Reserved NOW for You

I am convinced most Christians do not lay hold of blessings freely offered by God.  I number myself among them.  There are several reasons which contribute to this:  lack of faith, ignorance, lies of Satan long believed, trusting in self, wrongly dividing the Word of truth, and immaturity.  When we repent and are justified by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, Ephesians 1:3 teaches us a wonderful fact:  "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ..."  These blessings are not reserved in the heavens for us to someday experience, but we can fully experience them now in faith.  There will come a day when our souls will leave these bodies and be girded with immortality in a new, perfect body.  But spiritually we are already alive and seated in the heavenlies with Christ.   Unless God said this in His Word, I couldn't have believed it!

Consider Ephesians 2:4-7:  "But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, ⁵ even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), ⁶ and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, ⁷ that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus."  The scripture does not say we "will be seated" with Christ once our flesh dies, but that God has "made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus..."  For those who have died to sin and been made alive through Christ (born again), the same are positionally in the presence of God as truly as the Holy Spirit lives within us.

Allow me to demonstrate what I mean.  For much of my life I have heard from others (and preached myself!) on the Parable of the Talents.  To the servant who was faithful Matthew 25:21 tells us, "His lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.'"  Immediately following this Jesus speaks of the last judgment when He will divide the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.  Those who are counted righteous through Christ's atoning blood will enter into eternal glory, while those who die in their sins will enter into eternal torment.  The immediate context dictates this correct application:  we will be held accountable for our lives on earth, and all are responsible to live a life pleasing to God.  Though our righteousness is imputed through Christ, we ought to live righteously.  Those who verbally claim to be servants of God but are not in truth will be weeded out unto their own destruction.

If this was all we learned from this passage, we might very well think that we cannot enter the joy of the LORD until our bodies have perished from the earth or until the day of judgment.  But this is hardly the case!  I have found that when I am faithful in service to God I find great joy.  When we obey God today He says, "Well done, good and faithful servant.  Enter into the joy of the LORD."  As I am faithful in doing good, through Christ I enter into the joy of the LORD.  What peace and satisfaction come from honoring God's leading!  Serving God and doing all as unto Christ is literally a path to blessing and joy unspeakable.  We all long that God will say at the end of our days "Well done!" and by His grace be ushered into glorious eternity.  But it gives Him pleasure to say the same to us today if we will be be faithful and do good for His worthy name's sake.  He will grant us entrance into heavenly joy.

For the Christian, eternity in the heavens has already begun.  Why don't we simply take God at His Word and walk with Him, receiving the riches of the kingdom according to His great and precious promises?  We are already raised with Christ:  may the joy of the LORD be our strength today and always!