God reminded me of his word in Ephesians 2:6; “And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,” (NIV)
And as I began to meditate upon this, it became clear that I am not acting like one who is sitting in heavenly realms with Christ. So I asked myself, “What should change in your life if you begin to appropriate what God has said in his word?”
As I thought about it, four distinct things that should change came to my heart and I want to share them with you.
You will gain authority
If you are sitting in the heavenly realms with Christ, it means you are reigning with him. You have gained authority not to gratify your flesh but to do exploits for God. God wants to work though you and I to achieve his purposes on earth. As one who sits with Christ, you ought not to be timid but bold exerting God’s influence in your environment. You become the leader people look up to. You will not be a leader that dictates, manipulates and threatens; you will be a servant-leader. Your authority is purpose and people-driven and not for any selfish interest. Remember, Christ is your role model. He led by example and he served his disciples.
You will not fear the powers of the dark world
By sitting with Christ in heavenly realms, you are above spiritual forces of the evil one. As long as you are in agreement with Christ and his word abides in you, evil forces cannot pull you down. You have power over them and so you do not need to fear them. You would not need to introduce yourself to them; rather they will tremble in your presence. Hence, you can break their hold over your life and the lives of people around you. You will step forward and begin to heal the sick, cast out demons, raise the dead and draw men to God.
Your lifestyle will show it
Anyone sitting with Christ will think like him. You cannot be sitting with Christ and have a different mindset and behaviour. You will not meddle in things God disapproves. If you are a partner in a company, you will desire the success of the company. You will not sell out to your competitor no matter how enticing. Remember, you are a partner, not an employee. You are in partnership with Christ which will necessitate your total devotion. Dining with the devil at intervals will expose you to his darts and slow down progress of the heavenly projects you are involved in. So your lifestyle should align with the word of God (Jesus). One way to help your lifestyle align with Christ is to spend time with him and he will reproduce his character in you.
You will be calm in crisis
In the scriptures, we never read that Jesus panicked. He slept through the storm. He knew Lazarus was sick but he took his time. It was not that he did not care but God had to be glorified through Lazarus’ resurrection. When there was no food to feed the people, he simply asked, ‘What do you have?” The day he was arrested, he did not worry about himself. Rather in the midst of his ‘danger’, he was busy restoring someone’s ear. Christ said there shall be trouble but we should take heart for he has overcome the world. We are sitting above our problems and as we abide in Christ, we have dominion over them. Worrying and panicking over our problems will not solve them. However, we can call forth peace and joy from our position in heavenly places.
You may be thinking, “I have been a Christian for a while but my mindset and attitudes have not changed much to indicate my position with Christ”. Well, in the words of George Eliot, “It’s never too late to be who you might have been.” You can set the motion for change today.
First, agree (believe and respond) with the word that says those in Christ are sitting with him in the heavenly places. Then, focus on Christ, your model because you are who you behold. As time progresses, with intentionality and focus on your part, you will notice you are operating from the heavenly places.
