Seated In Heaven!

But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. (NASB) Eph. 2:4-6

t was the day after Christmas at a church in San Francisco. The pastor of the church was looking over the nativity scene and noticed that the baby Jesus was missing. Earlier a little boy had been standing nearby. So the pastor hurried outside and found him with a red wagon, and in the wagon was the figure of the infant Jesus. Then the pastor walked over to the boy and said, “Well, where did you get your passenger?” The little boy replied, “I got him from the church.” “And why did you take him?” The boy said, “Well, before Christmas I prayed to the little Lord Jesus; I told him that if he would bring me a red wagon for Christmas I would give him a ride around the block in it.”

The Gift We Expect. The little boy received a wonderful Christmas gift and kept his promise. A man or woman who has his/her sins forgiven by God receives a tremendous gift, too! One such young man was Sam. Sam was a high school student when he started attending a Bible study called Theta Chi. The Bible study was a ministry to young people. It included worship, the teaching of God’s Word, and a social time. Sam started attending when the group was studying the book of Revelation. He showed an interest in spiritual things by asking many questions about God and the Bible. Finally, one day he asked how he could have his sins forgiven and go to heaven. It was a great day for Sam and the young people in the study. There was rejoicing and excitement that Sam became a saint just like the rest of them.

1. If you had been in the Theta Chi study and Sam had approached you about having his sins forgiven, what would you have told him that he needed to do? If Sam had been told the wrong thing, that would have been a tragic mistake. What is necessary to have one’s sins forgiven? Read Mark 1:15: Luke 8:12; John 1:12; and Acts 16:31.

What is Baptism? Some time later Sam was baptized along with some other young people. Baptism is an important event to Christians. It is an act of obedience that should occur after a person starts believing and depending on Jesus for the forgiveness of his/her sins. Some Christians are baptized by immersion into water. Others are sprinkled with water. However it is practiced, baptism does not forgive sins. It is only an outward evidence of an inward change. Baptism was a key part of John the Baptist’s ministry. Mark 1:4 tells us that John’s baptism was about repentance (admission and regret over one’s sin). Those who wanted to be baptized were indicating that they desired to live a holy life. They longed to have their sins forgiven by God. The Apostle Paul tells us that John’s baptism was about repentance. It did not forgive sins. It was a call or a public declaration that one believed in the Messiah - Jesus Christ.