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The Blessings and the Battles
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies places in Christ.” (Ephesians 1:3)
“We wrestle against spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places.” (Eph.6:12)
We marvel at the richest men in the world like Bill Gates, Bezos and others who have hundreds of billions of dollars. What must their lifestyle be like? What good could they do for mankind? What control they could have over politics. But these guys are Ozark Hills compared to the Rocky Mountains when it comes to the real richest people in the world. These are the ones Paul calls plutocrats in 1 Corinthians 1:5. A plutocrat is a wealthy person with power. We have found out in the financial and political world that these media moguls are not only rich but they are more powerful than anyone else in the world. Wealth means power. Or as my dad used to say, “Money rules the world.”
But there is another wealth that comes with power and it is spiritual wealth. That’s what Ephesians is all about. The Christian is enriched with “every spiritual blessing.” This wealth has already been given to every Christian. God “has blessed us with every spiritual blessing.” It’s in the bank and its waiting for our withdrawal. This wealth does not come automatically; we must access it. That’s where the battle starts. There are spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenlies who do everything they can to keep you from living in God’s blessings.
The blessings are from God; the battles are from Satan. We don’t enjoy the blessings without a battle. What are these blessings? They are found in the promises of God and they consist of everything Christ has paid for on the cross. Find a promise from God in the Bible and it’s yours. “For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.” (2Cor.1:20)
The spirit world controls the physical world. The heavens rule. Hebrews 11:3 says, “the things which are seen were made of things which are invisible.” Visible things were made from invisible things. Sure, that could mean atoms, but now they can be seen, so that’s not the whole truth. Everything in the natural world is controlled by the spirit world. God and angels, Satan and demons, and humans are spirit-beings.
Paul speaks of some of these blessings in the first chapter. Things like being chosen for the purpose of making us holy. Think of it – chosen by God to be without blame before Him in love. We have the blessing of adoption, which means we are heirs of God to everything God has, and He has a lot. He has made us accepted. The only other time this word is used in the New Testament is when Gabriel said to the virgin Mary, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you.” (Luke 1:28) The word accepted means highly favored in Ephesian
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