Eph. 2:6 says we were, “…seated with Him in heavenly places.” I don’t understand this “reality,” since we are clearly still in this world, where Jesus said we would have tribulation. I can accept this truth by faith, but it is a mystery to me–why did He say this? Is there something we should try to appropriate because of this reality?
The full sentence reads, “And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus” (Ephes 2:6-7).
The simple answer to your question is that God, being outside of time, knows the end from the beginning. therefore He has already seen us seated with Christ in the heavenly realms, even though for us it’s still in the future. The reason Paul said it is to reassure us that it’s certain to happen. God has already seen it, so there’s nothing anyone can do to prevent it.