even before the world began.  Out of grace and in divine sovereignty, He chose each one of us to belong to Him.  It was not because we were more worthy than anyone else or more deserving or meritorious—but simply because God willed to choose us.

 

            “Though this is an incomprehensible truth to finite thinking, it is one of the most repeated in Scripture.  The record of God’s redemptive history is that of His reaching down and drawing to Himself those whom He has chosen to save.  In these opening verses of Ephesians Paul gives us a glimpse of eternity past.  He lets us eavesdrop as God planned to save us—not only long before we were born but long before the earth was born.”

 

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Eve” (Genesis 3:6).

 

Today’s Bible question:  “In which book and chapter do we find the listing of the Ten Commandments?”

 

Answer in our next SD.

 

10/23/2018 11:39 AM

 

 

PT-3 "The Aspects of Blessing" (Eph. 1:3)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/22/2018 10:24 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                              Focus:  PT-3 The Aspects of Blessing”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Ephesians 1:3

 

            Message of the verse:  “3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,”

 

            In today’s SD we continue to look at the different sub-sections under the main section “The Aspects of Blessing,” and as we continue to look at these we see that there are a lot of things packed into this third verse of Ephesians chapter one, and it is good for us to remember that verses 3-14 comprise of one very long sentence in the original Greek language. 

 

THE BLESSINGS—EVERYTHING SPIRITUAL

 

            We see from this section that our heavenly Father blesses “us with every spiritual blessing.”  As I look at this section and I have to say that this overwhelms me, and at times when I am overwhelmed I just have a tendency of giving up and it’s mainly for this reason that I was not sure that I even wanted to study this book of the Bible, and yet it seemed to me that this was what the Lord wanted me to study, and so I desire to take the time to look at the details of this book in a way that will bring glory to the Lord as His Spirit opens to me some of the things that have been hidden from me in studying this book before.

 

            John MacArthur writes “In the New Testament pneumatikos (spiritual) is always used in relation to the work of the Holy Spirit.  Therefore it does not here refer to immaterial blessings as opposed to material ones but to the divine origin of the blessings—whether they help us in our spirits, our minds, our bodies, our daily living, or however else.  Spiritual refers to the source, not the extent, of blessing.”

 

            One of the problems that believers in Christ have is that they will ask Him for things that He has already given to them.  I think of many prayers that I have made and have heard others make saying something like “be with me” or “be with him or her” and we know that God has said that He will never leave us nor forsake us.  Sometimes believers pray that God will give them more love, yet God’s love is perfect and what He gives us is perfect, for God is perfect.  “"Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful (John 14:27).”  John 15:11 “"These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.”  Romans 5:5 “and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”  Strength is found in Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”  God has already given believers love, peace, joy, and strength.

 

            2 Peter 1:13 tells us “seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.”   MacArthur writes “It is not that God will give us but that He has already given us ‘everything pertaining to life and godliness.’  He has blessed us already with every spiritual blessing.  We are complete ‘in Him’ (Col. 2:10).”

 

            The very resources in God are not simply promised; they are possessed.  Paul writes to the Philippians in 1:19 telling them that believers have “the provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.”  God is perfect and what He gives us is perfect as we learned yesterday, and so what He gives us is perfect, for there is nothing more to receive.  “The believer’s need, therefore, is not to receive something more but to do something more with what he has (MacArthur).” Now as we end this section, think about how secure what God has given to us as we look at Ephesians 2:6 “and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,” for that is how secure believers are as He sees us already seated with Him in the heavenly places.

 

            I think that what we have already written about here is enough for us all to think about and so we will continue looking at more things found in 1:3 in our next SD.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  In studying the attributes of God I have come to realize that they are perfect because God is perfect, and sometimes I find myself forgetting that because of being human.  Being human means that I can do a better job in showing love to my wife and family, or being joyful over things that bring joy to me, but as stated this is not the case with God, as He is perfect.  I cannot compare myself with God when it comes to giving love to others or being joyful.  It just won’t work.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Let God be God in my life and trust Him to better understand these truths that have been talked about today.

 

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Jerusalem” (Acts 9:2).

 

Today’s Bible question:  “Who first ate the forbidden fruit?”

 

Answer in our next SD.

 

10/22/2018 11:06 AM

PT-2 "The Aspect of Believers" (Eph. 1:3)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/21/2018 9:49 PM

 

My Worship Time                                                             Focus:  PT-2 “The Aspect of Believers”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Ephesians 1:3

 

            Message of the verse:  “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,”

 

            I will quote from MacArthur’s commentary as he gives us an outline of what we will be looking at in these opening verses of the book of Ephesians.  “In these opening verses of Ephesians Paul gives us a glimpse of eternity past.  He lets us eavesdrop as He planned to save us—not only long before we were born but long before the earth was born.”  In yesterday’s SD we looked at the first sub-section under the main section of “The Aspects of Blessing,” and in today’s SD, since it is Sunday we will only look at two more short sub-sections, the first being “The Blesser—God,” and then the second “The Blessed Ones—Believers.”

 

            God is not only to be blessed as we saw in our last SD, but He is also the Blesser.  It is consistent with His perfection and also His praiseworthiness that the One who is to be supremely blessed for His goodness is Himself the one who is the Supreme Blesser who bestows goodness. We see this as the verse continues on “who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing.”  Let us look at James 1:17 which reads “Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.”  When I was studying the book of James a few years back I quoted what Dr. Warren Wiersbe wrote about this verse from James.  The following quote comes from 8-28-2003’s Spiritual Diary “If I understand what Dr. Wiersbe says about this verse it could start out something like this:  Every gift that God gives us is perfect, and the way that He gives it to us is perfect, and He keeps on giving us gifts all of the time, even when we do not realize that He is giving them to us, and God is not like the moving of the planets and stars, for He never changes because He cannot change for worse because He is holy, and He cannot change for better because He is perfect.

 

            We will now move on to look at “The Blessed Ones—Believers.”  When we look at the word “us” in Eph. 1:3 it speaks of believers, as Paul was writing to believers.  In God’s wonderful grace, and marvelous providence, and also in His sovereign plan God has chosen to bless us.  When you stop and think about this it is almost too good to receive, and also too good to believe, and yet it is true.  I have said that one has to understand the characteristics of God which are seen in His attributes in order to understand why God does what He does.  Galatians 3:9 tells us “So then those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer.”

 

            We will conclude this SD with a quote from John MacArthur:  “When we bless God we speak good of Him.  When God blesses us, He communicates good to us.  We bless Him with words; He blesses us with deeds.  All we can do is to speak well of Him because in ourselves we have nothing good to give, and in Himself He lacks no goodness.  But when He blesses us the situation is reversed.  He cannot bless us for our goodness, because we have none.  Rather, He blesses us with goodness.  Our heavenly Father lavishes us with every goodness, every good gift, every blessing.  That is His nature, and that is our need.”

 

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “David” (2 Samuel 18:5).

 

Today’s Bible question:  “Saul wanted to bring the believers he found in Damascus to which city?”

 

Answer in our next SD.

 

10/21/2018 10:18 PM

The Aspects of Blessing (EPh. 1:3)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/20/2018 10:11 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  The Aspects of Blessing

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                          Reference: Eph. 1:3

 

            Message of the verses:  “3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,”

 

            I mentioned in our last SD that we would be looking at a number of main points which have sub-points under them, and so today I want to give the outline of what we will be looking at in Ephesians 1:3, and then we will see how far we get as we move through the sub-points.  “Paul here presents six aspects of the divine blessing he is about to unfold:  the blessed One, God; the Blesser, also God; the blessed ones, believers; the blessings, all things spiritual; the blessing location, the heavenly places; and the blessing Agent, Jesus Christ.”

 

THE BLESSED ONE—GOD

 

            We first look at such a gracious truth as it is introduced appropriately by giving praise to the One who has made such provision:  “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”  I have spoken of what this word “blessed” means as we look at it in the Greek in an earlier SD.  The Greek word for blessed is “eulogeo” and from that word in the English we get the word “eulogy” “a message of praise and commendation, the declaration of a person’s goodness” writes John MacArthur.  He goes on to write “Because no one is truly good but God (Matt. 19:17), our supreme eulogy, our supreme praise, is for Him alone.” 

 

            Goodness is one of the attributes of God, and when one studies the attributes of God they will find that God is only good.  God’s attributes have always been His attributes, it is not that because He has provided salvation for those who accept His Son’s provision for salvation that makes Him good, He has always been, and always will be good, and I realize that this is difficult for humans to get their arms around, none the less it is true.  I don’t understand how God made the earth and all of the stars that I see, and even those I don’t see, but I believe that He made them just like the Bible says that He made them, that is, He made something out of nothing.  I don’t understand this but I believe it.  “"The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law (Deut. 29:29).”  I have to say that there are a lot of secret things that belong to the Lord and although I don’t understand them, for they are secret, I take them by faith because things like His attributes are found as being true in the Word of God. 

 

            There is only One human being who demonstrates the goodness of God and that is His Son, and our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ.  I have heard many times that “so in so” is a good person, and yet no one possess goodness like God and His Son.  “Consequently from Genesis to Revelation, godly men, recognizing the surpassing and humanly unattainable goodness of God have proclaimed blessing upon Him.  Melchizedek declared, ‘Blessed be God Most High’ (Gen. 14:20).  In the last days, ‘every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them’ will be ‘heard saying, ‘To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever’’ (Rev. 5:13).” 

 

            What can we learn and do as believers?  Well we can appropriately bless the Lord for His great goodness.  I am going to write something that is difficult if not possible for believers to do if it were not for the indwelling Holy Spirit and that is that we are to do this in every circumstance whether in pain, struggle, trials, frustration, opposition, or even adversity we are to praise God, and the reason is because His is good in the midst of it all, and for that we praise and bless Him.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I have to say that in order for me to do this I have to truly know God in such a way that I believe that He is in complete control of all that I go through, and whatever I am going through is for my good, and for His glory, and is a part of my sanctification process to make me more like Jesus my Lord and Savior.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trust the Lord, even when He steps on my toes from studying His Word.

 

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch” (Luke 5:4).

 

Today’s Bible question:  “Who said, ‘Deal gently for my sake with the young man, even with Absalom’?”

 

Answer in our next SD.

 

10/20/2018 10:48 AM

Intro to Eph. 1:3-6a

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/19/2018 10:05 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                              Focus:  Intro to Eph. 1:3-6a

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Ephesians 1:3-6a

 

            Message of the verses:  “3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love 5 He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, (NASB-95).”  3 Praise be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ for giving us through Christ every spiritual benefit as citizens of Heaven! 4 For consider what he has done—before the foundation of the world he chose us to be, in Christ, his children, holy and blameless in his sight. 5 He planned, in his love, that we should be adopted as his own children through Jesus Christ—this was his will and pleasure 6 that we might praise that glorious generosity, (Phillips).” 

 

            I mentioned in an earlier SD that the first few verses in the Greek comprised one sentence, and actually it is verses 3-14 of Ephesians chapter one that comprise a full sentence in the Greek language.  We see in verse three the words “in Christ” and then in verse four we see “in Him,” which is speaking of Jesus Christ.  “In Christ” is seen 13 times in the book of Ephesians, and “in Him” is seen a total of seven times.  We will see that this is talking about what believers have because we are in Christ, and this is something that is amazing to each and every believer.

 

            Verses 3-14 comprise one sentence as we have noted and they encompass the past, present, and future of God’s eternal purpose for the church.  Now we also mentioned that the book of Ephesians is about the church, and this is why I believe that it was a circuit letter that went to the churches in Asia Minor so that they could understand what the function of the church was all about.  John MacArthur writes “In 3-6a we are shown the past aspect, election; in 6b-11 we are shown the present aspect, redemption; and in 12-14 we are shown the future aspect, in heritance.  Within God’s master plan of salvation is every believer who has or will ever trust in God and be saved.  As it is sometimes expressed, history is simply the outworking of ‘His story,’ which has already been planned and prewritten in eternity.” 

 

            He goes on to write “This passage can also be divided into three sections, each of which focuses on a different Person of the Trinity.  Verses 3-6 centers on the Father, verses 6b-12 center on the Son, and verses 13-14 center on the Holy Spirit.  Paul takes us to the very throne room of the Godhead to show the greatness and vastness of the blessings and treasures that belong to those who are in Jesus Christ.” 

 

            As I think about what Paul is writing about here, I have to admit that there have been other things in the past that I have looked at to bring fulfillment to my life, and what I am mostly referring to is things from before I came to know Jesus Christ.  I can’t remember a day since I have been saved when I have not thought about God, and I suppose that is because the Holy Spirit lives within me since I have become a believer.  I suppose that there have been many times that my thoughts of God are because of my need for forgiveness, but none the less God is and has been at the forefront of my mind since He saved me in January of 1974.  With that said I still have a hunger and thirst to know Him better and when I read the verses that I am previewing here and better understand that as MacArthur stated that Paul takes us to the very throne room of God that I desire to understand this better and to care about it more than things that are here on planet earth which will one day be burned up.

 

            If someone is reading this SD and wonders how it is that they can achieve a true sense of self-worth, meaning, and significance in their life they must understand that they have to have a right relationship with their Creator.  A person without Christ has no spiritual value, no standing before God and no purpose or meaning in the world.  There is a song that was written in the 1970’s and was sung by a man who had gone to the top of the corporate latter only to fall to the bottom very fast.  He ended up living in a one room cabin and was told that he only had six months to sing, for he was a singer.  Christ invaded his life as he says in the song “He saved me, He saved me,” and then life had real meaning for him, meaning that could only come from the God who saved him. 

 

            I have mentioned the many times we read “in Christ” or “in Him” that are found in this book and as a child of God and a joint heir with Jesus Christ we have to understand what we have in Him in order to live a life that is pleasing to our Lord.  Paul wants those who read this letter to have the right understanding of their position and possession and this is the foundational thrust of his letter that we are beginning to study.

 

            I want to close with another important quote from John MacArthur and that will give us the outline that we will look at for these verses.  He entitles this chapter “The Body Formed in Eternity Past,” and this quote will help explain that title.

 

“If we belong to Christ, Paul says, we can be sure that God put our name down as part of His church even before the world began.  Out of grace and in divine sovereignty, He chose each one of us to belong to Him.  It was not because we were more worthy than anyone else or more deserving or meritorious—but simply because God willed to chose us.”

 

“Paul gives us a glimpse of eternity past.  He lets us eavesdrop as God planned to save us—not only long before we were born but long before the earth was born.”  We will begin by looking at “The Aspects of Blessing” which has several sub-sections in it, and then move onto “The Elements of the Eternal Forming of the Body” which also has some sub-sections in it, and that is basically the outline of this short section from the first chapter of Ephesians.

 

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Loss for Christ” (Philippians 3:7).

 

Today’s Bible question:  “Upon finishing his message to the multitude, Jesus ask Peter to do something, what was that?

 

Answer in our next SD.  10/19/2018 10:51 AM

PT-2 More From the Salutation (Eph. 1:1-2)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/18/2018 10:53 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  More from the Salutation

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Ephesians 1:1-2

 

            Message of the verses:  “1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are at Ephesus and who are faithful in Christ Jesus: 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

 

            In today’s SD we have two sub-sections to look at.

 

THE DUAL BLESSINGS OF BELIEVERS

Ephesians 1:2a

 

“Grace to you and peace.”

 

            We begin by looking at the Greek word and meaning for the word translated “grace.” 

“1) grace

1a) that which affords joy, pleasure, delight, sweetness, charm, loveliness: grace of speech

2) good will, loving-kindness, favour

2a) of the merciful kindness by which God, exerting his holy influence upon souls, turns them to Christ, keeps, strengthens, increases them in Christian faith, knowledge, affection, and kindles them to the exercise of the Christian virtues

3) What is due to grace

3a) the spiritual condition of one governed by the power of divine grace

3b) the token or proof of grace, benefit

3b1) a gift of grace

3b2) benefit, bounty

4) Thanks, (for benefits, services, favours), recompense, reward.”

 

            It has been well said that grace means that God gives us what we do not deserve or could ever earn, and mercy is God holding back what we do deserve, and what every person who has ever lived on planet earth deserves is God’s wrath.  John MacArthur writes of grace:  “Grace is God’s great kindness toward those who are undeserving of His favor but who have placed their faith in His Son, Jesus Christ.”  When the early church greeted a fellow believer with the word grace it was in this way much more than a wish for their general well-being.  This was also the acknowledgment of the divine grace in which we stand, and this has made us mutual members of Christ’s Body and also of God’s divine family, and that is something to praise the Lord for.

 

            MacArthur goes on to write “Grace is the fountain of which peace (eirene) is the stream.  Because we have grace from God we have peace with God and the peace of God, ‘which surpasses all comprehension’ (Phil. 4:7).  Peace is the equivalent of the Hebrew shalom, which, in its highest connotation, signifies spiritual prosperity and completeness.”

 

THE DUAL SOURCE OF BLESSING

Ephesians 1:2B

 

“From God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

 

            We looked at the dual source of authority in our last SD which came from 1:1a, and as we look at the dual source of blessing it comes from the dual source of authority, that is God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  I want to look at the connection of God the Father which is seen in the word “and” which in the Greek is “kai” and this word can indicate equivalence, and in this passage it indicates that the Lord Jesus Christ is deity just like God our Father.  Paul teaches that Jesus Christ is God’s Son and is co-equal with God, which some people have a difficult time understanding and believing.  The Bible teaches that there is a Triune God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; One God but three persons.  I know that this is hard to completely understand, and it is one of the things that we believe by faith because that is what the Bible teaches.

 

            MacArthur’s concluding remarks:  “Paul’s message throughout this epistle is that believers might understand and experience more fully all of the blessing granted by their heavenly Father and His Son and their Savior, Jesus Christ.”  I would say that this is also the goal for studying this book too.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  It is my desire to be as much in tuned with the Holy Spirit of God as I can be, praying that He will be the One who teaches me what it is that He desires me to learn from this important book found in the NT.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Continue to pray that my heart will be teachable as I study Ephesians.

 

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Seven fat ones and seven lean ones” (Genesis 41:1-4).

 

Today’s Bible question:  “What did Paul count fleshly gain?”

 

Answer in our next SD.

 

10/18/2018 11:29 AM