What would you do if you were given a paid for box seat at the Chicago Super Bowl? Or free front seating at the All Blacks versus Springboks rugby test? Surely the least you would do is to gratefully attend.

Yet when it comes to heavenly things many Christians pass up God’s gift of front row seats n in the very control room of the universe. Yes, amazing though it is, millions of believers are unmoved by the fact God has already …

… quickened us together with Christ … raised us up together (with Christ) and made sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

To sit with and in Christ on a seat reserved for us in holy realms far above earth and heaven is to be admitted to the highest place it is possible for a creature to attain. And the only entry price we need to pay is to believe what God says about it in the Bible. Yet many Christians don’t.

They dismiss the call to believe the heavenly placing along with other superlative assurances found in the Apostle Paul’s last seven epistles, instead relying on do-it-yourself measures they wrongly believe will get them to heaven.

Thus while Eph. 2:8-9 insists we are saved “by grace through faith and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God” many think they will get to heaven by belonging to a humanly organised church, being water baptised, improving their behaviour and themselves arbitrarily choosing what to believe from the Bible. Frankly, these are “earthly” not “heavenly” things and it is vital we know the difference.

In particular they all but ignore the Apostle Paul’s instruction:

If ye then be risen with Christ seek those things which are above where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God

Being risen with Christ and being “made acceptable in the Beloved [i.e. Christ]” (Eph. 1:6) truly are heavenly things. And so are many more “already done by God” measures we are assured of in Paul’s “prison epistles”.

Yet commonly these are ignored in favour of believing earlier covenant promises made to Israel and those Gentiles saved under her auspices. Fact is such covenants are in abeyance, set aside now that God is saving by grace through faith alone. Today salvation is assured upon belief, not repentance, water baptism nor baptism with the Holy Spirit.

Accordingly, in the  current “dispensation of the grace of God” (Eph. 3:1) only two acts on our part are required to receive “all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ” that the Father has blessed us with (Eph. 1:3).

1. To believe that God has already done in us all that is needed to ensure we can go be with Christ in heaven. To do that  we need to read and believe all that the Lord has said in Paul’s letters to “the faithful in Christ” which set out his new way of salvation for mankind “which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men” (Eph. 3:5).
2. Then to walk in the light of it as the Lord Jesus Christ changes our actual behaviour to fall in line with his.

Sadly, despite these plain and easy to follow instructions, many think that upon death they will automatically go to heaven regardless of what they believe.

According to the Apostle Paul they do so because they trust in “earthly things” instead of obeying the Lord’s injunction through Paul to “set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth” (Col. 3:1-5).

An earlier article in this series posed the question: “WHAT ARE THE EARTHLY THINGS JESUS AND SPOKE OF?” It was found the “earthly things” are not only the grossly selfish indulgences offered by the world, though some would-be believers fall for them, but also beliefs that belong to God’s prophetic programme to bring about his kingdom on earth rather than the very different truths that give entry to eternal life in the far heavens above through grace. So, as promised beforehand this current article aims to describe the “heavenly things” spoken of by Jesus and Paul.

Why are things in heaven so important you ask? Answer: because if Bible truth is “rightly divided” (2 Tim. 2:15), then it is clear that Christ speaking through the Apostle Paul calls us to “set our mind on them” (Col. 3:2). Phil. 3:20-21 explains why:

For our conversation is in heaven from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change our vile body that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto Himself.

And if that’s not a “heavenly thing” I don’t know what is. Unpacking the verse we find that the Greek word translated “conversation” is politeuma, meaning the condition or life of a citizen and his guaranteed status in the chosen country of his residency. Indeed, thousands of migrants annually come to New Zealand, Australia and the USA in hope of obtaining citizenship, the officially conferred right to reside with the full rights of citizenship.

In the United States a “Green Card” awarding such citizenship is given to thousands of selected migrants annually. The good news for grace-saved believers is that God has already awarded us a “Green Card” to enter and stay in heaven itself. What’s more we already have our seats in the heavenly places booked and paid for. Thus Eph. 2: 5-6 declares:

Even when we were dead in sins (God) hath quickened us together with Christ (by grace ye are saved) and hath raised up together and MADE us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

In the Greek “sit together” is one word sugkathemai (Strong’s 4775). It means to sit oneself in company with. “Made” is sugkathizo meaning made to sit down. So, while God has made us to sit in heavenly seats we actually need to do some “sitting” ourselves. It is important that we not only know God has reserved seats in heaven for us but actually occupy them as well. And that’s the problem - most of us don’t because we’re too busy minding “earthly things”.

But consider: In New Zealand where I live rugby fans pay hundreds of dollars to secure seats to watch the All Blacks take on Australia, South Africa or Britain in test matches. Never, short of death, accident or illness, do fans fail to turn up and take their seats to watch the game.

Yet many Christians today ignore the free offer of seats in the heavenlies and concentrate their hopes on “earthly things” instead (See previous paper, WHAT ARE THE EARTHLY THINGS JESUS AND PAUL SPOKE OF?).

It will take another study to more fully consider the “heavenly things” that already belong to faithful believers. That will be upcoming shortly. First though we must learn to set our heart on the things above because our ultimate destiny is to be in heaven not on earth.

Set your affection (heart-felt love) on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life shall appear then shall ye also appear with Him in glory (Col. 3:2-4).

John Dudley Aldworth

Email: john.aldworth@hotmail.com

Website: Day of Christ Ministries