God alone is the source of all true blessing part 2

God alone is the source of all true blessing part 2.

Friday, June 4, 2010

Eccl 9:11
I again saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift, and the battle is not to the warriors, and neither is bread to the wise, nor wealth to the discerning, nor favor to men of ability; for time and chance overtake them all.

Eccl 12:13-14
The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.

The work of the Son on the cross not only excludes but it precludes all human works for salvation and subsequent blessing.
“has blessed” — ho eulogesas - literally, “the one [God the Father] having blessed.” This is the aorist active participle from eulogeo.

Gnomic aorist - It is an absolute in this universe of relatives that the God and Father provides mankind with benefits.

This means any blessing that comes from sin does not come from God and therefore it means that that is not blessing in the absolute sense, in the grace sense.

The active voice:  God the Father produces the action, He provides the benefits, does all the work, there is no place for human ability, human talent, human personality, human ingenuity.

1 Sam 15:9 But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were not willing to destroy them utterly; but everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed.

1 Sam 15:10-11 Then the word of the Lord came to Samuel, saying, "I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following Me, and has not carried out My commands."

2 Sam 3:10
to transfer the kingdom from the house of Saul, and to establish the throne of David over Israel and over Judah, from Dan even to Beersheba.

The action of the aorist participle precedes the action of the main verb. The main verb: “he chose us,” found in verse 4.

The blessing comes before the person. Before He chose us in eternity past He provided the blessing first because God’s essence is to bless and give.

“us” — the accusative plural of the personal pronoun hemas refers to believers of the Church Age.

Therefore the phrase reads. “Worthy of praise and glorification, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the [only] one having provided us [true] benefits”

God the Father is the Grantor - the one who deposited specific blessings for each believer in escrow in eternity past.

Jesus Christ is the escrow officer - the one who holds the blessings until the condition of the escrow are fulfilled.

1. Logistical grace blessings provide freedom to live and function and are given to every believer by virtue of being in union with Christ.

2. Super-grace blessings are given to those who have achieved a certain capacity by advancing to spiritual maturity (the condition of the escrow).

The first thing that God ever did on your behalf was the means by which He is glorified.

Divine good is accomplished by the power of God in the believer and it is the result of spiritual growth and never the means.

Here is the perfection and the genius of the divine plan compatible with God’s character. He provided us the benefits and then He provided us.

When we get away from grace we get away from blessing. Religious living or living for self in the cosmic system cuts off all divine blessings except for logistical grace.

James 4:6
But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, "God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble."

“with every spiritual blessing” - en pase eulogia pneumatike = by means of every spiritual benefit.

“spiritual” does not exclude material blessings but emphasizes the source of all blessings. God is spirit and therefore the source of all blessings is spiritual.

Materialistic blessings are always secondary to spiritual blessings - the blessings of mental attitude. Without spiritual growth there will be no ability to enjoy materialistic blessings properly.

“in the heavenly places” preposition en plus the definite article tois and the locative plural of the noun epouraniois = in the heavenlies.