Ephesians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: I. The apostle begins with BLESSING; three times in the one verse does he use the same word: God is the blessed one who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places. Our condition as fallen creatures is cursed; the vengeance of a violated law is suspended over us; and the original malady, spreading like a poison through all the members of our race, and through all the fountains of our being, hath laid us under the law of the curse; so that death must feed upon us, and sin and Satan have triumphed over us, because we are cursed. He that created alone can deliver. The blessing of the Creator was pronounced over us at the beginning (Genesis 1:28), and the stability of the new creation stands only in the blessing of God (1 Peter 1:5). How beautiful and natural is this word of the apostle: "Blessed be the God who has blessed us"! He is the ocean source from which all blessings flow, and the ocean home to which all holy and blessed creatures must return with their songs of gratitude and praise. He is the Blessed God, because He is the universal Blesser. II. THE NAME OF GOD is here contrasted with the Old Testament name, which is "the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob"; but in this name there is no paternity. He is their God, and they are His people; their Creator, King, and Preserver, whom they are bound to worship and obey. But His name in relation to the Gentile Church is "the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." III. BUT WHAT ARE THOSE SPIRITUAL BLESSINGS WITH WHICH HE HAS BLESSED US? These are the gifts and graces, and manifold operations of the Holy Spirit (Romans 1:11; Romans 15:29; 2 Corinthians 9:5; Galatians 3:8, 9; Acts 3:16); they are in Christ as their centre, and descend to us from the heavenly regions or abodes. All our glories are concentrated there. (W. Graham, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: |
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