"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ." Eph.1:3
“as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness…” II Pet. 1:3
“and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.” Col. 2:10
If you know Jesus, you are wealthier than you think. No...way wealthier than you think! On top of that, you are wealthier where it counts the most. You see, we are not in the process of receiving God’s spiritual blessings. We already have been “blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.” We are not awaiting any further installments of divine power; “His divine power” has already “given us all things pertaining to life and godliness.” We are not becoming more complete in Him; we already “are complete (lit. “having been made full”) in Him.” So why is this important?
Charles Spurgeon tells the story of a minister in the north of England who had a very poor woman in his congregation. One day this pastor felt led to take a sizeable sum of money to this woman’s house and give it to her on behalf of the church. He knocked at the door several times with no answer. Later that day he met her at church and mentioned that he had come by her house. She asked, “At what time?” “Around noon”, he replied. She then told him that she actually had been home. But she thought he was just another bill collector, and having no means to pay, she hid in her room. It was his joy to then let her know that he had a sizable monetary sum he wanted to give her, all of grace.
Spurgeon then went on to note that many, many Christians respond to God in just the same fashion. We see Him primarily as the moral bill collector of the universe; knocking on the door of our lives for the obedience He is due. Yet we sense within ourselves such limited resources to do what He commands, we easily despair of ever being able to do so. Overwhelmed by guilt, frustration, and inadequacy; we eventually begin running from His voice rather than towards it.
The truth is that God always comes to us first to give and only afterwards to receive. His first movement toward us is always that of undeserved, wild, irrationally generous giving. The beginning of our walk with Him is having our closet stuffed so full of the garments of His choosing that we can’t even shut the doors. Every step along the way is one of incessant falling back on what He provided at the very instant of our salvation. Do you need more love? You cannot get more love than the very love which is already residing within you. Do you need more joy? You can search the world over and you will not find one drop of joy more than the joy God has already supernaturally implanted within. Do you need more peace? Work away at fixing all the problems in your life; and you will discover in the end that the peace you longed for was there all along. Only it was an internal, God-implanted peace that went sadly unappropriated. "Now the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace..." Gal. 5:22
Certainly our Lord requires of us a lifestyle which honors His name. Our obedience to His commands is His rightful due. But He never requires anything from us that He hasn’t already deposited within us. Let me say it again. God only requires from us that which He has already placed within us. And what He has placed within us is “every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ”. F.W. Faber put it so well:
“Thou art a sea without a shore;
Awesome, immense Thou art;
A sea which can contract itself
Within my narrow heart.”
Flashpoint: Take heart dear child of God. Our Father only asks from us what He has already outlandishly deposited within us.
