I’m sure you’ve been there, in a conversation with someone and they use a “big word” that you don’t know. And that big word happens to be key to understanding the rest of their sentence. My mother once told me to get the “Lazy Susan” for dinner time; I was baffled! Was it a joke, a person, or something else? Moments like this happen when we read Scripture. We come across words, phrases, even whole chapters where we are puzzled. This was true for me in Ephesians 1:3, where Paul broadcasted how God has blessed us “with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies.” So poetic. Easy to memorize. But what spiritual blessing is he talking about? And what does he mean by heavenlies? Moreover, the beginning of Eph. 1:3 calls us to bless God for this. How much better to know more precisely what we are blessing God for.

Every Spiritual Blessing

Every spiritual blessing most likely asserts that we, as God’s people, have been endowed with every blessing in conjunction with the Holy Spirit. “Spiritual” thus refers to the stream of blessings that flow out of the reality of being gifted with life in God’s own Spirit. That’s amazing! God’s Spirit in my life means all His desired blessings (including favor and benefits) belong to me. This includes gifts detailed further in Ephesians 1:4–14. Therefore, the spiritual blessings, in conjunction with the life of the Holy Spirit, involves election (1:4), predestination (1:5), adoption (1:5), redemption (1:7), forgiveness of sins (1:7), the mystery of His will (1:9), and a guaranteed inheritance (1:14).

God’s blessings have been completely given to His people in His Spirit. Not one blessing that could be or should be mine in the Spirit is withheld. God truly is gracious as His Spirit enables a new life whereby we receive all we need. Let all God’s people say, “The Lord is my shepherd; I lack nothing.”

In the Heavenlies

These spiritual blessings in conjunction with the Holy Spirit are granted to us in the heavenlies. The heavenlies are the unseen realm of spiritual existence. Paul speaks of the heavenlies five times in the book of Ephesians and nowhere else. Surveying the other four verses we see that the heavenlies are where Christ reigns (1:20), where God’s people have been raised up and seated with Jesus Christ (2:6), where rulers and authorities have seen the manifold wisdom of God (3:10), and where spiritual forces of evil are still operating (6:12).

Thus, in the unseen but real spiritual realm that exists alongside the material creation, we have been given every spiritual blessing in God’s Spirit. We do not see this realm currently, but Jesus’ death, resurrection, and exaltation to the right hand of the Father gives us confidence it is there. And as Jesus truly reigns, so do the Spirit’s blessings for us. These blessings will become even more apparent when Jesus returns to the earth to once and for all set up His kingdom.

Now we may better understand what we are blessing God for as we begin Ephesians 1:3. Blessed be You God and Father who has benefited us with every desired blessing in conjunction with life in your Spirit in the unseen spiritual realm where Jesus reigns.

In Christ you are fully blessed! And that full blessing will be yours forever and ever because that is how long Jesus will reign. No one will be able to change that. You are fully blessed in God’s Spirit today. Live from this reality rather than trying to reach it.