Lost in the Crowd

When I was a child, I sometimes felt a bit lost in the crowd at home. I was the third of three sons. The first is the one you put all your hopes and dreams on. The second is your backup. The third is the redundant backup, only important if everything else goes south. It was silly, I know, but that’s the way kids think.

Sometimes I feel lost in the crowd of God’s children. Yes, God saved me, but I’m just one of millions, maybe billions. Just one unimpressive face is a sea of faces. One more sinner for his vast collection.

In such times I turn to one of the most amazing passages in the scriptures.

The opening of Ephesians is a beautiful passage in its own right. Knowing a little of the backstory makes it even more impressive: Verses 3-14 are one long run-on sentence in the Greek. Paul, usually such a careful and clear communicator, is tripping over himself, gushing about the grace of God.

And then there’s this: Though the passage talks about “us” and “we”, it can absolutely be applied to the individual believer. Unlike so many passages we misappropriate out of the scriptures, this one really does apply to “me.” You can and should personalize it.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed me in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose me in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined me to be adopted as his son through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given me in the One he loves. In him I have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on me with all wisdom and understanding. (based on 1:3-8)

Every believer can say this:
I have every spiritual blessing.
God chose me before the creation of the world.
I am now holy and blameless to him.
He did this because it pleased him. Because he wanted to.
I have been redeemed. My sins are forgiven.
God lavished his grace on me.

God has just piled blessing after blessing on me, individually. And on you.

Before we run off with our arms full of blessing, we need to stop and see how this happened. Go back and re-read that passage, seeing every “him” as Christ. We have all of this...

In Christ
In Christ
Through Christ
In Christ
Through the blood of Christ.

All of this is only possible in Christ because he died for me.

At the cross, Jesus didn’t just purchase my pardon. He bought me “every spiritual blessing” in the heavenly realms. He became poor, for my sake, so that through his poverty I might be rich (2Cor 8:9).

"And can it be that I should gain
An int’rest in the Savior’s blood?
Died He for me, who caused His pain—
For me, who Him to death pursued?
Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?"

-Charles Wesley

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