Raised, Seated and Ruling!

“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.” Ephesians 1:19-21

“It’s not about what you know, its about who you know”

If we assume that we are living at the same time within two realities (A Physical world and a Spiritual World) then we are constantly challenged to maintain the tension between being spiritually minded yet at the same time of earthly good!

So let me ask you a few questions?

• Does Jesus Chair the UN?
• Does Jesus own the biggest global corporations?
• Is Jesus the president of the USA?
• Does Jesus run this world – in a physical sense?

The answer is NO,

man runs the physical world as we please and under the spiritual authority which each of us chooses – and no wonder it is in the state that it is!

So Jesus is not ruling this world in a Physical sense, yet!

This simple fact, makes it very hard for us to truly embrace the Spiritual reality that Jesus is in fact ruling in the Spiritual realm!

We say we believe that fact, but when it comes to the practice of our faith, we trip over the earthly obstacles set in place by the human* rulers of this world.

*Who are most likely given to the control of some spiritual force, albeit through sin or wilful submission to idols.

What does it mean for me and you, that Jesus is in fact raised from the dead, seated at the right hand of God the Father and ruling over every authority, power, dominion and name?

It means that there is no boundary and no obstacle that can hinder us in the task of building His kingdom. Because its not about what you know, but about who you know!

If we can truly grasp the magnitude of Christ’s ruler-ship in the heavenly realms it will fundamentally change everything we do becuase nothing is impossible for God and nothing is impossible for those who have faith in God’s power! (Luke 1v37 and Mat 17v20)

Practical application: Start taking authority, in the name of Jesus, over the areas in which you have influence and don’t stand back or give in to Satan’s scheme; STAND FIRM! (Eph 6v12)

A new reality!

Read Ephesians 1

5 times in Ephesians (1:3, 1:20, 2:6, 3:10, 6:12), Paul makes mention of this term “the heavenly places” or “heavenly realms” depending on your translation. The word “places or realms” in not in the text, it is added in the English translation to help bring the meaning across. A more direct translation would be to say “in the heavenlies”.

What does Paul mean by this term, “the heavenlies”? Becuase it is clearly a very important term in the context of what he is teaching the Ephesian Church.

He cannot be referring to “heaven” becuase in 3:10 and 6:12 it is clear that some of the elements who also find themselves in the heavenlies are not in agreement with God. In fact as it is stated in 6:12, our very enemies dwell in the heavenlies.

So what is Paul talking about?

I believe (and your thoughts are welcome) that Paul is referring here to a realm which is “parallel” to ours but not visible to us. A realm in which the spiritual world is found, in other words a spiritual realm. It is in this realm, according to Paul, where Jesus is seated next to the Father(1:20), where we are seated in him(2:6) and it is in accordance with the “laws” of this realm that we are blessed(1:3). But it is also the realm where there are principalities, powers, rulers and evil forces that are opposed to God’s rule(3:10, 6:12).

But why is Paul trying to keep our focus on this realm throughout his letter, why does he keep pointing to it from the very beginning to the very end of his argument?

I believe Paul, under the inspiration of God, is trying to change our reality!

He is trying to bring a new reality into the forefront of our minds.

Our reality shapes our lives…

A simple example: It’s the end of the month and I am hungry, very hungry! I look in my wallet and there lies a lonely R20 all dirty and shrivelled up. So I make my way down to P&P, with my head hanging low and buy loaf of bread and some cheese, yum. But without my knowledge (I don’t have sms notifications)  my salary has already been paid into my account. Well if I had known, my current reality would have been radically altered by that fact. I would have taken my beautiful fiancé to the local Steakhouse where we would be enjoying a piece of prime fillet and a glass of delicious red wine (or grape juice, for those who are opposed to drinking wine)!

Its a silly example but the point is simple, our reality shapes our lifestyle.

Paul wants to shift our reality, he wants to turn our heads, as it where from looking at the carnal, physical world around us to pear into the heavenlies and see a reality which is greater, more powerful and more influential than the reality which is staring us in the face.

That is why he says “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened…” (1:18) He cannot convince us or even show us this reality, he can only pray that we too might see the world the way he does.

I believe Paul’s powerful witness, and the life that he lived was not becuase he was more sinless than you or me, not becuase he had greater faith than you or me, but becuase he had a different reality to you and me.

Paul saw things as they really where, in the heavenlies, and becuase of that Satan could no longer bind him to mediocrity in this world with his lies and well staged schemes, Paul knew what the truth was and the truth set him free.

When Jesus started his ministry he read from the scroll of Isaiah and he proclaimed that he had come to give sight to the blind, among other things. He meant that physically, but more so, spiritually, he came that you and I might see things the way they really are,  a truth that sets us free!

Who are you really?

Am I living up to the title “follower of Jesus”?

Are you?

Of course we would all say that no-one has ever lived up to that title perfectly and that is why a central part of our faith is based upon God’s grace and not our own ability.

But as the son’s and daughters of God,  “born-again”, filled with His Holy Spirit, being conformed into the image of His Son, shouldn’t our lives look a bit more like that of Jesus Christ?

I suppose that is a very difficult and deeply challenging question for each of us. But the danger is that the longer we walk in mediocrity, we learn to find compromised reasons for our watered-down witness, which appease our conscience, but don’t stand up to scripture.

Here are three such excuses we give for not living like Christ:

1. The Sin in our lives

Some will argue that our sin hinders us from living out our witness,  and rightly so! We all need a deeper level of repentance in our lives! None of us can argue with that. But wasn’t it the very centre of Jesus mission to come and deal with our sin once and for all! He has broken the power of sin, so it has no legal authority in our lives if we don’t give it any room. The wonderful gift of repentance means that there is no need for sin to hinder us. If it does we are not walking in repentance, but we can’t blame sin when Jesus has covered that area.

2. Our lack of faith

Some will argue that our faith is too weak. That we should well-up more faith within us in order to see more of the miraculous in our lives. But faith is not a force which is employed apart from the actual Word of God, faith is not an end in itself, it must be based upon truth. Yes we need more faith, all of us! But faith is only powerful when its based upon truth, what we really need is more truth! God gives faith freely to us as his children, so we cannot blame it on a lack of faith. What we might find is that there isn’t enough truth in our lives to provide a foundation for more faith.

3. We are not really meant to live like Jesus in this life

Others will argue that we where never meant to be like Christ in this life, its impossible for us to ever attain to the kind of life he lived. It might well be true that none of us will every live a life like His but that does not mean that we are not meant to. Jesus himself said that his followers will do greater miracles than he did, and it is our promise that our Father is making us like him more and more. We might never live a life just like His but  judging on how far we are from his standard, I have too believe there is more for us to lay hold-of!

So what is the problem?

My guess is that we don’t really take the Word of God seriously enough and so we don’t really know the full extent of what God has achieved for the saints through the life, death and resurrection of His Son. I believe we simply don’t live the life we have been given becuase we don’t know the full extent of our inheritance in Jesus Christ.

So in the next few weeks I would like to take you on a journey with me as we examine who we REALLY are in Jesus Christ through a study of the book of Ephesians!

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