I Am Rich

Have you ever wanted to be able to say, “I AM RICH?” I think most people believe if they were rich, all their problems would go away. While it is true money cannot buy happiness, it can relieve a lot of pressure if you are having problems paying your bills. That may make you happy, but it is only temporary. God has blessed my family with everything we need, but most of all He has blessed us with riches in Him.

In Ephesians 1:3-7 Paul reminds us of the riches we have in Him. In verse 1, He has blessed us with spiritual blessings because we are in Him. Heavenly places refer to our position in Christ. In verse 2 we find that before the world was ever formed Christ knew us. He had already determined that He would draw us to Him and if we accepted Him as our Savior we would be adopted into God’s family. In verse 5 it pleased Jesus to bring us into the family. It was to the praise and glory of His grace. He accepts us and extends unmerited favor, which is grace, to us. This is where our riches begin. We are adopted into a family where God is the Father!

Ephesians 1:3-6  “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.”  

Because of His gift and adoption, we are to live a holy life before God and men. We are to live a life that mimics our Father. He is holy and we too are to be holy. I remember when my boys were young, even as toddlers, they tried to mimic their father. They wanted to drink coffee like him, throw a ball like him, catch fish like him and I could go on and on. The point is they watched him and took their cues on how to live from Him. We should do the same with our heavenly Father.

While our adoption did not cost us anything it was not free to God. His Son, Jesus, redeemed us by the shedding of His blood to cover our sins. We are forgiven forever because of the riches of His grace.

Ephesians 1:7 “In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.” 

I am rich according to Psalms 50:10b because my Father owns “the cattle upon a thousand hills.” I can rest assured if I am faithful, He will take care of my needs. I am rich because I have been pardoned. Before I accepted Jesus as my Savior, I was guilty and condemned to eternity in Hell. I am rich because I have peace in my heart. No longer is there a turmoil in my soul about the future. No matter what happens on this earth I have an eternity of beauty, joy, love, peace, and anything else God deems good.

The riches we have in Christ cannot be fully understood in our thinking. Colossians 2:9 tells us “In him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.” In Him, we see all the Deity in bodily form. Which means we have God in Him. We have the truth, wisdom, love, and life in Him. We have all the riches that we need to live for God and be successful. It is ours but we must choose Him and choose obedience if we are to enjoy all the riches He provides and offers to us. If you have trusted Him and are living a life of obedience to Him you can also say with a confident heart “I AM RICH!”

II Peter 1:3-4 “According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”