“I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know. . .” (Eph 1:18)
Paul’s prayer is not that we would intellectually know in our mind. Rather, it is that we may experience. The word Paul uses for “know” means to know by experience, by acquaintance. Paul is praying that we might experience the hope of His calling, the riches of His inheritance in our lives and the surpassing power of resurrection life.
If we are seated in heavenly places with Christ positionally, then positionally and legally we have everything in Christ. Positionally and legally, we are healed. Positionally and legally, we have victory. Positionally and legally, we have everything provided for that we need. Positionally and legally, we have every blessing in the heavenly places. It is a matter of making what is positional and legal then also experiential. As we more and more realize our position, we can more and more actualize our position—live it out experientially in our lives.
Throne Life Actualized
Andrew Murray declared, “The more a man lives in heaven, the better fitted he is to live on earth.” Throne position is intended to become throne experience. It is not merely theological or academic. It is not abstract and ethereal; it is meant to be experienced. George Peck explains that throne-experience occurs “when the believer’s enlightened faith successfully claims his associated position and privileges with Christ.”The Holy Spirit imparts “to us a consciousness of union with Christ (John 14:20; 1 John 4:13), . . . whereby we realize that we are ‘complete in Him which is the Head of all principality and power’ (Col 2:10).”In other words, the Holy Spirit enlightens us.
Throne Experience Feels Vibrancy of Life. We have actualized Throne Life, or made it real, when our “association with Christ in heavenly places becomes vivid and habitual” and our “experience grows correspondingly victorious.” He mentions three qualities of throne experience. First, our intimate connection with Jesus becomes “vivid.” We have an “ah-hah!” experience in which we see clearly, brightly, vividly. We really envision ourselves in the presence of Christ. It is no longer just an abstract thought; we see Jesus like we have never seen Him before.
Throne Experience Becomes Habitual. Secondly, our association with Jesus is “habitual.” It is abiding with Christ, staying in close contact with Him. No longer going up and down, back and forth, in the Holiest of Holies and out, but rather a consistency and a constancy of communion with Christ. When something becomes habitual, it becomes second-nature. We don’t have to think about it. When we have actualized Throne Life, it becomes natural. We become naturally supernatural and supernaturally natural.
Throne Experience Is Victorious Life. Third, throne experience becomes a life of victory. It is then, Watchman Nee describes, “When eyes are really opened to see Christ as our victorious Lord, then our praise flows forth freely and without restraint. . . . Praise that is the outcome of effort has a labored and discordant note, but praise that wells up spontaneously from hearts at rest in Him has always a pure, sweet tone.”
Personalize Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 3:16-19 and make it your daily prayer:
“Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, grant me, according to the riches of Your glory, to be invigorated with might through Your Spirit in my inner being, that Christ may dwell in my heart through faith, that I, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to grasp with all the saints the width and length and depth and height—to know by experience the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge; that I may be filled with all the fullness of God.”
Adapted from Come Up Higher! by Paul L. King (available at paulkingministries.com)
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