I stated in my last entry that I believe Paul wanted to remind his readers of the blessings that they received through their relationship to Jesus the Son and God the Father.  Paul described several blessings in the first 14 verses of Ephesians chapter 1.  I find it beneficial to create a list of my own words describing what the author wrote in their passage.  It helps me to more clearly identify the author’s intent.  Here is my list of blessings that I found in Paul’s opening chapter.

1.       God has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. (verse 3)

2.       God chose us in Christ before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. (verse 4)

3.       In love, God predestined us to be adopted as his sons and daughters through Jesus Christ. (verse 5)

4.       In Christ we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. (verses 7,8)

5.       God made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ. (verses 9)

6.       In Christ we were chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. (verses 11,12)

7.       We also were included in Christ when we heard the word of truth, the gospel of our salvation. (verse 13)

8.       Having believed, we were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession—to the praise of his glory. (verse 13,14)

When I see Paul’s passage represented as this list of blessings I get a sense of magnitude that I didn’t get when I first read the passage.  Maybe it is my professional training that makes it this way for me, but whatever the reason, my response is “I am truly blessed through my relationship with Christ!  Thank you Lord for reminding me of the magnitude of your care for me.”