DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- BLESSED

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – BLESSED

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ." (Ephesians 1:3)

We are blessed. God has blessed us with great spiritual blessings. In this chapter he lists a few of them. God has chosen us, adopted us, accepted us, redeemed us, forgiven us, and given us an inheritance. What a wonderful thing to be a part of God's family.

The word "blessed" is the translation of a Greek word eulogotos, which is a combination of two words, eu meaning good, and logos which means word. It is a good word. We hear this word at funerals when an "eulogy" is given. Hopefully there are some good things to say about the deceased. So when we bless someone, we say a good word to them.

Our focus verse begins by blessing God – saying good things about Him, which is another word for "praise." Praising God is saying what a great God we serve. He is great and greatly to be praised (Psalm 48:1; 96:4; 145:3). He is blessed (Psalm 28:6).

But then the Apostle flips the coin and says that we are blessed. Not that we are to be praised, but that God says good things about us. Part of the problem is the way we say blessed. Often, we put the emphasis on the wrong syllable. We say that we are blessed as if we are superspiritual, like the blessed Apostle Peter. For example, we often quote the Sermon on the Mount like this: Blessed are the pure in heart. Or blessed are those who mourn. This places the emphasis on us instead of on God. But if we say, "Blessed are the pure in heart or blessed are those who mourn," we are receiving the blessing. The emphasis is on God, the One who does the blessing. We are blessed because of God's blessing on us.

Weare truly blessed. "Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity" (Psalm 32:1-2). We are blessed, not because we are so good, but because God is so good.

So, blessed or praised is God because He is great and good, and we are blessed because God says good things about us.

Love, Dad