Brother Stuart.... Just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate your studies on Ephesians. I am looking forward to the next one.....God Bless You, Brother Lester

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Here is part 2 of our Ephesians study I pray that you'll be blessed.


Ephesians 1:2-3




Verse 2




“Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”




It would be easy for us to skip over this verse as it is still part of the salutation that Paul is giving to the “Saints and faithful” at Ephesus. But here he begins to tell us the benefits that we should be enjoying as a result of being a Christian. These words can be found in one form or another at the beginning of most New Testament Epistles – “Grace to you, and Peace.” It was the custom at the time to great one another with the words “peace be with you,” “peace” was their favourite term. Even to today if you go to Israel the common greeting is “SHALOM” which is the Hebrew for “peace,” and in the Arab world it is “Salam allah cam” or “Gods peace be with you.” Paul, however goes further than just a cursory greeting, he says “Grace to you and peace….” No two words are more important in the whole of our faith, yet we tend to let them drop off our tongues so lightly.




Grace is the beginning of our faith; peace is the end of it. Every mighty flowing river has a source, or a spring, which can be traced, back to the mountain from which it comes. From that source everything flows, without it there would be nothing. Grace is the origin, the spring, or the source of everything in the Christian life. What does this Christian life mean, what is it supposed to produce? The answer is simple – “peace.” So at the very outset Paul shows us the purpose for which it is all meant and designed. Grace from God flowing down from His Holy Mountain into our lives, producing peace with Him, peace with ourselves and peace with those around us.




Verse 3


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




Having concluded his introduction in the first two verses Paul now begins the main body of the letter with praise and thanksgiving. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” At the center of Paul’s life and ministry was “Worship!” Throughout his epistles this is a recurring theme; Praise, Worship and thanksgiving because God has “blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.”




We need to notice first of all that these blessings are only available to those who are “in Christ.” Paul uses this term 77 times. There are certain common blessings that that are enjoyed by the whole of humanity. For example, the Sermon on the Mount teaches us that God “makes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust.” (Matthew 5:45) This is what is called “common grace,” but this is not what Paul is talking about here. Here he is dealing with “particular grace,” with “special grace,” the blessings that are enjoyed only by Christians. People often find this truth hard, but the distinction is clear in scripture. It is only “in Christ” that these special blessings are available, but they are available to ALL who are in Christ.




This emphasis can be no more clearly seen, perhaps, in the Epistle to the Colossians: “It pleased the Father that in Him (the Lord Jesus Christ) should all fullness dwell” (Colossians 1:19). It is all “in Him.” In Colossians 2:3 we read this: “In whom (Christ) are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” You cannot add to that! All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are “in Christ,” all the fullness of the Godhead is in Him. “In Him dwells all the fullness of the godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9).




Now we must see that these are “Spiritual Blessings.” The Blessings are from Christ, but they come through the Holy Spirit. God through Christ via the Holy Spirit gives them to us. What then are these “Spiritual Blessings?” Firstly, is not our Salvation a Spiritual Blessing? Is it not in fact the greatest of all spiritual blessings? The fact that our savior would leave glory to come to earth and give Himself as a sacrifice for our sin is indeed an act of such enormity that one can scarcely take it in. Another spiritual blessing is the indwelling of the blessed Holy Spirit who not only indwells us but also empowers us. We have been given freely a complete set of Armour (Ephesians 6:13), but also in addition to that we are given the strength of Christ Himself to use it. “Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might” (Ephesians 6:10). At the same time we can enjoy peace with God – peace within, peace with others – and happiness and “joy unspeakable and full of Glory,” comfort in affliction, support in trial. We cannot exhaust the list of these blessings, but we must end with this: “that ye might be filled with the fullness of God.” (Ephesians 3:19).




Not only are they Spiritual Blessings, they are “in Heavenly Places,” or “in the Heavenlies.” Too many Christians today look to the “here and now.” It is of little surprise then that there is so much Apostasy in the Church. It also accounts for the so called “social gospel” that has became so prominent. Whether we like it or not the blessings we enjoy in Christ are “in Heavenly Places.” Having said that, it must also be stated that this does not mean something completely and exclusively otherworldly! It does not mean that we automatically become monks or hermits, but it does mean that we have the right view of this world and our relationship to it.




Notice also that this has already occurred! It says “who has blessed us.“ - Not who will bless us. The blessings have already been supplied – we just need to appropriate them. Our Christian experience should be that of “walking” in the blessings that God has already given to us.