SWORDS Bible Study: What Do We Do With Our Spiritual Blessings? Part One

by Mari

We have taken a look at many of the spiritual blessings God bestowed on us the moment we believed and were saved from eternal damnation! There are even more blessings, but I stopped to wonder if everyone knows what we do with these blessings while we are here in the body? I mean, how do these blessings affect us in this life, since we have them in heavenly places in Christ, right now?

Heavenly places are referred to four times in Ephesians and not anywhere else in the Bible.   Let’s take a look at all of them.

Eph_1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:

Anyone who is not a believer does not receive these blessings, only we who have believed and are therefore in Christ. Notice too that our blessings are spiritual blessings and not the physical, earthly, blessings like those given and promised to Israel. Our spiritual blessings are eternal, and we have then now!

God is not supernaturally bestowing physical blessings upon His people today, meaning those of us in the body of Christ, the church.

It is why we must work for a living to feed, clothe and house our own selves and family. We literally have no promises from God to keep us in physical comfort in any way. Our comfort and confidence comes from God who comforts us in all tribulations that we might be able to comfort others who are in trouble, by the comfort we ourselves have received from God. (2Cor 1:4) We try to comfort others with the presentation of the saving gospel of God, as well we can also comfort our brethren who are in trouble, hurt or grieving et al. with the comfort from God that we ourselves have been comforted of God!

There are physical blessings that we experience in this physical world even though God didn’t covenant them to us or miraculously manipulate our circumstances to make them happen. For example we have the completed word of God! Communion with other saints is a blessing. Our family and spiritual family can be a blessing to us, and we pray it is a blessing to others. While God does not supernaturally intervene to cause these things to happen, without God they would not exist (He created the church, inspired and preserved His word, designed the institution of family, and gave life to us and the ability to create and preserve life!) These are physical blessings that we experience in this physical world.

What does heavenly places mean? I think this verse tells us:

Col_3:1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.

For our next verse, I think we should have the full context:

Eph 1:18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,

Eph 1:19 And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,

Eph 1:20 Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,

Eph 1:21 Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:

Eph 1:22 And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,

Eph 1:23 Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.

We can see by the above verses that heavenly places is where Christ is: seated at the right hand of the Father. Heavenly places are where we will reside for eternity with our God.  We cannot be there physically because this body of sin must be redeemed first (Romans 8:23).

Gal 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

Eph_2:6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

We were raised up with Christ when we first believed. His resurrection made our resurrection as believers certain. (Col 2:12, Rom 6:5)

Our Apostle Paul tell us that in the future, when we are in our position in heavenly places that we will also partake in His glory!

Rom 8:17-18 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

2Co 4:17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;

Col 1:27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

Col 3:4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.

2Ti 2:10 Therefore I endure all things for the elect’s sakes, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.

2Th 2:14 Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Rom 8:17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

By virtue of Christ’s position, we have this position in Christ in heavenly places. We are in Christ and Christ in us, and someday we will also live forever with Christ in the place He has prepared for us in heavenly places with our redeemed new body! We will one day be there with Him in our glorified body.

In our last verse, I think it is important to again have the context of the prior two verses as well to more fully understand.

Eph 3:8 Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;

Eph 3:9 And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:

Eph_3:10 To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,

We do not want to miss some very important things here. One is that not only does Paul teach the unsearchable riches of Christ NOW revealed to us, but that as Ambassadors we want to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery. This is not just unsaved men but those who have been saved and do not yet know how to rightly divide!

This having all spiritual blessings and being seated in heavenly places isn’t something we can understand from our daily experience. We need God’s Word to tell us: to know the incomparable riches of His grace!

The trouble with our understanding these great truths is that we cannot sense this using our emotions or our natural selves. Apart from the bible we do not have a frame of reference for our being seated in heavenly places in Christ, nor the wonder of all our spiritual blessings.  If we try to use our natural senses to understand this truth, we will never be able to understand it is true. We believe this by faith in the word of God.

This is a spiritual understanding. We cannot evaluate this truth according to the physical. It is the same with our salvation! Right now we have total spiritual salvation as we await the redemption of our bodies.   If you believe you are saved by the blood of Christ, you need to understand that your standing is that of being seated in heavenly places in Christ and that you have been given all spiritual blessings.

Php_3:3 For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.

Joh_4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

Don’t make the mistake of evaluating your life according to the flesh! We are told by the word of God that we have ALL SPIRITUAL BLESSINGS IN HEAVENLY PLACES. That we are raised up together, and (He) made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ! This is a magnificent, glorious truth!

Remember too that the “Just shall live by faith” (Ro 1:17; Gal 3:11).

Today we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen! And for a very great reason! The things which are seen are temporary! The things which are not seen but by God’s word believed are eternal! Believe you have all spiritual blessings in Heavenly places in Christ!

2Co 4:18  While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

THE GOSPEL THAT SAVES
“I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; by which also ye are saved … that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:”

– 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 (KJB)