Echoes of Blessing #7: A Blessed People

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 Father and 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

Ephesians 1:1-3

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

2 Corinthians 13:14

It’s highly likely that an echo of the priestly blessing from Numbers 6:24-26 is to be heard at the start of Paul’s letters – where the ‘grace and peace to you’ of the greeting is reminiscent of the final sentence of the priestly prayer: ‘and be gracious to you... and give you peace’.

If this is the case, Paul’s frequently-added words ‘from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ’ in his openings reinforce the source of the blessing. ‘Grace and peace’ provide more than just a convenient greeting, but summarise the blessings of the gospel – which come through Christ.

The link between God’s blessing and Jesus is beautifully expressed in Ephesians 1:3: ‘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.’

The word ‘spiritual’ here means ‘of the Spirit’ – the blessing that comes by the Spirit. In which case, this blessing is triune-shaped: the Father blesses us through the Spirit in Christ – the three-in-one God working to bring about our salvation. Paul goes on to catalogue God’s amazing blessings – which come to us only because of the death of Christ, which brings about redemption, the forgiveness of sins (Ephesians 1:7).

Then, at the other end of the New Testament letters, the benedictions or doxologies function as blessings. 2 Corinthians 13:14 is perhaps the most well known of these: ‘May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.’

Once again, like Ephesians 1:3, the blessing comes from the three-in-one God: grace is available only through Jesus Christ, is grounded in the love of God, and is mediated to us by the Holy Spirit.

The God who blesses us in creation and the God who blesses us through his special covenant relationship is the God who brings those blessings about through his son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Only through him can we know God’s favour on us and his delight in us.

‘The LORD bless you and keep you;

the LORD make his face shine on you and be gracious to you;

the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace.’