“For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also 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 the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him 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 title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. 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. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Ephesians 1:15-2:10

I have mentioned before in these Gleanings that Resurrection Sunday feels like a ‘thin’ place to me – a place where eternity and time kiss and the dividing line between now and forever fades. Tomorrow when I sing songs of high praise and worship for our risen King I know that I sing with those who’ve passed from this time-bound life into fullness of life. I sing and worship with a choir that consists of every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them. We sing praise to the Lamb that looks as if it has been slain, to the Spirit of God, and to the One who sits on the throne. I never feel more the reality of Becky’s continued life than I do on this day. I know she stands beside me and sings His praises!

Ephesians tells me that this moment now I am raised up and seated with Christ in the heavenly realms. The same incomparably great power that Father God exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in those heavenly realms is at work this very moment raising me up and giving me life and purpose through his immense grace. Colossians tells us of Jesus that “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.”

Think of it. The fullness of God dwells in Jesus. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way. I am part of that body, part of the fullness of him who fills everything in every way. Becky is part of that body, part of the fullness of him who fills everything in every way. My friend Melanie’s Nana is part of that body, part of the fullness of him who fills everything in every way. And tomorrow, and every time we gather to worship, or choose to serve in those good works that God prepared in advance for us to do, or extend the good news and grace of God to another one who is trapped in disobedience, we live out our gift and calling as part of that body, part of the fullness of him who fills everything in every way. He is alive! He is alive, indeed! And in Him we are alive! We are alive, indeed!

“Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing: ‘To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power,  for ever and ever!’” Rev 5:13