“But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus…” – Ephesians 2:4-6 KJV

There’s no need to wonder if God is rich in love and mercy, because Jesus Christ answered that question long ago when He had said “It is finished.” (John 19:30). And He continues to answer that question daily, as He invites us to sit with Him in heavenly places. Unfortunately, many have falsely assumed that trials and hardships are evidence that God really doesn’t connect with us in a loving way. In fact, even well-seasoned believers sometimes fall into the snare of disbelief. Indeed, no human is untouchable when it comes to temptation. Nevertheless, God’s love for us is very real; those who fail to see this are simply overlooking the trail of His graces. You see, the problem of not seeing God’s love has nothing to do with a failure on His part to reveal it, but everything to do with people choosing not to sit with Jesus Christ in heavenly places, to learn from Him, and thus discover what it means to walk with Him in love. Instead, they choose to sit somewhere else, keeping company with anything and everything that serves to distract them from finding the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

One of the many lessons that the Bible teaches is that pride is what keeps people from hearing God, while humility of spirit brings us in touch with Him (James 4:5-10). Therefore the idea expressed in the passage above, concerning us being ‘raised up’, tells me that before we can even begin to see God aright we need to humble ourselves before Him. In other words, we must submit ourselves to Him in such a way as to be in a position to be raised up by Him. When God is embraced in this way life will no longer be regarded as it was in the past when disbelief was given precedence over faith. Hence God will be heard, and direction which leads to heavenly places will be given to those who are willing to receive it.

But there’s something else here that needs to be noted, concerning the word, ‘together’. No man is an island in God’s house. As brothers and sisters in Christ we need to extend our hands to each other. Such demonstration of love among God’s people clearly identifies the presence of a power that is not of this world; Christ is seen in us when we allow Him to love us through each other. But please keep something in mind here: While love certainly has influence to silence any argument against the existence of God, that doesn’t mean all who oppose Him are going to be silenced at the sight of His love. For some will continue to challenge the Faith until the day they die. Yet if they would just be silent for a moment, and really listen, they would begin to understand that something’s present among us that’s lacking in their own lives, something that they often express a desire to have, but search for in all the wrong places. When they acknowledge their need for God in this way, they will begin to see Him, and thus they will be raised up together with us, to sit in heavenly places with Jesus Christ, enjoying that part of life which they’ve neglected to acknowledge existed before.

This should be a sobering thought for those who desire to serve God, as it indicates that our interaction with each other plays an important role in the process of drawing people to Jesus Christ. Will we help those who don’t believe in God get to where they need to be by revealing the love of Jesus in our interactions with each other? Or will we push them further away from God by disclosing that our actions don’t agree with the testimony of our faith in Him? Only God knows where our hearts are in all of this. But if we really want to know what He knows about us, then we will need to sit with Jesus in heavenly places, receiving instruction from Him on how to live. Indeed, an invitation has been sent out to all, but a choice has to be made: Will those who receive it let Jesus raise them up, together, with those who are truly walking with Him, or will they remain seated where they are, thinking that they’re serving Him, when they really don’t know Him?