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Hebrews 1:13
“To which of the angels has he ever said, ‘Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet?’”
The story of Jesus and His saving work does not end with His death and resurrection. Since the Apostles’ Creed summarizes the core saving acts of Christ, it does not end with His death and resurrection either. After the resurrection, the creed states, Jesus “ascended into heaven; and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty.” This presents in short form the truths that Jesus returned to heaven after His resurrection and is seated on the heavenly throne (Acts 1:6–11; Heb. 1:13).
In theology, we refer to the ascension and session of Christ, His ascension being His return to heaven and His session being the fact that He now sits in authority as the God-man over the cosmos at the right hand of God the Father. Jesus assumed His kingdom at that point, the kingdom promised to the son of David in passages such as Psalm 2. It is not that Jesus lacked a kingdom entirely before His ascension and session. After all, Jesus is the Son of God and did not cease to be very God of very God when He took on human flesh in the incarnation. In His divine nature He remained Lord of the universe even while He walked the roads of Galilee. Instead, the ascension and session of Jesus represent a new phase in His work of redemption. He now exercises the mediatorial kingship in which He reigns as the victorious Savior over all things for the sake of His church. He rules over the world to grant the church success as it goes forth to preach the gospel.
We are in a better position today than the disciples were before Christ ascended to heaven. Jesus tells us as much in John 16:7, where He says that His return to the Father is an advantage for His people because He ascended so that the Holy Spirit could come upon us. Our Lord went back to heaven to prepare a place for us there (John 14:1–3) and to intercede for His people at the right hand of God. Even today, He is asking the Father to give us what He promised so that all the benefits that He procured for us through His life, death, and resurrection will be applied to us by the Holy Spirit (Heb. 7:25).
The final act in the history of salvation will occur when Jesus comes “to judge the quick and the dead,” as the Apostles’ Creed states. Jesus is coming back to renew the world and usher in the new heaven and earth, and He will then judge and banish all wickedness so that we will never have to deal with it again. He will at that time fully manifest and consummate His kingdom (Rev. 20:11–22:5).
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
We are in a far better position today than those who lived before the incarnation because now Jesus has entered into the fullness of His kingly office as the God-man. Even now, He is ruling over the cosmos for the sake of the church and is praying for us. We can have confidence for the future because Christ is now reigning as King and Priest.
For further study
- Psalm 110
- Daniel 7:9–14
- Luke 24:50–53
- 1 Thess. 4:13–5:11
The bible in a year
- Ecclesiastes 5–6
- 2 Corinthians 10