The Heavenly Realms

The grace heaped and lavished upon Christians is so great that Paul invented a special term to describe it.

In the Heavenly Realms is used five times in the book of Ephesians. It occurs in 1:3, 1:20, 2:6, 3:10, and 6:12. These words are found no place else in Scripture. You have permission to publish this article.

The word, Realms refers to an environment, obviously a spiritual one. The church is certainly a different environment than the world. There is more meaning than simply belonging to a local congregation of the church here. These heavenly realm verses project Christians as already being in heaven. It is a special preview of the glory the Almighty bestows on us.

In 1:3, Christians are blessed in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.

All spiritual blessings are in Christ. There are none outside of him.

In 1:18-21, Christ is exalted into the heavenly realms.

Christ was raised from the dead, and seated on Gods right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.

He has an even higher status than before his earthly experience. They sang a new song in Revelation 5:9. You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God. Worthy is the lamb who was slain (Verse 12).

Chapter 2:six & seven describes believers exaltation and enthronement into the heavenly realms. Gods elevation of Christians is compared to the raising of Christ into the heavenly realms.

God raised us with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. Christ is exalted to the heavenly realm, and thus those who are in him belong to that heavenly realm also. The record of the saved is there in the book of life.

God is giving us a strong incentive to anticipate heaven. He wants us to dream about heaven and do some spiritual salivating to keep heaven as our ultimate goal.

Chapter 3 verse 10 is making Gods manifold wisdom known to the powers in the heavenly realms. There is no purpose or explanation given and we can only speculate on what it means. Some scholars think it is about good angels, some bad angels, some think it might be about converted Jewish rulers.

The Great Commission teaches that the business of the church is to save souls (MT 28:19-20).The book of Romans in 15:2 speaks of the edification or building up of the members of the church. In Ephesians, another purpose for the church is given, revealing the various aspects of Gods wisdom to the powers in heavenly places. Whether it is to disclose the truth to them before they are condemned, or to give them a chance to repent we have no way of knowing. It indicates that when we meet together for worship, angels are observing.

The powers were created by Christ to be his helpers, but they apparently desired the glory of God and rebelled against him. Their creation is described in Colossians 1:15-16. He is the image of the invisible God, the first born over all creation. For by him all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities, all things were created by him and for him.

Angels are uniformed about the great salvation. First Peter 1:10-12 indicates that the prophets in the Old Testament were curious about the salvation they were prophesying, and the angels are apparently looking into it.

In Ephesians 6 12, we learn that our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. According to First Corinthians 6:3, Christians will judge angels!

What does all this mean? It means we are involved with angels without being aware of it. It means that we need to develop a healthy respect for our spiritual birthright.

The blessings of the New Testament far exceed those under the Old Covenant. Jesus affirmed that among those born of women, there is none greater than John the Baptist, yet the least in the kingdom is greater than John (MT 11:11). The book, Climbing the Heavenly Stairs, develops the depth of spirit required to appreciate this honor. Soar with God in the Heavenly Realms. Learn what it means to live life to the full. Get acquainted with the Godhead and how they made us a royal priesthood. Read more at: http://thelynnbradleybook.com .

Corrugated Metal Roofing
Seamless Metal Roofing