You must be in fellowship prior to your Bible study, so that the spiritual information you receive can become a source, of blessing to your soul and produce spiritual growth.
6 And[kai] hath raised us up
together,[sunegeiro] and[kai] made us sit together[sugkathizo] in[en] heavenly[epouranios] places in[en] Christ[Christos] Jesus:[Iesous]KJV-Interlinear
6 and
raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places, in Christ
Jesus, NASB
Raised us up, means from our context in this chapter, that God has raised us up from the dead, to now having eternal life. For prior to our salvation, we were dead and separated from God and destined for the Lake of Fire.
But now, because of Christ and His work on the Cross, we are raised up to eternal life.
Both you and I are still here on this earth right now. We have not been raised physically from this planet, into heaven or to anywhere else. But we have been raised from a lower status of eternal condemnation, to eternal life. And that occurred because of, and through, Christ.
Sit together in heavenly places, is an expression for our having and enjoying the status of an association with Christ. He is the only person who is physically sitting at Gods right hand in heaven. Again, neither you nor I are currently in heaven and we are certainly not sitting there with Christ. But positionally, we possess a relationship with God through Christ, such that we have received the highest of honors that otherwise we would not have as unbelievers.
You can review the blessings list in the special studies section of the Bible study web site online library, to see all of the many honors that we received automatically when we believed in Christ.
In heavenly places, also recognizes that since Christ has gone there, and since we are in union with Him, we too will go there one day. Our future is not in or of this world, but in heaven, where Gods ultimate divine plan will replace not only this planet, but this entire universe, with yet a new and improved and far better universe that will combine with heaven into one single and vast realm that will stretch into infinity and beyond.
In Christ Jesus, is a phrase that is repeatedly mentioned throughout the Bible. There is nothing in existence that would even exist were it not for Christ. He is the sum total and foundation of all that is. Without Christ there is nothing. With Christ, there is everything.
This final thought should be something that you should ponder and consider the next time you decide to pass up on a daily study. Your investment in Christ will yield you spiritual profits beyond your imagination. To ignore Him means phenomenal loss. Which outcome do you think is the better?
