All Spiritual Blessings
Bible Study Time 9-3-06
Church links:
Bible Study Time 9-3-06
In the book of Ephesians, the Apostle Paul writes to us today, as members of the Church which is the Body of Christ, and the very first thing he says after his initial greeting is:
Ephesians 1:3 (NKJ)
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 this statement, Paul does not hesitate. He does not equivocate as he plainly declares that we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.
The connection between spiritual blessings and the heavenly places is a logical one sense heavenly things are spiritual by nature. Spiritual things stand in contrast to the things of the earth which are physical. In I Corinthians 15, Paul wrote about the resurrection of the dead and said:
1 Corinthians 15:44 (NKJ)
44 (The body) is sown a natural body, (but) it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
1 Corinthians 15:42-49 (NKJ)
47 The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord from heaven.
48 As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust; and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly.
49 And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man.
In this passage we see that the spiritual body is a heavenly body. It is associated with heaven while the natural or physical body is associated with the earth. Paul goes on in Ephesians, Chapter 2, to say that God has:
Ephesians 2:5-7 (NKJ)
5 . . . made us alive together with Christ . . .
6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
Our position today is in the heavenlies, and therefore, our blessings are spiritual in nature.
Did you notice that Paul used the word together three times? We have been made alive together with Christ. We have been raised up together, and we have been made to sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.
Our position and our realm of blessing has been determined by the fact that we have been brought together with Christ. We have been baptized by the Holy Spirit into the death, burial, resurrection and ascension of Christ. Therefore, we are citizens of heaven, and we are called upon to set our affections on things above, not on the things of the earth.
The other day I heard a lady on television speaking about the blessings that God has for us today, and she said that we should just stick with the four gospels and claim everything that we see in the four gospels. But beloved, just think of the precious blessings that we would miss if we did just stick with the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
The Apostle Paul is the apostle who was chosen first to go to the Gentiles when the New Covenant Kingdom was being offered to Israel. Then when that kingdom program was set aside, God revealed to Paul the program for today, the program for the Church which is the Body of Christ.
As we study the writings of the Apostle Paul and open our hearts to the working of the Holy Spirit, the spiritual blessings with which we have been blessed become a source of strength for us in our everyday lives. Regardless of the trials and tribulations we face, we know that we are together with Christ. We have been made alive together with Christ. We have been raised together and seated together in the heavenly places in Christ. These are just a few of the spiritual blessings we enjoy in the heavenly places in Jesus Christ.
Our spiritual blessings stand in contrast to the blessings which were promised in the Old Covenant Law. In the Law, God promised Israel that if they would keep His commandments, He would given them health and wealth and protection from foreign invaders. Clearly, these can not be classified as spiritual blessings. These are blessings that pertain to the earth.
When we read the Old Covenant Law, we see that God never promised eternal life to those who kept the Law. God knew the weakness of man’s fleshly nature, and He knew that no one could earn eternal life by keeping the Law.
So, why was the Law given? Paul said that it was given as a schoolmaster. It was given to teach man about God’s righteousness and holiness. The writer of the book of Hebrews confirmed for us that no one can be saved by the Law, and he concluded that without faith it is impossible to please God. Therefore, the only people who were actually saved during the Old Testament times were those people who had faith in God and believed what God said.
In accordance with the Law Covenant, God gave Israel great physical blessings. He gave them tremendous prosperity and peace throughout the entire region, but the only ones who experienced any of the spiritual blessings of God were those who actually trusted in God and believed what God said.
Joshua is an example of one who truly believed in God. He came back from spying out the land of Canaan and said, “We can take the land because God is on our side.” Later, when God called Joshua to lead the army of Israel into the land, God told Joshua:
Joshua 1:9 (NKJ)
9 " . . . Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go."
Now that was a spiritual blessing. God was making a difference in Joshua’s heart. God was blessings Joshua with freedom from fear. God said, “The Lord you God is with you wherever you go.” This was a spiritual blessing which came down from heaven and blessed Joshua’s heart.
But in keeping with the conditions of the Law Covenant, God also told Joshua that the physical blessings of the kingdom would depend upon whether the children of Israel lived by the Law. He said:
Joshua 1:7 (NKJ)
7 "Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go.
As we know, Joshua did enter into and conquer the land of Canaan, and the kingdom which was established by Joshua’s army did grow into a glorious kingdom under David and Solomon, but toward the end of Solomon’s life, Solomon’s heart was seduced by the gods of his pagan wives. From that time on, the kingdom began to fall apart.
At that point, God spoke to the prophets and the prophets spoke to the people. They said that someday God was going to make a New Covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. They said that this New Covenant was not going to be like the Old Covenant because it was going to be based in the power of the Holy Spirit. The people would by God’s own provision have the power to walk according to the righteousness of God.
The Lord Jesus came as Israel’s Messiah. He was rejected by the nation of Israel and was crucified by the Romans, but His shed blood became the basis for God’s New Covenant with Israel.
After His death, burial and resurrection, the Lord Jesus ascended into heaven where He placed some of His blood upon the mercy seat of the temple in heaven. At last, all of the prerequisites for the New Covenant had been accomplished, and it was time for the pouring out of the Holy Spirit upon the nation of Israel.
Chapters 1 and 2 of the book of Acts document for us exactly what happened. Peter and the other disciples were waiting in Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit. All of a sudden:
Acts 2:2-6 (NKJ)
2 . . . there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.
4 . . . they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
5 And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven.
6 And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language.
Peter and the apostles spoke in tongues and then Peter told them that Jesus Christ, the one they had crucified, had been raised from the dead and taken up into heaven. He told them that if they would repent and be baptized, God would forgive their sin, and Jesus Christ would return to earth to fulfill all of the Jewish promises.
It is clear from Isaiah’s prophesy that the power to speak in tongues was given at this time to confirm the message the apostles were preaching. Isaiah said:
Isaiah 28:11 (NKJ)
11 . . . with stammering lips and another tongue (God) will speak to this people,
Three thousand people were saved on that Day of Pentecost, and no doubt many people believed in Jesus Christ that day because they witnessed God speaking through these men in many different languages.
Now here again, we need to make a distinction between that which is spiritual and that which is of the natural or physical world. Speaking in tongues should not be classified as a spiritual blessing. It was not something that happened in their hearts; it was something that happened in their physical bodies.
It was not until the Apostle Paul come along that people began to understand the spiritual blessings which are associated with the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Paul said in Romans, Chapter 6:
Romans 6:3-6 (NKJ)
3 . . . do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?
4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
5 For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection,
6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.
This is the spiritual blessing that took place on the Day of Pentecost in Acts, Chapter 2. The people were baptized into the death, burial and resurrection of Christ, and as a result they became new creations in Christ. The old things passed away as the old sin nature was crucified with Christ. Then the new nature was produced by the Holy Spirit who was living within them.
This change in their hearts is evident in Acts, Chapter 2, not only be the fact that they spoke in tongues, but by the fact that afterward they continued steadfastly in the apostle’s doctrine and fellowship, and they continued daily with one accord, praising God. Oh, what a change God had made in their hearts and lives.
When the Apostle Paul wrote to us about our blessings as members of the Church, the Body of Christ, he said that we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.
This means that every spiritual blessing of the Old Covenant Law is ours. When God told Joshua that He would be with Joshua wherever he went, that is one of our spiritual blessings for we have been blessed with all spiritual blessings. When God told Joshua that He would given him every place that the sole of his foot tread upon, we know that we can not claim that blessing because we have not been blessed with all physical blessings.
In like manner, we can not claim the promised kingdom of the New Covenant. That is a physical blessing which will come upon this physical earth. Neither can we claim the miracles, wonders and signs which God gave in connection with the New Covenant. But I do want to emphasize that all of the spiritual blessings of the New Covenant belong to us.
When we believe, we are baptized into the death, burial and resurrection of Christ just like those who were saved under the New Covenant program. However, as is often the case, we have additional blessings. The New Covenant Christians stopped with the resurrection, but our identification with Christ continues on into the ascension of Christ. No where in Paul’s early New Covenant ministry do we see him speaking of saved people be ascended with Christ into the heavenlies, but that is specifically revealed in Paul’s revelation to the Church which is the Body of Christ.
Today, we enjoy every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. Therefore, we should set our affections on things above and not on the things of this earth.
I see that our time is almost gone for this morning, and I hope that you are rejoicing in the spiritual blessings which God has given to us today. After all, a heart that is full of rejoicing is one of the spiritual blessings with which we have been blessed. Thank you for listening to Bible Study Time. I’ll look forward to being with you again next week at this same time.
Write me at: jimjoan77@juno.com
Ephesians 1:3 (NKJ)
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 this statement, Paul does not hesitate. He does not equivocate as he plainly declares that we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.
The connection between spiritual blessings and the heavenly places is a logical one sense heavenly things are spiritual by nature. Spiritual things stand in contrast to the things of the earth which are physical. In I Corinthians 15, Paul wrote about the resurrection of the dead and said:
1 Corinthians 15:44 (NKJ)
44 (The body) is sown a natural body, (but) it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
1 Corinthians 15:42-49 (NKJ)
47 The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord from heaven.
48 As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust; and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly.
49 And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man.
In this passage we see that the spiritual body is a heavenly body. It is associated with heaven while the natural or physical body is associated with the earth. Paul goes on in Ephesians, Chapter 2, to say that God has:
Ephesians 2:5-7 (NKJ)
5 . . . made us alive together with Christ . . .
6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
Our position today is in the heavenlies, and therefore, our blessings are spiritual in nature.
Did you notice that Paul used the word together three times? We have been made alive together with Christ. We have been raised up together, and we have been made to sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.
Our position and our realm of blessing has been determined by the fact that we have been brought together with Christ. We have been baptized by the Holy Spirit into the death, burial, resurrection and ascension of Christ. Therefore, we are citizens of heaven, and we are called upon to set our affections on things above, not on the things of the earth.
The other day I heard a lady on television speaking about the blessings that God has for us today, and she said that we should just stick with the four gospels and claim everything that we see in the four gospels. But beloved, just think of the precious blessings that we would miss if we did just stick with the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
The Apostle Paul is the apostle who was chosen first to go to the Gentiles when the New Covenant Kingdom was being offered to Israel. Then when that kingdom program was set aside, God revealed to Paul the program for today, the program for the Church which is the Body of Christ.
As we study the writings of the Apostle Paul and open our hearts to the working of the Holy Spirit, the spiritual blessings with which we have been blessed become a source of strength for us in our everyday lives. Regardless of the trials and tribulations we face, we know that we are together with Christ. We have been made alive together with Christ. We have been raised together and seated together in the heavenly places in Christ. These are just a few of the spiritual blessings we enjoy in the heavenly places in Jesus Christ.
Our spiritual blessings stand in contrast to the blessings which were promised in the Old Covenant Law. In the Law, God promised Israel that if they would keep His commandments, He would given them health and wealth and protection from foreign invaders. Clearly, these can not be classified as spiritual blessings. These are blessings that pertain to the earth.
When we read the Old Covenant Law, we see that God never promised eternal life to those who kept the Law. God knew the weakness of man’s fleshly nature, and He knew that no one could earn eternal life by keeping the Law.
So, why was the Law given? Paul said that it was given as a schoolmaster. It was given to teach man about God’s righteousness and holiness. The writer of the book of Hebrews confirmed for us that no one can be saved by the Law, and he concluded that without faith it is impossible to please God. Therefore, the only people who were actually saved during the Old Testament times were those people who had faith in God and believed what God said.
In accordance with the Law Covenant, God gave Israel great physical blessings. He gave them tremendous prosperity and peace throughout the entire region, but the only ones who experienced any of the spiritual blessings of God were those who actually trusted in God and believed what God said.
Joshua is an example of one who truly believed in God. He came back from spying out the land of Canaan and said, “We can take the land because God is on our side.” Later, when God called Joshua to lead the army of Israel into the land, God told Joshua:
Joshua 1:9 (NKJ)
9 " . . . Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go."
Now that was a spiritual blessing. God was making a difference in Joshua’s heart. God was blessings Joshua with freedom from fear. God said, “The Lord you God is with you wherever you go.” This was a spiritual blessing which came down from heaven and blessed Joshua’s heart.
But in keeping with the conditions of the Law Covenant, God also told Joshua that the physical blessings of the kingdom would depend upon whether the children of Israel lived by the Law. He said:
Joshua 1:7 (NKJ)
7 "Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go.
As we know, Joshua did enter into and conquer the land of Canaan, and the kingdom which was established by Joshua’s army did grow into a glorious kingdom under David and Solomon, but toward the end of Solomon’s life, Solomon’s heart was seduced by the gods of his pagan wives. From that time on, the kingdom began to fall apart.
At that point, God spoke to the prophets and the prophets spoke to the people. They said that someday God was going to make a New Covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. They said that this New Covenant was not going to be like the Old Covenant because it was going to be based in the power of the Holy Spirit. The people would by God’s own provision have the power to walk according to the righteousness of God.
The Lord Jesus came as Israel’s Messiah. He was rejected by the nation of Israel and was crucified by the Romans, but His shed blood became the basis for God’s New Covenant with Israel.
After His death, burial and resurrection, the Lord Jesus ascended into heaven where He placed some of His blood upon the mercy seat of the temple in heaven. At last, all of the prerequisites for the New Covenant had been accomplished, and it was time for the pouring out of the Holy Spirit upon the nation of Israel.
Chapters 1 and 2 of the book of Acts document for us exactly what happened. Peter and the other disciples were waiting in Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit. All of a sudden:
Acts 2:2-6 (NKJ)
2 . . . there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.
4 . . . they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
5 And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven.
6 And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language.
Peter and the apostles spoke in tongues and then Peter told them that Jesus Christ, the one they had crucified, had been raised from the dead and taken up into heaven. He told them that if they would repent and be baptized, God would forgive their sin, and Jesus Christ would return to earth to fulfill all of the Jewish promises.
It is clear from Isaiah’s prophesy that the power to speak in tongues was given at this time to confirm the message the apostles were preaching. Isaiah said:
Isaiah 28:11 (NKJ)
11 . . . with stammering lips and another tongue (God) will speak to this people,
Three thousand people were saved on that Day of Pentecost, and no doubt many people believed in Jesus Christ that day because they witnessed God speaking through these men in many different languages.
Now here again, we need to make a distinction between that which is spiritual and that which is of the natural or physical world. Speaking in tongues should not be classified as a spiritual blessing. It was not something that happened in their hearts; it was something that happened in their physical bodies.
It was not until the Apostle Paul come along that people began to understand the spiritual blessings which are associated with the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Paul said in Romans, Chapter 6:
Romans 6:3-6 (NKJ)
3 . . . do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?
4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
5 For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection,
6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.
This is the spiritual blessing that took place on the Day of Pentecost in Acts, Chapter 2. The people were baptized into the death, burial and resurrection of Christ, and as a result they became new creations in Christ. The old things passed away as the old sin nature was crucified with Christ. Then the new nature was produced by the Holy Spirit who was living within them.
This change in their hearts is evident in Acts, Chapter 2, not only be the fact that they spoke in tongues, but by the fact that afterward they continued steadfastly in the apostle’s doctrine and fellowship, and they continued daily with one accord, praising God. Oh, what a change God had made in their hearts and lives.
When the Apostle Paul wrote to us about our blessings as members of the Church, the Body of Christ, he said that we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.
This means that every spiritual blessing of the Old Covenant Law is ours. When God told Joshua that He would be with Joshua wherever he went, that is one of our spiritual blessings for we have been blessed with all spiritual blessings. When God told Joshua that He would given him every place that the sole of his foot tread upon, we know that we can not claim that blessing because we have not been blessed with all physical blessings.
In like manner, we can not claim the promised kingdom of the New Covenant. That is a physical blessing which will come upon this physical earth. Neither can we claim the miracles, wonders and signs which God gave in connection with the New Covenant. But I do want to emphasize that all of the spiritual blessings of the New Covenant belong to us.
When we believe, we are baptized into the death, burial and resurrection of Christ just like those who were saved under the New Covenant program. However, as is often the case, we have additional blessings. The New Covenant Christians stopped with the resurrection, but our identification with Christ continues on into the ascension of Christ. No where in Paul’s early New Covenant ministry do we see him speaking of saved people be ascended with Christ into the heavenlies, but that is specifically revealed in Paul’s revelation to the Church which is the Body of Christ.
Today, we enjoy every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. Therefore, we should set our affections on things above and not on the things of this earth.
I see that our time is almost gone for this morning, and I hope that you are rejoicing in the spiritual blessings which God has given to us today. After all, a heart that is full of rejoicing is one of the spiritual blessings with which we have been blessed. Thank you for listening to Bible Study Time. I’ll look forward to being with you again next week at this same time.
Write me at: jimjoan77@juno.com
Church links:
No comments:
Post a Comment