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)
Our heavenly Father is so good and loves us so much, that before we were born He blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. There is no blessing that we need that God has not given us already. Think of it: “every spiritual blessing”. It means nothing is left out. To remember that God is omniscient, makes it even more fascinating. There is absolutely nothing I need that God does not know—even the ones that are beyond my limited human knowledge. No wonder He says with absolute assurance, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jer 29:11 NIV). God has left nothing to chance concerning your life. Every intricate detail of your personhood has been given careful divine attention and consideration. The Psalmist puts it this way: “For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well. My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them.” (Ps 139:13-16). Note the adjectives and adverbs used in the Biblical text above to describe your formation as a masterpiece of God’s creation: ‘fearfully’, ‘wonderfully’, ‘marvelous’ and ‘skillfully’. Does God need to go further before you are convinced of His estimation of you? In the possible but unlikely event that you are still not convinced, then, consider the following words of Jesus Christ in reference to the magnitude of God’s love for you: “I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and THAT YOU LOVE THEM AS MUCH AS YOU LOVE ME.” (Jn 17:23 NLT) (emphasis mine). Now, imagine that! GOD LOVES YOU AS MUCH AS HE LOVES JESUS.
It is, more often than not, the case that those exposed to the Scriptural truth above, tend to wonder why their personal experiences do not bear out the Bible’s view of their blessedness in Christ—their practical daily lives, if anything, contrast sharply with the image of themselves the Bible portrays, and leaves them with questions such as: “What exactly is the explanation of the inconsistency that emerges when the Scripture’s portrayal of my identity and position in Christ is juxtaposed with my experiential reality?”. “Does “blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ” not imply that my daily life should reflect the reality of this fabulous endowment?”. These are important questions that should not be overlooked. However, it is important that we are convinced about one thing, which is that God cannot lie. Unless we believe this, nothing said further will be of any use. The Bible says, ““God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?” (Num 23:19). In addition, it says, “”And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor relent. For He is not a man, that He should relent.”” (1Sam 15:29). Paul says, “…Indeed, let God be true but every man a liar. …” ( Rom 3:4).
Hopefully, we are agreed on this all-important constant about God—that He cannot lie. If so, let us, then, examine the issues raised above.
The first thing we need to know in order to understand the dilemma is that, who we are in Christ, what we can do in Christ and what we have in Christ, do not automatically become our experience. They all exist as heavenly realities, which the Bible refers to as: “…the things that are unseen…” (2Cor 4:18). It means they ARE (exist), but not in the form perceptible to the senses. However, in order for them to become our experiential realities, we need to follow God’s procedure, which is that we find out our positional and potential inheritance in Christ from the Bible—all the Bible says about us in Christ. In God’s estimation, you are currently all that the Bible says you are, you have all it says you have and can do all it says you can do in Christ, though you are yet to know this by experience. This is the meaning of your positonal blessedness. This is why the Bible says, “For by one offering He HAS PERFECTED forever those who ARE BEING sanctified.” (Heb 10:14) (emphasis mine ). Note that the first action, which is the ‘offering’ (a reference to what Jesus has done for us) is expressed in the perfect tense, while the second and corresponding action of being sanctified (a reference to the practical expression of the finished work of Christ for us) is expressed in the progressive tense. Every Christian is a positional recipient of “every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ” (Eph 1:3). This is because we are all equal in redemption. It is concerning every one of us that the Bible says the following about God: “But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption—” (1Cor 1:30). God put us in Christ Jesus and every blessing in Christ Jesus is positionally and potentially ours NOW.
Consequently, for us to enjoy those blessings experientially, the HolySpirit needs to make them prophetically ours, by revealing them personally to us. Revelation is the means by which what is yours positionally becomes yours prophetically. To do this, Jesus says of the HolySpirit, “He will honor and glorify Me, because He will take of (receive, draw upon) what is Mine and will reveal (declare, disclose, transmit) it to you.” (Jn 16:14 AMP). Jesus has paid for every blessing God offers mankind. Therefore, it all belongs to Him and that is why He calls it “What is Mine”. God’s love is the source of all goodness to humanity, but only made possible by the grace of our Lord Jesus (His unmerited favour towards us, demonstrated by His death, burial and resurrection for us) and communicated to us by our communion with the Holy Spirit. This is what the Bible means by saying, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.” (2Cor 13:14). The communion of the HolySpirit is what makes the abundant provision God’s love and Christ’s grace REAL to YOU as an individual. Yes, “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.” (2Pet 1:3 NIV). Yes, “Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.” (2Pet 1:4 NIV). However, until the HolySpirit quickens and applies those promises to YOU, as your unseen reality, you will not know their fulfilment in your experience. Remember, “…faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word (rhema—the freshly spoken Word) of God.” (Rom 10:17) (brackets mine).
A rhema from the HolySpirit is the only valid basis of faith. God has a specific word for you today. Do not miss it.
Finally, what we have positionally and have received prophetically should ultimately become ours materially. This is exactly how our heavenly Father wants it to be. For it is he who gives us richly all things to enjoy (1Tim 6:17). God does not want our blessings in Christ to remain just potential realities, neither does He want them to remain prophetic realities, perpetually, but to become manifested realities in our lives. Remember, He gives us all things to ENJOY. God wants you to practically enjoy all the blessings for which Jesus paid the full price. Remember, however, that this does not happen automatically, but requires your cooperation with the HolySpirit. This reminds us of an incident recorded in the Bible concerning Elijah. Though originally an Old-Testament account, the New Testament points out its relevance to us today: “Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months.
And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit” (James 5:17-18). Elijah’s success was because he leveraged his positional relationship with God— “And Elijah the Tishbite, of the inhabitants of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord God of Israel lives, BEFORE WHOM I STAND, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except at my word.”” (1Ki 17:1) (emphasis mine). You have a better positional standing with God in Christ, today. From his awareness of his relational position with God, Elijah listened out for Divine revelation, and on one of such occasions, heard “…the sound of abundance of rain…” (1Ki 18:41). You too can hear, prophetically, from the HolySpirit. Listen to Him. Like Elijah did (1KI 18:41-45), once you know prophetically (by revelation) what belongs to you in Christ Jesus, then, let the HolySpirit guide you to express your faith in prayer to the Father in Jesus Name and to stand in faith until the reality of your position in Christ becomes your experience in daily practical life. Enjoy your blessings in Christ! Shalom.
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