Finding Grace In Ephesians: A 6-Day Bible StudySample

Where it Begins and Ends

Please bear with me as we dive into the grammar of this text, because this is rich with meaning. I am a giddy word-girl over this part. If you are too, get your highlighter ready. Pull out those pens and mark this in your journaling Bible.

Whatever you do, don’t miss it!

The starting point is God.

You are not the starting point. I’m certainly not either. God, the Father who has blessed us, is first. We bless him because he has blessed us.

The blessings are past tense. The word used for “blessed” in the Greek is in the aorist tense. This means, the action of blessing us has already happened. The writer is saying to take note—the blessings are already yours.

We are blessed in Christ. Everyone who comes to salvation through his redemptive work on the cross has access to every spiritual blessing in the heavens. Our blessings from the Father are completely based on the finished work of Christ.

We don’t earn them or deserve them. They are all because of his completed work on the cross.

Do you see how at every point in the first few sentences of this letter that Paul is shifting our focus off ourselves?

Don’t you find it freeing?

Let’s keep going. There is more to find, and I think it is worth it to work through more.

Paul uses an adjective to describe an attribute of God’s character, a verb to describe how God acts, and a noun to describe what God gives us.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus. (Adjective)

Who blesses us. (Verb)

With every spiritual blessing. (Noun)

This takes me back to Hebrews 6:14. The author, when reflecting on how God worked in Abraham’s life, remembered this word from God: “I promise that I’ll bless you with everything I have—bless and bless and bless!”

God holds nothing back in Christ.

He gives us everything he has. He blesses and blesses and blesses.

When I look at the 25 words in Ephesians 1:3, I’m reminded that my search for worth and significance begins and ends here.