?He has raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ? (Ephesians 2:6).



The purpose of the gospel is to transform our thinking, as Romans 12:1-2 says. God's thoughts are far above ours (Is 55:8), but this does NOT mean he can't reveal his thoughts to us. The gospel is God's communication system to plant the seeds of his thoughts in our minds.

Human thinking is in terms of separation: ?we are down here on earth, and God is up there in heaven.? But this is not what Jesus says about the gospel of the kingdom in us. God's thinking in the gospel is unity and oneness WITH us, and not separation FROM us. Thus Paul says: ?I no longer live, but Christ lives through me,? ? and ?Christ in us, the hope of glory.?

If our minds are not transformed by the gospel we struggle with scriptures like this one in Ephesians 2:6 that says God has raised us up to make us sit with him in heaven. This is not futuristic, but describes present spiritual reality. Separation thinking says we are on earth, and so we cannot also be in heaven. But the great mystery of the gospel is the practical reality of the dying declaration of Jesus: ?It is finished!? We have not begun to understand the depths of the reality of the finished work of the cross. One thing that was accomplished was the creation of a spiritual reality we can only see by means of believing the gospel.

SEE SPIRITUAL REALITY! Right now, at this very moment, every demon of hell, and every angel in heaven sees YOU seated on the throne of God with Christ. If this becomes real to you, it will totally change what you believe about spiritual warfare. In Revelation 5, John was the ONLY one to see Jesus as the LAMB. Everyone else, in heaven and hell, saw him as the LION. Also, every angel and every demon sees us very differently than we see ourselves. When we see ourselves the way they do, everything changes! This is when we begin living in the truth and the power of the gospel!

GOSPEL SNAPSHOTS reveal spiritual reality: the truth and the power of Christ's finished work, and what this means to us practically here in this earthly life. Jesus? first sermon was, ?Repent and believe the gospel.? The gospel is God's language communicating his thoughts to us. Jesus says it is our job to understand the gospel, and to live in it. Right now, Ephesians 2:6 is telling us to see ourselves differently: as God sees us, and not as we most often see ourselves. How do you see yourself? Ephesians 2:6 says to see yourself as GOD sees you. When you do, it will empower everything else that you say and do in life.