Tonight we looked at the question ‘Where do you live?’ and saw from Ephesians 2:1-10 that we not only inhabit our physical world (living in a particular place locally) but are also seated with Christ in heavenly realms. This is not simply a future hope but a present reality, and the perspective which that brings has the power to transform our lives, just as being in an elevated position (a child on a parent’s shoulders, climbing a mountain or flying in an aeroplane) gives us a totally different perspective to the ‘shuffling around, looking down at the ground, totally absorbed in the things around us’ perspective so many of us have, as the Message version paraphrases Col 3:1-4.
Paul shows us how our lives have been transformed by Christ. Once we were dead in transgressions and sins; now because of God’s mercy and kindness we have been given life and therefore have hope, a glorious inheritance and the same power which raised Christ from the dead available to us (see Eph 1:18-19). When we realise the difference our dual citizenship brings us, we can be people who confidently expect God to work on our behalf and in our lives, church and community. Living with hope and expectation and anticipation brings meaning and positivity into the ordinary physical, material world.
In the Harry Potter series of books, one of the characters, Hermione, has what to others looks like an impossible school timetable, where she is in two or more places at the same time (something only God can do!) It turns out she has been given a ‘time-turner’, a magical device that enables her to go back in time. (‘The Prisoner of Azkaban’, J. K. Rowling) We may not be able to be physically in two places at once, but the truth is that we do actually live in two places at the same time: here on earth, and also seated with Christ in the heavenly realms. Let’s look up – and if we find it hard to look up, let’s remember that the Lord is a shield around us, the One who lifts our head high. (Ps 3:3) God can lift us up when we are cast down and enable us to live here with our eyes also fixed on the eternal city to come.
