Old Testament Reading: Psalm 110:1-7
New Testament Reading: Acts 7:44-60
In Search of Old Paths
“I Believe in Jesus Christ Who Sits on
The Right Hand of God the Father”
Mathew 22:41-46
The Apostle’s Creed evolved from the Old Roman Creed that was used in the 2nd century as a verbal confession of faith for those who desired to be baptized.
- The Apostle’s Creed, as it is written today, was finalized in the 8th century and used to teach new converts about the essential doctrines of the Christian faith.
- Among the nine supportive statements regarding our faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, there are two parallels.
- His humiliation: Jesus was crucified, dead, buried, and descended into hell.
- His exaltation: Jesus was raised, He ascended, and He sits on the right hand of God the Father.
The seating of Christ at the right hand of God the Father is a biblical “word picture” designed to enable us to recognize and respect Jesus’ present heavenly rule.
- Having finished the work the Father sent Him to do, Jesus is now on the throne, which means He is in charge; He has been given the authority by God the Father to rule the world by His word and Spirit.
- The final phase in His exaltation is His return to this earth to physically, personally rule and reign as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords for 1,000 years, and then take His final throne in the New Heaven and New Earth, where those He ransomed and redeemed will dwell with Him forever, world without end! Amen.
- For Christians, the exaltation of Jesus ought to be the most convicting truth we should ever hear; it should drive us to our knees in humble submission to the One to whom God gave the position of honor, having given His life to redeem us from the eternal wages of our sin.
1. “The exaltation of Jesus to the right hand of God the Father is one of the main ways the New Testament testifies to His deity.” – Matthew 22:41-46
- Jesus warned the Pharisees that they had an incorrect concept of the Messiah.
- The only thing they had learned about Him was that He would be from the lineage of David, destroy Israel’s enemies, and restore Israel to its former days of glory.
- In Matthew 22:42-45, Jesus asked the Pharisees, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?” They said to Him, “The Son of David.” Jesus said to them, “How then does David in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord,’ saying: The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool. If David calls Him ‘Lord,’ how is He his Son.
- This was Jesus’ way of telling them they did not have a high view of the Messiah, for He was not just the physical son of David, (in his lineage), but He was the very Son of God.
- In Acts 2:32ff, Peter made this point very clear in his first evangelistic sermon on the day of Pentecost. “This Jesus, God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses. Therefore, having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear.”
- Peter told his hearers, the Messiah was more than the son of David; He was Divine; He was deity, the Messiah was the very Son of God. Therefore, Jesus, the man you agreed to crucify, was, and is, that Messiah.
2. The Exaltation of Jesus to the Right Hand Represents to us His present Heavenly Rule” – Matthew 26:59-64
- It is not within our purview to “make” Jesus Lord of our lives; that would be the height of spiritual arrogance.
- Jesus is already Lord over all, and those who make a true confession of their faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior, will, without hesitation, submit unto Him as their Lord.
- Then, over time, and through the consistent study of God’s Word, the Holy Spirit will lead the new believer to submit every facet of their lives unto His Lordship, until they are completely conformed to His image.
- When the Pharisees, the most religious people of that day, refused to submit to the Lordship of Christ, they demanded that He tell them whether He was the Messiah. Jesus responded, “You’ve said it yourself! You’re going to see Me seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty coming in clouds of glory.”
- Jesus said He was the fulfillment of the prophecy of Daniel 7:13-14 – “I was watching in the night visions, and behold, One like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him. Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed.”
3. So, What Does Jesus’ Heavenly Reign Mean to and for us today?
- First, it means that the Lord Jesus is ever present in our lives.
- Even though we may not recognize Him or be fully submitted unto Him as Lord, Jesus is active in the lives of those He ransomed and redeemed.
- Through the convicting power of the Holy Spirit who indwells us, the Lord Jesus moves into the areas of our lives that we yield unto Him
- He is transforming our physical, mental, and emotional bodies into the likeness of His earthly body; conforming our lives into His image, so that when the unbelieving world looks at us, they see Jesus in us.
- Perhaps the Lord’s primary activity at the right hand of God the Father is to make intercession for us.
- To the degree that we glory in the present heavenly reign of the Lord Jesus, and to the degree that we long for His reign in our hearts, to that same degree we can experience the power and the presence of His reign in our lives.
- Second, it means our sin debt has been paid in full.
- While Jesus was on the earth, He continually spoke of the work the Father had sent Him to do.
- But just before Jesus died, He cried out, “tetelestai,” which was the word written across a debt to indicate it had been “Paid in Full.”
- Having finished the work the Father had sent Him to do, (See John 3:16) Jesus “sat down,” at the right hand of the Father.
- “Jesus, King of glory, Jesus, King of love, is gone up in triumph, to His throne above. He Who came to save us, He Who bled and died, now is crowned with glory at His Father’s side.” – Francis Havergal
