Bible Studies

WITH JESUS ALL THE WAY

by GLENN PEASE
01/10/22
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Based on Ephesians 2 verse 6
6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,

1. THE POWER-GOD
2. THE PERSON-CHRIST
3. THE POSITION-HEAVENLY REALMS

1. THE POWER-GOD

God the Father was the power behind the creation of the universe and all of life, and now we see that He is also the power behind the creation of a new kingdom and newness of life in His beloved Son. This kingdom could not exist until Jesus accomplished all that the Father sent Him into the world to do. Once He had achieved that goal of making it possible for all people to be forgiven and restored as children of God, the Father exalted Jesus to His right hand as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

A new kingdom was born and a new body of people were welcomed into that kingdom. All who looked to Jesus as their King and Lord, as well as their Savior, were accepted into this new kingdom. They are called the body of Christ for they are a part of Him in His very being. God accepts them as one with His Son, and when He raised Jesus to sit with Him He raised His people at the same time to sit with Jesus in the heavenly realms. Such power belongs to God alone, and He used that power to exalt all believers to sit with Christ at His right hand.

2. THE PERSON-CHRIST

Notice how our text is focused on Jesus. We are raised up with Christ and seated with Him. Christ is the one we are linked with by the Father. He was exalted, and we were exalted with Him. He was seated at the right hand of the Father, and we were seated in that same position with Him. In Christ we are brothers and sisters in the family of God, and the Father treats us just like He treats Jesus. When He is raised up to the highest place in the universe, they are raised with Him, and when He is seated at the Fathers right hand, they are seated in that same high place with Him.

3. THE POSITION-HEAVENLY REALMS

The believer has gone from a position of death to a position of life. The wages of sin is death, and that is a wage that all people of all time have earned for themselves. Jesus, however, came into the world of death and defeated death on the cross, and then rose from the dead to eternal life. This is the life that we have in Him as we are also raised and seated with Him in the heavenly realms. We go from death to life the moment that we accept Jesus as our Savior. We also become linked with Jesus in the great events of His life. He rose from the dead, and so do we in Him. He ascended to heaven and so do we in Him. He was seated at the right hand of God, and so are we in Him. The Father takes every believer in His Son to the same level with His Son, so that the whole body of believers are one in Jesus.

Believers in Jesus have a bond with Him so that all He experienced they also experience in Him. T. Croskery wrote, "We are enthroned with Christ. Christ is already represented as "set at God's own right hand in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 1:20). We sit there representatively, because our Head is there, and therefore we are, though still on earth as to our practical calling and life, citizens of heaven (Philippians 3:20). We are guided by the laws of heaven; our hearts are cheered by the hope which, as an anchor, is fastened within the veil, and we now by faith enter the holiest of all by the blood of Jesus. We are even now" kings and priests"(Revelation 1:6). We are justified in regarding our future glorification as only a continuation of our present spiritual life. The guarantee of both is alike in Christ." The bottom line is, we are with Jesus all the way. We die with Him, we rise with Him, we reign with Him, and if we are not with Him we are dead in our sin and have no basis for an eternal future with Him.

When Jesus ascended to heaven He was seated in the heavenly places at the right hand of God, and became the King of kings and Lord of lords. He was seated at the right hand of God. This was the highest honor in the universe and there is not now or ever to be a place of higher honor. To be seated there with Him is far beyond any honor that man can achieve in this world. You might fantasy being a king or queen, or some part of the royal family such as a prince or princess, but this is of no comparison to being seated with Jesus in the heavenly places. In Jesus you have already achieved the highest level of honor and reward. You are a child of God seated along side of your elder brother the Lord Jesus, and there is no level higher than this. You have gone with Jesus all the way to the top. You are reigning with Him along with all of the most successful people in history. He is the head and with Him is the body, witch is the church including all believers. All believers in Him are the most successful people to have ever lived, for they are with Jesus at the very top seated at the right hand of God.

The Apostle Paul gives us another picture of this powerful position of the body of Christ. He wrote in Ephesians 1:18-22 these words, "18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength 20 he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21 far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. 22 And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way."

Take note of the facts that Paul wants believers to have their eyes open to have hope in being with Jesus in His exhaltation to this position at God's right hand. He says that Jesus is rich beyond our imagination in the glorious inheritance of His holy people. The whole body of Christ is exalted with Him as His inheritance in the heavenly places. He is now the head over everything for the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him. His body is His fulness, for He does not sit on that throne alone, but His entire body is there with Him. They are with Him all the way because God the Father rewarded His Son by giving Him His entire kindom of all those He has redeemed by His blood. This is His ultimate joy that His body will reign with Him forever, and that makes it our ultimate joy as well. This is the fulfillment of the prayer of Jesus in John 17:24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world." The Father answered that prayer by making what is to be to be already done for the joy and pleasure of His Son.

Listen to Paul again as he writes in Ephesians 1:3, "3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ." It is already done, and we are blest with Christ in the heavenly realms now. We have gone with Jesus all the way and now reign with Him in the heavenly realms. It is not only our dream of the future, it is our dream come true of the present.

Paul makes it clear in Colossians 3:1-3 that we are to keep our focus on this truth to live the life God wants us to live. He writes, "If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God." You do not wait until you die to be there, for you are already there in Christ. A focus on your present position in Christ is the key to living a heaven like life in this present evil world.

Warren Wiersbe wrote, "While attending a convention in Washington, D.C., I watched a Senate committee hearing over television. I believe they were considering a new ambassador to the United Nations. The late Senator Hubert Humphrey was making a comment as I turned on the television set: “You must remember that in politics, how you stand depends on where you sit.” He was referring, of course, to the political party seating arrangement in the Senate, but I immediately applied it to my position in Christ. How I stand—and walk—depends on where I sit; and I am seated with Christ in the heavenlies!

The Queen of England exercises certain powers and privileges because she sits on the throne. The President of the United States has privileges and powers because he sits behind the desk in the oval office of the White House. The believer is seated on the throne with Christ. We must constantly keep our affection and our attention fixed on the things of heaven, through the Word and prayer, as well as through worship and service. We can enjoy “days of heaven upon the earth” (Deut. 11:21) if we will keep our hearts and minds in the heavenlies." (Wiersbe, W: Bible Exposition Commentary. 1989. Victor)

If we dwell more often on our position in the heavenlies, we will gain more benefits in life from this perspective. A. B. Simpson put it like this, "We must learn to live on the heavenly side and look at things from above. To contemplate all things as God sees them, as Christ beholds them, overcomes sin, defies Satan, dissolves perplexities, lifts us above trials, separates us from the world and conquers fear of death." God the Father and Jesus the Lord expect us to claim our rights as citizens of heaven, and live in the light of the position in which they have placed us. There are endless benefits from this position, and we must be seeking constantly to experience these benefits. We have treasures in heaven now, and that is why we are urged to seek those things which are above and not just the things of earth. In contrast to the unbeliever who seeks only what this world has to offer, we are to seek what heaven has to offer. "If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above." (Colossians 3:1). And just how great are those things above? Paul tells us in Ephesians 1:3, "..God blesses us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places." Every blessing is there and they are already ours.

The ultimate being already a reality is hard to grasp. It is a paradox to say something is to be and also say that the something that is to be is already being. This is what is being communicated in Heb. 10:12-14, “But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.” It is finished are the words of Jesus on the cross, and so in one offering he made all believers in history perfected, and yet it will be a long time into the future before this is a realtiy. It is yet to come, and yet it is also finished. We are here on earth and not in heaven, and yet we are already seated with Christ in the heavenly places. How can both be true" John MacArthur wrote, "I think you get the picture! Jesus is in Heaven. Paul says that when He ascended, those who are in Him ascended with Him. When Jesus ascended from the top of the Mount of Olives, all the redeemed ascended into Heaven with Him! I can’t explain it, but in the mind of God it happened!"

The paradox is explained. It is in the mind of God that the future is already a reality. We do not have the same ability as God in knowing the end from the beginning. All that God intened to do through His Son has already been accomplished. It still needs to be played out in history, but for God the victory is complete. Wise then are we to see with the mind of God and experience the victory of having all in Christ Jesus. Wise are we to accept the reality that we are now kings and queens in the heavenly realm and live with a high view of how God sees us. He sees what is to be as a present reality.

When God looks at His Son He sees the whole picture which included all the redeemed of all time who have become a part of His body. God sees it all, and He tells it like it is. And what He tells us is that all that is to come is already finished. John MacArthur again gives us some insight when he writes, "I know these things are hard for us to understand. We need to remember that we serve a God Who stands outside the boundaries of time. He sees all of time at all the same time. He sees us where we are now, and He sees us where He has determined we will be when this life ends. He sees us as we live in this world, but He has so identified us with the Lord Jesus, that when He sees Him, he sees us completed in Him.The saints are saved today, they will be saved tomorrow, and they will be saved in 10 million years! Besides that, as far as God is concerned, we are already in Heaven. All we have to do is finish the trip. That is why God uses the past tense to describe our identification with Jesus. Notice, “hath quickened us together”; “hath raised us up together”; and “hath made us to sit together”. All these things are spoken about in the past tense because in the mind of God they have already taken place! We are as good for Heaven as if we were already there, because there is a sense in which we are already there!"

When preachers come to this passage and study it in depth they tend to conclude as did Pastor Steven Cole, "This is not an easy concept to grasp, but to the extent that we see our identification with Christ in heaven, we will live differently on earth. We won’t be ensnared by the world’s vain treasures. We will seek the things above, where Christ is, seated at God’s right hand. That is where our true life is hidden (Col. 3:1-4)." I like the way John Gill sums it all up in these few words, "Union with Christ is the basis for our present position with God. By virtue of this status with Christ we partake of Christ’s life and exaltation. Christians presently share in Christ’s resurrection, exaltation, and session by their positional status in Christ Jesus."

Gill goes on to apply this truth to our lives. He wrote, "Truth of our position in Christ is not something we feel or smell; it is something we take by faith. God sees us in His Son. His reckoning is different than ours. We need to take by faith what He reckons as true. Because we share Christ’s status of being resurrected, exalted, and seated, and hold His status before God, we should live our lives reflecting our status in Him. As people no longer spiritually dead, we are alive in Christ."

We are to see oursselves through the eyes of God. We are to have His perspective and see just who we are in Christ, and this perspective will give us a deep sense of security and confidence as we face a fallen world and all the forces of the devil. We do not need to live in fear and doubt about the future, for we are already victorious in Christ. Focus on your position in Christ, and you can live in the power of Christ. This is going with Jesus all the way and thus being able to live the victorious Christian life.

We need to see this text as the basis for our security in Christ. We live in such a dangerous Godless world where Satan has such power to carry out his evil schemes. We need to in a place and position to overcome all his powers, and that place and position in being in Christ in the heavenly places. It is being with Jesus all the way. I love the way this has been illustrated so effectively by Jeff Strite. He wrote in his message on this passage-

"Almost every nation in the world has an embassy that is owned by the United States of America. No matter what nation that embassy is in, the ground on which it rests is US soil. That land does not belong to that foreign country.

Now, if you - as a US citizen - are in Europe or Asia or any other continent, the moment you step into our Embassy in that region… you are in the USA. BUT you are only in the USA because you are IN that embassy.

That’s what Ephesians 2:6 means when it says you are “…IN the heavenly realms IN Christ Jesus”. You are IN the heavenly realms because you are IN Christ Jesus. If you were not IN Christ Jesus – you would NOT be IN the heavenly realms."

What he is saying is that by being in Christ and with Him in the heavenly realms, you are protected from any other power or authority. The devil and his demons have no right or authority over your life. You are free to live according to the laws of the heavenly kingdom, and have no obligation to live according to the laws of this evil world. We live in this heavenly embassy in Christ and can claim the protection we are promised in I John 5:18 “We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the one who was born of God keeps him safe, and the evil one cannot harm him.” We are free from harm and the devil's charm, and need not live in fear or alarm because we are with Jesus all the way in the heavenly realm.