God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus. Ephesians 2:6 (NIV)
Heaven is something that obviously belongs to the future, but God speaks about it here as something that has already happened.
Here is the reason why: All that is needed for your entrance into heaven has already been accomplished. Your entrance into heaven does not depend on your performance in the Christian life. Your entrance into heaven rests on the completed work of Jesus Christ.
Before Jesus came, the priests in the temple served in a room where there was a table for eating, a lampstand for lighting, and a basin for washing, but there was no chair for sitting. You could engage in all kinds of activities, but you could never sit down. Before Jesus came, the work of the priests was never done. Another sacrifice always needed to be offered.
Until Jesus came as the sacrifice. “After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven” (Hebrews 1:3). Do you see the significance of this? Jesus’ work was completed. There is nothing more for Him to do to secure heaven for His people.
That’s why Paul says we are “seated… with him.” In other words, there is nothing more that we need to do to secure heaven either. In His dying on the cross, rising from the dead, and ascending into heaven, Jesus has secured heaven and prepared it for all His people.
This is what happened when you became a Christian: God gave new life to you, God imparted power to you, and God secured heaven for you.
How might you live differently if you had complete confidence—moment by moment—that Jesus has already secured heaven for you through His death and resurrection?
