I recently came across this eye-catching headline in my local newspaper: Oil is making overnight millionaires in North Dakota, USA.
The article was a about an 83 year old farmer named Oscar Stohler. He is a man that many of us would envy. Oscar was raised in an extremely poor background and although he had farmed in the same area for nearly seventy years he had never given much thought to what lay below the grass that fattened his cattle.
But all that changed when oil was discovered three kilometres underground on his property. He was rich! Dont you wish it were you? Does it make you want to explore your backyard? An oil reservoir in your backyard would provide material riches enough to set you up for life!
Imagine becoming a millionaire overnight like Mr Stohler.
But did he?
The truth is that at the moment he signed the papers to purchase his land many decades ago he became a millionaire. The oil was always there. He just didnt know it.
Is it possible that you may be living in the same situation?
What do I mean?
Did you know that you have received unimaginable riches from God? Do you realize that you may be living in poverty because you are not aware of this and therefore you are not taking advantage of the great storehouse of resources that is at your disposal?
What am I referring to? Is this just another of those feel good name it and claim it, prosperity articles? What are these unimaginable riches?
There is a New Testament letter that teaches us about this magnificent subject. It tells us what we possess and how we can claim and enjoy our possessions. It has been called the Christians Riches in Christ and The Treasure House of the Bible. It is the letter the apostle Paul wrote to the Ephesians. (Words like riches and inheritance appear many times in Ephesians.) He opens his letter with an outburst of adoration as he unfolds before us one of the most glorious and staggering statements in all Scripture! Ephesians 1:3 is basically about the new life we have as Christians:
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.
This verse is rich with meaning. We actually need many hours to discover what Paul is saying but even then we will never fully comprehend it. The more we dig, the more gold nuggets we discover! So lets do some digging and look at just three relevant aspects from this loaded passage.
1.These spiritual blessings are for us now. We dont have to continually ask God for them because he has blessed us with them. These treasures are not simply promised; they are possessed. Of course we still have to grow in maturity as we are being transformed into the image of Jesus, but as Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 3:21-23; all things are yours.
2.No spiritual blessing has been withheld from us. God has graciously blessed us with every spiritual blessing. In 2 Peter 1:3 we learn that Everything that goes into a life of pleasing God has been miraculously given to us. (The Message).
3.These spiritual blessings are in Christ. Every blessing we enjoy comes to us through the Lord Jesus Christ. To be in Christ means that we are united to him and therefore we share in the life of the Son of God. What he has we have. His riches are our riches. His inheritance is our inheritance. (Romans 8:16-17).
What are these spiritual blessings? You can sense Pauls excitement as he begins to describe some of them in Ephesians 1:4. In fact he is so inspired that for the next ten verses he neither pauses for breath, nor (in the original Greek) punctuates his words with full stops! One author likens these verses to a snowball tumbling down a hill, picking up volume as it descends.1 Included in Pauls list is redemption, adoption, forgiveness and the Holy Spirit. But it is a partial list. Elsewhere we learn that we are beyond condemnation (Romans 8:1), justified (Romans 5:1), and we will never be abandoned (Hebrews 13:5). The lists go on and on. No wonder these are called endless treasures and inexhaustible riches (Ephesians 3:8; NLT and The Message). Awesome things have happened to us because of Jesus Christ!
How can we deeply grasp, appropriate and enjoy these riches that God lavishly pours upon us?
Dont first focus on the blessings. Instead, focus on the source. It is only as we get to know Jesus (not just about him) that we can really participate in these blessings because he doesnt only give us his riches – he is them! He is our peace (Romans 16:20) our comfort (2 Corinthians 1:3-5) our power and wisdom (1Corinthians 1:24). He is love (1John 4:16). The more we talk and listen to him the more we will enjoy his endless treasures.
Realize your position and spiritual wealth in Christ. Allow this to change the way you see yourself. For example, another spiritual blessing is acceptance. Do you worry about being accepted by others? Do you fear rejection? Dont. God has accepted you unconditionally! Do you feel like a failure? Dont. God embraces failures (Luke 15:11-31)! Doesnt this fill you with immense gratitude? So be what you are and …
Praise God daily. The whole opening paragraph in Ephesians chapter one is a song of praise for who God is and who we are because of the wonder of what God has given us in Jesus Christ. Because of him we are rich!
Ask God regularly to give you insight so that you can grasp the depth and fullness of these spiritual riches (Ephesians1:18). This will change your whole life!
There is no need for us to live in spiritual poverty. There is oil on our property. All the money in the world doesnt compare to the spiritual riches we have. United to Jesus Christ you and I have the things money cant buy!
1 John Stott: The Message of Ephesians; p32.