The believer in Christ is where Christ is. Christ is in His Father’s immediate presence, at His Father’s right hand, and in His sight; so is the believer in Christ.

Ephesians 2:6

“And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ.”

Colossians 3:3

“For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.”

Christ has left the earth as His place of abode and now dwells in the heavenlies. The believer is in Christ; therefore, even now, while still on earth, his real citizenship is in heaven, and he is a pilgrim upon the earth, for his real life is in Christ.

Philippians 3:20

“For our citizenship is in heaven; whence also we wait for a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Hebrews 13:14

For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come.”

Therefore, the believer’s heart is set upon heavenly things; he values and seeks heavenly things more than earthly.

Colossians 3:1-2

If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.”

Do I hear someone say, This is too high a standard for me; it is impossible and unattractive. I am on the earth and in this world; therefore, why should I not live as though I were, enjoy what this earth and this world have to give me, and leave the enjoyment of heaven until I reach there? Such is the reasoning of many Christians, and their lives are in complete harmony with their reasoning. As someone has aptly said, they have become Christians much as a man takes out a life insurance policy that does not alter one’s manner of living but will be of use after death and is maintained with a yearly premium payment. With many a person becoming a Christian, it has made little, if any, difference in either his character or conduct. He is still of the earth— earthy.

Is it not conceivable that God would acclimate us to our eternal home in heaven with Christ during our transient stay on earth? If the atmosphere of heaven is stifling to me here, what will it be like there? If the heavenly pleasures and pursuits are unattractive to me now, what will they be to me then? There is music in heaven, but it is not jazz; there are pleasures there, but they are not the pleasures of the ballroom, the card table, or the cinema; there are pursuits in the glory land but not that of making money or a name or a place in society. Death is both an exit and an entrance, all in one. For the believer, it closes the door on earth to open one into heaven. There is not one instant for preparation for that higher altitude. If my heart cannot stand it here, how will it stand it there?

Or is it unthinkable that God would wish to open a window into that blessed realm of light and life to some wayward, worn traveler on the road of darkness and death through the Spirit-filled lives of believers on earth? In fact, is that not one of His most effective ways today of making known the beauties and excellencies of that other world? Does He not want to bring heaven to earth so that He may woo earth to heaven? And how else can He do it but through heaven-born, heaven-filled men and women?

Again, is there one so selfish and grasping as to wish to get all from God and give nothing to God? Is there one who would accept a pass from earth to heaven provided only through God’s matchless grace and marvelous love, who still will spend all his time and substance in pleasure-seeking?

No, God means that life down here shall be in harmony with life up there, that even while sojourning on earth, we shall live a life partaking of heaven’s nature, a holy and heavenly life in character and conduct.

In Christ Jesus, the believer is what Christ is in the reckoning of God. Christ, the Head, and the believer, a member of His Body, are one. Through this wonderful identification, God looks upon us as joint heirs with Christ, entering into and occupying the same position and enjoying the same privileges as His Son.

Romans 8:17

“And, if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may he also glorified together.”

We are so enfolded and environed by the Lord Jesus that God cannot see Christ today without seeing us. As God looks upon His Son at His right hand, He sees you and me if we are in Christ Jesus.

“Near, so very near to God    Nearer I could not be; For in the person of His Son,    I’m just as near as He. Dear, so very dear to God,    Dearer I could not he; For in the person of His Son,    I’m just as dear as He.”

Source: “Life on the Highest Plane” by Ruth Paxson

Gracious Father, what a blessed reality we have in our identification with Your Son, Jesus Christ.