EPHESIANS: Threefold Praise and Blessings

EPHESIANS Number 3:
Threefold Praise and Blessings

Ephesians 1:3-14 are all contained within a single very lengthy sentence in the Greek. Notably, there are three sections we might observe. Each section ends with praise for God and each highlights a different Person of the Trinity.

The passage begins by telling us that we have been (notice the past-tense here) blessed with all spiritual blessings in Christ. In this section, the Father is highlighted as having given us these blessings, having chosen us, and having adopted us as His children.

The first section ends in verse six with this praise for the Father, “To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.” (Ephesians 1:6, KJV 1900)

In verses 7-12 praise is given that we have been redeemed and forgiven, given wisdom and prudence (a thoughtful frame of mind, ability to understand, insight), and knowledge of God’s will. All of this is praise focused on the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, who has done all these things and in whom all things are to be gathered.

This section ends with “That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.” (Ephesians 1:12, KJV 1900)

Finally, this long Greek sentence is concluded with praise focused on the Holy Spirit. Verses 13-14 praise Him for our hearing of the Gospel, which is the Word of Truth, none other than the Lord Jesus, in whom Holy Spirit has sealed us safely. He is the “earnest”, or down payment, or guarantee, of our inheritance. We see it phrased this way, “Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.” (Ephesians 1:14, KJV 1900)

Now that we’ve had an overview, let’s get into the text, picking up at verse three.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: 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:” (Ephesians 1:3–4, KJV 1900)

Don’t you just want to bless God? I sure do, and from this verse it looks like the Apostle did too. It looks like he wanted to do that for the same reason we want to do it today—God had blessed him. It brings to mind the Spirit-inspired words of another Apostle. John wrote, “We love him, because he first loved us.” (1 John 4:19, KJV 1900)

Our blessing of God seems like nothing compared to His blessing of us, but we know that God created us to enjoy an intimate mutually loving relationship with us. He is love (see 1 John 4:8) and since that is true, His innate desire is to express that love to others and, if possible, see it eagerly returned. A consequence of His character is that He is greatly blessed by our expressions of love, however clumsy they may seem to us.

We want to bless God because we have been blessed by Him, and what a blessing it is! The text says that He has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. This is much more magnificent than we can even express. No matter how blessed we may think or say we are, none of it compares to the reality. One day, when we see Him as He is (see 1 John 3:2) we will stand amazed in His presence (after we very likely fall prostrate in awe) at the Lord our God, our maker.

Paul was inspired to put it this way, “For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.” (2 Corinthians 1:20, KJV 1900)

I want us to take special note in these two passages of the word “all.” As many pastors and teachers will tell you, the Greek underlying the word “all” means “all”, and that’s all “all” means. Father has so graciously blessed us with all, or every, spiritual blessing in the heavenly realm in Christ Jesus. In Christ Jesus all, or every one, of His promises are yes and amen.

The literary construct here is “yes, and amen”, but it uses the Greek nai, an affirmation like “yes certainly, or so it will be” along with the Hebrew amen, which BDAG defines as a “strong affirmation of what is stated.” In this way, it is as if the Holy Spirit is underscoring the truth and certainty of this declaration to both groups of God’s people, Gentiles (Greeks) and Jews (Hebrews).

To put it in the words Eugene Peterson used when translating this verse in “The Message” Bible, “Yes, it’s done” in Christ. The Lord Jesus is the “yes, it’s done. He is the tetelestai, the “it is finished!” The ultimate affirmation and fulfillment of all God’s promises to us.