He raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.
– Ephesians 2:6
It seems fitting on April Fool’s Day and the day after Easter, to emphasize an overlooked benefit of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Some might say it is too good to be true, but though today is 04-01-2013, this is no April Fool’s Day message.
Most Christians agree that when He rose, He defeated our most formidable enemy, death, but also the lesser enemies of fear, worry, sin, demons and satan. These all have been rendered powerless over us… unless of course we unnecessarily yield to them. Ephesians 3:18-21 lays out this victory won for us through God’s raising of Jesus:
I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
But as the infomercial guys say, “But that’s not all — there’s more!” The Father not only raised Jesus to be seated at His right hand in the heavenly realms, He also raised and seated all future believers in Christ, which means we who believe now:
He raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus – Ephesians 2:6
So what does this mean for us? The significance of Jesus’ seating at the right hand of the Father was about His authority over enemies. The same is true for us, if indeed we’re seated with Him and we are! We have been given the authority and the ability to say no to fear and worry, temptation and sin! We have access to the exact same resurrection power so that we can have the strength to rise above our circumstances! Perhaps we should reserve Easter Monday to celebrate our seating with Him in the heavenly places! Will you join me?
Father, cause us to grasp and claim all that You have said and written about us. Help us trust Your Word above our feelings or experience to embrace the total deliverance You have freely given us in Jesus Christ!
