Are We There Yet?

"Are we there yet?" How many times have I heard that? 

The good news -- make that the incredibly great news -- is, something has happened that means you really are gonna get there, but in another way it says you've already arrived. 

Paul says in Ephesians 2:4-6 "God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus."  See, the dead don't raise themselves, they have to be raised; and the instant Christ was raised, all humanity was, in a spiritual sense, raised from the dead along with him.  That happened before we could recognize it or make a choice to accept it or not, and Paul says that, because of what Christ did to unite us with him, we're already 'seated...in the heavenly realms.'  

"Now, Mark," you might say, "Paul may think that's true, but he doesn't go to my school, and that really doesn't sound like 3rd Period Spanish with Ramirez."  Or, for adults, working at the welding shop, or being a single parent.  So can it be true that we're 'in the heavenly realms' when life looks just the opposite?  What is a 'heavenly realm' anyway? 

What Jesus did for you and me, a long time ago, was to make sure that every human ever born was invited into the circle of family love that originates in the Triune God, who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  That love is self-giving, it finds its joy in seeing others thrive, it honors others above itself, and is endlessly flowing outward.  It is without boundary, without holding back, and without end. That love reached out to us in the person of  Jesus and loved us too.  In Jesus' words, "...you love them as much as you love me" (John 17:23).  Wow, how do we understand that?  Does God really love us that much?  Yes, he does.  Jesus said so.  

Being in 'the heavenly realms' I think, is being loved like that -- already!  If we can begin to imagine that, it's the only way we can understand the overwhelming reality of being with God in eternity -- being loved without limits and without end.  Sound like heaven to you?  It does to me!  So even in 3rd Period Spanish, if nobody else loves you -- God still does.  Jesus said so.