Ephesians 1:1-10 Spiritual Affluence

5/27/10

Time Spent: 15 min

Main Idea: God has made us spiritually rich through Christ

What I Learned about God: God is the one that brings us the riches in Christ

Summary: God is not seen as someone who withholds his riches, but he gives it out freely towards those that believe in Christ. Believers are not to have any thinking that they're poor whatsoever, but that they understand that Christ has given to them every spiritual blessing, not lacking in anything. This spiritual blessing then isn't in reference to spiritual gifts, but rather in terms of God's salvific work towards believers. This text is showing that it is through Christ that one becomes spiritually rich.

Application: Many times we don't feel as affluent as this verse calls us to. It states that we have every spiritual blessing under the earth, yet as people we continue to live like we don't more and more. We live like spiritual beggars, begging God for more as we always feel that we're lacking. I think this comes down to a focus on ourselves and a lessening focus about what has already been accomplished through Christ. If we focused on Christ as believers and the work that He did on the cross, then we would realize that we're spiritually rich. For me, I feel like I'm spiritually poor in respects to the way that I live. I live in constant guilt because of how I spent the day or particular sins which I had committed. Even though some of those things may not change, I need to realize that I should not focus upon those things but look towards the bigger picture of the Gospel. When I understand that I'm wonderfully accepted, God made me rich in Him, and picked me before the foundations of the world, it changes the way in which I view my life. Focusing on the Gospel is the way in which we should live our lives!