Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In Christ, God has given us every spiritual blessing in heaven.

Today’s verse appears in other translations as “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who, in Christ, has blessed us with every blessing of the Spirit in heaven.” Bless-ed, blessed, blessing—there are lots of blesses in this verse. God is blessed. He is the one who blesses. And He blesses us with blessings.

This is not trivial nor stylistic. We can praise God–we can bless God–because He first blessed us. Blessing God or praising God has become trivial and meaningless for many Christians. Some casually bless God, but really put the spotlight on themselves. They praise God and post on social media about it. God is a brand, like Nike.

Paul’s praise of God does not come from something he holds. It comes from a blessing. A promise. God has blessed us with blessings. Not things. Not fulfillment. A word. God speaks a word of blessing. Just like God’s word created the world in Genesis, now God’s word gives every blessing of the Spirit. God has blessed us with blessings and so now we are able to bless him.

All of history is fulfilled in Christ. God, who is outside of time, sees it all. But in time, we cannot. We live moment to moment, day to day. As we move toward the fulness of time, our hope is in every blessing of the Spirit which God has given us in Christ. We trust in God’s words, His promises. He has not blessed us with the fulfillment of all things yet. He has blessed us with blessings and hope.

By Daniel Rodriguez, Bible League International staff, Texas U.S.