The Secret Identity Of Geeks (In Search Of Truth, Ephesians 1:3-6)

(Ephesians 1:3-6, ESV)
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.


v.3

The Greek word for "blessed" here (in the phrase "Blessed be the God and Father") also means "praised". God is worth thanking, praising and getting excited over, and Paul begins here to tell us why. Through Jesus, the Christ (a prophetic title that highlights the fact that Jesus was promised hundreds of years before he came), God has blessed (here meaning "favored") us with "every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places".

"Spiritual blessing" refers to favor of a non-physical and eternal type and "heavenly places" refers to the unseen world. This is worth stopping to think about.

Every material pleasure or advantage we could be given now will get old or fall short. The coolest toys, the best entertainment, the easiest job and the nicest house will all eventually leave us wanting an upgrade of some kind. Jesus has secured for us every possible good that we can have that will actually last forever and will never become "ho-hum" or leave us wanting more.

v. 4

This eternal, unfading wealth of blessing was planned for us even before the world was created. God's intent has always been that those who trust in Jesus for forgiveness will be made "holy and blameless before him". Being holy means to be set apart from the norm for the purposes of Yahweh. And the Greek word for "blameless" here means "unblemished, faultless", and is used to describe Christ himself (Hebrews 9:14, 1 Peter 1:19) and the future, perfected collection of believers (Ephesians 5:27).

v.5

Jesus made it possible for God to adopt us into his family, making us his sons and daughters. In the historical context in which this letter was written, an adopted son gained the same status and privileges of a biological son. Out of love, God determined beforehand that those who who put their trust in Jesus for forgiveness would gain all the rights of sonship that Jesus has.

v.6

Jesus is referred to as "the Beloved" here, a term which refers to someone one loves dearly and is well pleased with. By contrast, God was not pleased with the state of humanity, but through the Son he WAS pleased with, and out of shockingly undeserved favor ("his glorious grace"), he blessed us beyond what we can currently comprehend.


SO WHAT'S IN ALL THIS FOR GEEKS?

If you're like me, you might have a knee-jerk reaction to hearing about these blessing we've been given that says, "That sounds nice but that stuff is only  going to happen after I'm dead. What good are any of those non-tangible blessings right now?" And it's an understandable reaction given how entrenched we are in geek environments that are all about pursuing pleasure in the here and now. And yet as much as we can enjoy our entertainment, we've got to train ourselves to never feel entitled to pleasure or an easier life than we have.

Jesus promised us that we will have trouble in life. It's true that obedience and wisdom can help us avoid some of that, but we're still told to expect difficulty in life.

(John 16:33, ESV) "I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

Notice that the words about tribulation are sandwiched with the call to have a different perspective. Despite our circumstances, in light of Christ we can experience contentment in our troubles and have hope to carry us through them.

Regardless of how we are treated or viewed by others, we are royalty. Not just any royalty but cosmic royalty. Princes and princesses whose father is the ruler of all reality. Immensely powerful otherworldly creatures that have lived for untold millennia look on us with wonder.(Luke 15:10, 1 Corinthians 4:9, 1 Peter 1:12) We'll even stand in judgment over them one day! (1 Corinthians 6:3) Our significance is immeasurable. We cannot add to it or subtract from it.

Like Jesus, people will look at us and not see any of that reality. But like Jesus we can know with certainty who we really are. And that knowledge, when kept in mind, will shrink so many of our difficulties in relationships and turn our offense at the words of cruel or arrogant people into compassion for them.

What we have been given right now and promised in the future because of Christ can and should have a very tangible effect on our day to day lives. Our circumstances may not change but how we feel about our circumstances can dramatically change, if we unbind our perspective from the here and now and continually remind ourselves to fixate on what Jesus has done for us already and will do for us in eternity. We have an amazing identity that can't be revoked and a future that won't be thwarted, no matter what life may look like for us this week.