When we get excited about something, we tend to repeat ourselves. We keep mentioning what we talked about earlier because we have more to contribute. We’re not done yet.
In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul refers to “heavenly places” five times. This phrase describes the setting within which he situates certain gospel insights.
We’ll look at one verse or passage (in the ESV) each week for the next five weeks to learn what the Lord wants to teach us.
Blessings
“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.” – Ephesians 1:3
God is generous; He doesn’t hold back! This is a great way to start learning about the significance of heavenly places in the lives of Christians. We begin by celebrating God’s goodness. In His Son Jesus, the Father has made everything He has accessible to us.
The bounty of the Lord abounds! If we tried to list all God’s blessings, we’d never finish. We’d have to keep writing forever! A great point to keep in mind–the blessings of the Lord are too many to count. The psalmist declares this:
“You have multiplied, O LORD my God, Your wondrous deeds and Your thoughts toward us; none can compare with You! I will proclaim and tell of them, yet they are more than can be told.” – Psalm 40:5
Remember, Paul said that God has given us every blessing; we don’t have to miss out on anything He’s said or done on our behalf. They’re all available for our benefit!
But let’s not skip over a qualifier. The blessings God lavishes on us are spiritual.
What does this mean? The Lord gives us good feelings? He cheers us up but He won’t heal our sick bodies?
What are these spiritual blessings? We know their location–the heavenly places. Heaven isn’t earth, and neither is it hell. In the Bible, the heavens refer to the domain of spiritual beings. It’s the region of the divine council.
So these blessings have to do with spiritual authority. As many preachers have said, God blesses us so we can be a blessing. The more we know about spiritual authority, the more we can share God’s resources with others.
As we explore the depths of the heavenly realms, we do so from a privileged position. God has blessed us in unlimited fashion through Jesus Christ.
God’s plan for victory over the devil is to reverse the world. To explain this, we’re going to contrast two key incidents in the Bible. The first is the confusion of the languages at the Tower of Babel. The second is the descent of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost. (I’m using the ESV for Bible quotations.)
Babel
After the Flood (Genesis 6-9), the three sons of Noah had children. Genesis 10 lays out a list of the descendants of Japheth, Ham, and Shem.
But there’s more to the story. Genesis 9:1 tells us that “God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.’”
Genesis 10 reports the results, but Genesis 11 introduces a twist in the story.
It starts out by telling us everyone could communicate with each other.
“Now the whole earth had one language and the same words.” – Genesis 11:1
That’s not the way things are now! What happened?
The people sought to disobey God.
“And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. 3And they said to one another, ‘Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.’ And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar.” – Genesis 11:2-3
While making bricks isn’t sinful, it’s going to be hard to haul them all over the place while obeying the Lord’s injunction to “fill the earth.” Something’s wrong here.
“Then they said, ‘Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.’” – Genesis 11:4
The people didn’t want to obey God. They wanted to stick together and construct a tower to reach heaven, establish their reputation, and keep them together. What could bring all these to pass?
It’s a structure resembling a pyramid used for religious rituals. Yet verse 4 doesn’t mention God, so the people weren’t interested in the Lord. They wanted access to other gods. These beings might cater to their whims and keep them together. They could even teach people secrets which only spiritual beings knew.
“And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built.” – Genesis 11:5
Human beings built more than a ziggurat; they built an entire city! They were putting down roots; they didn’t intend to move from this spot! People wanted what the heavens could offer, but only on their terms.
“And the LORD said, ‘Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. 7Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech.” – Genesis 11:6-7
God instilled humanity with creative power. If people misuse it, the easiest response would be to take it away. But the Lord doesn’t do that. Instead, He inhibits their ability to band together.
“So the LORD dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. 9Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth. And from there the LORD dispersed them over the face of all the earth.” – Genesis 11:8-9
The situation got chaotic fast! Without warning, people no longer understood each other. Everyone hunted for those who might grasp what they were saying, and they’d stick together. These groups would then distance themselves from others with whom they couldn’t communicate. In short order, God formed the ethnicities and nations of the world.
But because they’d rejected Him, He turned them over to angelic authorities. They would serve as the overseers of the Gentiles, while God preserved the nation of Israel for Himself.
“When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when He divided mankind, He fixed the borders of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God. 9But the LORD’s portion is His people, Jacob His allotted heritage.” – Deuteronomy 32:8-9
But the sons of God failed the Lord. They steered the people to themselves through idol worship, and promoted immorality and injustice. The result was the enslavement of the world to evil and the ruler of evil, the devil.
“The whole world lies in the power of the evil one.” – 1 John 5:19b
Pentecost
But Jesus reversed this downward trajectory. He defeated the devil.
“Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, He himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death He might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil.” – Hebrews 2:14
“The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.” – 1 John 3:8b
And through the death and resurrection of Christ, God conquered the gods of the nations.
“He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in Him.” – Colossians 2:15
The work and words of Jesus have reconciled Jews and Gentiles to God. Because of Him, no one needs to remain lost.
“And He came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. 18For through Him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.” – Ephesians 2:17-18
The Spirit not only grants believers access to the Father; He also empowers us to communicate the good news.
That’s what happened on the day of Pentecost.
Luke describes the event in Acts 2. About 120 Christians were together on the day of the Jewish feast of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came upon them. They started to shout out in foreign languages the marvelous deeds of the Lord.
Jews from around the Roman Empire were in Jerusalem for the festival and they heard these Galilean Jews speaking about God in languages these peasants couldn’t have known.
How was this possible? That’s easy to answer–the Holy Spirit gave the disciples the ability.
Why did this happen? That’s the deeper question.
The holiday of Pentecost drew into Jerusalem Jews from all over the Empire. Although they weren’t Gentiles themselves, they lived among the Gentiles. Their visit to Jerusalem was temporary. After the feast, they’d return home. But now they had the opportunity to return as messengers of good news. They could explain to their neighbors that Jesus, the Son of God, had solved the problems of disease, death, demons, and distance from God. Christ was the answer everyone had been looking for.
Through Jesus, the Gentiles could become part of the people of God. They could escape the authority of Satan and enjoy the blessings of freedom in Christ.
“Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” – 1 Peter 2:10
“He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son.” – Colossians 1:13
We Christians can change lives. God has given us the gospel which sets us free from sin and His Spirit who empowers us. We must share these blessings with others so they, too, can draw near to the God whom they do not know. While sad, their situation is no longer hopeless. Jesus has the authority over this world. Pentecost triumphs over Babel!
