4/10/16 In Christ Seated With Him Intro: Previous Weeks: - Dead to Sin - Righteous - Not condemned - Clear conscience - Veil removed

Transcription

1 4/10/16 In Christ Seated With Him Intro: Previous Weeks: - Dead to Sin - Righteous - Not condemned - Clear conscience - Veil removed Today In Christ we are seated with Him * Meaning? Authority * what is it? What s the difference between authority and power? Police example My authority as commander Authority in the home

2 Eph 2:6 6 and he raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus Created for dominion Gen 1:26, Then God said, Let us make humankind in our image, after our likeness, so they may rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move on the earth. 28 God blessed them and said to them, Be fruitful and multiply! Fill the earth and subdue it! Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and every creature that moves on the ground. - Mankind was given authority over the earth o Note it was unconditional o Adam gave away that authority to Satan. o Since the authority was given unconditionally to Adam God has to come as a man to take it back from Satan Heb 2: Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, he likewise shared in their humanity, so that through death he could destroy the one who holds the power of death (that is, the devil), 15 and set free those who were held in slavery all their lives by their fear of death. Note: Our design was to rule and subdue

3 Future reigning 1 cor 6:2-3 2 Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you not competent to settle trivial suits? 3 Do you not know that we will judge angels? Why not ordinary matters! Rev 3:21 21 I will grant the one who conquers permission to sit with me on my throne, just as I too conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. Ps 149:5-9 Let the godly rejoice because of their vindication! Let them shout for joy upon their beds! 6 May they praise God while they hold a two-edged sword in their hand, 7 in order to take revenge on the nations, and punish foreigners. 8 They bind their kings in chains, and their nobles in iron shackles, 9 and execute the judgment to which their enemies have been sentenced. All his loyal followers will be vindicated. Praise the Lord!

4 Reigning now Rom 5:17 17 For if, by the transgression of the one man, death reigned through the one, how much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one, Jesus Christ! Luke 12: For all the nations of the world pursue these things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31 Instead, pursue his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well. 32 Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father is well pleased to give you the kingdom. 1 john 5: And this is the confidence that we have before him: that whenever we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us in regard to whatever we ask, then we know that we have the requests that we have asked from him.

5 Authority. Rom 8: The Spirit himself bears witness to our spirit that we are God s children. 17 And if children, then heirs (namely, heirs of God and also fellow heirs with Christ) if indeed we suffer with him so we may also be glorified with him. John 17: I am not praying only on their behalf, but also on behalf of those who believe in me through their testimony, 21 that they will all be one, just as you, Father, are in me and I am in you. I pray that they will be in us, so that the world will believe that you sent me. 22 The glory you gave to me I have given to them, that they may be one just as we are one Luke 10: Then the seventy-two returned with joy, saying, Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name! 18 So he said to them, I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 Look, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions and on the full force of the enemy, and nothing will hurt you. 20 Nevertheless, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names stand written in heaven.

6 Now, to today s text. Eph 2:4-7 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, 5 even though we were dead in transgressions, made us alive together with Christ by grace you are saved! 6 and he raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 to demonstrate in the coming ages the surpassing wealth of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. In a minute, we ll drill down on seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus But first look at the other parts of this verse * What are some of our credentials? - Made alive we used to be dead in our transgressions - Raised up Next question *Why? - Because of His great love for us - Demonstrate His grace in kindness toward us Let s put it all together God loved us and wanted to show His Grace to the coming ages

7 - So He made us alive, raised us up and seated us with Christ in the heavenly realms A few notes the tense of the verbs?...past tense - Meaning? o These things have already happened we are not waiting for some future even here - One of His purpose is to show off for multiple future ages. Now, what does it mean to be raised up and seated with Christ in the heavenly realms? - Does it stand to reason that if we can understand what it meant for Christ to be seated with God then we could understand what it means to be seated with Christ? Eph 1: This power he exercised in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms 21 far above every rule and authority and power and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22 And God put all things under Christ s feet, and he gave him to the church as head over all things. 23 Now the church is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. This power refers to vs 19 incomparable greatness of his power toward us displayed in his immense strength!

8 Vs 18 is also important because it describes the context of the last part of chapter 1 and the first part of chapter 2 * What are the facts regarding Christ being raised and seated at the right had of the Father? - Far above every: o Rule o Authority o Power o Dominion o Name o Forever and ever - Put all things under His feet - Gave Him the Church over all things With vs 23 we don t even need the further explanation in chapter 2 the church is the fullness of Him - The church and Christ are one All things have been put under the feet of Christ and His Church Back to chapter 2 we are one with Christ we have been raised and seated with Him - In a position of complete authority - In a position of complete rest nothing based on our works So what does this mean for us and our day-to-day lives?

9 - Example of planning Super Bowl air defense mission o Gave authority to accomplish a tasks o Expected my folks to use my delegated authority to get the job done - Authority is given for specific purposes within that purpose a person is expected to fully exercise the given authority Mission * What mission are we given to accomplish with the authority given to us by Christ? First look at the context of Eph 2 Eph 2: But God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, 5 even though we were dead in transgressions, made us alive together with Christ by grace you are saved! 6 and he raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 to demonstrate in the coming ages the surpassing wealth of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 it is not from works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, having been created in Christ Jesus for good works that God prepared beforehand so we may do them. - Note the authority was given to accomplish good works - We are both humble and bold

10 o Humble our standing is a gift can t boast it is not about us o Bold we are heirs with the King of Kings we don t have to hide because 1) we have an amazing status and 2) it is not based on our works Next good works and Matt 28: Then Jesus came up and said to them, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age. - We are to exercise our authority to carry out our mission of making disciples * What are some areas that we can exercise authority that contributes to doing good works and making disciples? - Personal Exercise of authority How to exercise authority in these areas to advance the Kingdom...

11 Ask God to show you where Satan is at work Then command Satan and his demons to leave the situation alone Possible areas: - Anger - Fear - Accusation/condemnation - Bondage - Mental or Physical disease 1 Cor 2:6 6 Now we do speak wisdom among the mature, but not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are perishing. 2 Cor 10:3-5 3 For though we live as human beings, we do not wage war according to human standards, 4 for the weapons of our warfare are not human weapons, but are made powerful by God for tearing down strongholds. We tear down arguments 5 and every arrogant obstacle that is raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to make it obey Christ.

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