1:3
Here we get the first of five mentions of “heavenly realms” or “heavenly places”. Paul praises the “God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ”, because He has blessed us in the heavenly realms. This statement is right at the outset of the letter, and is a theme that runs throughout the letter. Why so? One of the most fundamental lies in our society is that life is purely material, that the world is purely material. This is not so, there is a spiritual dimension as well. There is a spiritual battle. We can probably all agree that life is a battle! It is actually a spiritual battle. Now at this point some might start thinking about Hollywood type spiritual battles. This is a mistake. The spiritual battle is much more real than that, and much more serious. But we have been given “every spiritual blessing” in the heavenly realms. In and through Christ we are fully equipped for the battle.
1:4
Now what is the source and meaning of these blessings? We have been “chosen in Christ before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless”. We are chosen by God. No force, spiritual or otherwise, is going to overturn the sovereign choice of God. And we have been chosen to be “holy and blameless”. God is working in us, for us, and through us. We are meant to live our lives in fellowship with God, dependent upon God, drawing our sustenance from God.
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