What Does It Mean To Be Seated With Christ in the Heavenly Places?

Paul says that we are already seated with Christ in the heavenly places.  What does he mean by this since we are still on earth?

Ephesians Two – the Grace through Faith Chapter

The Book of Ephesians is one of the most joyous books ever written by Paul.   Why do I say that?  It’s because this shows that God’s saving grace and His infinite love was displayed before we even existed.  Let me show you why I can say that with authority not my authority but the authority of the written Word of God.  In Ephesians 1:3-6 Paul writes “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, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.”  I cannot even imagine what the knowledge of our being predestined to salvation feels like. We were chosen before the earth even existed.

There was an election in heaven but the only One that voted was God and it was by an overwhelming majority of 1 – 0 that we were elected.  It was “In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will” (Eph 1:11).  It was God’s will that we would be saved, it was His purpose to give us eternal life and it was all “according to the counsel of his will” that we were to be adopted by Him.  Was this “counsel of his will” among the Three Persons of the Godhead; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit?  It would seem so.  That’s why Ephesians is one of my favorite books.  It was “by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Eph 2:8-9). Knowing human nature and knowing my own nature, believe me, I would have boasted or bragged that I saved myself if this were true but the fact is that it’s a gift of God and “not a result of [my] works” and thank God for that because none of us could ever be saved by our works, which are at best like filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6).

Christ’s Work is Finished

On the cross Jesus said “It is finished” (John 19:30).  When Jesus said that “it is finished” it comes from the Greek word “teleō” which means to “bring to an end, it is accomplished, to complete,” or “to finish” and the Greek construct of this sentence essentially means “paid in full.” It is an accounting term that was used to say “paid in full.”  That is why Jesus sat down at the right hand of the Father (Mark 16:19). His redemptive work was done, once and for all (Heb 10:10). Our “High Priest offered himself to God as a single sacrifice for sins, good for all time. Then he sat down in the place of honor at God’s right hand” (Heb 10:12).  In the temple there was no seat because the priests work was never done and so he could never sit down and rest in the fact that he was finished for good (Heb 10:11).  Since we are not saved by works we too can rest in the redemptive work of Christ.  That’s why Jesus is now seated and get ready for this, there is a seat there for us too to sit in right now if you have already repented and trusted in this High Priest.

Take your Seat

When a person has repented and placed their trust in Christ, they have finished all that they need to do.  Any good works we do are a result of being saved not a way that we were saved for it is written, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ-by grace you have been saved- and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus” (Eph 2:4-7).  When we trusted in Christ we were “made alive together with Christ.”  In contrast to being in Adam where we were all dead, now in Christ we have all been made alive (1 Cor 15:22).  Now we are told that we are seated “with him in the heavenly places” meaning that, like Christ, our works are done.  We are not saved by works but saved for works but our works had nothing to do with our being saved.  That’s why we are as good as in heaven already and we are essentially already seated there with Christ because God sees things that are not yet as though they already are because in His mind, they are!

Conclusion

If you have repented and trusted in Christ, then you are now, as I write this, seated with Christ, and “you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God” (Eph 2:19) and you are seated with fellow believers.  How great is that!?  Can we even fathom the idea that we are now, in God’s mind, seated with Jesus Christ in heaven?  Can we rest in that knowledge?  If we rest in that, we can rest from trying to add works to our salvation because Jesus accomplished what we could not.  He died so that we might live.  That’s what it means to be already seated with Christ in the heavenly places.  Now you and I must seek out those who are still lost.  We must find others to seat next to us who are already seated with Christ.  For to do so will bring more glory to God and God is always pleased with us when we seek to glorify Him.

Another Reading on Patheos to Check Out: What Did Jesus Really Look Like: A Look at the Bible Facts

Article by Jack Wellman

Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book  Blind Chance or Intelligent Design available on Amazon