And He raised us up together with Him and made us sit down together [giving us joint seating with Him] in the heavenly sphere [by virtue of our being] in Christ Jesus (the Messiah, the Anointed One).
Ephesians 2:6, AMPC
When a new king takes his place at the throne for the first time, he immediately assumes the full authority that the throne carries. In one simple act of sitting down, he is suddenly– in a single moment– endued with the highest level of power available in the entire kingdom. Regardless of age, no matter how much (or little) experience the new king brings to the throne, he now occupies the highest seat in the land, and everyone must recognize his authority or suffer the consequences.
In the same way, when a person accepts the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ and receives the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21), immediately he or she sits down in the heavenly throne “far above all principality and power and might and dominion and every name that is named…” at the right hand of the Father in Christ.
Sound too good to be true?
When the light of the glorious gospel of Jesus begins to dawn on a person, it can be nearly overwhelming. In fact, the word gospel can be translated literally as news that is nearly too good to be true or almost unbelievably good news. (see this article for more on this definition of the gospel by Andrew Wommack). Yes, it is in fact true that we have been seated far above all authorities of darkness by the power of God.
*If you started reading from the email, start reading here.
Our Position Before Salvation
Before the life-changing act of receiving salvation from Jesus– by believing He died and rose again for us and speaking that fact out of our mouths– we may have been physically alive but were totally, completely, and hopelessly spiritually dead. Our internal human nature was sinful (by the bloodline passed down from Adam in the beginning) and we were completely unable to stand against the spiritual forces that roam the earth, wreaking havoc on mankind.
We were subject to demonic attack and harassment. We had little to no protection from the demons of depression, anxiety, suicide, sickness, and fear. Many cultures around the world, including North America, are permeated with many kinds of demonic authority that seek to penetrate every household, business, and governmental office with destructive motives. Without being born-again through the power of the gospel, we are stuck in this position of darkness. The Bible says that, once we received Christ, we were “delivered from the power of darkness and translated into the kingdom of the Son of His [God’s] love…” (Colossians 1:13, paraphrased)
In other words, you had no real authority to command any demon or demonic influence to do anything. In many places around the world, demons are sought after for their “supernatural wisdom” by those who yield themselves to their power. Oftentimes these demons require sacrifices to be appeased through the hopeful human who has been deceived by them. Humankind has discovered that there is a spirit world that does indeed transcend our natural order and have been seeking to establish deeper contact from the beginning of recorded history.
Interestingly, after thousands of years of this, mankind has little to show for their attempts to penetrate the “deep wisdom” of the spirit world. The demons contacted seem to be able to foretell certain events and can reveal intimate information about a person through a familiar spirit, but ultimately the demons offer lies and counterfeit miracles. These miracles and healings do provide physical evidence of a supernatural power, but the source is all-together evil and is not from God and can be overwhelmed by the true power of God through a bold believer walking in authority and power.
Authority Over Demons
We have seen many demons who have contentedly tormented their hosts for years come screaming out of their victims at the mere mention of the Name of Jesus uttered by a believer who knew his or her power in the Lord. This is part of our seat of authority that God has given us through raising us up in Him (see What Does it Mean to Be Raised Up Together With Jesus?) that we received when we accepted Christ.
In one case, mentioned in the last post, a demon who had afflicted a gentleman for several months vacated his body immediately upon rebuke. The man experienced a full deliverance and was freed in mind, soul, and spirit.
In another case, a young woman came to us for deliverance, knowing that she had demons afflicting her. We found her sitting like a statue in a chair, but immediately upon our arrival, she began to flail and foam at the mouth, the demon trying to fling her body and head into the concrete floor to do her harm.
To keep her head from being bashed against the floor it took no less than five grown men to hold her down. It was all they could do to restrain this small, delicate young woman (she looked like she was in her early twenties).
We commanded the demon to leave her in the Name of Jesus, but he (the demon) laughed horribly and said, “I will not go!”
“Yes, you will! You must go in the Name of Jesus!” we replied, and immediately the smile was turned into a deep frown and the demon began to convulse the woman violently again. After some time of this, three demons left her body and she was restored completely, sitting up and praising God. Last we heard, she was completely healed and a faithful member of the church.
It is not within the scope of this article to go into the details of deliverance from demonic possession, possession, and obsession, but I wanted to give you an example of the power and authority of God, conferred upon the believing believer that has the full backing of Heaven behind it.
Authority in the Heavens
In Ephesians 2, the Holy Spirit through Paul writes, “And He raised us up together with Him and made us sit down together [giving us joint seating with Him] in the heavenly sphere [by virtue of our being] in Christ Jesus (the Messiah, the Anointed One).”
Did you see that? “And made us sit down together.” (with whom? Jesus!)
The word translated sit down together is the Greek word sygkathizō, which is a combination of syn, which means together, beside, with, and is used to describe something or someone who is completely united with a thing. The second word, kathizō, is defined as to make to sit down, to set, to appoint; to confer a kingdom on one, to fix one’s abode, or to settle down.
When we have been made to “sit down together in the heavenly sphere in Christ Jesus,” God is saying that we have permanently been fixed at the right hand of the Father on the throne with Jesus Christ, where He is currently seated far above all powers of darkness.
That is a tremendous statement!
Just like a new king who sits down on his throne immediately receives the full authority and power that comes with that office, so also you and I, as Christians–not super saints, not perfect people, not pastors and evangelists– immediately are placed in the highest position of authority in the heavenly places just below the Father.
So many questions, right?
“Why do bad things happen if God is in control?”
He’s not. You and I are the only physical representation of Jesus Christ on the earth today (He is the Head, we are the Body, right?), and the Bible says that “Satan [not God!] is the god of this world.” 2 Corinthians 4:4
This means that many of the things that happen in the world can be avoided by the powerful prayers of authority taken up by God’s holy saints, which “makes tremendous power available [dynamic in its working].” James 5:16
My encouragement to you today is to allow the Word of God to seep deep into your bones– into the very core of your being– regarding the God-given authority that you were endued with when you accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior.
You and I have not yet come close to tapping the potential of the “tremendous power” that is available through the prayers of a believer who knows his place in the heavens. Since we are seated at the right hand of the Father with Jesus, and our bodies are on earth at the same time, it is clear that it is up to us to enforce the victory that Jesus secured against the wiles and tactics of Satan, the accuser.
It is through the actions of the Church that is given up wholly to the sound teaching of the Bible that we will see our governments become godly; it is through the prayers of the ones who know and walk in their authority that the reign of darkness and hate over the regions and cities in which we live will be cast out. “By the blessing of the upright the city is exalted: but it is overthrown by the mouth of the wicked.” Proverbs 11:11
I encourage you today to meditate and steep your soul in these things. I pray that the Holy Spirit brings revelation and light to you as you read this article and as you study the Word for yourself, for “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.”
Photo by Semina Psichogiopoulou on Unsplash