Friday, August 19, 2022
“And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:6,7 KJV).
Will Heaven be a boring place? (It is a resounding “NO!”)
For many, “church” is just a “humbling” place where someone prattles in monotone about superstitious nonsense. Yawns can be frequently heard, and sagging heads and closed eyes can be seen regularly: here, it is a sin to whisper anything save a prayer. (Now we see why this strict, ceremonial setting is usually abandoned for an assembly “more exciting.” At this new “church,” dancing, jumping, lifting of hands, singing for hours—such entertainment, such “praise and worship”—will attract newcomers indefinitely!)
Though religion is tiresome and Christendom dull, life in Christ (whether now or in Heaven) is something else entirely. According to today’s Scripture, we the saints in the Body of Christ are bound for the heavenly places. In God’s mind, we already share in Christ’s influence there. We have been ascended and we sit together (as in seats of authority) in heavenly places in Christ. Father God’s purpose or intent in the endless ages to come is to “shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.” Grace, all that He can do for and with us through Christ’s finished crosswork, can be appreciated to some degree now, though its fullest extent surpasses our finite minds.
Furthermore, it is not merely “grace” but “the exceeding [beyond, above] riches [resources, treasures, reserves] of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.” How we are so undeserving, but what Father God will do in and through us in eternity future is something so exceptional that it will take a literal forever to completely fathom it. His kindness to involve us in what He is doing and will do with His beloved Son—instead of letting us go to a permanent Devil’s Hell that we have so merited as sinners—is something that still escapes our total comprehension even now.
Let us summarize and conclude this devotionals arc….