FAR ABOVE ALL HEAVENS
By Don Byrd
“…far above all heavens, that he might fill all things” (Eph. 4:10).
If you are a Christian, the understanding of who you really are is contingentupon your understanding of the Scriptures. If your understanding of the Scriptures is based on something other than the epistles of Paul, then you will miss the secret as to who you really are which is found in
the Scriptures. Every writer in the Bible, except the apostles Paul and John, leaves out the fact that God is our very own personal Father. When believers fail to come to the
understanding of God that Paul had, they will have an
Old Testament concept of God. Believers who know God as the God of the Old Testament impose the law upon themselves. For them, God remains the omnipotent God who rules and
reigns in power and righteousness; righteousness and holiness remains external from the believer and
belongs only to God. As long as a believer knows God as
the Old Testament God the believer sees himself as one
under Old Testament times, rules and regulations. He
will think of himself as a covenant person, a person who needs promises, one who needs miracles to survive in this life. God will remain on His throne “dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto” (1 Tim. 6:16). Will God humiliate Himself to the point that He will run to me and fall on my neck, hug me, kiss me, and put His best robe
on me, a ring for my finger, and shoes for my feet? We
never think of God in this fashion do we? We have a picture of Him in our minds where He sits on His throne dwelling in the light of His immortality while we are somewhere afar off. He is sitting on His throne crowned with clouds of
glory and righteousness from which proceed lightning and thunder. The angels fall prostrate before Him and continuously cry Holy, Holy, Holy! If He left His throne of power and glory and ran to me and fell on my neck and hugged
me and kissed me, would not this be degrading Himself? To the contrary. Our Father has waited an eternity for this moment! This will be a moment which will far exceed any throne upon which He might sit. A throne ofpower and glory brings Him many things, but it can never bring Him the
glory that just one son brings to Him. Listen to what the Scriptures declare: “He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things” (Eph. 4:10). This verse declares that Christ ascended up “far above all heavens!” He ascended far above the heavens, wherein dwell angels, which have streets of gold and gates of pearl and a river and the tree of life. If
He ascended above all heavens, where did he ascend to?
He ascended to His Father! God’s Fatherhood is farabove all else that He is in His omnipotence. He, by His omnipotence, can create multitude of heavens and fill each with glorious
angelic beings. But He by His omnipotence cannot create one son! Sons must be birthed, not created. Greater than all is our Father who has run to us, fallen on our necks and hugged us, kissed us and loved us with His ever expanding love. What a glorious moment this is for which He has awaited through eternity past. This far exceeds any majestic
throne upon which He sits and rules and reigns with
eternal authority and supremacy. You are the greatness of His glory. As grand and glorious as heaven, the ever expanding universe, worlds without end, and angels might be, in all their glory, all of them together can never compare to just one of those whom He has birthed. They are spirit of His Spirit and life of His life! No, it will not be degrading for our Father to leave His throne and run to those whom He loves with an eternal, unconditional love. It is a moment in which all creation will stand in awe at this omnipotent God who is Father and those who are His offspring through Christ in them. It will be the crowning glory of Him who is Father. The glory of His offspring is that He is our Father. The believer will never understand who he really is until he sees himself as does our Father.
This understanding comes only through the writings found in the epistles written by Paul. God first revealed to Paul the fullness of who He is. Christ Jesus lives in the bornagain believer and is his only source of life. Who is
this Christ in you? He is “…the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person…” (Heb. 1:3). Who lives in the believer? “The brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person…” lives in every born-again believer, and this makes all believers very special to our Father! You, my friend, are more glorious than all of creation because you are one of His birthed ones! You, with
Christ in you, are the glory of our Father! His Son gave this to you. “And the glory which thou gavest me I have
given them; that they may be one, even as we are one”
(John 17:22). You live, move and have your being far above all heavens, which is our Father’s house! “For in Him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring” (Acts 17:28). You are in Christ and: “He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things” (Eph. 4:10). Where is the place that our Father chose from before the foundation of the world as the place where you will spend eternity? In Christ!
In Christ: Phillip