What might encourage us to explore what Paul was teaching about living in the heavenly realm?

One reason this is a very important concept for us to experience is the benefit that comes to us in our lives as we follow Jesus.  Paul wrote to his friends in Ephesus (1:3) that God has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. So, if this is a way to be blessed, then it seems like we should be seeking to experience and understand what life is like in the heavenly realms.

Another reason comes from the prayer Jesus gave us followers.  He told his disciples that we are to pray, “your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven”.  If we don’t know what the kingdom is like in heavenly realms, we don’t know what we are asking for on earth.  And we won’t know how to live as kingdom people in our lives on earth.

Paul also told his friends in Ephesus (1:21) some things about this heavenly realm. 

• First of all, Christ is seated there. 
• Secondly, he is “far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.” 

That helps us understand the character of this heavenly realm.

Then Paul tells his Ephesian friends the most amazing thing: “God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.” (Eph 2:6)

Ruth Haley Barton underscores this idea:

Salvation is not merely about knowing where we are going when we die; it is also about kingdom living here and now.  It is about being changed so that the will of God can be done in our lives on earth as it is in heaven.  Life Together in Christ by Ruth Haley Barton

I’ve been pondering for years the question of how do I live as one who is seated with Christ in heavenly realms? 

Here are some things that are emerging in my thinking:

I have to let go of the “wisdom” of the world to have space in my mind and heart to receive what can be learned in being seated with Christ in his place of residence. Worldly thinking is in opposition to the wisdom that Jesus brings us.

To live in heavenly realms, I need a greater experience of worshipping the Lord. Too seldom have I bowed down before the Lord and spoken words of praise as did the 24 elders in Revelations:  You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being. (Verse 4:11) The little bit I have learned about worshipping the Lord tells me that to praise God is transforming for me.  It brings God’s perspective into my life, and I began to understand and encounter the world in new ways.

I need space in my life to sit quietly in heavenly realms to seek to understand what the Father, Son, and Spirit are communicating to each other about their desire to see the Kingdom come to earth. This discipline of being quiet is again counter-cultural to what we grew up with in our society.

A couple of quotes that emphasize this truth:

“By being filled with the Spirit we are transformed, and by beholding we become mirrors.  You always know when a man has been beholding the glory of the Lord, you feel in your inner spirit that he is the mirror of the Lord’s own character.  The rush of other things always tends to obscure this concentration on God.  We have to maintain ourselves in the place of beholding.”  My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers

“The action of those whose lives are given to the Spirit has in it something of the leisure of Eternity; and because of this, they achieve far more than those whose lives are enslaved by the rush and hurry, the unceasing tick-tick of the world.”  The Spiritual Life by Evelyn Underhill

Over time, I am learning that I am invited to join the Trinity as they care for our broken world. I am meant to be in their presence, discerning the insights the Spirit gives me.  Then, I have a better understanding of their heart for the world, and I have the clarity to be able to do as Jesus says: “Ask, Seek, and Knock”. 

There is no question that all the power and authority rest with the Father, Son, and Spirit, but I have both the privilege and the responsibility to bring requests about the needs I see in our broken world as I sit with them in heavenly realms.  We are partners (well, junior partners) in God’s work on earth. 

Here is a quote that relates to this partnership:

“Here is the three-fold secret of intercession.  First, we should feel   complete freedom to ask a loving Father for the desires of our hearts.  Second, we must agree that what we want can be set aside to meet the demands of a higher will.  Third, our ultimate motivation for prayer should not be that we want something from God but that we want God.” The Table of Inwardness by Calvin Miller

I need an ongoing transformation of character to be a participant in the work of the kingdom that flows from my experience of living in heavenly realms.

Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians gives guidelines for the transformation God desires in our lives:

I pray that out of God’s glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your heart through faith.  And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.  Ephesians 3; 16-19

Ruth Haley Barton underscores this idea with these words:

The relinquishment of Jesus’ physical body in death freed him for even greater presence through the coming of the Holy Spirit.  He was no longer earthbound but seated at the right hand of God in heavenly realms.  The difference in Jesus’ journey and our own is that most often what needs to die in us are the sins, the negative patterns, and false-self attachments that limit the freedom of our true-self-in-God. Life Together in Christ by Ruth Haley Barton

Then there is an issue that I don’t relate to very well. Paul wrote about another aspect of life in heavenly realms: For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (Ephesians 6:12).

The first concern I have is that I don’t understand how spiritual forces of evil can live in these heavenly realms.  Then my second concern is that if they are there, how do I struggle against them?  It seems that living as one seated in heavenly realms, I am to learn how to employ the powerful resources of God to engage and to defeat these enemies. 

So far, all I have known to do is to bring the brokenness of the world, in small and large pieces, to the Lord and to say, “Lord, help”!

Paul wrote a similar message about living in heavenly realms to people in Colossae whom he had never met:

Since you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.  Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. (Verses 3:1,2) And he follows this up in his letter with words that encourage them to live lives that demonstrate how those in heavenly realms love each other.  With compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with each other and forgiving each other.  All done with love that binds everyone together in perfect unity. (Verses 3:12-14)

My final thought is that living as one who is raised up to heavenly realms is not an individual experience.  Ephesians 2:6 reads: God raised US up…. And if there is one thing I have learned in my 70-year journey with Jesus, it is that the encouragement and power to live as God desires comes from walking in deep partnership with others who are on a similar journey.  May the Lord bless and encourage all of us!

Kent Hotaling, May 2025