The beauty of past tense blessings

I’ve been reading Ephesians 1 a lot lately.  It’s encouraging to change it from plural to singular and read it over and over again.  Read below and see what I mean:

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus christ, who has blessed ME in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose ME in him before the foundation of the world, that I should be holy and blameless before him.”

I love how personal such a simple change makes these verses.  It reminds me that God is speaking to me through his word.  Now I realize that the Bible is certainly not about me or you, Paul makes that abundantly clear throughout this epistle with the repeated phase, “…to the praise of his glorious grace” (1:6; 1:12; 2:7).  However, it is encouraging to be reminded that our personal holiness and well-being are important to God.

I’m also thankful that this concern does not hinge on my obedience.  Think about the tense of the following phrase found in verse 3: “…who has blessed us in Christ”.  He has blessed us.  Not, he will bless us if we love and obey him, he has blessed us in Christ.  This blessing is a past action.  I love that.

This means that although I may strive to walk with God and grow closer to him, the sad reality is that I fail everyday.  Yet, even though I regularly fail, his blessing upon my life is never in danger.  Never.

Why?  My sin fails to endanger it because my life was never about me in the first place; it was, and always will be, about him.  He “chose ME in him before the foundation of the world” not because I was holy or good, but because it worked in accordance with his purpose.  Again, it’s not about me or you.

Truthfully, God adopted me as his son and blessed me so that I would be able to glorify him.  And now he is constantly working to make me more like his Son Jesus.  This is a grand endeavor and one that God does not take lightly.  By this I mean that God doesn’t take risks with his glory. 

That’s why the blessings Paul speaks of here are secured for the believer.  God has a plan that began long before we existed and he is working in us to bring about all things for his glory and our good.  To say it another way, God’s glory and plan hinges on him, not us.  And God is always faithful, so thank him today for the beauty of past tense blessings.

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