In the Beloved - Ephesians 1:20-23

...he has blessed us in the Beloved. - Ephesians 1:6

If this is true, God has blessed us in the Beloved, then where is the Beloved? According to verses twenty through twenty-three, Father has raised the Beloved from the dead, and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places. This is in total agreement with Jesus' own words: I am going to him who sent me (John 16:5). 

He spoke these words just before He was arrested. Just over forty days later, his ascension occurs, and is recorded in Matthew, Mark, Luke and Acts. Paul refers to this again in Chapter 4 of Ephesians and in other letters he wrote (Romans 8:34, Philippians 3:20, Colossians 3:1 to name a few). The Apostle Peter wrote, "...Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God" (1 Peter 3:21-22). The writer of Hebrews stated, "But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet" (Hebrews 10:12-13)


These verses tell us exactly where Christ, the Beloved, is. He is in heaven, at the right hand of God.

Wait a minute! Jesus is living in my heart.

Many Christians truly believe this, but is it scriptural? In a sense, yes. But, we have to be careful.

Technically, the person Jesus Christ - the God-man who came to earth, lived, died on the cross and was resurrected - is in heaven, as we have already seen. Through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, we have the essence of Christ in us. Christ and the Holy Spirit are both God, they are the same in character. When the Bible says, "God is love," God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are all equally love.

Jesus told his apostles, "It is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you" (John 16:7). Just before this, He  told them He would send the Helper, but the world would not know him. Then Jesus said, "You know him, for He dwells with you and will be in you." In Ephesians, Paul said it this way, "According to the riches of his glory He [Father] may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith..." (3:16-17) The God-man, Jesus, is not dwelling in your heart, but through the Spirit his essence is.

In addition to this we also have the thoughts of Christ. Look at what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 2:10-12, 16: 

These things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.11 For who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. ... But we have the mind of Christ.

Through the Holy Spirit, it is as if Christ lives in our hearts by proxy. Through the Spirit Christ can reign in our minds. It may seem picky to point this out, but if we see Christ on the throne at the right hand of God the Father, we are more likely to see our king, instead of a "homeboy." 

Jesus did say, "I now call you friends." In fact, He said that to the twelve, but when the Apostle John saw Jesus at the right hand of God, he fell down as if dead (Revelation 1:17). That's my king. 

Who do you serve? Good ol' boy, buddy Jesus, or the reigning King of Kings? How does this impact how you live your life?