Untitled Document
IS THE CHURCH CALLED TO HEAVEN?
Some believe that the church which is His body is called to earth for resurrection life. Others say it is to heavenly places that we are called. In order to come to a scriptural understanding of this question, we will study the following topics:
FAR ABOVE ALL HEAVENS
EPH. 4:10 TELLS US THAT CHRIST IS FAR ABOVE ALL THE HEAVENS
THE CHURCH IS SEATED WHERE CHRIST IS SEATED
AN EXAMINATION OF THE FIVE OCCURRENCES OF THE PHRASE “IN HEAVENLY PLACES”
EPHESIANS 1:10
THE CHURCH AND THE MILLENNIAL REIGN
APPENDIX: HEBREWS 9:24
FAR ABOVE ALL HEAVENS
We read in Eph. 4:10, “He that descended is the same also That ascended up far above all heavens, that He might fill all things”. Is this ascension one of position only, as some believe, or is it one of place also? I believe the context will tell us that Christ has ascended literally to a place far above all heavens. Verse 9, “Now that He ascended, what is it but that He also descended first into the lower parts of the earth“. The phrase “into the lower parts of the earth” tells us where He descended. Verse 9 tells us where Christ descended and verse 10 tells us where He ascended. Logic does not permit us to say that verse 9 speaks of place and verse 10 speaks of position. Therefore, we must conclude that in contrast to where He descended, Christ ascended “far above all heavens”.
To be sure this passage does compare Christ’s position before and after His resurrection and ascension. That is to say, Christ descended into the grave; that indeed describes His humiliation. But He was raised “far above all heavens” and that does indeed describes His glorification. Paul’s point is that because Christ was literally in the grave that proves His humiliation. And that because He was literally raised far above all heavens that proves His glorification. While it is true that this passage is concerned with Christ’s position, it is clear that the places to which He descended and ascended points to the vast difference of His position. Because Christ was literally in the “lower parts of the earth”, then He must have been raised, literally, to the highest part of creation, i.e. far above all heavens.
Heb. 4:14 is another passage, when correctly translated, tells us that Christ is seated above the heavens. “Seeing then that we have a great High Priest, That is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God”. The Greek word translated “into” in the phrase “passed into the heavens” is “dia”. The Companion Bible Appendix 104 gives this definition of the preposition “dia”. “…it has the general sense of through, as though dividing a surface into two by an intersecting line. It includes the idea of proceeding from and passing out“.
The note in the Companion Bible on the phrase “passed into” reads, “passed into = passed through. Same word as in I Cor. 10:1 and 16:5. Cp. 7:26 and Eph. 4:10″. Let us look at these scriptures. I Cor. 10:1, “Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea”. I Cor. 16:5, “Now I shall come unto you when I shall pass through Macedonia…”. Heb. 4:14 which speaks of Christ having “passed through” the heavens helps us to understand the truth of Eph. 4:10 which tells us that Christ ascended through the heavens to a place far above them. The NIV translation of Heb. 4:14 concurs with the translation suggested above, “Therefore, since we have a great high priest Who has gone through the heavens.…”.
What do we know of this place referred to as “far above all heavens”? There are two passages in the Old Testament that shed some light on this place far above all heavens. The first passage is found in Gen. 1:6-8, “And God said, ‘Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.’ And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven“. We have in this description a firmament, named, in verse 8, “heaven”, which divides the water under it from the waters over it. That means that there is a place over heaven which has water in it. This truth is substantiated by Ps. 148:4, “Praise Him ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that be above the heavens”. So we know that there is a literal place above the heavens and that in it, is water. I believe that Christ is seated “far above all heavens” in the place described in Gen. 1:1. We will discuss this belief in the sections below.
EPH. 4:10 TELLS US THAT CHRIST IS FAR ABOVE ALL THE HEAVENS
I have stated that I believe that Christ has ascended through all the heavens. Does that include the heavens of Gen. 1:1, which I believe is the dwelling place of God? The answer to that question is found in the Greek term used in Eph. 4:10, “ta panta”, i.e. “all the”. Charles Welch wrote in the Alphabetical Analysis Part 1, page 69 concerning the Greek expression “ta panta”, “the insertion of the article at once defines and narrows the expression”. That is to say, when we read in Eph. 4:10 that Christ ascended far above all the heavens, the definite article “the” narrows the heavens through which He ascended. We may conclude that the heavens through which Christ passed were the heavens that will pass away. That is to say, Christ passed through the firmament of Gen. 1:6 into the heavens of Gen. 1:1.
THE CHURCH IS SEATED WHERE CHRIST IS SEATED
We learned in the section above that Christ, when He ascended, passed through the heavens and is now seated “far above all heavens“. We read in Eph. 2:6 that the church is seated with Him, “And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus”. The combination of these verses tells us unequivocally that the calling of the church which is His body is to “far above all heavens” so that we may be “seated with Him”. (The phrase “in heavenly places” will be discussed in the section below.)
Note, that Eph. 2:6 is put in the past tense, “hath raised” and “made us sit”. Some believe that because while we are reading this verse it is obvious that we have not already been raised and seated with Him, that this verse should not be taken literally and therefore does not tell us that the church is called to “far above the heavens”. Let us examine that thought. There is a figure of speech being used in this verse. It is the figure of speech called “Heterosis”. The Companion Bible defines “Heterosis” as, “Exchange of one …tense …..for another”. Figures of speech are used to enhance the meaning of a passage, not diminish it. In the case of this particular figure of speech, I believe it is used to assure us that what is promised will, without doubt, be fulfilled. Let us consider other scriptures that use the figure of speech, “Heterosis”.
Isaiah 53 was written hundreds of years before the coming of Christ to earth to die on the cross. But we read in verse 3, “He is despised and rejected of men”. Verse 4, “Surely He hath borne our griefs”. “Yet we did esteem Him stricken”. Verse 6, “the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” Verse 7, “He was oppressed and was afflicted”. Verse 8, “He was taken from prison and from judgment”. Verse 9, “He made His grave with the wicked”.
The figure of speech is not used to diminish the truths expressed in this passage, it is used to enhance the truths. Are we to believe that Christ did not bear our griefs because the figure of speech “anticipation” is used? Or that God did not lay on Christ our iniquities because of the use of this figure of speech? The answer is so obvious as to not require an answer. The figure of speech is to assure us that these things will be accomplished.
Let us consider just two more scriptures where this figure is used. Ps. 8:5-6 uses the figure of speech “Heterosis” in reference to Christ where we read, “For Thou hast made Him a little lower than the angels. and hast crowned Him with glory and honour. Thou madest Him to have dominion over the works of Thy hands. Thou hast put all things under His feet”. Ps. 45:7 is also written about Christ, “Therefore God, Thy God, hath anointed Thee with the oil of gladness above Thy fellows”. Here again, these prophecies concern Christ in His first and second coming hundreds of years before the actual events, but they are expressed in the present and past tense. If we do not take these prophecies literally, just because they use a figure of speech to assure us of their fulfillment, we miss the point of why the Holy Spirit used this particular figure, and in so doing, deny ourselves of scriptural truth.
Coming back to Eph. 2:6; we read that we “have been raised”. Does that mean that we will not literally be resurrected because this verse is in the past tense? We will be raised, figure of speech or not. That being the case, logic will not permit us to say that we will be literally raised, but not literally seated with Him. I believe therefore, that a figure of speech is used in Eph. 2:6 to assure us that what God has promised will be fulfilled, literally.
So Eph. 2:6 tells us that we are seated with Christ. Christ is seated “far above all heavens” (i.e. far above the temporary heavens of Gen. 1:6). Therefore, we are seated with Him “far above all heavens“. One might object that other verses in Ephesians tell us that we are seated with Him “in heavenly places”. Is Christ in heaven or above them? As discussed in the sections above, that seeming contradiction is answered when we distinguish between the heaven of Gen. 1:1 and the heavens (firmament) of Gen. 1:6-8. The former is the dwelling place of God, the latter will pass away.
AN EXAMINATION OF THE FIVE OCCURRENCES OF THE PHRASE “IN HEAVENLY PLACES”
There are five occurrences of the Greek phrase “en tois epouraniois” translated “in heavenly places” or “in high places”. Much has been written regarding how this Greek phrase should be translated. The difficulty comes from the fact that the noun “places” does not appear in the original Greek. I have little to no knowledge of Greek grammar, and will not comment on something about which I do not know. But, as we examine the five occurrences of the Greek phrase in question, we may see that we do not need to be Greek scholars to understand what God has for us in these passages. As we begin our study of these five occurrences it would be well to keep in mind that, as we learned in the sections above, Christ passed through the temporary heavens of Gen. 1:6 and is seated above those heavens, and the the church is seated with Him. .
Let us begin with the last occurrence, i.e. Eph. 6:12. “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places“. The phrase “in high places” is the translation of the Greek “en tois epouraniois”. This phrase is translated “in heavenly places” in Eph. 1:20 in describing where Christ is seated. I do not believe that Christ is seated in the same place as “spiritual wickedness“. Evidently, the translators did not believe that either, hence the translation “high places” rather than “heavenly places”. This translation is significant because “epouraniois” does have the basic meaning of “high”. As mentioned above, I believe that those that described as “spiritual wickedness” are in the heavens that will pass away, i.e. the heavens of Gen. 1:6. Let us study the other occurrences of the phrase.
The first occurrence is in Eph. 1:3, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places“.
Some believe that Eph. 1:3 tells us that we will be blessed on earth. That belief is based, in part, on the fact that the noun “places” is not in the Greek, and that the preposition translated “in” is “en” and, with a plural noun may, but not always, be translated “among”. (Even though we do not have a noun, the adjective, which is in the plural, must agree with the noun in number. Therefore, if there were a noun, it would be plural so as to agree with the adjective, and the preposition could be translated “among”.) We don’t know from the Greek itself what noun should be supplied, and we don’t know from the Greek itself whether the preposition should be “in” or “among”. This verse therefore, some would say, does not tell us where we are to be blessed, but with whom. They would translate this verse “blessed with all spiritual blessings among heavenly beings“.
Because we are told quite specifically in 2:6 and 4:10 that we are seated with Christ who is far above all heavens (i.e. far above the heavens of Gen. 1:6) I believe that scriptures confirm the fact that we are indeed blessed far above all heavens. Even though “among heavenly beings” is allowed by the Greek, it is not supported by scripture. That is to say, we are not told anywhere else in scriptures that we are seated among heavenly beings. And even if we were told that, those heavenly beings are certainly not on earth. The argument therefore, that this verse suggests an earthly calling for the church is unscriptural and illogical.
Going on now to Eph. 1:20, “Which He wrought in Christ when He raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand “en tois epouraniois“. Where is Christ seated? He is seated “far above all heavens“, i.e. far above all the heavens of Gen. 1:6. As we discussed in the sections above, this verse refers to a literal place. That is to say, it tells us where Christ is seated. Christ is seated in the first created heaven of Gen. 1:1, the dwelling place of God.
The third occurrence of “en tois epouraniois” is in 2:6, “And hath raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus”. Here too, we should understand that Christ is in the heavens of Gen. 1:1, the permanent heavens, and that is where the church is raised to sit with Him.
The fourth occurrence is in 3:10, “To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God”. If these “principalities and powers” are the same principalities and powers of 6:12 (and there is no reason to believe that they are not), they are connected with “spiritual wickedness in high places”. Because these principalities and powers are connected to spiritual wickedness of verse 6:12, I believe that they are not in the heavens of Gen. 1:1 where Christ is seated at the right hand of God, but in the heavens of Gen. 1:6 which will pass away.
What is at the crux of the difficulty in regard to the phrase “en tois epouraniois” is that too many assume that it always refers to the same place. It does not. In Eph. 6:12 it refers to a place wherein dwells spiritual wickedness. In Eph. 1:20 it is used in reference to where Christ is seated. Christ is God, a holy God, He cannot dwell among spiritual wickedness. These verses therefore, must refer to two different places.
EPHESIANS 1:10
We read in Eph. 1:10, “That in the dispensation of the fulness of times, He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in Him”. The note in the Companion Bible on that phrase “gather together” reads, “to sum up (lit. “head up”). Gr. anakephalaioomai. See Rom. 13:9….”. Let us look at Rom. 13:9 which reads, “……and if there be any other commandment it is briefly comprehended.…..”. The phrase “briefly comprehended” is the translation of the same Greek word translated “gather together” in Eph. 1:10. It is clear that, as the note in the Companion Bible suggests, “sum up” or “head up” is the correct meaning of the word.
Now let us turn our attention to the fact that Eph. 1:10 tells us that Christ will head up both that which is in heaven and that which on earth. We know that Israel, i.e. human beings, will be on earth, but who will be in heaven? Does Eph. 1:10 speak of human beings in heaven or does it speak of spiritual beings? Let us answer that question by the context.
Verse 4, “….He hath chosen us in Him….that we should be holy and without blame…..”. This refers to human beings.
Verse 5, “having predestinated us unto the adoption of children…..”. This refers to human beings.
Verse 6, “…..wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved….”. This refers to human beings.
Verse 7, “In whom we have redemption….”. This refers to human beings.
Verse 9, “Having made known unto us….”. This refers to human beings.
If all these verse in the context before verse 10 refer to human beings, obviously so too must verse 10 refer to human beings. But let us go on to the verses after verse 10.
Verse 11, “In Whom we have obtained an inheritance”. This also refers to human beings.
The point is that there will be human beings on earth and human beings in heaven and Christ will head up “both”. This fact, in my opinion, destroys the view that the church which is His body will be on earth.
THE CHURCH AND THE MILLENNIAL REIGN
There is one more reason why I believe that the church is not called to be on earth. That is, that there is simply no place for the church which is His body on earth during the millennial reign. Let me explain.
It is clear that all believers, including those of the dispensation of the mystery, will be resurrected at the second coming of Christ. (Please see the paper on this web-site, The Out-Resurrection And The Prize of the High Calling for the scriptural proof of that statement.) It is clear from such passages as Ezek. 20:34-38 that only the righteous will be allowed entrance into the Land of Israel for the millennial reign of Christ. We read in verse 38, “I will purge you of those who revolt and rebel against me. Although I will bring them out of the land where they are living, yet they will not enter the land of Israel….”. And we read in the parable of the weeds that “The Son of Man will send out His angels and they will weed out of His kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of the Father” (Matthew 13:40-43).
Note that both Ezek. 20 and Matthew 13 tell us that only the righteous will be allowed entrance into the land of Israel. And outside the land of Israel there will exist a situation which our Lord describes as “weeping and gnashing of teeth”. While all believers will be enjoying millennial blessings in the Land, outside the Land, there will be no millennial blessings for it will be inhabited by unbelievers only. That is to say, all believers will live in the Land of Israel and all the unbelievers will live outside the land of Israel.
It is clear that at the end of the Acts period Israel was put aside as God’s chosen nation. (Please see the paper on this web-site When Did The Church Begin? for the scriptural evidence of that statement.) It is equally clear that believers of the dispensation of the mystery do not partake of Israel’s blessings, they are instead, “joint partakers of the promises in Him” (Eph. 3:6). That is to say, believers of the dispensation of law and all throughout the Acts period were promised resurrection life in the Land of Israel, but believers of the dispensation of the mystery are in no way connected to the promises given to Israel
My point is this: Israel and grafted in Gentile believers will be in the land, unbelievers will be outside the land. If the church is going to be on earth, where will we be?
APPENDIX I: HEBREWS 9:24
In this paper I have presented the scriptural evidence for my belief that Jesus Christ is “far above all the heavens” that will pass away, i.e. the heavens of Gen. 1:6. But we have in Heb. 9:24 a seeming contradiction to that assertion. “For Christ is not entered into the holy place made with hands, which are the figures of the true, but into the heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us”. Some believe that the shadow of the earthly tabernacle discussed in Heb. 9 tells us that Christ is in the highest heaven of Gen. 1:6. But as we have already seen Heb. 4:14 tells us that Christ has “passed through the heavens” of Gen. 1:6. We know that there are no contradictions in the perfect Word of God, so we must search for the answer to this seeming dilemma.
Let us examine the context. Verses 1-10 of Heb. 9 describes the shadow of the heavenly things, i.e. the earthly tabernacle. Verses 7-8 speak of the holy of holies, “but into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the errors of the people; the Holy Ghost thus signifying that the way into the Holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing”. Verses 11-12 explain the fulfillment of the earthly shadows, “But Christ being come an High Priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; neither by the blood of goats and calves but by His own blood He entered once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us”.
The point of this passage is that Christ fulfilled the shadow of the earthly tabernacle and the earthly blood of animals with His own blood after which sacrifice He went into the true (the heavenly) Holy of Holies. Verses 24-25 substantiate that point. “For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true, but into the heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; Nor yet that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others”. In other words, the point of Heb. 9 is that Christ is the fulfillment of all the earthly symbols associated with sacrifice and entrance into the holy of holies.
Let us digress briefly to consider why the holy of holies was so sacred that only the high priest was allowed entrance but once a year, and only after blood was shed to assure his acceptance. We read in Heb. 9:3-4 that in the “holiest of all” was the “ark of the covenant”. We read in Ex. 25:16-17, “And thou shalt put into the ark the testimony which I shall give thee: and thou shalt make a mercy seat …..”. In verse 21 we read, “and thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark;. Verse 22 is the key to understanding the importance of the holiest of all, wherein is the ark covered by the mercy seat, “And there I will meet with thee and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel”. The ark of the covenant, over which was placed the mercy seat, was placed in the holiest of all, and it was from there that God would commune with Israel.
God promised Israel that He would meet and commune with them from where the ark of the covenant lay. But is that where God dwells? Of course not. Solomon recognized that truth even as He dedicated the temple, as we read in II Chron. 6:18, “But will God really dwell on earth with men? The heavens, even the highest heavens cannot contain You. How much less this temple I have built”.
Let me enumerate the issues that have been discussed, and then I believe we will have an answer to our seeming contradiction as to where God dwells.
1) God dwells with Israel from the holiest of all.
2) Christ fulfilled the shadows of the earthly tabernacle when He gave His own blood and entered into the true, the heavenly holiest of all.
I believe that Heb.9 is telling the Hebrews of the Acts period that Christ was the true High Priest, Who, because He offered the true Sacrifice of Himself they may enter into communion with God.
Let me try to put this in perspective and compare it with the fact that we know from Heb. 4:14 and Eph. 4:10 that Christ is far above all heavens. In terms of Israel, Christ has entered into the highest of the heavens of Gen. 1:6 so that believing Israel may enter into communion with God.. But in terms of where Christ is now seated, Christ is seated far above all the temporary heavens of Gen. 1:6, He is seated in the permanent heavens of Gen. 1:1.
There is, of course no contradiction between Heb. 9:24 and Eph.. 4:14. Heb. 9 is explaining that Christ has made it possible for Israel to enter into the heavenly tabernacle so that they may have access to God, hitherto denied all but the high priest, and then only once a year. But Eph. 4:14 explains that Christ is seated far above all heavens. It is simply a question of rightly dividing the Word of truth. and considering the context.
APPENDIX II
The truth that the church is called to the heaven of Gen. 1:1 is further proved in the paper on this web-site The Apparent Contradiction In Revelation 21:1. That paper proves from scripture that unless one recognizes that the church has no place in the new heaven or the new earth there is a glaring contradiction in the Word of God. There are, of course, no contradictions in God’s Word and the apparent contradiction is cleared up if and when one sees the church being called to the heaven of Gen.1:1.
This paper was written by Joyce Pollard. If you would like to respond to this paper, please write me at: [email protected]