SEATED TOGETHER

SEATED TOGETHER IN HIM

Eph. 2:5-6 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,

It is amazing to me how easily modern day preachers have muddied the gospel waters. The preaching has been polluted with current messages which sound more like psycho- babble filled with empowerment slogans than gospel preaching. Rather than hearing about the justifying blood or the sanctifying work of the Spirit we hear about having a positive self image or even better, all of us have a great person inside of us. Where do they get this stuff? Sometimes it seems like we have ended up in some multi level leadership seminar rather than church. Maybe I sound old fashioned but I still like the message of salvation by grace alone through faith alone. I still think we need the power of the Spirit in our services, after all, that is what our hungry hearts are crying out for. A.B. Simpson spoke about being conformed to the image of Christ. Rather than improving our self image, we can take on His.

“At last, there stood on the banks of the Jordan River a Man on whom the Father looked with complacent gaze, and exclaimed: “This is my Son, whom I love; with Him I am we’ll pleased”. At last He found a Man who met His expectation and fulfilled the standard of true humanity. Since that time God’s one business with the human race has been to make men after that heavenly pattern. Christ is the one great Type, and every saint is but a copy of the divine Original. But it was not merely in His earthly life that Christ was the ideal Man. Much more it was in His death, resurrection, ascension, and heavenly life that He was designed to be our Prototype and Head for He represents humanity after it passed through the crisis of death and come into a resurrection, an ascension, a supernatural, incorruptible, and eternal life. It is not the Man of Nazareth o r of Bethany merely that is our Pattern and or Head. It is the Man upon the Throne, seated at the Father’s side, “head over everything to the church, which is His body”, and bringing redeemed humanity up to His own level.”

Like Paul said,” I have been crucified with Christ.” Talk about losing your identity, we lose our lives and take up His. Not only have I been crucified, I have been raised with Him. He has given me new life, life itself in Christ. Our old lives are gone, we are now living the life of Christ on earth. We are also somehow seated together in heavenly places with Him. As a Christian, we are kind of stuck between two worlds. We are living in this world but we are also living by the power of this new kingdom life.