Ephesians 2.1-10 (4)
Pray Psalm 47.2-4.
For the LORD Most High is awesome;
He is a great King over all the earth.
He will subdue the peoples under us,
And the nations under our feet.
He will choose our inheritance for us,
The excellence of Jacob whom He loves.
Selah
Sing Psalm 47.2-4.
(Truro: Shout, for the Blessed Jesus Reigns)
High is the LORD, O, fear His Name! He rules, a King o’er all the earth.
Nations and peoples He has tamed, the heritage of His holy worth.
Read Ephesians 2.1-6; meditate on the phrase “word of truth” in verse 6.
Meditate on that word, “seated”. What do you see? Feel? Think?
Preparation
1. Where have we been “seated”?
2. With Whom?
Meditation
Please note that the verbs in verse 6 are past tense—“raised up” and “made to sit”. Whatever this means, it’s done. Done for you. Done irrevocably and unchangeably, for when God does something it stays done.
Hans Boersma (Seeing God) makes the point that the contemporary “course of this world”, the spirit of the age (v. 2) or what he refers to as the modern “plausibility structure”, has concealed the real world of Christ and His Kingdom from our experience. When we come to salvation, Jesus conveys us out of the kingdom of this darkness into His own Kingdom of light, into the real world (Col. 1.13). He seats us there with Him and begins to open our eyes to the wonders, beauty, mystery, and power of living by faith (Heb. 11.1).
I remember sitting next to my dad at St. Louis Cardinal ball games, always on the third-base side. He would show me what to watch for, explain what was going on, why the catcher would go out to the mound, why the shortstop was shifting over toward second base. In other words, seated by dad, I learned to see the game.
Seated with Jesus? That’s gotta be a big done deal, friends.
Our duty is to set our mind there, on the real world, and to see all our experience in this world from that vantage point (Col. 3.1-3). This is also our great privilege, to have the Spirit dwelling in us and to understand the revelation God makes of Himself in Jesus through His Word and creation.
We have been translated into the real world. Our calling is to seek this Kingdom and the glory of God it reveals as the defining perspective and pursuit of our lives (1 Thess. 2.12; Matt. 6.33). Seeing the real world into which we have been conveyed must become the driving force of our lives, for if it is not, the modern plausibility structure—the course and elemental things of this world—will blunt our faith, rob us of true vision, short-circuit the power of the Spirit, and tame our faith in and walk with the Lord.
We have been seated with Christ in the real world. Done deal. Really.
Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
“…and raised us up
together
and made us sit
together
in the heavenly places
in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2.6).
Together with Jesus.
Listening to Him parse out the rules of the game.
Sharing the highs and lows.
Understanding how He sees things.
Fellowshipping in His wisdom.
Partaking of His grace and mercy.
Remembering His sacrifice.
Basking in the warmth of His love.
Shoulder to shoulder.
Heart to heart.
Over our dead bodies Jesus worked His miracle of life.
In just this way:
“When He came in, He said to them,
‘Why make this commotion and weep?
The child is not dead, but sleeping.’
And they ridiculed Him. But when He had put them outside,
He took the father and the mother of the child,
and those who were with Him,
and entered where the child was lying.
Then He took the child by the hand, and said to her,
‘Talitha, cumi,’ which is translated, ‘Little girl, I say you, arise.’
And immediately the girl arose and walked…” (Mk. 5.39-42).
The extraneous circumstances may differ in each of our salvation stories,
but the principle remains the same.
We were dead, and Jesus made us alive.
By His Word of truth.
“I have come that they may have life,
and that they may have it more abundantly” (Jn. 10.10).
Through the Scriptures we see Him in all His life-giving work and words.
It is through His Word and the Holy Spirit that we see the world as He sees it.
From His vantage point and perspective.
“The LORD is the strength of His people, and
He is the saving refuge of His anointed.
Save Your people, and
Bless Your inheritance;
Shepherd them also, and
Bear them up forever” (Ps. 28.8, 9).
“Seated with Christ. Irrevocably. Unchangeably. Really.”
Reflection
1. Seated with Christ. What do you “see” from that vantage point?
2. How does being seated with Christ affect your prayer life? Your time in God’s Word?
3. Today, with whom will you share what it’s like to be seated with Jesus?
One who understands the resurrection and the kingdom of Christ spiritually does not scruple to say that the saints already sit and reign with Christ! Just as a person may become truly holy even in the flesh, when he lives in the flesh and has his conversation in heaven, when he walks on earth and, ceasing to be flesh, is wholly converted into spirit, so he also is seated in heaven with Christ. For indeed “the kingdom of God is within us.” Jerome (347-420) Epistle to the Ephesians 2.6
Pray Psalm 47.5-9.
Meditate again on Ephesians 2.6. Thank Jesus for what you “see” with the eyes of your heart as you look around from that vantage point at the day ahead. Pray that you will continue to see your life this way in everything you do today.
Sing Psalm 47.5-9.
(Truro: Shout, for the Blessed Jesus Reigns)
God has ascended with a shout, the LORD with sound of trumpet bold!
Sing praise to Him, let praise ring out; let praise throughout the world be told!
God is the King of all the earth; sing praise to Him with glorious psalms!
He rules the nations by His worth, and on His throne receives their alms.
Princes of peoples gather all to Abraham and to our God.
Exalt the LORD, and on Him call. The earth is His, so praise our God!
T. M. and Susie Moore
Have you ever wondered what Jesus, exalted in heaven, is doing on earth? Our book, What in Heaven Is Jesus Doing on Earth? can open the eyes of your heart and stretch your faith in Jesus, Who continues to be powerfully at work on our behalf. Order your copy in book form by clicking here, or in a free PDF download by clicking here.
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
Other columns of interest this week: In our ReVision series on “The Kingdom Economy” we finish our discussion of commerce and begin looking at “grace economics”. Our Read Moore podcast finishes readings from the book, Such a Great Salvation. In our Crosfigell series on Brendan of Clonfert, the saint reaches Iceland and wishes he hadn’t. Click here to see all the other columns and writers available to you.
And please prayerfully consider supporting The Fellowship of Ailbe with your prayers and gifts. You can contribute online, via PayPal or Anedot, or by sending a gift to The Fellowship of Ailbe, P. O. Box 8213, Essex, VT 05451.
Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter.
