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.

Our verse for today says that God the Father has blessed all those who are Christians. What does it mean to be blessed by God? It means that one has been favored by God to receive a good of some kind. Our God is a gracious God who blesses His people with all sorts of things. In the beginning, for example, God blessed Adam and Eve so that they would be fruitful and would increase in number (Genesis 1:28).

What specific blessings, however, does the Apostle Paul have in mind in our verse? He says we have been blessed with every “spiritual blessing.” What does this mean? It refers to the gift of the Holy Spirit, every specific gift of the Spirit, and every fruit of the Spirit we have been given. We receive these spiritual blessings because of God’s divine decree to choose us “before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will,” (Ephesians 1:4-5).

Where have we been blessed? Paul says that God has blessed us in “the heavenly realms” (or “heavenly places”). In the heavenly realms, where God has spiritually seated us with Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:6), we have been blessed by receiving God’s gift of the Spirit, including the specific gifts and fruit of the Spirit, all in accordance with God’s divine decree.

These spiritual blessings have been given to us “in Christ.” That is, we have these blessings because we are Christians, because we are spiritually united with Christ as members of His body. Jesus Himself said, “‘Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within him.’ By this he meant the Spirit,” (John 7:38-39).

Given the spiritual blessings we have received through Christ in the heavenly realms, we should give praise to God the Father. After all, He is the one who decided and decreed all this in His infinite wisdom and love.

Today, then, stop for a moment and consider the spiritual blessings God has given you—and give Him praise for all of them.

By John Huisman, friend of Bible League International