Ephesians 1:3 (NASB)
(3) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ…
In at least two separate scenes within “The Fast and the Furious” movie series, the actors are seen eating around a table for dinner in which beforehand, they express thanksgiving to the “car gods” by saying grace. During this prayer of sorts, they thank god for the food and primarily for the different car parts they have in order to win drag races. Though they try to approach the prayer somewhat seriously, they still joke about it immediately following. The audience to which Paul is writing to was not much different than these individuals in the movie a few years before the writing of this letter. Before they became a Christian, they prayed and were devoted to other gods, practicing magic and other rituals, in order that their fortunes would be good for their crops, trade, and daily life. However, due to their conversion to Christ, Paul reminds them of the new, transformed worldview they now have as Christians.
He lays out this new worldview by beginning his letter with an emotional expression of praise to God for his salvation in Jesus Christ. Ephesians 1:3 is the topic sentence for the whole paragraph (1:3-14) that follows. Thanksgiving wells-up within Paul to the God of who has sent His dearly loved Son in order that we might be freed from sin and have access to the Father. God is the one “who has blessed us,” The source for Paul’s thanksgiving is the blessing of God upon the people of God. Through God, we have received “every spiritual blessing,” everything that is affected by the Holy Spirit. Our election to holiness (1:4), adoption as children of God (1:5), redemption (1:7), forgiveness (1:7), knowledge of God’s will (1:9), hope of glory (1:12), and the Spirit’s indwelling presence (1:14) are the spiritual blessings from God which have been accomplished in our lives through the Spirit. The location in which God has done this is within “the heavenly places,” the spiritual realm, the world we cannot see physically but is even so real. What Is more, the area and means by which we receive these spiritual realities, gifts from God, is “in Christ.” It is in Christ Alone, that God has blessed his people.
But why does this even matter? What motivates and fuels Paul to praise and serve God is the reality that everything he has spiritually is due to God and God alone. God is the only reason why we have been saved, forgiven, rescued from sin and death, and have the presence of the Spirit. God, in Christ and through the Spirit, is the only reason why we are not bound for eternal separation right now. Since this is true, this should affect how we pray and express our thankfulness to God. Though it is important to thank God for the things materially he has blessed us with (food, shelter, clothes, etc.), it is more imperative to thank Him for what he has done spiritually. Further, this reality should affect how we pray. We approach God in fear, humility, and worship knowing that because of Him and He alone, is the only reason we can even have access to Him. I encourage you to daily express thankfulness to our God, for He alone is worthy of our praise.