DONE: You Have Been Seated in the Heavenly Realms

[God] raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:6).

There seems to be a lot of talk in churches these days about believers being crucified with Christ. That’s a good thing of course, because it’s true. But what I don’t hear as much of, is how those who’ve trusted Christ have been raised up from death with Him as well.

It’s almost like we’re only hearing the first half of the gospel.

Paul reminds us of that sometimes forgotten second half of the gospel here in Ephesians 2:6: The reality that everything God did for Jesus (including raising Him from the dead and seating Him in heaven), He did for you as well because of your unification with Christ.

This means you were not only connected to Jesus in His death, you were connected to Him in His resurrection and ascension as well.

Your soul already has eternal life and already lives in heaven.

This concept can be hard for us to wrap our brains around. After all, if you’re reading this, odds are good that you’re still living with a physical body. Every day you will touch, feel, smell, and taste things from the world around you. Your physical reality is likely to feel much more real to you because you’re constantly experiencing it in tangible ways.

All of which can make it that much harder to grasp this idea that your soul—the truest, deepest part of who you are; the part of you that will live for eternity—is already seated in heaven (no longer here on earth).

Someday, your body will shut down for good. At that point, you’ll be given a new body and your physical and spiritual realities will merge together for the rest of eternity. But until then, I find it can be helpful to remember it this way: Everything that happened to Jesus physically, has already happened to you spiritually:

  • Jesus was crucified physically; you were crucified with Him spiritually.
  • Jesus was resurrected physically; you were resurrected with Him spiritually.
  • Jesus is currently present in heaven physically; you are currently present in heaven spiritually.

But what’s the point of all of this?

I find this truth to be most helpful on those days when it’s difficult to face the broken reality of this world. Whether it’s the constant evil I hear about in the news, or pain and heartache present in my own life—trusting that my soul is seated in heaven next to my Savior helps me to not lose hope.

I receive great peace through knowing that no matter what happens to me here on earth, my eternity in heaven with Jesus is eternally secure.

And how can I know that?

Because I’m already there.


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