Episode 2: Ephesians 1:1-14: How blessed are you?

What does it really mean to be given every spiritual blessing in Christ, even when we sometimes don't see or feel them? And what does it look like to really know these blessings for ourselves day by day? Come with us as we explore the earth-shattering realities of God's blessings to us in Christ at the start of Ephesians!

• Questions to Dig into over a Cup of Tea

  1. Take some time to list all the blessings you see - what do you notice about God's character as you walk through them?

  2. How are we given confidence that these blessings are ours?

  3. Take some time to pray in response to the blessings, praising God for each one.

  4. Who can you encourage this week, with one of these blessings?

• Sponsorship Details

  This episode is sponsored by Crossway.

  Crossway publish gospel-centered, Bible-based content that honours our Savior and serves his church. They seek to help people understand the massive implications of the gospel and the truth of God’s Word, for all of life, for all eternity, and for the glory of God.

  Check out their website for all their up-to-date resources.

• Episode Transcript

  The following is an uncorrected transcript generated by a transcription service. Before quoting in print, please check the corresponding audio for accuracy.

  Sarah: You're listening to the Two Sisters and a Cup of Tea podcast, the Bible study podcast for everyday life. We're here for a 20 minute burst of Bible chats over a cup of tea and an English style biscuit as we make our way through a Bible book over the course of the season and drive it to our hearts. And this season we're getting into Paul's letter to the Ephesians. Whether you've been listening for a while or have just found us, we are so pleased you're here.

  Felicity: Crossway has a series of conversational commentaries that I'm really appreciating. I love the premise of them as they seek to be an accompaniment for women seeking to get into the word, whether in personal devotions, Bible studies, or even over a cup of tea with a sister. This one, Ephesians by Megan Hill, is exemplary in its accessibility but also taking the reader deep into the text. I appreciated the way in which Megan made it applicable and relevant along the way and it really helped me hear Paul's words to the Ephesians more clearly. I look forward to using this series more myself and recommending it to others. Grab your copy from crossway.org.

  Sarah: Welcome to Two Sisters in a Cup of Tea. My name is Sarah, I live in the UK. I'm here with my sister Felicity, who is in the USA. And today we're getting stuck into Ephesians chapter one versus one through 14 together. One of the richest passages of scripture. I'm really looking forward to getting into it. And before we get there though, Felicity, tell us about any teapot stories you've got for us today.

  Felicity: Tea pot stories. Well, one of the sweetest things, I really do enjoy this fact that whenever I am invited, not whenever, often, when I'm invited to someone's house for what I would call a cuppa and no one here really calls it a cuppa. But what happens is, I walk in, I notice that actually they've often got out everything English in relation to that that they can find in the house. I know, so nice just trying to like meet my tea needs and more often than not it works and it's really pleasing. And sometimes just like an addition to that. And I was in a dear friend's house recently and she had recently acquired a teapot and in her mind had not really made the distinction between a kettle and a teapot. So she had filled the teapot. No, not she hadn't put it on the stove, don't worry. But she had filled, she had boiled the kettle and she had then filled the teapot with the boiling water but hadn't put any tea bags in it or anything so the teapot had sort of taken the place of the kettle and was the way in which I was then going but I actually think she'd maybe filled the teapot a little bit before I'd got to the house and so we just had a situation where I was like but I knew I knew her well enough that I was like can I just tell you how to use a teapot? Can I give you a tutorial on this, cause it could be really good and this is not so good. She was very gracious. No, no, yeah. I mean, it was resonating with the kind of microwave situation, which we do encounter a bit here, so, Yeah. 

  Sarah: No, you don't want lukewarm water pulled on your tea bag, do you? It needs to be boiling. N that's disappointing. Okay, aside from that, say you have got someone coming round to your house, say they're a new believer from church who you've invited round to start reading Ephesians with you, what would you want them to know as you begin this letter together?

  Felicity: Yeah, good question. would be, well like we talked about in last episode, I would be pointing them to Acts 19, just giving a bit of context. Who is this? What is Ephesus? Where is it? Who is it? Who are these Ephesians that we're talking to? I want us to just understand a bit about Paul as well, who he is, depending on kind of what their understanding of the Bible was. And often when I first meet with someone, we actually read through the whole letter and just kind of read it out loud and notice anything that's surprising, repetitions, those kind of things. I think as we were saying last time, that split, just noticing that you've got two halves is really helpful. Yeah, what about you? Where would you be pointing people in terms of giving them some insight?

  Sarah: I think if I was going to get this particular passage open, right, this first bit today with them, for example, over a cup of tea, I'd want to say it's okay not to get all of this. It's okay that if we end up only just dwelling on one sentence here, that's okay. That's a win because there's so much here and we're never going to mind the depths of what's here and actually that's okay that's more than okay. So just kind of wanting to kind of just allay any fears that we need to understand all the things right now in half an hour that we've got. No, that's not the case, but this is a starter. As these conversations are a starter conversation, so as you get this open with another believer, whether they're new believer or mature believer, you're just starting a conversation, aren't you, to dwell on the riches of Christ together. And that is just a privilege to be able to do that. So we're going to get going now. As we say at the beginning of each season, we have prayed prior to pressing record. So that is our decision that we make in terms of our time and what we have here on the podcast. But if you're listening now, why don't you press pause and pray as we then read this word and get into it. Felicity, you're going to read for us from the NIV version, chapter one, verses one to 14.

  Felicity: I am, we go. 

  “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,To God’s holy people in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace and peace to you from God our Fatherand the Lord Jesus Christ. Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.In love, he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will, to the praise of his glorious grace which he has freely given us in the one he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding, he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ to be put into effect when the times reached their fulfilment to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ. In Him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will, in order that we who were the first to put our hope in Christ might be for the praise of His glory. And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation, when you believed you were marked in Him with a seal the promised Holy Spirit who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession to the praise of his glory." 

  Sarah: Thank you so much, Felicity. It's so good reading it, isn't it?

  Felicity: That is one of those, that's one of those when you read it, like I know that Paul didn't really have any punctuation and so when I read it I'm like should I just just try and keep all going on one breath because Paul is like so effusive isn't he in how he's...

  Sarah: But that's a helpful point. So in the original, this is actually one sentence. What you've just read there is one sentence in the original. So, woe to that. Like, wow.

  Felicity: Yeah, I know and all of these big words and one, I mean there's so much as you were saying at the start is densely packed, isn't it? And yeah, as we, before we get into the jam packedness of all of these blessings, so that is what is being described, isn't it? I've always found it helpful to just really stop at verse three as a kind of header for what's going on. Well, true, true. Yeah, good.

  Sarah: Well, shall we start at verse one though? Just shall we? 

  Felicity: Good, yeah good, okay, take us to first one. Yes, fair.

  Sarah: Because what we have here is quite important, very important actually I'd say, in terms of who Paul is, an apostle, he's been sent by Jesus Christ and it's by the will of God. There's no denying here that his authority is from God to write this letter and he's writing to God's holy people in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus. So already we're getting this in Christ, in Christ, identity of Paul, identity of the people. This is the person who's writing, this is the people he's writing to, and the gospel is kind of just there, isn't it? Grace and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. At every point, it's a kind of gospel front and center. Here we go, and then praise is the kind of headline, it, as you get into verse three?

  Felicity: Hmm... Yeah, praise be to Trinity... like the Trinity's mentioned as you say, that everything is here. Who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ? And I really love the who has blessed us. The past tense of that. These blessings have been given. They're not conditional, they're not dependent upon anything but what Jesus has already done.

  Sarah: Which is really striking considering the rest of the Bible story up until Jesus arrives, isn't it? Because we have the promise of blessing which comes through obedience and if not, then curse and just that kind of the whole storyline of blessing and curses and then here what we're reading is you're being given it. You're being given everything because you're in Christ and just the sweetness of that. And there's not only one or two blessings, it's every spiritual blessing, everything.

  Felicity: I know, the comprehensiveness of that is just massive, isn't it? But, and it's helpful, I think we're gonna hear this as we go through Ephesians a number of times, this idea of the heavenly realms. What Paul's introducing here is that cosmos that we were talking about last episode, the fact that there is more than what we can see. And so these blessings that we have that are given to us past tense. They are real and this is real but also invisible to us right now. And the impact of this might not be actually evident to even the people that live in our house that we have these blessings. just even broadening our perspective to consider that there is a spiritual realm, there are heavenly places where this is true.

  Sarah: I think that's really, really helpful, isn't it? Because actually, how much we forget this. We are so forgetful, aren't we? And we need to remember this. This is why he's writing to them, to remind them of all that they have in Christ, all that they've been blessed with. And even just that applying that to ourselves right now. if what I take away from this is being reminded of all these blessings and reminded that what I have in the heavenly realms and heavenly places is secure, there's confidence, there's assurance that it is all mine in Christ. That is so rooting, it? And so assuring and grounds me in my identity straight away. And that is a real gift. But let's just talk through some of what we see here because like, as I noticed the repeated words here, as you're reading it again, the repeated words of in Christ, the repeated words of glory, three times we get glorious grace or glory to the praise of his glory, to the praise of his glory. And then love, in love this has been poured out to us in his grace with all wisdom and understanding. There's a sense of God's character is pouring out these blessings on us. It's good that isn't it?

  Felicity: Yeah. It's good that, yeah, it's good that. I think I found it helpful as I've almost kind of categorizing it a bit into this is what we have and this is how it was achieved and this is the purpose and how it was achieved like without like it's always through Christ by God according to grace and the purpose of it well for his purposes for his glory for all that he's doing for and what is it we have, well, I mean, even just to pick out a few there, the very fact that we are adopted to sonship, that we are welcomed into God's family. And that's not an accident, we were chosen. We were predestined. This has been the plan, the assurance. This is who we are. In him, verse seven, we have redemption, like we have been freed, redeemed through the blood of Jesus. Forgiveness of sins in accordance with the riches of God's grace. I love that. And I think we're going to see a lot of that in Paul's language in Ephesians, this the riches, the extravagance, the abundance of God's grace being poured out.

  Sarah: Yeah, well it's the lavish language, isn't it? According to his pleasure and will. Like this is, this is what wasn't, this isn't a begrudging kind of, if you must, this is a, let me pour out the kind of heart and soul of my love towards you and let you experience this in the blessings that I'm giving you. And these blessings that really, again, the whole Bible story is kind of pre-empting this, isn't it? Like redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, like. We've been waiting for that up until Jesus comes and then it happens and then it's here for us to receive. Like our role in this is just to receive, isn't it?

  Felicity: Yeah, yeah. So much in there. And I love then chapter one, verse 10, just the kind of why, where is it all heading? That Christ rules that when it says that to put into effect when the times reach the fulfillment. So at the end of time, this will be very clear that Christ rules. You either bow your knee to him now or later, but you will bow your knee to him. Like he is king. And so, all of this in Christness that we have, well spot on, that is exactly where we want to be and then yeah

  Sarah: Yeah and it's interesting that when then Paul goes to himself doesn't he, in the next thing it says in him in verse 11 we were also chosen and I wonder whether there is a tension there of kind of the Ephesians thinking well this all sounds great but like, you're a kind of super-duper apostle kind of guy and we're just these normal bog-standard Christians over here and I'm not sure whether this matches up for us and he's like, he's just trying to kind of level the playing field there, isn't he? And just saying, what we have, you have. If you've heard the message of Christ, you are in this. You have the same blessings, the same privileges. This all unites us all together.

  Felicity: Yeah, I think that's right. So in 1 verse 11, in him we were also chosen. That could just be the apostles at that point, couldn't it? But then, 1.13, which has been such a balm to my heart over the years, you also were included. And even just that kind of simplicity of it that you have heard and you've believed therefore you're in. And the enormity of actually, were marked in him, verse 13, with a seal the promised holy, it's like you are marked, there's a permanence to that. You have the Holy Spirit. And so, if you were to visualize this, you have this kind of, in my mind, sometimes a kind of like a circle of blessings, like this kind of amazing, glorious blessings. And then sometimes in my head, I'm like over here, outside of the circle. And then as I read 1.13, I am confident to put myself in the circle, because the circle is actually Christ in Christ therefore in this therefore recipients of every blessing every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms

  Sarah: Yeah, and that stamp, that seal, kind of deposit, the language, guaranteeing our inheritance, guaranteeing the hope of heaven. It's so certain, isn't it? It's so good in that, in the sense that what he's giving us, this vision to start off the letter, we've got eternity past in terms of you've been chosen before the beginning of time, before the creation of the world. You've got eternity future of this is where you're headed. This is what's going on. This is where the whole kind of history is headed under Christ and then you've got now, right now, this is what you have, this is who you are in Christ. So all of time is covered here, like there's no missing kind of part there, is there? And that's just really good. So whatever I'm going through, whatever has happened or will happen, however I'm feeling right now, this letter, the beginning of this letter says to us you are chosen, you are loved, you are sealed, you are heading in that direction and right now you have every spiritual blessing that you need. You have everything you need because you are in Christ and that is just so good for our hearts to just sit there, isn't it?

  Felicity: Yeah, absolutely. And you can imagine for the original readers, the Ephesians, little Ephesian gathering in the shadow of big Artemis, to have this as the opening, like Paul is seeking to just wow with how big this is, the enormity of what God is doing, who you are, which cannot be impacted, which cannot be changed by any of your circumstances. This is secure in Christ. And I think that's true for us, isn't it? As we step outside of even this conversation, as you know, I go to the school gate in a bit, and it have conversations that, oh, have I got it right? Because they don't think the same as I think, or life isn't quite as easy as it might be, whatever it may be, but this, this is it. This is the truth, the reality of where we're at.

  Sarah: Yeah. And I think as you were saying before as well, just the simplicity of verse 13, you were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. So simple, isn't it? Like there's no, there's no complicated hoops here to jump through in terms of receiving these blessings. It is simply hearing the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation and receiving and just that even as we think about just taking this gospel and sharing it and trusting the Lord to be at work but just that kind of reminder for our own hearts as well like I have heard, I have received by God's grace and so I am included and I rest in that whatever kind of day I've had, whatever kind of month I've had, whatever it is, I rest in this and I rest in this with others. We were saying last week the kind of is a corporate letter, this is written to a church, this is written to be received with others and just resting in this with others. There's no better place to be than talking about these blessings with others and maybe just thinking, okay, is there one blessing this week that I can memorize or meditate on or just pray through each day this week and just kind of then encourage other sisters in Christ with that truth this week? Is there something I can take and kind of tangibly use to encourage others this week. 

  Felicity: Yeah, I love that Sarah, I love that. Why don't you pray for us as we go from this passage and take it with us in just such a way.

  Sarah: Heavenly Father, do just thank you so much that we have been given every spiritual blessing in Christ. We praise you for your lavish love and abundant generosity. We praise you for just your glorious grace. We praise you that we receive this by your grace. And Lord, we just pray as we go from here, please, please cause us to dwell on these things more.

  Please bring these blessings to mind. Please help us to meditate on these truths, to remember them, to call them to mind. Lord, that they would really help us to be grounded in the truth this week. And we really pray, would you help us to encourage others with the truth that we are dwelling on as well? And we pray that to the praise of your glory. Amen.

  Felicity: Amen. Well, that's the challenge, isn't it? Grab a friend this week. Why don't you, you know, say you've just started listening along, get them to listen along, grab a friend, sit down with your cuppa or not, but with the Bible open, and let's be dwelling on these trees with others. And we'll look forward to being back with you for the second half of chapter one next episode. And we'll see you then. Bye bye.

  Sarah: See you then, bye bye.

  Felicity: This episode is sponsored by Crossway.

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