It started with man’s disobedience and high treason in the garden. Man fell from grace, cast out of God’s Presence, became a partaker of satanic nature; A slave to sin and death. Not only that, but he also brought the entire creation down with him, subjugating all under the dominion of the evil one.
But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His infinite love for humanity, sent His Son to deliver us from the dominion of Satan and to translate us into His kingdom. And so God became flesh and dwelt among men. “We beheld His glory, the glory of the only begotten, full of grace and truth.” The Son of God came, became sin for us, and in the process broke the power of sin over us. He partook of death with us and in the process destroyed him that had the power of death, even the devil. He spoilt principalities and pow- ers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it” (Col 2:15).
After He had completely paid the price of our redemption, God “raised Him from the dead and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church” (Eph 1:20-22).
God Raised Us Up Together with Christ
God’s holy Name be praised for-ever! Glory to God in the Highest. He demonstrates His inexplicable love in this also as we read from the continuation of this mystery as continued in the second chapter of the Epistle to the Ephesians, which states that when God raised Christ from the dead, He raised us up at the same time with Him. The message continues saying:
“And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins. 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” (Eph 2:1,5,6).
The Almighty God has highly exalted our Lord the Christ and set Him in the highest position in the heavens. He is the head over all things. He is also the head of the Body. Jesus Christ of Nazareth, who died for humanity and became the Savior and Lord of the human race is the head of this spiritual body. This spiritual body is called the “Church”. The Lord Jesus Christ is the “Head” of the Body which is the Church; for the head of a man is part of his body. The Lord Jesus Christ is the head of the Church, and the rest of us, born-again believers, are the members of His Body.
Therefore, when God raised Christ from the dead, what the All-wise, omniscient God was doing, was raising up the whole Body in him. When He was nailed to the cross, in the mind of God the whole Body was there. When He was buried, the whole Body was there, When He suffered in hades (Psa 22 ) the whole body was there. When God raised Him from the dead, the whole body was there. When He arose and spoilt principalities and powers and made a public display of them, the whole body was there. When God exalted Him and set Him in the highest place in the heavens, far above all principalities, far above all powers and dominion and every name that is named in this world and in that which is to come, the whole Body was there in Him, and exalted in Him. When God set Him at His own right hand in heavenly places and put all things under His feet, the whole Body was there in Him. The Head was exalted and seated above all, and so are the hands and feet which are part of His Body. By God’s intricate design and wisdom, we were all there—both Jews and Gentiles, He has joined us together as “One New Man” in Christ Jesus.
God the great Architect wisely and painstakingly incorporated man, both Jews and Gentiles, in all the victory that the Lord Jesus accomplished through the work of redemption from start to finish, so that man, the whole human race, whosoever believes, can share in His glory and exaltation. In fact, “share” is not the correct word, “total benefit” or “complete transfer of benefit” is more like it. Because the Lord Jesus Christ did not and does not need any of the accolade or exaltation He earned from the work of redemption for Himself. All the authority, dominion, exaltation, accolade and the Name above all names that He received as a result of His work on earth, He passed them all to His body. He became head over all things for the benefit of the Church. All the glory, honor, authority and power He earned for the ultimate sacrifice, He did all for the benefit of humanity once they accept him as savior and believe in His Name all the benefits is their. So He earned all the glory and honor so He could “transfer” them all, totally, to those who would become members of His body. They are the heirs of salvation and the co-heirs of all that rightly belongs to Him, the eternal Son of God.
Therefore, what belongs to Christ the Head also belongs to the Body. What belongs to the Head of the Church belongs to the Body of Christ. The Name of Jesus belongs to you and it belongs to me. We have become one in Christ and with Christ.
If your name is John, without any debate, you would agree, that the name John belongs to your feet as much as it does to your head. We probably won’t call your head John, and call your feet, Thomas. You are John, head and all.
In fact, to be sure, the Name of Jesus in usage and operations, belongs to the Body more than it does to the Lord Jesus the Head. The Lord Jesus doesn’t need to use His own Name. We do. We, the members of His Body are the beneficiaries of the power and the authority that Almighty God stored in that name. It is to us that the Lord Jesus gave His Name to use for Him. He never needed to cast out evil spirit in His own name, we do, and will continue to use that name to frighten the living daylights out of the Devil and his cohorts and drive them away in terror. We, the church will continue to use the power in that Name to heal the sick, to deliver the oppressed and afflicted, and to set captives free. The benefit from the Name of Jesus is principally reaped by us.
God raised Christ from the dead and set Him at his own right hand in heavenly places and put all things under His feet. And when we were dead in trespasses and sins, He raised us up together with Christ, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.
Where is Christ seated?
Answer-At the right hand of God far above all principalities and powers, with all things under his feet.
Where are we seated?
Answer–We are seated where Christ is seated. We are seated in Him, therefore seated far above all principalities and powers, and all things under us.
The devil specifically, and all his demonic forces, are under our feet. We are to tread over them and rule over them the way they have trampled over humanity these several thousand years. We are to reign as kings in life. We are to reign over sickness and diseases, reign over contrary spirits and over circumstances, reign over poverty and lack, and reign over every negative thing that used to hold us in captivity.
“Behold I give unto you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy and nothing shall by any means hurt you” (Luke 10:19).
The serpents and scorpions here are symbolic of satanic power. They are different forms of the power of the enemy, as the statement indicates. The Lord says He has given us authority to trample over and tread upon all forms of the power of the enemy, including serpents, which are one form of his powers, and scorpions, which are another.
To tread upon is to “walk all over” and to dominate completely and permanently. This “tread upon” is not occasional victory, but victory all the time. It is to permanently subjugate the enemy and exercise authority over him. To execute upon them the judgment written: this honour have all his saints. Praise ye the LORD. (Psa 149:9)