By three qualifying adjuncts the blessing which the Father of Christ bestowed upon us is defined: in respect of its _nature_, its _sphere_, and its _personal ground_.
The blessings that prompt the apostle's praise are not such as those conspicuous in the Old Covenant: "Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and in the field; in the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the increase of thy kine; blessed shall be thy basket, and thy kneading-trough" (Deut. xxviii. 3-5). The gospel pronounces beatitudes of another style: "Blessed are the poor in spirit; blessed the meek, the merciful, the pure in heart, the persecuted." St Paul had small share indeed in the former class of blessings,--a childless, landless, homeless man. Yet what happiness and wealth are his! Out of his poverty he is making all the ages rich! From the gloom of his prison he sheds a light that will guide and cheer the steps of multitudes of earth's sad wayfarers. Not certainly in the earthly places where he finds himself is Paul the prisoner of Christ Jesus blessed; but "in spiritual blessing" and "in heavenly places" how abundantly! His own blessedness he claims for all who are in Christ.
Blessing _spiritual_ in its nature is, in St Paul's conception of things, blessing in and of the Holy Spirit.[27] In His quickening our spirit lives; through His indwelling health, blessedness, eternal life are ours. In this verse justly the theologians recognize the Trinity of the Father, Christ, and the Holy Spirit.--Blessing _in the heavenly places_ is not so much blessing coming from those places--from God the Father who sits there--as it is blessing which lifts us into that supernal region, giving to us a place and heritage in the world of God and of the angels. Two passages of the companion epistles interpret this phrase: "Your life is hid with Christ in God" (Col. iii. 3); and again, "Our citizenship is in heaven" (Phil. iii. 20).--The decisive note of St Paul's blessedness lies in the words "in Christ." For him all good is summed up there. Spiritual, heavenly, and Christian: these three are one. In Christ dying, risen, reigning, God the Father has raised believing men to a new heavenly life. From the first inception of the work of grace to its consummation, God thinks of men, speaks to them and deals with them _in Christ_. To Him, therefore, with the Father be eternal praise!