Raised and Seated
For the Praise of His Glory
Ephesians 2:1-10
Ephesians is one of Paul’s “happy” epistles, where he’s dangling a carrot rather than brandishing a stick. His ecstatic prayer that closes Chapter 1 is frothy in its effervescence, a joy and encouragement for us to read. In his supplication, Paul reminds us God has “raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms,” an awesome picture of the Savior’s glorification.
Paul frequently uses repetition to emphasize critical elements of his argument. In my contemplation of the passage this week, it is the concept of “raised and seated in the heavenly places” that stood out to me. This description is initially given of Jesus, but is repeated in Chapter 2 with us as the subject. (Ephesians 2:6)
Remarkable. Somewhere, in a transcendent reality, we are presently seated in the heavenly places at Christ’s side in proximity of the Father. This is a profound mystery, but I believe I must take it somehow literally as well as allegorically. Close your eyes and consider the glorious reality of being seated, perfected in holiness, in brilliant glory next to Jesus, essentially your twin in this context. (1 John 3:2) Then believe this is true, right now. How does that impact our self-perception? Would only I could more consistently live up to that quintessential reality—that I am somehow, somewhere, already perfected in Christ!
What holds us back from realizing more of this heavenly reality while here on earth is the reality the apostle alludes to in the parenthetical thought that opens Chapter 2, setting up a kind of “that was then, this is now” contrast in the stream of his celebration of glory. We were once dead, and now we are learning to be alive, a process that traverses a lifetime, albeit with fits and starts.
Paul prays for the Holy Spirit to “enlighten the eyes of our heart” that we might know his “incomparably great power,” the same power that raised Jesus from the dead. And why would this be to our advantage? It takes power of this magnitude to train us to manage our will and desires so we may progress toward living blamelessly here on earth. We need not plead for this power nor go without it; we need to train ourselves to acknowledge it, access it, and surrender to it.
It is God’s intention for us to be on this journey toward blamelessness:
“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Ephesians 2:10
Progressing toward blamelessness is perhaps the best definition of “good works,” as we steadily grow into our “alive” selves, fulfilling the promise for which God crafted us. “Handiwork” is very similar to the word used to describe the heavens God created (Psalm 102:25). You are therefore in the same creation class as the stars; shine in righteousness for “the praise of His glory.”
