Ephesians 1

In his day the late J Paul Getty was reputed to be the richest man in the world. He once complained to a newspaper reporter that inflation was hurting him and that a billion dollars was not what it used to be.

You and I probably would not know what to do with a billion dollars, and I doubt if that much money would make a Christian happier or holier. Because we know Jesus Christ as our Saviour, we are the wealthiest people in the world.

Paul writing in Ephesians 1:3 informs us that we Christians have been “Blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ”

When Paul wrote his letter to the Ephesian believers, he was addressing people who knew something about wealth. Ephesus was a wealthy city. It possessed one of the 7 wonders of the world, the great temple of Diana, and the temple itself was a bank where citizens deposited their valuables. Thousands of tourists came to Ephesus each year to see the temple of Diana, and of course there was a brisk trade in selling souvenirs. But there were some people in Ephesus who were rich beyond measure. They didn’t have great stores of gold or silver hidden away. They had something better than that - they had wealth beyond measure that could never be taken from them. Paul mentioned this wealth in the beginning of his Ephesian letter.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.

If you know Christ as your Saviour, then this wealth belongs to you, you did not earn it, you do not deserve it. The wealth is yours only because of the grace of God as revealed in Jesus Christ.

Paul puts it another way in his 2^nd letter to the Church at Corinth “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through his poverty might be rich”

What kind of wealth is this? Unless we can answer that question our wealth can do us no good. Perhaps the best way to understand this wealth is to contrast it with the kind of wealth God gave Israel when they entered the Promised Land.

1) Israel’s wealth was material; our wealth is spiritual.

God promised them a land flowing with milk and honey, a land with precious metals in the ground and wonderful crops on the ground. He promised them abundant harvests and growing flocks and herds. He promised them rain when they needed it and He even told them that they would not suffer from the diseases they saw in the land of Egypt. Truly God gave Israel tremendous wealth.

Nowhere in the New Testament does God promise to make Christians wealthy and comfortable in this world. Jesus himself was poor, and so were his disciples.

Paul described himself as “poor yet making many rich”. Peter confessed “Silver and gold have I none”

There is a brand of teaching in some places today that equates wealth with spirituality and God’s blessing. If you are really a dedicated Christian, they say, then you will be travelling first class with a big salary, a fantastic house and no sickness or worries or bills.

I don’t find this teaching in my Bible – as far as the New Testament Christians are concerned.

Our wealth is spiritual. We have the blessings of the Spirit. These blessings mean much more than the material things of life. God has promised to meet all our needs and he has given us all the spiritual blessings necessary to live for Him and to glorify His name. let’s not measure life or spiritual stature by material things. Let’s ask ourselves how many blessings of the spirit we are really enjoying and investing in our lives.

2) Israel’s blessings were earthly, while ours are heavenly.

God promised to bless their crops, their flocks, their herds, their families, their armies and even their rainfall. He promised them “days of heaven upon earth and freedom from famine, sickness and trouble.” All of these are blessings that are attached to this world and the material things in it. But the blessings we have in Christ are “in heavenly places” Right now Jesus Christ is seated in heaven according to Eph 2:6 you and I as believers are seated with Him and in Him.

We may be on earth physically, but spiritually we are in heavenly places in Christ.

Let me illustrate this truth in a single way. Have you ever been in love? Or have you ever watched somebody who is in love? When a person is in love everything he says and does relates to the person he loves. No matter where he is physically, his heart and mind are with the one he loves and this helps to control his life.

You and I are in heavenly places, and this means that our life on earth should be controlled by heaven. We are above the world. We are seated with Christ in the throne of the universe. What a privilege and what a responsibility.

This is what Paul writes Since then you are risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sits on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above and not on things on the earth. Our wealth is in the heavenlies and our heart and mind should be there too.

3) Our wealth is permanent and free, not temporary and conditional

The Jews were blessed in their land as long as they obeyed God. But if they disobeyed Him, God might stop the rain, dry up the rivers, blast the crops and bring physical and economic disaster to the land. Their blessings were temporary and conditional. But our spiritual blessings in Christ are permanent and free. There are no strings attached. Our blessings are based on grace, not law. When you accepted Jesus as your Saviour, God blessed you with all the blessings of the spirit you will ever need to live a full life and glorify His name. we are complete in Christ. Nothing needs to be added, and nothing will be taken away.

But enjoyment of these blessings is conditional; we must yield to the Lord, trust Him and by faith draw upon this vast spiritual wealth.

A disobedient Christian is like the prodigal son; he has plenty of wealth and satisfaction with his father back home but he can never enjoy it in the pig sty.

God will never take away our blessings in Christ but we, by our unbelief or disobedience, can rob ourselves of the enjoyment of those blessings.

Read our Bible – bible course and discover how rich you are in Christ. Then kneel in prayer and ask God to help you make these blessings your own by faith. There is no need to live like a pauper when you can live like a king.

If your riches are on Earth you are going from them.

If they are in heaven you are going to them.