“…seated
with him in heavenly place in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:6)
To be seated with Christ in Heavenly places can be
unimaginable, but for the Christian it is a promise. First, one must look to
see where they are; “Abide in
me (Jesus) and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it
abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in me"
(John 15:4).
1.
we must continually be closely united to Christ by faith and love, and
live in and to him
2.
As we continually receive from him the power to do good; for as the branch,
however good in itself, cannot bear fruit from itself, through its own juice,
which it has already derived from the tree, and can be no longer supported; than
it continues in union with the parent stock, neither can ye, unless ye abide in
me. As the branch partakes of the nature of the tree, it is nourished by its
juice, and lives by its life, so ye must be made partakers of my Divine nature,
be wise in my wisdom, powerful in my might, and pure through my holiness.
[Adam Clarke's Commentary]
[Adam Clarke's Commentary]
If we are abiding in Christ, we have
the vital nutrients being supplied to us continuously each and every day. He is
our source of strength in every storm, He is where our fruitfulness flows from,
His Divine nature gives us access to all that He is. And because we abide in
Him, we have the privilege of being called Children of God.
To be raised up, we must have been
raised from death to life when we received Christ as Savior. So close is our
connection with Him that His resurrection made ours certain as heirs. “And made
us sit together…”
“and if children,
heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with
Him so that we may also be glorified with Him” (Rom. 8:17
(NASB)
So close is our connection with Him,
that we shall partake of His glory.
“In
heavenly places…”
“Blessed be
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
(NASB)
The meaning is, that he has gone to
the heavenly world as our Head and Representative. His entrance there is a pledge,
a promise that we shall also enter there. Even here we have the anticipation of
glory, and are admitted to exalted honors, as if we sat in heavenly places, in
virtue of our connection with him. With
the pure doctrines of the Gospel, and the abundant gifts and graces of the Holy
Ghost, justifying, sanctifying, and building us up on our most holy faith.
(Adam Clarke's Commentary)
(Adam Clarke's Commentary)
In Christ Jesus - It is our
connection with him that we are therefore exalted, and thus filled with joy and
peace. The meaning of the whole is,” We are united to Christ. We die with him,
and live with him. We share his sufferings, and we share his joys. We become
dead to the world, to the flesh and we become alive unto God in virtue of his
resurrection. On earth we are exalted to honor, peace, and hope, in virtue of
his resurrection; in heaven we shall share his, glory and partake of his
triumphs.”
“I have been crucified with Christ;
it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I
now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave
Himself for me” Galatians 2:20 (NKJV)
So, here you have it. Because of our
connection to Christ as our Savior and the fact that in order to live we must
die, God has granted us the privilege of sitting with Christ in heavenly places
even while we are still here on earth.
Now this privilege does not entitle us to walk in a prideful or arrogant
way and neither does it allow us to look down on someone. As Christ had walk
when He was here so must we. And how did
he walk? He walked in love, peace, truthfully, prayerfully, faithfully and with
great humility. Let His ways be the example that we look too and that each of
us strive to imitate. Since we abide in Him, and since He is our perfect
example to follow, we do not walk this journey alone:
“that they all may be
one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one
in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me” (John 17:21 (NKJV)
Heavenly Father, thank you for the faithfulness of Christ, how He was true
to you and a perfect example of your Love to us. May we always abide in Him and
may our walk be pleasing in your eyes. Thank you, Father for adopting us into
your family and giving us the rights and privileges as your natural Son. Lord Jesus you have given your life for us,
you have saved us from an eternal death and you have cleans us from all our
sins and iniquity. There are not enough words in any language to say how grateful
we are, I thank you my Lord and Savior as I give you my life. therefore, I will
abide in you always for I know that I can do nothing without you. in the
blessed name of Jesus Christ, I ask and pray, amen.
Chosen2Prayer
