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Already; Not Yet
Already; Not Yet
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places...” - Ephesians 1:3
There is a deep running thread through the scriptures concerning how people of faith regard things yet unseen. There is a long history of God promising things to individuals who would either have to wait years, decades, or even generations for God’s promises to come to fruition.
Those of remarkable faith seem to exhibit a “already, not yet” view to God’s promises. They would take God’s promise as established fact, as if it had already taken place though the receiving was still in the future. Abraham seemed to eventually have this mindset about his future son Issac. David has this mentality about facing Goliath and being anointed king. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego exemplified this in their faith before the fiery furnace.
Paul is asking for us to have this “already, not yet” mindset about out blessings. As we see in Ephesians, God has redeemed us, adopted us as sons and heirs, and given us His Spirit as a guarantee of our inheritance. Our place has been prepared and our names can be in the book of life. All the blessing are already ours, even though our possession of it will have to wait a little while longer. Don’t doubt God’s promises. Take them as already established facts.
