Tuesday: Now Resurrected, Ascended and Exalted With Christ
“But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us” (Ephesians 2:4, NKJV). Here, with two powerful words, “But God,” Paul pivots from his doleful portrait of the past lives of his audience (Ephesians 2:1-3) to the new, hope-filled realities that mark their lives as believers (Ephesians 2:4-10).
What sense do believers participate in Christ’s resurrection, ascension, and exaltation? When does this participation occur? Ephesians 2:6-7.
Image © Steve Creitz from GoodSalt.com
We have noted that Ephesians is a Christ-drenched letter highlighting the solidarity of believers with Christ. In Ephesians 2:5 and Ephesians 2:6, Paul extends this theme by deploying three compound verbs to unleash the stunning truth that, through God’s initiatives, believers themselves participate in important salvation history events that center on the Messiah, Jesus.
Believers are: (1) co-resurrected with Christ; (2) co-raised up with Christ (which Paul probably uses to indicate the participation of believers in Christ’s ascension to heaven); (3) co-seated with Christ “in the heavenly places,” meaning that believers participate in Christ’s “seating” on the throne of the cosmos. They are co-exalted with Jesus.
To appreciate the power of Paul’s argument, we must look back to Ephesians 1:19-23 and recall that in His death, resurrection, ascension, and exaltation, Christ gains the victory over all evil and spiritual powers, the very ones who once dominated the lives of believers. In the resurrection, ascension, and exaltation of Jesus, these powers — though still active and threatening to human existence — have been thoroughly superseded. The cosmos has shifted. Reality has changed. Believers are not mere spectators to these events but are personally and intimately involved in them. That we are co-resurrected, co-ascended, and co-exalted with Jesus opens up a whole new array of possibilities for us. We have the right to turn from a demon-dominated existence to a life of spiritual abundance and power in Christ (2 Timothy 1:7).
| “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7, NKJV). How do the verses we looked at today help us understand what Paul writes here? |
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I just watched a Youtube video of a tourist couple who visited New Zealand for a few days. According to them they saw amazing things and had fantastic experiences. They sat in wonderful bakeries and stayed in comfortable B and B's. The thing is that they had visited Queenstown and Milford Sound, arguably a couple of the most scenic locations in New Zealand, and all they could talk about were what they ate (mainly fast food) and where they slept. They could most probably do all that at home. They missed the grandeur of the long lakes surrounded by tall mountains, Beech forests with their exquisite green moss, the roar of waterfalls, and the crackling sound of a glacier. They had essentially gone to NZ in an aluminum tube and stayed in an atmosphere that was largely the same as home.
As I watched this video I thought about what it means to be "And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: Eph 2:6". If we have been raised from the dead and are sitting with Jesus, what difference does it make? The "sitting with Jesus" metaphor is about the present, not the future. It is not about "it's an amazing fantastic experience". It is about how does that change my relationship with others today. I have to work with a woman on a newsletter today. That is an ordinary event. Do I sit with Jesus while I am doing this work?
Our "sitting with Jesus" is about as unreal as the tourist couple's visit to New Zealand if all we do is isolate the experience in a wall of theologically themed discussion and not see the real world that live in every day.
The verses we looked at in Ephesians establish the basis for Paul's statement in 2 Timothy 1:7. Our position in Christ, participating in His resurrection, ascension, and exaltation, as per Ephesians 2:6-7, empowers us. This is not a spirit of fear, but of power because we've been raised with Christ and share in His victory over sin and death.
It's also a spirit of love, reflecting the immense love God demonstrated in saving us from being "children of wrath" and making us alive with Christ, as described in Ephesians 2:1-5. Our salvation is purely a work of God's love and grace.
Lastly, it's a spirit of a sound mind, which could be seen as our newfound ability to understand spiritual truths, make wise choices, and live righteously, a contrast to our past state of following the "course of this world" and the "prince of the power of the air" (Ephesians 2:2).
These themes from Ephesians give depth to understanding Paul's message in 2 Timothy 1:7. As believers, the spirit we have received is directly opposed to fear and is characterized by power, love, and sound-mindedness—qualities that reflect our new identity and status in Christ.
In Deteronomy 4:29,30 Moses was speaking here about "The Latter Days and God's people in the latter days." The Apsotle Paul is clear that Jesus was the one who would die and rise for His people and He did this 2,000 plus or minus years ago and now sits at His Fathers' Right Hand to intercede for us and empower us with His Holy Spirit to live for Him, His Father, and His Holy Spirit now, today, and forever!
Eph. 2:7 - We are therefore considered to be ‘resurrected, ascended and exalted with Christ’, “”.. that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His Grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”
Eph. 11:4 – And as a ‘downpayment’ on our inheritance, we already received the Holy Spirit which is applied toward our redemption as God’s own people, resulting in the honor of God’s glory.
Eph. 2:6 - As the author of the lesson explains it so clearly, I also believe this to mean that, as we are in the Spirit of Christ, we ‘figuratively’ sit with Him in heavenly places now because our life is in Him; this prepositions us to experience His Glory now as we will in the ages to come.
1 Cor.12:4-12 - The spiritual gifts given to the Ekklesia are meant to edify all members of the body of Christ, to empower us and meet our various spiritual needs, and so strengthen our faith as we live our life in Christ - being resurrected, ascended, and exalted with Christ.
To learn these all important truths is why I so very much appreciate and enjoy the opportunity to study the Scriptures together with my fellow believers. My spirit rejoices when it finds God's truth applicable to my life in the here and now.
Many look at the world news and may think that evil is winning the battle, but that isn't true; the love of God has always superseded everything. Jesus is the most valuable proof of the buy-back of this planet.