We are seated with Christ in the heavenlies (see Eph. 2:6).
I’m guessing that you haven’t thought about this lately. You are seated with Christ in the heavenlies. You remember reading about it, but you haven’t thought about it, because you have no idea what it means.
Well, I think I know now. Not completely. I’m still learning things.
I mentioned last time about God being our Father. The entire Old Testament was spent teaching us who God is, what He is like, His power, His holiness and His awesomeness.
Now in the New Testament, we learn that this God, the Almighty, the Everlasting God, is our Father. Some people will think that I might be taking God too casually here, and I think too many people are missing the whole point.
I have had things I have prayed about for decades with no resolution. In some cases, things are getting worse.
Is this God’s will? Why won’t He answer my prayers?
I think this is the answer.
When our children were young, they were dependent on us for everything. We made them breakfast, we picked out their clothes and bought them, and even dressed them for a few years. Our goal is that they would be able to do many of these things for themselves.
When the text says that we are seated with Christ in the heavenlies, are we sitting on folding chairs or small stools? It doesn’t specifically say, but generally speaking, when we are sitting with somebody anywhere, we mean we are sitting at the same table or on the same furniture in the same room as this other person.
Too many of us are still living in the Old Testament where we are afraid of displeasing God, uncertain of where we stand with Him from day to day.
To use a modern illustration, it’s as though we got a job at a huge company. The pay and benefits are decent. But we are always worried about losing our jobs, how well we are doing at work. We have concerns about performance reviews and are worried when the boss calls us into his office. But then you learn that the founder and owner of this company is actually your Father whom you never knew you had. You are immediately promoted to one of those jobs where you go around to all the stores and check in on things. If you find things you don’t like, you can either have it corrected immediately or you have access to the one who will.
As Paul says in Romans 5:17 (NASB 1995), “For if by the transgression of the one [Adam], death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.”
This word “reign” is the same word used of kings and queens in the Bible. They have real authority. Now we certainly know that God knows more and better than we do, and we would never want to think that we know better than Him. But I think too many of us are afraid to make any decisions at all.
At some point, you will see things and situations that you know full well what God would want. We may pray and ask God to change it, but I think a lot of times He will say, if we listen, “You fix it. You’re a big boy or girl now. Take control of the situation and change it. “
Jesus did this when He spoke about moving mountains by talking to them: “‘Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, “Be taken up and cast into the sea,” and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him. Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you'” (Mark 11:23-24).
We aren’t to pray that God will move the mountain. We are to command it to move ourselves.
We are always so afraid that God might not want that thing, just like kids who are afraid to do anything because their parents might not want them to. Afraid to get their own food out of the fridge to eat, afraid to spend money on anything, afraid to make any decisions at all.
I talk to God all the time. I want His input on everything. But I think too often, we are praying that God will move the mountains, and He is saying, “No, you move it. I told you how, and I told you that you can.”
Jesus wasn’t mad at Peter for wanting to walk on the water. He was disappointed that he didn’t. “Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and said to him, ‘You of little faith, why did you doubt?'” (Matt.14:31).
I think too many of our unanswered prayers come not because of God’s unwillingness, but because of our fear in believing that we have any authority or responsibility to act on our own. {eoa}
Larry A. Craig went to school to go into the ministry (Moody Bible Institute, Mundelein College, Loyola University M.A. Biblical Studies) but spent his career in the meat business. Now he is retired, so he writes on politics and religion, both separately and jointly. He has written two books: The Importance of Healing and The Importance of the Lord’s Prayer. He is working on a commentary on the Gospel of Matthew and hopes to publish a book of his articles on politics and one of his articles on the Bible. He teaches the Gospel of Matthew in a weekly Zoom Bible class and emails out his articles on politics and religion. He can be reached at [email protected]. His political blog is poligion1.blogspot.com.
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