Eternity Daily Bible Study No. 228

Life In Christ – 6

ABOVE THE POWERS

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Ephesians 1:19-23
(19)  and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us, the ones believing according to the working of His mighty strength
(20)  which He worked in Christ in raising Him from the dead, and He seated Him at His right hand in the heavenlies,
(21)  far above all principality and authority and power and dominion, and every name being named, not only in this world, but also in the coming age.
(22)  And He has put all things under His feet and gave Him to be Head over all things to the church,
(23)  which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

 Ephesians 2:5-7
(5)  even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace have ye been saved),
(6)  and raised us up with him, and made us to sit with him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus:
(7)  that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus:

Christ is seated, in the heavenlies, far above all principality and power, and, by the grace of God, we have been seated there with Him.

Just as we died with Christ and were raised with Christ to new life (Romans 8) so to we have ascended with Christ and are seated with Him in the heavenly realms (Ephesians 2:6). This is not by our own merit or good works, but rather is by God’s grace alone. 

This radical change in spiritual status between the Old and New Testaments means that believers now have God’s “mighty power” lifting them to direct intimacy with God, a place beside the throne, the ability to approach that throne of grace in time of need, and are given the rank of “sons of God” a rank so high that Jesus is not ashamed to call us “brothers” (Hebrews 2:11). 

This astonishes John the apostle who writes: 
1 John 3:1
(1)  See what kind of love the Father has given us in letting us be called God's children. And that is what we are! For this reason the world does not recognize us, because it did not recognize him either.

We are “children of God”, no longer of this world, citizens of heaven, who have come to Mt. Zion and thousands of angels in festive array. 
Hebrews 12:22-24
(22)  Instead, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, to the heavenly Jerusalem, to tens of thousands of angels joyfully gathered together,
(23)  to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, to a judge who is the God of all, to the spirits of righteous people who have been made perfect,
(24)  to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better message than Abel's.

Jesus taught about the transition between OT and NT by using John the Baptist as the “hinge” between the two ages. 
Matthew 11:11-14
(11)  Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has appeared who is greater than John the Baptist. Yet even the least important person in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
(12)  "From the days of John the Baptist until the present, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and violent people have been attacking it.
(13)  For the Law and all the Prophets prophesied up to the time of John,
(14)  and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come.

Of all the Old Testament saints, John was the greatest, but, by grace, the least in the Kingdom of God is greater than John the Baptist! For we are ‘born of God”, we are “born-again”, of a new order of humanity, created after the cross, in Christ Jesus. John the Baptist was ‘born of women” but Christians are born of the Word and by the Spirit.

This new ascended status of believers affects the whole of creation, which waits for the sons of God to be fully revealed.
Romans 8:18-21
(18)  For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed to us.
(19)  For the creation is eagerly waiting for God to reveal his children,
(20)  because the creation was subjected to frustration, though not by its own choice. The one who subjected it did so in the hope
(21)  that the creation itself would also be set free from slavery to decay in order to share the glorious freedom of God's children.

This new status even makes us judges of angels and the world (1 Corinthians 6:2,3), in fact angels are here to serve the redeemed (Hebrews 1:14).  Thus Christians are no longer under the powers, but above them. 

The fact that Christians are no longer under the principalities and powers and the rule of angelic beings is pragmatically proven by the fact that we can cast out demons. In the Old Testament no-one cast out demons. Yet in the New Testament it is common-place, any believer can do it. Why the drastic change? 

Because there has been an even greater change in the spiritual order of things.  In the OT the law was mediated by angels (Acts 7:25) who punished every transgression of its taboos (Hebrews 2). In the NT we died to the Law (Romans 7) and ascended with Christ above the realm of taboos, above the rule of the angelic realm and into the realm of holiness and truth in love. We are not under the Law, or under religious taboos but have freedom as sons of God – and the authority that goes with that rank. We are above the powers.

Now I am aware that this is new teaching for many. The idea of judging angels and being above the spiritual powers and principalities is rather startling. A simplistic way of seeing it is that the Christian does not live in dread of ghosts and spirits or fear breaking taboos of demons and idols and “pagan gods”.  We don’t have to dread the wrath of Zeus or Apollo if we fail to observe their festivals. But these were real fears for people in bible times, and still are in cultures controlled by idol worship. These fears controlled harvest times, and all the rituals of daily life were centered on appeasing these local deities. In Christ we have been removed from the realm of the spirits and ghosts and goblins and sacrifices and offerings and libations and shrines and temples and incantations and into the realm of freedom in Christ where no food is unclean, where no priests are needed and where no spirit is dreaded.  We are above the powers, because we are in Christ, and He is far, far exalted above them.

For more on this concept see the following links:
Temples and Tithes: http://www.aibi,ph/tt/
The Ascension of Jesus Christ:  http://www.aibi.ph/aibi/ascension.htm 

Blessings,

John Edmiston <johned@aibi.ph>

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