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Sunday, May 29 2016
Contributor: Leye Olayiwola INTRODUCTION: In our last lesson, we considered taking authority in our families as body of believers. The need to take responsibily, agreeing as a family (a very strong reason why we should not be unequally yoked with unbelievers) and bringing ourselves under God's authority were discussed, among other things. This week, we will be looking at how we can take and remain at the exalted place where Christ is seated. This, as we will see, is very crucial in maintaining our victorious status here on earth, over all the powers of the enemy. SEATED (Ephesians 1:20; 2:5-6) " which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places," [Eph.1:20] "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,"[Eph.2:5-6] Paul says in his epistle to the Ephesian church that we are already seated with Christ in the heavenly places. What does this mean since we are still on earth? We will consider the spiritual significance of "seating"in order to have a good and proper understanding of our victorious authority. In the old testament, there is no mention of a seat in the holy of holies where the priests usually perform their priestly works of cleansing. Why? Because the priests work of sacrificial cleansing of sins was never done and so he could never sit down and rest in the fact that he was finished for good. "And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool. For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified." [Heb.10:11-14] Fast forward to the New Covenant (Testament), "So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit." [John 19:30 Emphasis Mine] When Jesus said that "it is finished"it comes from the Greek word "teleo" which means to "bring to an end", it is accomplished, to complete. The greek construct of this sentence essentially means "paid in full." It is an accounting term that was used to say "paid in full". That is why Jesus sat down at the right hand of the father according to Mark 16:19; "So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God" Jesus Christ's redemptive work was done, once and for all according to Hebrew 10:10; "By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." Our "High Priest" offered Himself to God as a single sacrifice for sins, good for all time. Then He sat down in the place of honor at God's right hand. Hallelujah! TAKE YOUR SEAT (Ephesians 2:4-6) "But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 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," [Ephesians 2:4-6] Take note that the Bible did not say we are seated with Christ, beside Christ or because of Christ. The bible says we are seated "in Christ". The insight here is that wherever Christ is seated, that is our location. Why? Because we are seated "In Him" and not beside Him. That is just the truth. What is the qualification for seating with Him? Our salvation. When a person has repented and placed his trust in Christ, then he's finished all he needs to do to be seated in Christ. The moment we trust in Christ, we are "made alive together with Christ". In contrast to being in Adam where we were all dead, now in Christ we have all been made alive. "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive" [1 Cor.15:22] Now that we have been made to "sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus" it simply means that our works are done. We are not saved by works but saved for good works. This is why we are as good as in heaven already and we are essentially already seated there with Christ because God sees things that are not yet as though they already are because in His mind, they are. VICTORY IN CHRIST Following on from our discussion, it is absolutely IMPOSSIBLE for you to be IN CHRIST without being seated where Christ is seated. If you are IN CHRIST, you are in this position of Victory because He is in that position. Instead of trying to win any victory, we need to operate from a victory already WON. The battle then, rather than win a victory, is to BELIEVE. Our battle is never to win ground or gain position. Rather, our battle is to believe and HOLD FAST to what Christ has already given us, and to the reality of BEING SEATED IN CHRIST. From a practical standpoint therefore;
CONCLUSION We Christians must learn that we are seated with Christ. We must learn to be exalted to the place where God wants us. We need to meditate upon these divine truths so that our spirits may fully understand them. Once we do, we'll reap rich rewards and give meaning to our Christian lives. When we have this reverent attitude, the Spirit of Truth, the Holy Spirit, can lift us into a place where we can see the true meaning of God's revelation. When we understand what belongs to us, we will enjoy the victory Christ has for us. The devil will fight to keep us from getting there, but through stubborn faith in Christ, the victory is ours in Jesus name. Amen Part of this study was culled from The Believers' Authority by Kenneth E. Hagin. |