Ephesians 2:6: Heavenly Places

Ephesians 2:6
[6] and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, (ESV)

For many people the idea of becoming a Christian is the means by which they escape hell and enter an eternal heaven. It is kind of like purchasing fire insurance. You pay for it, and then don't think about it until you need it. But, that is not the right perspective for us. Paul tells us that part of what Christ has accomplished for us in our salvation is that he "raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places."

Paul talks about being raised and seated with Christ as a past tense event for the believer. It has already happened. No, we are not in our eternal heaven, but the spiritual realm where Christ dwells is now a place where we are with him also. There is a spiritual battle going on. The enemy of our souls, Satan, is called the "prince of the power of the air." We learned that just a few verses ago (Ephesians 2:2). Satan will one day be defeated and placed in eternal torment. But until that day, there is a battle going on in the spiritual realm.

The reality is, in our previous life of sin, we were unwittingly fighting this spiritual battle on Satan's side. Once we have been redeemed by the gift of God's grace we were newly enlisted in the battle against the kingdom we once belonged to. In Ephesians 6:10-18 Paul will go into great detail about our battle gear required to be successful in the battle. We will discuss that more when we get to that part of Ephesians, but Paul is already reminding us that being a Christian means that we are engaged in the very battle that Christ is fighting against Satan's temporary hold on this world. Get ready for war!

Salvation has made you an active warrior. You are enlisted in Christ's army. Are you passively living life, just waiting for heaven? That is not your calling. You are dwelling in the same spiritual realm as the Savior. Talk to him today. He will instruct you, encourage you, and empower you.

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