Biblegems #274
Question: Are the “spiritual blessings” believers receive in “the heavenly realms” here on this earth those things that we are
grateful for that God has provided to us, like happiness, love, joy...all the
good things in the midst of all the bad?
( Note: This post
is a follow-up of Biblegems # 78,
published August 4, 2015, entitled, “What Are The Heavenly
Realms?” I encourage readers to read that article first as a background to
understanding my comments in this post. )
The phrase “heavenly realms”
(NIV) may also be translated as “heavenly
places” (KJV, RSV, ESV). The underlined words are not found in the
original Greek texts. They are added in our English Bibles to help readers
understand Paul’s meaning. The Greek word epouranios, literally
translates as “the heavenlies” in English (Eph. 1:3, 20; 2:6; 3:10;
6:12).
The apostle Paul consistently
uses the terms “heaven” and “heavenlies” in the sense of a place. So when he writes in Ephesians
1:3 that Jesus “has blessed us in the heavenly
realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ,” he means that the
spiritual blessing we experience as believers have their origin in heaven,
where Christ is seated at God’s right hand (Eph. 3:20).
However, even though these blessings
originate in heaven, it would be a mistake to think that they come down from
heaven to us on earth. Rather, God has “raised
us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms
in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:20):
Rom.
8:9 You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but
are in the realm of
the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you.
Not only are we with Him in the heavenly realms but we
are in Him, and He is in us:
Rom.
8:1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus…
What are these “spiritual blessings”
we receive in the heavenly realms (Eph. 1:3)? The word “blessings” in its most general sense means “good things.” The New Testament puts these “spiritual blessings,”
these spiritual ‘good things’—into
two categories.
The first category of “spiritual
blessings”—or ‘good things’—is spiritual power, the very same power God used “when he raised Christ from the dead”
(Eph. 1:20). A primary role of the Holy Spirit in the believer’s life is to
equip us and empower us with
everything we need to live godly lives:
2Pet.
1:3 His divine power has given us everything we
need for a godly life
through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.
The second category of “spiritual
blessings”—or ‘good things’—is our inheritance as Abraham’s children by faith:
Gal.
3:14 He redeemed us in order that the
blessing given to Abraham
might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might
receive the promise of the Spirit.
That promised inheritance is to
reign with Christ in His Kingdom on this earth as kings and priests. This what
Jesus referred to when He said:
Matt. 5:5 Blessed
are the meek, for they will
inherit the earth.
For at Christ’ Return in power
and great glory there will be no more distinction between the earthly realm and
the heavenly realm, for everything will be perfectly reconciled as one in
Christ forevermore:
Rev.
11:15b “The kingdom of the
world has become the kingdom of
our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will reign for ever and ever.”
