Raised and Seated With Him 130428

Ephesians 2:4-7, But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

Today is the fifth Sunday of Easter and we should continue to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and its consequences for us. Paul begins this chapter with a reminder that we were dead in trespasses and sins. And then in verse four are those wonderful words, "But God ", and they are absolutely wonderful! God, mighty and merciful, loving and compassionate made us alive together with Christ. This is an amazing truth that gives us hope. I would like to remind you that in first Corinthians chapter 15 Paul tells us that if Christ is not raised from the dead then our faith is empty and we have no hope. Yet there are people who say, "What difference does it make?". Well let's see what difference it makes.

Christianity is unique among the world's religions. In the case of all the major world religions the founder of the religion is dead! Only Christianity has the empty tomb. Apart from the crucifixion of Christ and his resurrection from the dead there is no salvation. Jesus was crucified for our trespasses, or sins, and raised again for our justification. You see, Jesus took us to the cross with him. Scripture is very clear that we died with Christ and are now…

Raised up with him! Present tense! Even though…

We were dead spiritually. Look at Ephesians 2 verse 1-2a, And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked… And, compare Romans 5:6, For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.

Dead in trespasses and sins! Death is ultimate weakness! There is nothing weaker than that! That's the condition we are born in, spiritually. Most people, upon learning of this, react to it as being unfair. We have a good illustration of how it works in the national debt of the United States. The Outstanding Public Debt as of April 26, 2013 at 01:52:01 PM GMT was: $16,800,707,962,452.57. The estimated population of the United States is 314,848,646 so each citizen's share of this debt is $53,361.21. Talk about unfair! This is not political this is financial! Yes, it is unfair.

In a similar manner we inherit the human sin debt. And, having come to the age of choice we quickly chose to follow our ancestors in selfishness and sin. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God and remember, the wages sin is death. We were dead spiritually and…

Living in the dark. Listen while I read, Ephesians 4:17-18, Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. 18 They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart.

John in his little letter refers to darkness as the normal atmosphere of the unbelievers. While in God there is no darkness at all! Paul, in writing to the Colossians, tells us that we are to be thankful to the Father who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. The believer in Jesus Christ was born...

In sin but now alive! Listen to what Paul told the Colossians in Colossians 2:12-15, …having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. 13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.

Jesus forgave all our trespasses and canceled the record of debt that stood against us. Not only, in the eyes of God, were we crucified with him, we were also buried with him. We symbolize that burial in baptism. Going into the baptismal waters a person confesses their faith in Jesus Christ, is buried in the water and raised up to walk a new life. In the eyes of God we have died, were buried and raised again. And now we are…

Seated with him in the heavenlies! Remember, this is the word of God telling us that…

He has blessed us in heavenly places. It is God's desire that we be blessed and that we glorify him. Listen while I read, Ephesians 1:3, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,

Notice, "who has blessed us", is past tense. Not some day by-and-by but now! In the eyes of God it has already happened! Friends, many people will tell you about the blessings you will receive in heaven. I want you to know that the blessings of God are ours now in Christ Jesus. You won't need the blessings in heaven! We sure do need them now! Not only are we blessed in the heavenly places but we also are blessed…

Along with Abraham. There are people who will tell you that the Old Testament blessings have nothing to do with us. Nothing could be further from the truth. The God we serve is consistent. He does deal with people in accordance with the age they live in. God's blessings have always been the same. Let's see what Paul said in Galatians 3:13-14, Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”— 14 so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.

Jesus became a curse for us so that we might become the righteousness of God in him. In doing that he redeemed us from the curse of the law! The gifted hymn writer, Philip P. Bliss, wrote these words nearly 150 years ago: hymn number 285 in our hymnbook.

Free from the law, O happy condition, Jesus hath bled, and there is remission; cursed by the law and bruised by the fall, grace hath redeemed us once for all.

Once for all, O sinner, receive it; once for all, O brother, believe it, cling to the cross, the burden will fall. Christ hath redeemed us once for all.

Now we are free, there's no condemnation, Jesus provides a perfect salvation; "Come unto Me," O hear his sweet call, come, and he saves us once for all.

Once for all, O sinner, receive it; once for all, O brother, believe it, cling to the cross, the burden will fall. Christ hath redeemed us once for all.

Children of God, O glorious calling, surely his grace will keep us from falling; passing from death to life at his call, blessed salvation once for all.

Once for all, O sinner, receive it; once for all, O brother, believe it, cling to the cross, the burden will fall. Christ hath redeemed us once for all.

I love the old hymns! I am sure we will sing them in heaven with a far better voice and on key. We are blessed far more than we realize. We are blessed in heavenly places. We are blessed along with Abraham the father of faith and…

Like Stephen, the martyr. We will be blessed. While Saul of Tarsus stood by holding the coats of those who would stone him to death Stephen had a vision that they could not see. Listen while I read from Acts 7:55-56, But he, (Stephen) full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”

Most references to Jesus after his ascension speak of him seated at the right hand of God. Stephen saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God. What made the difference? I don't know for sure but, I believe that Jesus stood to welcome his martyr into heaven. What a blessing! One day we will be blessed along with Stephen just as we are, right now, being blessed in heavenly places and receiving all the blessings God has poured out on those who have come to him by grace through faith throughout the ages. He has blessed us...

So that God could show his kindness toward us! It is not wrath leading to fear that bring people to repentance instead it is the goodness of God that is…

Intended to bring us to repentance. Listen while I read 2 Peter 3:9, The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

Thank God that he is patient with us and is not slow to fulfill his promise. His patience, goodness and kindness give us hope. We do not just have hope for ourselves but for our friends and loved ones as well. God's patience allows everyone time to turn from their sin and reach repentance. That's his stated desire. His kindness toward us is intended to bring us to repentance...

Leading to salvation. A tremendous contrast in life comes about when God's goodness is released. Listen while I read Titus 3:3-7, For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. 4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

The work of salvation is done by God. He saved us not because we were good and acceptable but in spite of the fact that we were ungodly. Are you surprised that I say that? Remember what Romans 5:6 said, "… At the right time Christ died for the ungodly." If you're going to appropriate the salvation offered by the Lord Jesus Christ you start by recognizing that you are ungodly without him. And when we recognize that we are ungodly then we should come to the place where we are sincerely sorry for the life we've lived without him and ask him to grant us the grace to repent of our sin and come to salvation. God sincerely desires to show his kindness toward us. Because his kindness is intended to bring us to repentance that leads to salvation and will lead one day to our glorification with him. Remember our text from Ephesians? He made us alive together with Christ and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus! Repentance leading to salvation…

And glorification. Listen while I read Romans 8:15-17, For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

A little further down we find the confidence of God expressed in these words, "… those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified." (Romans 8:30)

Notice please that God is not speaking about future justification and glorification he says that God has called those he predestined; and not only has he called them he has justified them; and not only has he justified them he has glorified them! In agreement with Ephesians 2 Paul speaks of our future glorification as having already happened.

God has raised us up and seated us with Christ in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Brothers and sisters that is glorification! If we are seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus then our resurrection body is awaiting us. We currently live in an earthsuit that is adapted by God to the world we live in. Our physical body is an absolute miracle of efficiency and ability. At least it was until we overfed it, underworked it, and otherwise abused it! Well, our heavensuit is equally designed for the world awaiting us. Jesus received his glorified body when he was raised from the dead. We receive our glorified body when our Earth body dies. Or at least I believe that is what Scripture teaches.

Every person on earth is born separated from God. We are separated by the inherited sin of Adam and Eve. So, spiritually, we are born dead and quickly prove it by the self-centered, sin controlled, life that we live from infancy on. "But God" (What a wonderful pair of words.) had a different plan for those who would believe. Those who receive Christ Jesus as Lord believing that God raised him from the dead are transferred from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light. Not only that but we who have placed our faith in him are raised up with him already. In fact, we are already seated with him in heaven! It does not feel like it but it is a fact to be received and believed. We have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, "Abba! Father!" And when he returns in glory he will bring us with him or we will meet him in the air! If you have not believed on him do so today!

All scripture quotes from:The Holy Bible : English standard version. 2001. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.