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

Jesus has paid the price in full for our redemption. But we aren’t waiting to go to heaven! We are there right now. We seriously need to change our thinking. Now, am I saying we aren’t here on earth, or that this is heaven? No I am not saying that. The tension is that we have two citizenships. We live here, and are born from above.

Seeing problems from God’s perspective.

Let’s look a little deeper into the statement I just made. Think about this with me, we aren’t going to “die and go to heaven” we will put away this body and exist where we already are. If this sounds weird, that’s ok, it’s hard to talk about heavenly mindsets and perspectives. I do not fully understand what I am saying. I do however know and believe that it is true. Jesus said to Nicodemus:

“Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things? Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven.”‭‭

John‬ ‭3:10-13‬

Talk about a mind bender. Ok, first off, Jesus said to Nicodemus that it’s hard to explain heavenly things with earthly things. That’s why it’s hard to say, we’re here, and we’re in heaven. Then Jesus goes on to say that very thing about Himself.

“No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven.”‭‭ and remember, 1 John says “as He is, so are we in this world.”

Thinking from our heavenly seat

Stress, anxiety, fear of death, unbelief, sickness, sin… all of these things exist in this world. They are not in heaven. We keep waiting to die and go there. I was told so often when I was growing up, “when we die and go to heaven, there will be no more tears, no more sickness, no more death.” This life can be that right now! How can I say that? First of all Jesus told us to pray, “your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” the Father’s will is in fact heaven on earth. I am not talking about a prosperity gospel. Of course it’s important to “get people saved”. We are reserved for eternity, and this life isn’t forever.

The earthly mindset of “I’m going to heaven one day” is not new.

“Now Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.””

‭‭John‬ ‭11:21-24‬

Jesus was trying to tell Martha, look, your brother is only sleeping, he will rise! Martha however was still thinking death! Death is defeated in the presence of the savior. Death is no match for Jesus. Check out His epic response to her earthly thinking:

“Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?””

‭‭John‬ ‭11:25-26‬ ‭

There’s so much you could say, but I want to focus on this part, “whoever lives and believes in me will never die” now this is exactly what I’m talking about. Do I understand that? No, but I don’t have to. I believe it. What I believe far far outweighs what I see. I will not die. Why? I live and believe in Jesus. He is the resurrection and the life.

Losing fear

The love of the Father defeats fear. However, Jesus told us to continue in His word, and we would be His disciples, and we would know the truth, and the truth will make us free.

Continue in His word, and I don’t just mean, “you better read your bible”. I mean, make yourself a disciple of His word. Make it define you. Eat sleep breath His word, and you will stay free from fear of man and death.

Be blessed!