Ephesians 1:3-14, A Blessing Upon God

What moves Paul to pray?

Ephesians begins with another “blessing” ascribed to God, as was the case in 2 Corinthians.  The previous blessing was for God’s mercy and comfort, and was on Paul’s mind because of his own trials.  This blessing is for the many spiritual blessings God has poured out on us, and is on Paul’s mind because of the need of the believers in Ephesus.  Paul’s concern is for the Gentile believers (as was the case in Romans 15 in Paul’s prayer of hope) who might have wondered if they were behind the Jewish believers in the Kingdom of God. 

What words, phrases, titles, names are applied to God by Paul?

The key to the spiritual blessedness of the Gentiles is their position “in Christ.”  You would see this if you read vs. 4-14.  Thus, Paul addresses the one who has blessed the Gentiles as “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 

The Church is the Bride of Christ, an important theme Paul will develop in Eph. 5.  Christ died for His Bride, that He might make her beautiful.  Who gave Christ this Bride?  The answer is, His Father.  As Abraham sought a bride for Isaac (Gen. 24), so the Father has sought a bride for His beloved Son.  Jesus described the Church as those the Father gave Him (John 17:24).  A traditional wedding involved a procession of the bride and groom, with their friends, to the house of the groom where they enjoyed a wonderful feast.  Jesus told parables of both a wedding feast (Matt. 22:1-14) and the wedding procession (Matt. 25:1-13).  These parables are about the Messiah and His Bride, and the events will take place when He returns with His Bride from heaven to earth (Rev. 19:1-10).

With these reminders you understand why Paul speaks of God this way.  Paul prays to the One who is naturally, deeply moved to bless His Son.

·       He is “the God of our Lord Jesus Christ,” the One Christ Himself called upon in His great prayer in John 17.  It was there Christ prayed that those who believe in Him might be with Him in glory.  He prayed for their deep spiritual unity with God, a blessing of the New Covenant.

·       He is “the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,” the One who proclaimed more than once that He deeply loved His Son.  I love the hymn we often sing, “How deep the Father’s love for us.”  As I sing it, I recognize that God’s love for us has everything to do with His Son.  He has placed us “in Christ” and in that position, we have every spiritual blessing.

What a wonderful blessing to begin a counselling session, a heart-to-heart talk with a believing child, or the beginning of a project that God has placed before us.  There is no request here; it is simply a fact: God deserves to be blessed by us because He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in Christ!