Post by DrGadget on Jul 13, 2008 22:37:01 GMT -5
Seated in Heavenly Places
Ephesians 2:4-7
[4] But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
[5] Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
[6] And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
[7] That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
The Bible says we are seated in heavenly places in Jesus Christ. It doesn’t say we WILL be seated in heavenly places. We already ARE. But how can that be?
God created the universe. God created the days. God created it all, including time. But time does not work the same for us as it does for God.
2 Peter 3:8
[8] But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
God never changes. He is stable. He never learns, because He already knows everything. He can’t improve. He won’t degrade. He is God. Has it ever occurred to you that nothing ever occurred to God? He already knew it completely beforehand. When Jesus died on the cross, God didn’t look down from Heaven and say, “Oops!” This was all according to His plans.
God doesn’t live within our timeline. God inhabits eternity.
Isaiah 57:15
[15] For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.
When we as Christians die, or if Jesus comes back for us before we die, then we go to be with Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 4:16-18
[16] For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
[17] Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
[18] Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
And these are comforting words. No matter how bad it gets here, no matter even if you die, as long as you died in Christ, then Jesus will one day (soon) come back for you. We will be resurrected into new and incorruptible bodies, heavenly bodies that will not age, or tire, or grow weak, or fall ill, or feel pain, or die ever.
Revelation 21:4
[4] And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
Where do we go when we die? Jesus will bring us to the Father. We go to be with God. God is in eternity. But what exactly is “eternity”?
None of us have ever experienced eternity. It’s an easy concept to grasp, but almost impossible to comprehend. Is it an infinite amount of time, a frozen timeless state, or a different type of non-linear time? Whatever it is, it is greater than the typical chronological time we are used to. In our timeline, there is change. Change brings entropy. Entropy brings death. These things don’t exist in eternity. In eternity, there is no more death. There is no more curse. They simply aren’t there.
As human beings, we bear the image of Adam (and Eve). We look like them. We inherit sin and death from Adam alone. We look like our parents.
1 Corinthians 15:47-49
[47] The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
[48] As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
[49] And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
As this quote explains, we all bear the image of Adam, but now as Christians we bear the image of God. Jesus said to look upon Him was to look upon the Father. Jesus looked like His Father. As Christians, God is our Father as well. We shall also bear the Lord’s image. The “Adam” part of us will wither and die, but the “Jesus” part of us will live on.
But the Adam part gets replaced. We will be resurrected into new bodies. These bodies are perfect and incorruptible, like God’s body, or like that of an angel.
Luke 20:35-36
[35] But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage:
[36] Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection.
Let’s think about this for a second. We will have bodies like God’s body – perfect and incorruptible. Jesus was a physical man who walked around on the Earth for 33 years. He was born of the Holy Spirit (or Holy Ghost).
Matthew 1:18-20
[18] Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.
[19] Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily.
[20] But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.
That was the only birth Jesus ever had. Joseph was not Jesus’ biological father. As Humans, we are born of a biological Father into the image of Adam. But then as Christians, we are born again of the Holy Spirit. In our second birth, we are born like Jesus. We are born of the same Holy Spirit. The result of this birth can only produce one thing – a child of God. And that’s what a Christian is. We are God’s children. God is “Our Father, which art in Heaven”. When you are born of the Holy Spirit, you are God’s child. Jesus was born of the Holy Spirit. We are born of the Holy Spirit. Jesus is our older brother. We are family.
There are three components of a human being, because to a lesser extent, we are made like God. We have a spirit, a mind, and a body. God has the Holy Spirit, the Mind of God, and the Body of Christ. We are of similar attributes.
When we die, we get a body like God’s.
We already have the Holy Spirit living in us.
So do we get a mind like God’s? Yes we do.
1 Corinthians 3:16
[16] For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.
1 Corinthians 13:12
[12] For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
We understand God’s ways in part now. But then we will know, even as God knows us, which is to say, perfectly. We will have perfect knowledge – the Mind of God.
A little further. We’ve almost come full-circle. What do we get when we go to Heaven?
We get a perfect incorruptible body.
We already have the Holy Spirit. God may give us a perfect spirit of our own. At this time, I don’t care which, and it’s not important to this discussion. Either is fine by me.
We get a mind like God’s.
We inhabit eternity, seated at the Lord’s table.
If we stand where God stands, and know what God knows, and see what God sees, we can see all of Time in one glance. It will all be laid out before us. We can see Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. We can see the Great Flood destroy the Earth. We can see Abraham, David, and all the great leaders and patriarchs. We can see Jesus dying on the cross and rising again. We can see all the millions and billions of times where God stepped in and answered some poor soul in need, crying out to Him.
Imagine you have already died and gone to Heaven. You’re there in eternity right now. You’re standing next to God looking at this fascinating thing called Time, in which all of human activity occurs. Look closer. Look at the beginning of the 21st Century. You can now see your own country, your own city, your own home. You can see yourself living your earthly life, back when you had that annoyingly corruptible body. You sin, you lie, you fail, but you pray for delivery from your sorry and miserable state. God answers. By the amazing grace bought by the blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ, God changes you from a worthless nothing into His own child! From eternity, you can see all this. You can see it all clearly, even as God sees it.
Now look at all the times when you were down and your faith was tested. Sometimes you wallowed in sin and got nowhere. Other times, you trusted and obeyed God, and your faith grew. Now that you are in eternity, you have already received rewards for your faith and obedience. Go ahead and feel good about yourself for those times when you obeyed God. You didn’t know it at the time, but you were building a mighty faith, and accruing a great reward in Heaven.
Now look a little more to the future. You peer again into chronological time, and you can see yourself reading these very words. If you look a little further back, you can even see me writing the words. But mostly you are watching yourself reading the words. It was when you still lived on Earth, back before Jesus brought you into eternity.
Now come back to the present, the here and now. You’re back on Earth.
Right now, you are seated in heavenly places. You are present with the Lord, looking down upon yourself from outside of time. You’re already in eternity watching yourself read these words, remember? Eternity has no beginning and no end. You’re with God forever, and you always have been. When you look up to God in prayer, you might hear a few Hallelujahs coming from just off to one side of God. That would be you. You’re in Heaven with God right now in eternity, and you’re so very happy for every right and obedient decision you are currently making on Earth.
We won’t someday become seated with Jesus in heavenly places. We’re already there. Now, doesn’t this all make a little more sense?
Ephesians 2:4-6
[4] But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
[5] Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
[6] And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
How is this possible? God did it. He raised us up together with Christ. It was God who made us to sit in Heavenly places. We’re already there, watching ourselves here.
Ephesians 2:4-7
[4] But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
[5] Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
[6] And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
[7] That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
The Bible says we are seated in heavenly places in Jesus Christ. It doesn’t say we WILL be seated in heavenly places. We already ARE. But how can that be?
God created the universe. God created the days. God created it all, including time. But time does not work the same for us as it does for God.
2 Peter 3:8
[8] But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
God never changes. He is stable. He never learns, because He already knows everything. He can’t improve. He won’t degrade. He is God. Has it ever occurred to you that nothing ever occurred to God? He already knew it completely beforehand. When Jesus died on the cross, God didn’t look down from Heaven and say, “Oops!” This was all according to His plans.
God doesn’t live within our timeline. God inhabits eternity.
Isaiah 57:15
[15] For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.
When we as Christians die, or if Jesus comes back for us before we die, then we go to be with Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 4:16-18
[16] For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
[17] Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
[18] Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
And these are comforting words. No matter how bad it gets here, no matter even if you die, as long as you died in Christ, then Jesus will one day (soon) come back for you. We will be resurrected into new and incorruptible bodies, heavenly bodies that will not age, or tire, or grow weak, or fall ill, or feel pain, or die ever.
Revelation 21:4
[4] And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
Where do we go when we die? Jesus will bring us to the Father. We go to be with God. God is in eternity. But what exactly is “eternity”?
None of us have ever experienced eternity. It’s an easy concept to grasp, but almost impossible to comprehend. Is it an infinite amount of time, a frozen timeless state, or a different type of non-linear time? Whatever it is, it is greater than the typical chronological time we are used to. In our timeline, there is change. Change brings entropy. Entropy brings death. These things don’t exist in eternity. In eternity, there is no more death. There is no more curse. They simply aren’t there.
As human beings, we bear the image of Adam (and Eve). We look like them. We inherit sin and death from Adam alone. We look like our parents.
1 Corinthians 15:47-49
[47] The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
[48] As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
[49] And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
As this quote explains, we all bear the image of Adam, but now as Christians we bear the image of God. Jesus said to look upon Him was to look upon the Father. Jesus looked like His Father. As Christians, God is our Father as well. We shall also bear the Lord’s image. The “Adam” part of us will wither and die, but the “Jesus” part of us will live on.
But the Adam part gets replaced. We will be resurrected into new bodies. These bodies are perfect and incorruptible, like God’s body, or like that of an angel.
Luke 20:35-36
[35] But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage:
[36] Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection.
Let’s think about this for a second. We will have bodies like God’s body – perfect and incorruptible. Jesus was a physical man who walked around on the Earth for 33 years. He was born of the Holy Spirit (or Holy Ghost).
Matthew 1:18-20
[18] Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.
[19] Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily.
[20] But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.
That was the only birth Jesus ever had. Joseph was not Jesus’ biological father. As Humans, we are born of a biological Father into the image of Adam. But then as Christians, we are born again of the Holy Spirit. In our second birth, we are born like Jesus. We are born of the same Holy Spirit. The result of this birth can only produce one thing – a child of God. And that’s what a Christian is. We are God’s children. God is “Our Father, which art in Heaven”. When you are born of the Holy Spirit, you are God’s child. Jesus was born of the Holy Spirit. We are born of the Holy Spirit. Jesus is our older brother. We are family.
There are three components of a human being, because to a lesser extent, we are made like God. We have a spirit, a mind, and a body. God has the Holy Spirit, the Mind of God, and the Body of Christ. We are of similar attributes.
When we die, we get a body like God’s.
We already have the Holy Spirit living in us.
So do we get a mind like God’s? Yes we do.
1 Corinthians 3:16
[16] For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.
1 Corinthians 13:12
[12] For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
We understand God’s ways in part now. But then we will know, even as God knows us, which is to say, perfectly. We will have perfect knowledge – the Mind of God.
A little further. We’ve almost come full-circle. What do we get when we go to Heaven?
We get a perfect incorruptible body.
We already have the Holy Spirit. God may give us a perfect spirit of our own. At this time, I don’t care which, and it’s not important to this discussion. Either is fine by me.
We get a mind like God’s.
We inhabit eternity, seated at the Lord’s table.
If we stand where God stands, and know what God knows, and see what God sees, we can see all of Time in one glance. It will all be laid out before us. We can see Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. We can see the Great Flood destroy the Earth. We can see Abraham, David, and all the great leaders and patriarchs. We can see Jesus dying on the cross and rising again. We can see all the millions and billions of times where God stepped in and answered some poor soul in need, crying out to Him.
Imagine you have already died and gone to Heaven. You’re there in eternity right now. You’re standing next to God looking at this fascinating thing called Time, in which all of human activity occurs. Look closer. Look at the beginning of the 21st Century. You can now see your own country, your own city, your own home. You can see yourself living your earthly life, back when you had that annoyingly corruptible body. You sin, you lie, you fail, but you pray for delivery from your sorry and miserable state. God answers. By the amazing grace bought by the blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ, God changes you from a worthless nothing into His own child! From eternity, you can see all this. You can see it all clearly, even as God sees it.
Now look at all the times when you were down and your faith was tested. Sometimes you wallowed in sin and got nowhere. Other times, you trusted and obeyed God, and your faith grew. Now that you are in eternity, you have already received rewards for your faith and obedience. Go ahead and feel good about yourself for those times when you obeyed God. You didn’t know it at the time, but you were building a mighty faith, and accruing a great reward in Heaven.
Now look a little more to the future. You peer again into chronological time, and you can see yourself reading these very words. If you look a little further back, you can even see me writing the words. But mostly you are watching yourself reading the words. It was when you still lived on Earth, back before Jesus brought you into eternity.
Now come back to the present, the here and now. You’re back on Earth.
Right now, you are seated in heavenly places. You are present with the Lord, looking down upon yourself from outside of time. You’re already in eternity watching yourself read these words, remember? Eternity has no beginning and no end. You’re with God forever, and you always have been. When you look up to God in prayer, you might hear a few Hallelujahs coming from just off to one side of God. That would be you. You’re in Heaven with God right now in eternity, and you’re so very happy for every right and obedient decision you are currently making on Earth.
We won’t someday become seated with Jesus in heavenly places. We’re already there. Now, doesn’t this all make a little more sense?
Ephesians 2:4-6
[4] But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
[5] Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
[6] And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
How is this possible? God did it. He raised us up together with Christ. It was God who made us to sit in Heavenly places. We’re already there, watching ourselves here.
