Why Should We Praise God?

Do you praise God? If so, why?

Ephesians 1:3 introduces us to a great reason to praise God.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places [or, the heavenlies] in Christ,

I am using the New American Standard Bible because that translation is more literal, which is helpful when focusing on words and phrases.

Let’s look at this verse more closely and see where it leads us. We will examine three words and a phrase and conclude with a proposed expanded understanding of this text.

Bless

The first word is “bless,” which appears three times in this verse and nowhere else in Ephesians. This translates the same basic Greek word eulog* in different forms—an adjective, a participle, and a noun. What does this word mean?

You might recognize the Greek root, eulog*, in our English word “eulogy,” literally meaning “good” (eu) “word” (logia)—to speak well of.

The first time it is used in this verse, the NIV renders it as “praise,” which works, but it does conceal the repeated Greek word in the same clause. A common word for “praise” (epainos) is used in 1:6, 12, and 14. Why am I making this point?

When God blesses, it is more than words; “it denotes action.”[1] For instance, when God blesses Abraham, we read (Genesis 12:1-3):

Now the LORD said to Abram,

“Go forth from your country,

And from your relatives

And from your father's house,

To the land which I will show you;

And I will make you a great nation,

And I will bless you,

And make your name great;

And so you shall be a blessing;

And I will bless those who bless you,

And the one who curses you I will curse.

And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”

It is evident that the LORD means to do more than to say “good words” (eulogize)—He means to do good things. In turn, Abraham does good things to and for others.

When God, the Father, “blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,” He speaks well of us and does well to and for us.

This “blessing” is a cluster of blessings. The specifics of this cluster of blessings are given in Ephesians 1:4-14.

What does it mean for this blessing to be “spiritual”?

Spiritual

What do you understand by the word “spiritual”?

Perhaps you might think of something that is the opposite of material or physical. Frequently, some use it to refer to a vague concept, meaning something like a nice experience. William Willimon exposes this usage when he writes,

It has no discernable content, is completely subjective and ethically undemanding. … Spiritual is what we are when we sit quietly and think uplifting thoughts. … our never ending human attempt to nod toward God, then go ahead, and do what we darn well please.[2]

Instead, we must learn to understand what the Bible means by “spiritual.”

Gordon D. Fee puts it well when he writes,

 “... spirituality is defined altogether in terms of the Spirit of God (or Christ).  One is spiritual to the degree that one lives in and walks by the Spirit; in Scripture the word has no other meaning, and no other measurement. Thus, when Paul says that ‘the Law is spiritual,’ he means that the Law belongs to the sphere of the Spirit (inspired of the Spirit as it is), not to the sphere of flesh.”[3]

“Spiritual” refers to the sphere and activity of the Holy Spirit. So, “spiritual blessing” refers to both good words and actions of the Spirit.

Now, what is meant by “heavenly places” or the “heavenlies”?

Heavenlies

The word “heavenlies” or “heavenly places” (epouranios) is significant in Ephesians. Paul uses the word ten times. Five of those are used in Ephesians, and always in the plural (Ephesians 1:3, 20; 2:6; 3;10; 6:12). Take a moment to click the link and familiarize yourself with what he says in each occurrence.

It is worth quoting Bible scholar Leon Morris at length on this point:

Paul locates this spiritual blessing “in the heavenlies,” an expression he uses five times in this epistle ... He never explains it, and we are left to work out its meaning from the general significance of the term and the way Paul uses it. J. R. W. Stott sees it as “the unseen world of spiritual reality,” and this seems as good a definition as any. It is the place where Christ sits in glory (1:20), and where his people sit with him (2:6). But it is not simply “heaven,” for God’s people are at war with evil powers “in the heavenlies” (6:12). Those powers will not triumph, for God’s manifold wisdom is made known to them “through the church” (3:10). It seems that Paul is saying that there is a conflict between God and evil, which takes place in this world but goes beyond anything we can see in this world. In the end there will be the divine triumph, a triumph in which God’s people will have a place. Someone has said that the expression does not mean “heaven,” but a heavenly level of life—and such a view certainly suits the present passage.[4]

The ‘heavenlies’ is a world that we do not see. Nevertheless, it is very real. Because we do not see it, most are prone to ignore, deny, or dismiss it as imaginary and irrelevant. Even when we acknowledge its existence, how do we envision or comprehend it? It is helpful to remember that heavenlies are not ‘up there’ but ‘here.’

An incident in 2 Kings 6:8-23 might help us with a glimpse of the ‘heavenlies.’

A large military force of Arameans surrounded Dothan to capture the prophet, Elisha. For a moment, the veil is lifted to reveal the heavenlies. Here’s what we read in 6:15-17:

Now when the attendant of the man of God had risen early and gone out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was circling the city. And his servant said to him, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?”

So he answered, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”

Then Elisha prayed and said, “O LORD, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.”

And the LORD opened the servant’s eyes and he saw; and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

The heavenlies are the arena beyond what we see around us. It is where Christ reigns, and cosmic battles are fought that play out on Earth. “Every blessing in Christ”:

• Informs us of the reality of the heavenlies (1:3),
• Equips us to reign with Christ (1:20; 2:6),
• Empowers us to engage effectively in the “struggle … against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places” (3:10; 6:12).

Consider praying: “O LORD, I pray, open my eyes that I may see.”

In Christ     

Every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places [or, the heavenlies] is in Christ.

We were introduced to this phrase in “What Does ‘in Christ’ Mean?”

Being ‘in Christ’ includes:

• the sphere of Christ (where),
• what we participate in (what), and
• a close personal relationship with Christ (who).

We receive this spiritual blessing in the heavenlies because we are ‘in Christ.’ If we are not ‘in Christ,’ this blessing does not apply. It is ‘in Christ’ that the blessing is secured, effective, and operative. Being ‘in Christ’ defines our identity, participation, and incorporation in and with the Triune God and his blessing.

Summing up

Drawing together and paraphrasing our findings, I propose Ephesians 1:3 should be understood as:

We bless and praise by words and actions the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us by his words and actions not only on earth but also in the unseen reality of the heavenlies to engage deeply with the reign of Jesus Christ and the conflict of those opposed to him with every word and action in and of the Spirit because we are in Christ.

This is a general statement or heading for what follows in 1:4-14.[5] What follows is a rich series of blessings we are about to explore, including:

• Being chosen in Christ,
• predestined through Jesus Christ,

[Chosen (or elect) and predestined are words that carry much unwarranted baggage. You might be surprised and excited by what you discover they mean.]

• redeemed in him,
• forgiven in him,
• given knowledge of the mystery of his will purposed in Christ,
• marked in him,
• an inheritance,
• and more.

Now, aren’t those great reasons to praise God?

The next post will explore what it means to be chosen or elect in Christ.

Please feel free to contact me with your comments and questions using this link.

FORWARD TO the next post in this series

BACK TO What is to the Praise of God’s Glory?

Notes:
[1] Harold W. Hoehner, Ephesians: An Exegetical Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2002), 163.
[2] William H. Willimon, “Overcoming Pentecost in our preaching: proclamation without spirit,” Journal for Preachers 24/4 (2001): 33.
[3] Gordon D. Fee, Listening to the Spirit in the Text (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2000), 5.
[4] Leon Morris, Expository Reflections on the Letter to the Ephesians (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1994), 15.
[5] Johannes P. Louw, “A Discourse Reading of Ephesians 1.3-14,” in Discourse Analysis and the New Testament (Sheffield, UK: Sheffield Academic, 1999), 313.

Image credit: From the website of Woodland Hills Church (https://whchurch.org/the-power-of-blessing/).