Sit… First Thing
Musings from the Garden
By Peggy Wyar
As I listened to three wonderful women discuss chapter one of Ephesians, I was reminded of a sweet little book by Watchmen Nee called Sit, Walk, Stand. I was able to find my copy and began to read it. Thanks to Holy Spirit I was reminded of something within the first few pages of starting it.
Watchmen Nee was describing the progression of the book of Ephesians. The first three chapters talk about our position and identity. The next three show us how to walk and the last bit of Chapter 6 tells us to stand (hence the title; Sit, Walk, Stand).
As he was introducing the first chapter, he referenced Genesis and the creation story. God created the earth and everything in it in just six days, man being the last to be created. Then on the seventh day, God rested. What’s interesting is that man was made at the end of day six, so his first full day was a day of rest alongside God. He began life sitting with God.
The beginning chapters of Ephesians begin with describing what’s true for believers who are in Christ. Consider these phrases from Ephesians 1:3-14:
3 …”has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. 5 …predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ…7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8 that he lavished on us…11 In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, 13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance”…
The next two scriptures reference being seated:
Ephesians 1:18-21 “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 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.”
Ephesians 2:4-7 “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.”
As you can see from these scriptures, we are seated with Christ in the heavenly realms because of God’s kindness and great power, not because of anything we have done. Just as Adam (the first man) was created by God through no effort of his own, so we are made alive because of God’s magnificent love and grace. We did nothing to deserve this astounding kindness and mercy expressed through Jesus, so we sit in Him, resting in this amazing accomplishment of our salvation.
We were not co-heirs with Jesus and then we were. We were enemies of God and then we weren’t. We were objects of God’s wrath and then we became His adopted children, all because of Jesus’ incredible act of obedience and love. He paid the price to redeem lost, broken people from an eternity of hopelessness and separation from God, instead, giving new life, new hope and a glorious inheritance.
How often we may begin a season by sitting in Jesus, but get caught up in the tyranny and chaos of the world’s system and begin taking on the burden of our current mistakes or start making our own plans. We want to fix ourselves to be considered worthy. We want to look holy to please those around us. We want to be good enough (whatever that means), but find ourselves without courage, without heart and frustrated by our failures and fruitlessness.
When this happens it’s time to reset and return to the first thing of Ephesians-sit with Jesus, rest in His presence and soak in His grace. In John 15:15 Jesus tells us that fruitful living comes from abiding in Him (or remaining in Him). Let’s remain seated where God has placed us when He saved us.