"The heavenly places" is rarely used in the Bible, but Paul writes about it five times in the book of Ephesians. The Bible uses the phrase in a few other places, and looking at those instances will help define it more clearly, but the usage here presents more questions and fewer answers than most other references.
"Blessed by the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ..." (Ephesians 1:3).
Mystery surrounds the phrase. The fact that Paul used it here so many times is unusual. And when you see something unusual in a text, take note. There is probably a good reason for it. Sometimes understanding it will open up the entire book for you so that you see it all from a better perspective. This phrase will turn a key and open up understanding.
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We exist "where" we originate from. If I am a child of God, I will exist in "the heavenlies".
This is an extremely weak description of our destination. It even contradicts some other thoughts because I did not clearly state it. But it's the best I can fathom at this point. I submit it in the hope that you might understand some of what I am thinking.
It reminds me of a part of the movie, Pirates of the Caribbean, where we find the pirates discussing an island that can only be found by those who know where it is.
We can only "arrive" into the heavenlies and all the spiritual blessings associated with that "place" if we originate from there.
But you and I were born on earth - beneath even the powers "of the air". So we are in trouble.
And that is the reason I submit this point about our destination. We can only "go" there if we originate from there. Hence, Christians are "born of the Spirit", a term Jesus used to describe the "new birth" in John 3:3-5.
Consider a few other related
... While the corpse represents each of these concepts, in the end it is Paul’s faith – his own luck – that saves his life once again. What, upon first glance, appears to be a hectic and confused account of a destructive shelling becomes a wonderfully connected verse of one soldier’s struggle to preserve himself against all odds. What more can be said about Paul?
Paul’s books symbolize the shadow of war that has been casted upon him through the horrid violence. Paul’s
to look beyond the shadowy scope of time, and, living once for all in eternity, to find the
We will remember in the verse prior to this one that Paul reiterates his humbleness by taking all attention away ...
...n is that I was made for another world. If none of my earthly pleasures satisfy it, that does not prove that the universe is a fraud. Probably earthly pleasures were never meant to satisfy it, but only to arouse it, to suggest the real thing. If that is so, I must take care, on the one hand, never to despise, or be unthankful for, these earthly blessings, and on the other, never to mistake them for the something else of which they are only a kind of copy, or echo, or mirage. I must keep alive in myself the desire for my true country, which I shall not find till after death; I must never let it get snowed under or turned aside; I must make it the main object of life to press on to that other country and to help others to do the same." This is true that we must have been made for a different place or desire than earth could give us. That place and desire is Heaven.
Considering This quote, it tells you just how much passion and determination Paul has for
The historical cultural situation of the writer and his audience is that in this time Paul is preaching to Ephesus, and that the audience are mostly gentiles. Pauls original name was Saul, and he was an apostle who spoke the Gospel of God, to the 1st century audience/world. The author is much undeinfed, but most have found that it can be paul, and little say it was a follower of paul. His background was personally chosen by God. Gods best messeng...
As we look at the scripture sometime its hard to understand and digest what the passage is saying too us. Paul approach the passages logically by connecting the indicative and the imperatives. Understanding God’s word commands indicative while obeying God’s word is imperative.
We are sitting with Christ in heavenly places. Jesus is not looking to inform us but transform us. The good news of the gospel is more then repent of sin. There are Spiritual blessing in heavenly places.
Paul has three terms that he wrote in 2:5-11 that are not found anywhere else in the entire Bible. The three words are “nature” (morphe), “something to be grasped” (harpagmon) and “exalted…to the highest place” (hyperpsoo). Now why would Paul use these words only here while he does in fact discuss these same ideas just with different word choice? The answer is because Paul most likely did not compose these verses. It would be similar to a pastor today quoting the famous hymn “how deep the fathers love for us” which has many verbs, nouns and pronouns that most likely would never be used elsewhere.
From the outset of the story, the reader is shown Paul's thoughts. Through this the story tells us that Paul has a very active imagination. This is shown when Pauls says, "Then,
there, and always will be there until we're gone. We just haven't lived it to the fullest, or are just
The Kingdom of God has a similar meaning. It exists wherever God's will is at work. And God's will is at work wherever people are faithful to the command ...
The universe, and what it means to be alive is almost impossible to define; yet that does not stop humanity from trying. “Lonergan’s philosophy of the human person reveals that being human means having an unlimited number and variety of questions about life and the universe.” (Morgan, 1996). There is no limit on the number and variety of questions the human person will ask, "the most subversive people are those who ask questions” (Gaarder), as a result there are many varied and opinionated answers. This essay will explore three different theories on how one might find answers to life's ultimate questions. At one point or another, every human being has asked the question why: Why am I here? What is my purpose? What is the point? It is in our nature as human beings to reason, to think, to ask, it is what separates us from the rest of creation, and with this ability to reason, we are left with one question: Why? Throughout history many have tried to answer this question, some have come to the conclusion that meaning is found through God, and one’s faith. Others feel that life begins meaningless, and it is up to the individual to give life meaning; then there are those who believe that life has no meaning, and we are all essentially, just waiting to die, "The meaning of life is that it ends." (Kafka).
Outer space has always intrigued the human mind. Ever since humans inhabited the Earth, they have always looked to the heavens. Ptolemy, who lived over two thousand years ago, dreamed of being with the stars. He said, “I know that I am mortal by nature, and ephemeral; but when I trace at my pleasure the windings to and fro of the heavenly bodies I no longer touch the earth with my feet: I stand in the presence of Zeus himself and take my fill of ambrosia” (Tyson). At that time, reaching the “final frontier” was not even remotely possible.