Let us understand that, while our bodies and souls are quite fixed here upon earth, through the agency of the Holy Spirit our spirits have been brought into direct fellowship with Christ in heaven. From this position, we can boldly approach God’s throne of grace and we can enter through prayer and worship into the true holy place of God
~Francis Frangipane
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
~ paul, The Least of The Apostles, in Ephesians 2
Oh beloved, it is true. And some things are so amazing that we have a hard time believing they are.
But true it is. Did you read the passage beloved? We are already Home. At least we are in our spirit. And when we think about it, our spirits are the most real part of us.
We have been raised up, not just from the miry clay in which we were immersed. We have been launched into a place we never could have reached on our own. We have been brought into connection with the One we had been hoping to find. The problem was, we could have never found Him. So He found us.
What does all of this mean? Everything.
When we stop for a moment, we realize that the struggle we thought we had to continue is really a lie. There is no more need to struggle against the sin and flesh and dregs of our existence. We have been pulled free of them. And we now sit next to our Brother – the very One who both paid for our sins and also paid the way into His family.
Really, knowing Whose we are, who we are in Him, and now – where we are in Him – makes all the difference. We are not alone. We are in communion with G_d through His very Spirit. We are free. And all of this is not just some mental game. The positioning and exchanges made to put us into this place are more real than the strongest of treaties between nations. No, this is a deal struck by the One who does not change, and cannot lie.
In the freedom He has bought us; in the communion we now share with Christ Jesus, the works we do have nothing to do with our struggle to be accepted by Him. They are all about a celebration of what He has already done in our lives. Our work is now as His very agent (read co-regent) in this world. We have become the emissaries of The King of The Universe, because we are His beloved brothers and friends.
Can we see it yet? The Gospel is enormous! We have not just been saved from hell. We have been delivered from the power of sin. We have already been made so clean as to be in the very presence of G_d – accepted and beloved. And in being made like this by Christ Jesus, we have actually become Him on this earth, to those we meet in the work He has set before us.
Brothers, this is an astounding truth! Words fail to describe the freedom that yawns out before us in eternal fields of joy and fellowship with Him and each other. Run! Play! Share! Enjoy! Dance! Invite others into the same place He has already brought us.
Tonight is your night beloved. Time to believe where you already are!
