—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, ⁷so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. –Ephesians 2:6-7
I remember being 14, sitting in the back of our family’s station wagon on the way home from vacation, and thinking, Lord, please don’t come back until after I get my driver’s license. I didn’t want to be riding in the back, I wanted to be in the front, driving. I thought I was missing out on something big—at 14, driving was my ultimate goal. My bar was set far too low. The perceived joy from that childhood goal was nothing compared to the immeasurable riches of God’s grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
So far, Paul’s primary focus in Ephesians 2 has been our spiritual condition before Christ–dead–and the means by which that condition is changed–grace. This transformation from death to life isn’t natural. Instead, moving from life to death is our daily experience, one that the failings of our bodies, and the obituary page, prove true. But God does the supernatural and brings us from death to life. This is all by grace (v.5).
Why does Paul shift in verses 6-7 from recalling our dead condition to looking at what’s happening in heaven, before continuing on in the theme of grace? What does Paul want us to see?
I think he wants us to marvel at the vast chasm that lies between our former condition of spiritual death and our present reality of resurrection life that God brought about by grace. Paul is showing us what is true now for those who are in Christ Jesus. We are already, and will be, raised up and seated with Jesus in heaven, where He is seated at the right hand of God, and is interceding for us at this very moment (Romans 8:34).
How can we grasp the reality that we are seated, in Christ, next to the Creator of the universe, who is worthy of all of our praise, who spoke all of creation into existence by a word (Hebrews 1:2-3)? We are and will be with our Savior. We will be in the presence of the One who is high and lifted up (Isaiah 6:1), enveloped in the splendor of holiness, in majesty, in strength, and in beauty (Psalm 96:6, 9). This is simply too much for me to comprehend.
Remarkably, some people think heaven will be boring. Randy Alcorn wrote a 560-page book, Heaven: A Comprehensive Guide to Everything the Bible Says About Our Eternal Home, to show the opposite. He also wrote the much shorter Heaven for Kids, to give children a biblical vision for heaven. In the introduction to the latter he says this,
Predictable? Boring? Endless years of the same old, same old? No one would look forward to that! Well, I’ve got some good news for you…Heaven is not like that at all. No way!
Have you ever read any of the books about Peter Pan and wished you could live in a beautiful, magical place like Neverland—but without Captain Hook and all the mean pirates? Well, Heaven is a better place than Neverland any day. How do I know? From what the Bible says about it.
That is why this book provides another view of Heaven: as a place worth thinking and talking and dreaming about. In fact, once you understand what the Bible really says about Heaven, you can’t help but look forward to living there! (Heaven for Kids, Tyndale House, xxv-xxvi)
Though God conceals more about heaven than He reveals, Scripture gives us promises and descriptions about what heaven will be like. He tells us enough to know it will be beyond our best imaginings. May he stir our hearts and the hearts of our children so they’ll long to be there with Him.
Can you picture a father leaning over his child, pointing to something amazing? That’s what God is doing in this week’s passage. What is He pointing to? What does He want us to see and hear and experience? He wants us to see Him and His immeasurable riches.! We will not be bored in heaven because God is not a boring God, nor is anything boring that He has created. In heaven, He will unfold His praiseworthy deeds for all eternity. We will be with Him, singing His praises forever! (Psalm 75:9)
Dear Christian, it will take all of eternity for God to show you the immeasurable riches of His grace. Behold and marvel. The wonders of His grace will never cease to amaze us.
For Reflection
What do you think about heaven? What do you think you’ll do there?
Have you taught your children about the wonders of heaven? Why do they need to know?
Meditate on what Paul meant when he said, “to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21).
Brian Eaton is director of operations for Truth78. He enjoys teaching children and youth in the classroom and he seeks to encourage Bible memorization through the Fighter Verses Program.