Sitting in heavenly places with Jesus today

What do Psalm 91:14, Ephesians 2:6, Colossians 1:13, Philippians 3:20, Luke 23:43, Revelation 3:21, and Revelation 5:9,10, and many other Bible texts have in common?

“Because he hath set his love upon Me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known My name.” (Ps. 91:14).

“And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:” (Eph. 2:6).

“Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son:” (Col. 1:13).

“For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:” (Phil. 3:20).

“And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with Me in paradise.” (Luke 23:43).

“To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with Me in My throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with My Father in His throne.” (Rev. 3:21).

“And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by Thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; and hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.” (Rev. 5:9,10).

“In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of His glory.” (Eph. 1:13,14).

“Now He that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.” (2Cor. 5:5).

What are we talking about? We are learning what the Spirit is about. According to Paul, the Spirit is the earnest of our inheritance. The Spirit is about being set on high now because we set our love upon Jesus. The Spirit is about being raised up to sit in heavenly places with our Saviour today because we were quickened who were dead in sins. The Spirit is being translated into the kingdom of God today, because we were redeemed through the blood of Jesus. The Spirit is being with Jesus in paradise today because we have suffered with Jesus and asked Him to remember us. The Spirit is overcoming and sitting with Jesus in His throne room, today. “In Thy presence is fulness of joy; at Thy right hand are pleasures for evermore.” (Ps. 16:11).

And what is an earnest? Earnest money is a down payment or promissory note promising that someone will pay us in full. The earnest is based on a promise. If I want to buy a house, I can give $1000 to the owners as my pledge that if they take their house off the market and promise to let me buy their home, while I make arrange for a loan, then I will pay them in full. The earnest is my word in the form of currency. I am so sure that I want the prized habitation that I will put my money where my mouth is.

So, the earnest of our eternal inheritance with God is His gift that we may be already, by faith, in heaven. And the promised earnest of the Spirit is God’s downpayment of a much larger gift later when our habitation will be filled by Him in full. Having the powerful earnest of his inheritance must have been the reason that Paul could say,

“We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;

Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;

Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.

For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.” (2Cor. 4:8-11).

“He shall cover thee with His feathers, and under His wings shalt thou trust: His truth shall be thy shield and buckler.

Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day;

Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.

A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee….

Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation;

There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.” (Ps. 91:4-7,9,10).

“Therefore thus saith the LORD, If thou return, then will I bring thee again, and thou shalt stand before Me: and…thou shalt be as My mouth.” (Jer. 15:19).

The earnest is Him dwelling in us, and walking with us through His Spirit, by His sealing us in our faith. Similarly, in Jeremiah 15:19 we begin to see how we dwell in Him, how we are “in Him”—by standing before Him by faith. And, later, in the restoration of the eternal kingdom, then our faith would become sight and be actualized. “At that day ye shall know that I am in My Father, and ye in Me, and I in you.” (John 14:20). And the Father would be in His Son. To be “in” is to have a constant exchange of faith and love. But, “at that day” the faith and love exchange between God and us will be perfect, flawless, incorruptible.

Yet, how can we get there, today? How does He abide in us? How can He today be in us and we in Him? How can He dwell in us so that we can be sure that we are His people? As Moses said, “For wherein shall it be known here that I and thy people have found grace in Thy sight? is it not in that Thou goest with us?” (Ex. 33:16).
 

“He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself.” (1Jn. 5:10).
“For ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” (2Cor. 6:16). How can the temple of our bodies and minds and souls be sanctified, and be of use for God’s habitation?

“If ye love Me, keep My commandments.

And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you for ever;

Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him: but ye know Him; for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.

I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.” (John 14:15-18).

“He that hath My commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me: and he that loveth Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him, and will manifest Myself to him.” (John 14:21).

“Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love Me, he will keep My words: and My Father will love him, and We will come unto him, and make Our abode with him.” (John 14:23).

If we set our love upon Jesus by receiving His words which are “quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword” (Heb. 4:12), then we “will prepare Him an habitation” (Ex. 15:2), “an habitation of God through the Spirit.” (Eph. 2:22). His presence in us is tied to His Law in our hearts, His testimony in our minds. His Spirit and His word always go together. The Spirit issue is not whether or not the Spirit is personal, but that the Spirit is tied with the word of scripture. Are we grounded upon the word of God? If so, then Jesus is very near to us; His Spirit is in us.

“If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.” (John 15:7).

“For My flesh is meat indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He that eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, dwelleth in Me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent Me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth Me, even he shall live by Me…. It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” (John 6:55-57,63).

To drink His blood is to drink His water of life from His words; it is to drink His Spirit.

“In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink. He that believeth on Me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake He of the Spirit, which they that believe on Him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)” (John 7:37-39).