August 18 2025

Monday August 18

We Are Rich In Christ

Ephesians 1:1-3

1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and faithful in Christ Jesus: 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 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,

Today we are talking about the riches that we have in Christ Jesus. Every book in the Bible has its own special theme and message, even though many times the books deal with many different topics. Genesis, for instance, is the book of beginnings. Matthew is the book of the kingdom. Galatians is the book of liberty, and Ephesians chapter 1 verse 3 states its theme which is the riches in Christ that we have as believers. Matter of fact, verse 18 also restates it when Paul prayed that, “the eyes of your understanding being enlightened that you may know what is the hope of His calling and what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints.”

Sometimes we think of the wealthiest people on earth such as Elon Musk being worth over $430 billion and Jeff Bezos, the owner and founder of Amazon, over 200-plus billion dollars, and other wealthy people. The top five billionaires in the world altogether—their wealth is over a trillion dollars—and we go, wow, wouldn't we like to have that? Well, my friend, I am telling you, you have something better than that. You have eternal riches.

The fact that Paul is writing about wealth would be significant to his readers, because Ephesus was considered the bank of Asia. One of the seven wonders of the world, the great temple of Diana, was in Ephesus, and was not only a center for idolatrous worship, but also a depository for wealth. Some of the greatest art treasures of the ancient world were housed in this magnificent building. In this letter, Paul will compare the church of Jesus Christ to a temple and will explain the great wealth that Christ has in His church. Paul has already used the word riches; but you may want to check other "financial" words such as inheritance (Eph. 1:11, 14, 18; 5:5) and fullness, or filled (Ephesians 1:10, 23; 3:19; 4:10, 13; 5:18). Paul is saying to us, "BE RICH!"

That is what Paul says in verse three: “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.” Our riches are not in a passing world, a temporary world, the temporary wealth of this world. Our riches are found in the eternal person of Jesus Christ Himself. We have His riches. We are co-inheritors with Him of all the riches of God. Our Father in heaven owns it all.

The Holy Spirit is mentioned many times in this letter, because He is the one who channels our riches to us from the Father, through the Son. Not to know and depend on the Holy Spirit's provision is to live a life of spiritual poverty. No wonder Paul began his Ephesian ministry asking some professed Christians if they really knew the Holy Spirit (Acts 19:1-7). We might ask professed Christians today, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? If the answer is no, then you are not saved." "Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His" (Romans 8:9). Unless you have the witness of the Spirit (Romans 8:15-16), you cannot draw on the wealth of the Spirit.

In these first verses of this chapter one of the guarantees that we're going to see of our salvation and our eternal inheritance in Christ is based on the fact that we have been given the Holy Spirit (vv.11-14). In the Old Testament, promises were made to Israel that they would be blessed with prosperity, with wealth, with land, with material things. But my friend, the blessings that are promised to the believer are eternal blessings. We're not called to be blessed with riches physically. The prosperity gospel preachers are deceitfully misleading many today to believe that God has promised us material wealth now. Actually Jesus promised us poverty and suffering now if we truly follow Him.

Our riches In Christ are not in the sweet by and by. We are rich and blessed in Christ spiritually speaking right now! In Philippians 3, Paul said, "I count all things but loss for the glory and the riches that I have in Christ Jesus… that I might know Him and the power of His resurrection." Our riches are found in the fact that we have the promise that “our God will supply all our needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19). “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13).

My friend, today we have the power, the ability, and the desire to please God for heavenly riches, heavenly things, and heavenly results. You can't take your money to heaven with you, but you can take people to heaven with you that you influence and impact with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Today, you are rich in Christ. You've been born into tremendous wealth in Christ. You are seated with Him in the heavenlies even right now.

God Bless!