*Ephesians 1:3-23
In Christ, God blesses believers with spiritual gifts, reveals their predestined adoption, and explains the surpassing power of Christ.
- Spiritual Blessings in Christ:
- Paul begins by praising God for the spiritual blessings bestowed in Christ, emphasizing that believers are chosen in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless.
- He speaks of God’s grace that destined believers for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, according to His pleasure and will.
- Redemption and Knowledge of God’s Will:
- Believers have redemption through Christ’s blood, which includes the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of God’s grace.
- God made known to them the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Christ.
- Inheritance and Sealing of the Holy Spirit:
- Believers were chosen to be God’s possession and to praise His glory; they first hoped in Christ and were marked with the seal of the Holy Spirit.
- The Holy Spirit is described as a deposit guaranteeing their inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession.
- Paul’s Prayer for Wisdom and Revelation:
- Paul prays for the Ephesian believers that God may give them the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so they may know Him better.
- He prays for the eyes of their heart to be enlightened to know the hope to which He has called them, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, and His incomparably great power for believers.
- Exaltation of Christ:
- The passage underscores God’s mighty strength which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms.
- Christ is placed above all rule, authority, power, and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.
- Christ as Head Over All for the Church:
- God placed all things under Christ’s feet and appointed Him to be head over everything for the church, which is His body.
- The church is described as the fullness of Him who fills everything in every way.
Ephesians 1:3-23 reminds us that we are deeply loved and chosen by God. He has given us every spiritual blessing and a great purpose in life. No matter what we face, we can have confidence because God’s power is at work in us. This teaches us to see ourselves the way God sees us—valuable and full of purpose. We can apply this by trusting in His plan, living with gratitude, and remembering that we belong to Him, no matter what challenges come our way.
Ephesians 1:3-23 (WEB)
1:3 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 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and without defect before him in love, 5 having predestined us for adoption as children through Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his desire, 6 to the praise of the glory of his grace, by which he freely gave us favor in the Beloved. 7 In him we have our redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace 8 which he made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, 9 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he purposed in him 10 to an administration of the fullness of the times, to sum up all things in Christ, the things in the heavens and the things on the earth, in him. 11 We were also assigned an inheritance in him, having been foreordained according to the purpose of him who does all things after the counsel of his will, 12 to the end that we should be to the praise of his glory, we who had before hoped in Christ. 13 In him you also, having heard the word of the truth, the Good News of your salvation—in whom, having also believed, you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a pledge of our inheritance, to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of his glory.15 For this cause I also, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which is among you and the love which you have toward all the saints, 16 don’t cease 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 to you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him, 18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of his calling, and what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the exceeding greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to that working of the strength of his might 20 which he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and made him to sit at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule, authority, power, dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in that which is to come. 22 He put all things in subjection under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things for the assembly, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.