and has raised [us] up together, and has made [us] sit down together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus,
God did not stop at making dead people alive. He lifted them to where Christ Himself is. That raises two questions. How can people still on earth already be seated in heaven? And why does Paul write "in Christ Jesus" and not "with Christ"?
The Power Measured by Christ's Own Ascent
Our place in heaven rests on what God's power already did in Christ. That same power reached us.
T. B. BainesIf our acceptance in the Beloved means we receive the same privileges and possessions that He receives, it comes about through our being made alive by the same power by which He was made alive. We are not only one with Him in our blessing and prospects, but also in our life. God used the same power in the same way to make us alive as He used to make Him alive.
Two Prepositions: With and In
The verse changes its wording halfway through, and the change is deliberate. We are made alive together with Christ, but raised and seated in Him.
F. B. HoleEverything God has done, He has done in connection with Christ. If we have been made alive, it has been together with Christ. If raised up and seated in heavenly places, it has been in Christ. Two prepositions are used, with and in. We have already actually been made alive... though we wait for our mortal bodies to be made alive. As made alive we live in association with Christ, because we live by His life. We have not yet actually been raised up and seated in the heavens, but Christ has, and He is our exalted Head. We are in Him, and so raised up and seated in Him. Soon we shall actually be raised up and seated with Him.
Where This Places the Believer
If our seat is in Christ, then our standing is not somewhere lower down, waiting to be improved.
Edward DennettWe are brought not simply through death into resurrection, but we are seated (not with, but) in Christ in heavenly places. What then is my standing? It is there in Christ where He is. Nothing short of it. It is not simply that I am raised together with Christ down here where I am. No, I am carried further; I am seated in Christ, where He is in the glory. That is my place.
The Force of "Together"
The repeated word "together" is not simply about believers and Christ. It is about two groups of people who had been kept apart.
George DavisonThe "together" here refers to Gentiles and Jews... Here again, the word "raised" means more than resurrection when used of our Lord. He has been raised to the highest point in glory, following His resurrection from the dead.
Commentators differ on how present this seat is. Hole says we are not yet actually raised and seated. Davison holds that the place is already ours, though not physically:
George DavisonWe are not yet there physically, but in the apprehension of our souls by the Spirit. "Sitting" carries the thought that we are now in possession of the place and privilege, and have the present enjoyment of it in our souls.
Why God Did It
God had a further reason for lifting sinners that high. It reaches into the ages to come.
Edward DennettPoor sinners from among the Gentiles, and from among the disobedient and contradicting Jews, are brought into the position where Christ is by the power that raised Him from the dead and set Him at God's right hand, to show forth in the ages to come the immense riches of the grace that accomplished it. A Mary Magdalene, a crucified thief, companions in glory with the Son of God, will bear witness to it.
The Seat and the Battle
Later in the same letter, the heavenly places are also the place of conflict.
J. N. DarbyThe church is seated "in heavenly places in Christ" — blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. So too we are said to contend with spiritual wickedness in heavenly places. We are carried into conflict in the very place of strength; for the nearer we are to God, the more we need strength to walk there.
Summary
- Power — The strength that raised Christ and seated Him at God's right hand is the strength that reached us. Nothing less would do.
- Position — We were made alive with Christ, but raised and seated in Him; His seat is our standing, and nothing short of it.
- Partnership — "Together" means Jew and Gentile share one seat in Christ.
- Present — The seat is ours now, known by the soul through the Spirit. The body is still on earth and follows later.
- Purpose — God set former sinners beside His Son. The coming ages will see the immense riches of the grace that put them there.