George Herbert, who
lived from 1593 to 1633, was a Welsh-born poet, orator, and priest of the
Church of England. He is responsible for
such gems as “One good mother is worth a hundred schoolmasters” and “Living
well is the best revenge.” Herbert’s
poems often used metaphysical imagery and he is recognized as one of the
foremost British devotional lyricists.
This description is evidenced well by Herbert’s poem entitled “The
Pulley.” In this work, the poet attempts
to envision the theological relationship between God and man through the
mechanical construct of a pulley system whereby God dispenses blessings onto
His chief creation:
When God at
first made man,
Having
a glass of blessings standing by,
“Let
us,” said he, “pour on him all we can.
Let
the world’s riches, which dispersed lie,
Contract
into a span.”
So
strength first made a way;
Then
beauty flowed, then wisdom, honour, pleasure.
When
almost all was out, God made a stay,
Perceiving
that, alone of all his treasure,
Rest
in the bottom lay.
“For
if I should,” said he,
“Bestow
this jewel also on my creature,
He
would adore my gifts instead of me,
And
rest in Nature, not the God of Nature;
So
both should losers be.
“Yet
let him keep the rest,
But
keep them with repining restlessness;
Let
him be rich and weary, that at least,
If
goodness lead him not, yet weariness
May
toss him to my breast.”
I can see the truth of the human
experience in Herbert’s words of four centuries ago. We are granted wealth beyond imagination by
God, yet we are never satisfied with the status quo. We, as a species, are ever infused with the
desire to obtain more, rise to greater heights, and exceed the bounds with
which we are constrained. Now, this
state of affairs is entirely appropriate prior to accepting Jesus as our Lord
and Savior. It is right that we should
be restless. It is good that we should
be unsatisfied with our lot in life.
Because, truly, apart from union with our Creator, as Herbert wrote,
there can be no satisfying rest for our souls.
However, after we have come to faith
in Christ, have begun to walk with Him, and have received innumerable and unimaginable
blessings we of all people on earth ought to be content. Yet we, although having been made one with
Christ and inhabited by the Spirit of God, are still encumbered by our bodies
of sin and death. The Apostle Paul calls
this shackle our “flesh.” This
spiritually dead and sin lusting earthly dwelling is in a constant state of war
with our regenerated and Christ savoring souls.
Thus, we who have tasted the richness of God’s incomparable blessings sometimes
fail to appreciate them. We might become
consumed with the busyness of life, the mundane fascination with material
goods, and the temporal pleasures of this earth. And, in the process, we forget just how rich
we already are, regardless of our present physical circumstances.
Into this realm of misplaced
Christian affection steps Paul with precisely the antidote we need to cure us
of our under-appreciation of what God has given us in Christ. In the first chapter of the epistle to the
Ephesians, Paul describes to the church exactly what our blessedness looks
like. He begins in verse 3 by clarifying
the “what” and the “where” of our blessings: 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. We must observe three things about the
blessings we have received. One, they
are spiritual blessings. Two, they are
located in the heavenly places. And three,
they are only obtained through union with Christ.
First, let us look at the spiritual
nature of these blessings. And let us
understand that what is spiritual informs what is physical, not the other way
around. The word Paul uses for spiritual
in Greek is “pneumatikos.” I mention
that because it is formed from the root, pneuma, which means spirit, breath, or
wind. This is the same word that Jesus
used to describe the helper whom He would send after He departed from this
earth, as seen in John 14:17. In
referring to this helper, Jesus says: “that
is the Spirit (pneuma) of truth.”
This is significant because of how
Jesus described the Spirit two chapters later, in 16:13-14: “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes,
He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own
initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you
what is to come. He will glorify Me, for
He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you.” The role of God’s Spirit is to unveil the
truth of the Son. The immaterial Spirit
reveals the material Christ. Note that
it is not the other way around. It is
not the primary role of God the Son to disclose to us the character of God the
Spirit. To be sure, Christ does indeed
reveal the character of His Father to the world. So, in the interest of full disclosure we
must acknowledge that there is a degree of overlap in all things pertaining to
the three persons of the Godhead because of God’s unified trinitarian
nature. Yet, for our purposes here we
can affirm that the relationship of Spirit to Son is that of revelation and
explanation.
In a similar manner, when it comes
to us, what is spiritual informs what is physical. Our body does not dictate to our spirit how
we will behave or what we will be like.
Although we refer to our sin natures as the flesh, it is not literally
our eyes, fingers, or sexual organs that cause us to succumb to
temptation. Rather, it is our
minds. It is that which is immaterial in
us that speaks to that which is material.
The importance of this point is to
recognize that the relationship between physical and spiritual blessings is a one-way
street. The luxuries of life have no
ultimate lasting impact on how we feel in our inner person. Pleasure provides comfort for a time. Yet, it is fleeting and ephemeral. Conversely, if we are at peace within our
soul, then we can be permanently content in any situation. This was Paul’s point in 2nd
Corinthians 12:10 when he wrote: Therefore
I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with
persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I
am strong.
Not only that, but the Bible teaches
us that the spiritual is far superior to the physical. In 1st Corinthians 15 Paul is
giving one of the most detailed and exhaustive treatises in Scripture on the
doctrine of the resurrection. As part of
his discourse, in verses 42 and 43, he is answering the question of what will
be the nature of our resurrection bodies.
He writes: So also is the
resurrection of the dead. It is sown a
perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body; it is sown in dishonor, it
is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a
natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.
In every category Paul makes it
clear that the spiritual is greater than the physical. Material bodies perish and decay over time. Resurrection, or spiritual, bodies have no
expiration date. They continue in
perfection eternally. Physical bodies
are born into sin and death leading to shame and embarrassment. By contrast, resurrection bodies begin and persist
in honor and glory. Natural bodies are
weak, frail, and susceptible to corruption.
Spiritual bodies are given with power and authority to rule and reign
under the supreme kingship of Jesus.
In the same way, spiritual blessings
outstrip physical blessings in every way.
The reality of biblical truth is that God could choose for us to live in
a cardboard shack for our entire life.
Yet, if He has seen fit to give us new life in Christ, and all the
corresponding spiritual blessings that come with it, then our ultimate end is
one of permanence, honor, and strength.
This does not mean that a life of poverty and weakness is an easy burden
to bear. It is not. There is nothing wrong with being realistic
about our present physical circumstances.
Yet, at the same time, we must be deliberate in recognizing the value of
the blessings we have in Christ, no matter what the events on the ground look
like. We must be heavenly minded, where
our glory comes from, rather than earthly focused, where our shame is rooted.
That leads me to the next point of
Ephesians 1:3. Namely, what does Paul
mean by the phrase “in the heavenly places?”
Does this mean that our blessings are restricted to the spiritual realm,
incapable of relevance to our lives on earth?
Does this contradict what I have just said about the spiritual informing
the physical? In a word, no. We can see this by examining a number of
fascinating observations about this phrase, all from within the body of
Ephesians.
First, the heavenly places are where
Christ is currently seated at the Father’s right hand. We can see this in chapter 1 verse 20: which He brought about in Christ, when He
raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly
places. The context of this verse is
that the Father has demonstrated His tremendous power by raising Jesus from the
dead and seating Him at His right hand, in joint rule over the cosmos. It is a fact that, although Jesus shares the
omni-present nature of His Father and is therefore in all places at all times,
His physical body is tied to a particular location. That dwelling is currently the heavenly
realms rather than the earth.
We are also to understand that, in
some mysterious way that we cannot fully comprehend, we the church, although
still on earth in bodies of sin and death, are currently exalted with Christ in
the heavenly places. Consider Ephesians
2:6, as Paul contrasts our current state as believers with our former situation
as unbelievers: and raised us up with
Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Note that Paul places the act of resurrection
in the past tense. He is not referring
to our future glory in heaven. Rather,
the apostle is talking about something that has already occurred. The immediately obvious question is
this. How can we exist on earth yet
simultaneously be exalted together with Christ in heaven?
This is a mystery for which we do
not possess an answer that is completely comprehensible to the human mind. Regardless, in some way, through our position
in Christ, we are currently sharing in His elevated status.
Hand in hand with that point is the
next. We live on earth in physical
bodies that experience and respond to natural events. However, this material realm is not the true
location of our spiritual conflict with the forces of evil, led by Satan. Paul writes in Ephesians 6:12 that: our struggle is not against flesh and
blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of
this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly
places.
We live in an age and a culture of
extreme secularism. Everything around us
attempts to preclude the possibility of the supernatural. And, we are at risk of bringing that perspective
into our understanding of the Christian experience. But, it is unmistakable from the Bible that
our foe is not of natural means or composition.
We are engaged in warfare. Yet, it
is not a struggle of guns, bullets, and bombs.
Rather, we fight with faith, truth, and the word of God.
Obviously then, because we live
physical lives in material bodies, this supernatural conflict has an impact on
our natural existence. If we tear down
strongholds of sin in our mind through the knowledge of God and obedience to
Christ, as Paul describes in 2nd Corinthians 10:4, then we are
guaranteed to live lives of greater peace and lesser struggle, even in the
midst of terrible supernatural opposition.
Flowing from that point to the next,
we read in Ephesians 3:10 that it is the church of Jesus Christ that is the
tool God uses to reveal His wisdom in the heavenly places: the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church
to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places.
Who are these rulers and
authorities? By cross referencing the
passage from chapter 6 above we can find our answer. In 6:11 we find that our ultimate adversary
in this supernatural war is the devil himself.
Therefore, the rulers, powers, and forces that Paul lists in verse 12
must by context be evil agents of Satan.
This is shocking in its
significance. We frail human beings,
constantly beset by the weaknesses of our flesh, are the instrument that God
has chosen to reveal His wisdom to the angelic beings who exist in the heavenly
realms. We must understand that although
our ultimate glory is yet in the future, we have a vital role to play now in
the grander scheme of God’s kingdom.
This transcends the bounds of our small little lives. It supersedes the importance of our petty
human concerns. We have been chosen by
God for greater things than what exists presently on this earth.
How
do we accomplish this? It is not by
bigger church buildings, grander programs, or more slickly produced televised
services. In other words, it is not by
physical means that we have an impact in the spiritual realm. It is through the resurrection of human souls
from death to life. It is through the conformity
of Christians to the image of their master, Christ. The wisdom of God is seen when a Christian
looks and acts like a different person now than when they first came to Christ
years ago. This is what we must strive
for, both personally and corporately.
That
is why Paul characterizes these spiritual blessings we have been given as
resting in Christ. The foundation of our
redemption is in Christ. The power to
persevere in faith is in Christ. Any
hope we have of bringing pleasure to God is in Christ. Our future hope of glory is in Christ. Everything depends on Christ, as Paul
illustrates beautifully in Colossians 1:17-20.
He writes: He is before all
things, and in Him all things hold together.
He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the
firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in
everything. For it was the Father’s good
pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all
things to Himself...
In
stark contrast to the glory and eternality of spiritual blessings that we have
been considering stands the inglorious and impermanent nature of physical wealth. We have already mentioned this truth several
times. Yet, it is worth dwelling on for
a few more minutes. In His great sermon
on the mount, the Lord Jesus taught that treasures on earth do not last. In Matthew 6:19-21 we read the following: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures
on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and
steal. But store up for yourselves
treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do
not break in or steal, for where your treasure is, there your heart will be
also.”
According
to Jesus it is utter foolishness to place our affections on transient things of
this world that will fade and decay. We
could perhaps be excused for engaging in such lunacy if no other option was
available to us. But that is just not
the case for a Christian. Jesus points
us to the spiritual blessings and treasures that we have been unpacking from
Paul’s writings. They do not fade. They do not decay. They are permanent.
Diverging
from the Lord’s instructions here would be akin to a man hiking in the
mountains who comes to a massive ravine.
To cross this natural barrier, the man sees two possibilities. One is a flimsy rope bridge, constructed
decades ago, fraying from long exposure to the elements, and missing boards
from the walking surface every few feet.
The other option is a shiny new bridge, constructed of steel, embedded
in the solid rock of the cliff face, and well maintained by the
government. In spite of the clear
superiority of the steel bridge, the man inexplicably chooses to cross on the
rope bridge, and he falls to his death when the ropes snap beneath his weight.
Not
only are earthly treasures dangerous to rely on, but they have an unavoidable
side effect of deadening us to the vastly more reliable nature of spiritual
treasures. Later in the gospel of
Matthew, in chapter 19, we find the story of the rich young ruler who came to
Jesus seeking to know how he could obtain eternal life. Piercing to the heart of this man’s problem,
Jesus told him to sell all of his possessions and to follow Him. The man went away in great sadness, because
he was very wealthy. Turning to His
disciples in verse 23, Jesus said: “Truly
I say to you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel
to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of
God.”
The
point is this. Earthly possessions have
a way of drawing our attention and focus.
Unchecked, they can be a tremendous distraction that turns us away from
the vital knowledge of God and expected obedience to Christ.
I
think there is application for every one of us to consider here, regardless of
our financial station in life. Stated
simply, we can be distracted by wealth, obsessed with wealth, or frustrated by
not having wealth.
The
first two groups are fairly obvious. The
more material wealth one has, the greater the danger that our “stuff” may
distract us from the greater future treasures of God’s kingdom. Similarly, if we perceive that we do not have
enough wealth and are consumed with the desire to obtain more, we face the same
end result – distraction from the spiritual blessings we already possess.
Yet,
even if neither of the first two problems apply, the third is just as deadly,
or perhaps even more so, because it is subtler.
Some of us do not have a lot of money, and we are not particularly
concerned about it. But, when the specter
of unpaid bills, unrealized dreams, or unreachable financial goals raises its
head we can be tempted toward worry or anxiety.
If that happens, then the end result is the same as the first two groups
– distraction from what we have and can never lose in Christ Jesus.
Regardless
of exactly how we are personally impacted by these factors, there is only one
correct solution. We must recognize the
vast superiority of the spiritual blessings we have been given. We should zero in on the kingdom of God, as
Jesus taught in His model prayer (Matt. 6:10).
We can begin to accomplish this by changing our thinking. Instead of focusing on the physical blessings
of earth, we should use God’s word to re-program our minds to be primarily
concerned with the spiritual blessings in the heavenly places that we have
already been given.
Paul
is quite helpful here, because he spends the next 11 verses of Ephesians laying
out for us exactly what these spiritual blessings look like. And every single one of them he deliberately
places in the past tense as something we have already been given. For the sake of space, I am just going to
list these blessings rather than attempt to exhaustively exposit them. But I encourage you to meditate on this
incredible list of benefits that exist for one who is in Christ.
Paul
begins in verse 4 by revealing that we have been chosen in Christ to be holy
and blameless. We are the purpose of all
creation. Not that all things were
created for us. Rather, all things were
created as a theater in which the elect of God could be lovingly gifted to the
Son by the Father. As special love
gifts, God’s intention for us is that we will be holy. That is, unique from the world, pure and
unstained by sin, and consecrated to serve God’s purposes.
In
verse 5 and 6 we find that we have been predestined to adoption into God’s
family. He lovingly went out of His way
to secure us a place in His home. He is
unapologetically interested in our well-being.
Yet, at the same time, God is unabashedly dedicated to His own
glory. Therefore, He gives us maximal
spiritual blessings as adopted children so that He might be maximally glorified
through us.
In
verses 7 and 8a Paul says that we have been, incredibly, redeemed and forgiven
by the blood of Christ. Because God is
so rich in grace, He has forgiven us of crimes so heinous against His nature
that we can scarcely imagine the horror of them. This is not a begrudging gift. Paul says that God has lavished His grace
upon us. To lavish something upon
someone is to pour onto them abundantly, overflowingly, or excessively.
Starting
in verse 8 and extending to verse 10, we are next told that we have been given
special knowledge of God’s will. He has
done this through the granting of wisdom and insight to us. This translates into right thinking, right
motivations, and right choices. What
causes God to act this way? Paul says it
is His unreserved kindness toward us.
What is His ultimate purpose? It
is the establishment of His kingdom in Christ.
Following
that, in verses 11 and 12, our inheritance is unveiled. As adopted children of the king, we are
entitled by birthright to the wealth of the kingdom. This future reward has been predestined for
us, before the world was even created.
And, as Peter says in his first epistle, it is imperishable, undefiled,
and will not fade over time.
Finally,
so that we will know and have confidence in these spiritual blessings, Paul
says in verse 13 and 14 that we have been sealed into Christ by the Holy
Spirit. This sealing means that we are
glued, or attached, or connected to Christ.
We cannot be removed from Him.
This has been done for us as a guarantee of the fulfillment of God’s
promises, so that we will exalt Him all the more for His glorious power, and
exult in Him more completely for His gracious kindness.
This list of spiritual blessings is an
incredible treasure trove of riches for the one who is in Christ Jesus. I think the reason Paul expends such effort
in listing them for us is because he wants us to think in terms of heavenly
rather than earthly treasure. He wants
us to renew our minds through the glorious truths of God’s promises to us. And, by training ourselves in righteousness,
by using this knowledge and by reliance upon the Holy Spirit to ensure that we
do not forget, we can begin to experience the rest that George Herbert spoke of
in his poem. We will not experience
ultimate rest until we are glorified in heaven with King Jesus. But, a thorough and ongoing consideration of
the unimaginable wealth we have in Christ will go a long way toward orienting
us in the right direction now, as we await our future glory.
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