…who had blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places… (Eph. 1:3, emp. mine)

I’ve read this phrase at the beginning of Ephesians many times, but when I read it yesterday I saw it anew. It hit me that in giving Christ , God gave the very best of heaven. He held nothing back.

After this phrase, Paul goes on to list the specific blessings we receive:

• We become holy and blameless (v. 4)
• We are adopted as God’s children (v. 5)
• We are blessed with his grace (v. 6)
• We have “redemption through his blood” (v. 7)
• We have “forgiveness of our sins” (v. 7)
• We know the “mystery of his will” (v. 9)
• We have an inheritance in heaven (v. 11)
• We are “sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance” (v. 13-14)

One only has to read through the Old Testament, especially the prophets, the get a glimpse of what God’s gift in Christ has saved us from. Some of the punishments dealt out in Isaiah are more frightening to me than the latest Spielberg/Abrams movie.

The amazing thing is God gives his best knowing exactly who we are (Eph. 1:8). He was never a star crossed lover who didn’t know what he was getting into. His knows us intimately, and yet he still chooses to give the best of heaven to us.