Are we there yet?

Ephesians 1:3-14

Are we there yet? You have heard the question before and it usually causes irritation.

If I ask you are we there yet now? You might say “what are you talking about? Where are we going?” You might say, “no. I’m not there yet. I’m not dead yet.”

We develop the idea that we have to live with whatever happens to us in this life hoping that it will all be a lot better in the next.

But is that what being a Christian really all about? Looking forward to being dead?

I like the expression that being a Christian is not about pie in the sky when you die but instead about steak on the plate while you wait. Does that fit your idea of being a Christian?

Look at what God tells us in this passage in Ephesians chapter 1.

He says “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.”

There’s one word in that statement that gets my attention. Is there one that catches yours?

Perhaps the word “every” gets your attention. God has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. It’s great news that we have been blessed so much.  Not with just one or two blessings but every single one of them. 

And they are the kind of blessings that are good enough for heaven. What could be better than blessings good enough for heaven? They are the kind of blessings you will know all about when you get there. 

But what got my attention was the word “has”.

It’s not that God might bless us, nor perhaps will bless us, nor will bless us if we are good enough, nor will bless us if we make it to heaven. We are told God HAS blessed us.

It’s a good, affirmative, past tense HAS blessed us. It’s a done deal. 

It’s past tense in our English translation but also in the original Greek. It’s not the only word written in the past tense in this passage. Scan through the passage and see the other words in the past tense.

He chose us, pre destined us, has freely given us, have redemption and so on.

So many people travel on through life hoping one day to reach their heavenly reward. Ask them, “are we there yet?” And they will answer, “no, I’m not dead yet”.

As a Christian, though, we can read this passage and ask, “are we there yet?” and the answer is, “yes! YES! I have been blessed with every spiritual blessing and I’m not even dead yet!” 

God HAS blessed us with every spiritual blessing already!

Everyone in heaven has these blessings - and now we read that so do we! No, we don’t wait until we get to heaven to get these blessings. Here in God’s word, the Bible, God tells us he has blessed us with every spiritual blessing already. 

These are not any old blessings. They are the kind of blessings that are good enough for heaven. Blessings good enough for heaven are as good as blessings could possibly be.  They are the kind of blessings that moths and vermin do not destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal. They are blessings that are so very secure.  You can’t lose them. They can’t be stolen from you. They don’t deteriorate at all.

When the apostle Paul wrote this letter to Christians he became overwhelmed with the magnificence of the truths he was inspired to write about. He overflowed with words. He didn’t stop for breath - he just burst out with his message. What reads to us in our translation as several paragraphs came out in the original greek as a string of words. No punctuation, no sentence or paragraph breaks.

What he burst forth with was the wonder of the whole gospel message all at once. You see, when you accept the Christian gospel of Jesus Christ you don’t get a snippet of good news - you get every blessing.

You know the song that says count your blessings, name them one by one and see what it is that God has done? Well I don’t think that makes sense here. Would it be possible to count the blessings God has given you? If he has blessed you with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms, how many does that make it? 

These blessings are not only eternal they are also infinite.  There’s no way you could count them.

When we look in the passage we can’t count the blessings but we can at least name some of them.

Look through the blessings in this passage and name some of them.

He chose us in Christ before the creation of the world. God meant you to have these blessings. He had planned for you to have them not just when you were born, not just from when you were in your mother’s womb. He had planned that you would have these blessings from even before the creation of the world. It was meant to be. He has had you in mind all along since before time began. See how special God thinks you are?

He had in mind for you to be adopted into his family. You are a child of God. God has embraced you, enfolded you in his loving Fatherly care. You are a fully accepted, authorised child of God. You are so absorbed into the family of God that you will share Christ’s inheritance with all that includes.

Of course, Jesus is the pre-eminent child of God, the firstborn from the dead. He is your brother who never sinned. He is the perfect one and we are included in Christ.

Unlike Jesus, we weren’t born into the family of God but Jesus bought us back from the god of this world. Jesus paid the ransom for our freedom from any guilt or sin. He paid the price to redeem us so that we were brought into God’s family. We were brought into God’s family because we were bought at the cost of Jesus’ cross - and now we permanently enjoy the protection that gives us! 

We have been blessed with redemption through the blood of Jesus. We are redeemed. We have the forgiveness of sins.

God surveys his family and what does he see? There’s Jesus, of course, and then there’s you and me. What Father God sees when he looks at you and at me is a redeemed, adopted child, loved, and dear to him. He sees us as being every bit as good and beautiful, and cleansed of all sin, as being as acceptable as Jesus himself. 

Let this sink in: God sees you and me as being as loveable, acceptable, beautiful, as holy and blameless as Jesus is. We are holy and blameless in God’s sight. God thinks you are good enough for his company and for his use. You are, right now, good enough for heaven. What a blessing that is! 

Not everyone understands this but God wants you to know and understand this. 

We have been blessed with insight. We have had the mystery of God’s will revealed to us. We understand what Christ has done for us. We heard the message and were given faith in Christ as Saviour and Lord.

Of all the billions of humans there have been, are and will be, we are marked with a seal, with the promised Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God the Father, the Spirit of Jesus the king. The Holy Spirit revealed to us what Jesus death and resurrection really means. He gave us faith to believe, to commit to Jesus.

The Holy Spirit is given to us as a seal, a guarantee that these blessings are ours right now. This seal indicates to God that you are his child and indicates to you that your place in the kingdom of God is assured into eternity.

The Holy Spirit gives us that peculiar Christian characteristic of hope - that peaceful certainty of our place in God’s kingdom for ever.

I started by saying there was one word that caught my attention, the word “has”. God has blessed us so completely. But there’s another word that is important here. It’s the word “grace”.

I once had an insurance claim knocked back but when I complained about this I was offered an “ex gratia” payment from the manager’s account.  Apparently I didn’t deserve a payout but they were gracious, generous enough to give me some money I did not deserve. A big favour, wasn’t it? I was shown grace, but grace that pales into insignificance in the light of God’s grace.

We have all these blessings in accordance with the riches of God’s grace. 

One thing we are quick to acknowledge is that by no means do we deserve these blessings he has poured out on us. It’s just that God has been so generous, merciful and loving that he gives us favours we do not deserve and gives us the ability to accept them.

Grace is God’s unmerited empowering favour to us. 

While you are thinking about God’s grace to you look at it in terms of another word in this passage. We see that God has given us grace freely. In some translations it says that God has lavished his grace on us and I really like that translation.  God has lavished his freely given, undeserved favour on us. 

How do you like your scones?  I like them lavished with jam and cream. Lavished! It’s no faint smear, no little dabs. Lavished!

It’s the way God has lavished his grace on us.  Really poured it out in the fullest, most generous way.  He holds nothing back. His love, his mercy, his blessings, his grace is lavished upon us.

It’s wonderful that these are “spiritual” blessings, not material ones. They’re not the kind of blessing that pays the bills. You don’t need those kinds of blessings in heaven. Spiritual these blessings might be but they are real, nonetheless.

So, are you enjoying all these blessings? Are you living with them day by day?

One problem is that we find them hard to comprehend, we find it hard to take it all in, to really believe that God has so completely blessed us even though it’s right there in the word of God, stated as a fact.

It’s in the book!

Remember when Adam and Eve were in the perfection of the Garden of Eden with no idea about good and evil.  At that time they knew only good and were expected to trust God, to believe his word and not to try to discover the difference between good and evil.

That was when satan came in with his sneaky question, “did God really say, don’t touch the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil?” And the man and woman listened to the subtlety of satan and failed to trust God.

Be careful as we read these wonderful words from God, telling us that God has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. Check whether satan is whispering in your mind questions like, “did God really say that?”

He raises questions in your mind like, “perhaps he meant it’s something you get in heaven.’

Or, “did God mean if you are good enough he will give them to you”. Or, “it’s a lovely promise but it’s not meant for this life but for when you die”. 

Satan suggests, “Don’t you see that they are blessings in the heavenly realms and you’re not there yet?” Or, “It’s for those who have more faith than you do”. Or, “they are spiritual blessings, not meant for this material world. And you are not spiritual enough to receive them.”

Those kind of thoughts are satan specialities. They are lies.  They come from the father of lies, the being whose only language is lies.

He is a cheat. He wants to cheat you out of the blessings God has given you.

There is a response to make to these lies. As Jesus said when he was tempted like this, “it is written”. What was written in God’s word is to be trusted and followed despite the temptation to ignore it. On another occasion Jesus said, “get behind me satan”. He said, ‘Away from me, Satan! For it is written: “Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.” 

People who don’t know Jesus is their saviour and Lord don’t get these blessings and, in fact, they seem very mysterious, unbelievable, even unattractive. 

But you do know Jesus Christ!

God revealed to you the mystery of the Gospel, how God sent his son to die and so to take the penalty of your sins. You have been redeemed by Jesus and adopted as a child of God. As you are right now your heavenly father sees you as being holy and blameless.

Approach the throne of God with confidence, even boldness and in the name of and with the authority of Jesus.

Be assured by the Holy Spirit you have received confirming that your eternal relationship with God is guaranteed!

You were included in Christ when you heard and believed the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. That belief, that faith resulted in you being blessed with every spiritual blessing.

Since God has lavished his grace on you with all these blessings there is one sensible response which is to relish what has been lavished!

Receive these blessings and revel in them. They are securely yours. Remind yourself day by day what God has given you. Count your blessings if you can!

As you do so the richness of God’s grace to you will sink in, it will change you, it will change your relationship with your Father God and with your Lord and saviour Jesus. You will want to praise and love him more.

You, who have put your hope in Christ, will also live to the praise of his glory.