RIGHT HAND of the FATHER- CHRIST is SEATED Colossians 3

    When God’s beloved Son rose triumphantly from the dead, He shared His mighty resurrection with you.  Every member of His body, the church; every born-again believer; every one washed in the blood of the Lamb; all rose with their mighty Saviour.  You were included in the broad spectrum of His resurrection.  (v1 )

    That’s why Paul taught that we are to ‘Seek those things that are above’, for worldly forces drag us down, diverting our choice from the heavenly to the earthly.  We must live in the world, yet love that which is eternal.  Our children and grandchildren are schooled in a system, which does not recognise the Creator and Sustainer of the universe. We transact our business in a godless society, where the Name of our Lord is blasphemed or scarcely recognised.  He is also our Redeemer from sin and shame. Therefore, we must teach them these powerful truths.

    The dominant driving force for Paul is ‘ Christ is sitting at the right hand of God.’ 

The psalmist addressed His Lord. Saying,  ’Sit at My right hand, till I make your enemies your footstool’. ( Psalm 110:1 ) Christ expected the total defeat of His opponents. 

    In Matthew 26:64, we see Him as ‘the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power,  and coming in the clouds of heaven.’ Our Lord linked his position in heaven with the expected return or rapture for His bride, the church, which occurs in the clouds.  Remember we are joined to Him, and must share His hope.

    Mark gave a different light, ‘ He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God ’ (16:19 )  Heaven lavished a ticket-tape parade for the victorious Son, where every accolade of earth faded into insignificance. We honoured our Olympic Team members in every major city of Australia.  Multiply the glory a trillion times – and it falls short of the reception our Beloved received when He reached home.  

    Stephen actually saw the Lord during his stoning , ‘But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God . And said, ‘Look.  I see the heavens opened, and The Son of Man standing at the right hand of God ‘ ( acts 7:55,56)  He repeated the amazing fact that the man Jesus, who is also the Son of Man actually rose from the victory podium to welcome the first martyr home to heaven. This year 136,000 are expected to return to heaven as martyrs for their faith in the Lord, comforted by the One sitting at the throne.

    Paul powerfully wrote, ‘ Who is he that condemns? It is Christ Who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, Who also makes intercession for us.’ ( Romans 8: 15 ) His death, resurrection and ascension offer the antidote for the devil’s condemning, while our Messiah entered into intercessory mode,   using his position at the right hand, to greatly comfort those severely tried.

    During my hydrotherapy session, Jack told of his wife dying with Leukaemia. I slipped my arm around his shoulder, and simply asked God to comfort him…He wept.

He thanked me today, for Marj slipped into God’s presence soon after we had prayed.

Only in heaven will we discover how mush we owe to our saviour’s prayer –life.

    Paul writes in Ephesians , ‘The exceeding greatness of His power, according to the working of His mighty power, which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead, and seated him at His right hand in the heavenly places .’ Linked with His enthronement ‘, He is far above all principality and power, and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.’

( 1:19-21)  Our Lord is supreme, and we humbly share this extraordinary stature with Him, and move into a prayer life that reflects this ascendancy.

    In the 4^th chapter, Paul speaks of spiritual gifts, ‘ He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things’. (v10)  In Eternity we shall see the risen Christ, at the father’s right hand, filling ‘all things, ‘and He Himself gave some to be apostles, some Prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers. ‘ Therefore, His life at the throne is equipping the saints ( on earth) for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the Body of Christ.’ ( that is, His church )

    Racha Umong , from the Kalimantan Murut  head-hunters, found the Lord Jesus as Saviour, Cleanser, and became the spiritual father and bible translator to the newly-born. Our celebrated lord at the throne equipped the Muruts with a spiritual elder. 

    The writer to the Hebrews pictured Christ, ‘ Who being the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had, by Himself, purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,  ( 1;3)  Our Lord Jesus was shown in His radiance and distinction as the cleansing sacrifice of Calvary, when ‘He bore our sins in His own body on the tree’. After His total humiliation and rejection on earth, the Father honoured Him above all angels and readmitted Him to the immeasurable Majesty of heaven’s throne room.

    Our Lord Jesus is more than Conqueror and Intercessor at the right hand of God., for ‘We have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the Majesty in the heavens ‘’ ( 8:1 ).  Evangelicals have never truly valued the High priestly ministry of the Son of God, because some religions have elevated or deified their priests.

However, the Priest represents His people, and carries their names, while the Son’s intimacy with the Father assured a perfect priesthood ‘at the right hand of the majesty.’

    He makes us ‘Kings and priests unto God, a royal priesthood’ ( 1 Peter 2:9 )  while in our earthly training we prepare for an eternal union with Him in His High Priesthood. A glorious privilege. Isn’t He worth all the schooling – and heartaches?

    The same author wrote in the 12th chapter, verse 1, ‘Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith, who for the joy set that was set before Him , endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God’  Here the link with the throne room differs from other references, for on earth we must endure as we run the race predetermined for us. Our eyes must ever be on the Saviour, who is the Progenitor and Consummator of our faith.  The humiliating cross-sufferings must always impel us in our daily walk.

    Peter, the evangelist of Pentecost wrote ( 1 Peter 3:21 ) that ’Baptism is  not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience towards God through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, Who has gone into heaven and is at right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to Him.’

Christ’s resurrection life at the right hand of God ensured for us the inestimable blessing of a good conscience. 

    Our Lord Jesus was now totally dominant over all the angelic hosts, ( recall how one third fell in rebellion ); controlling all authorities; and regulating the eternal powers.  We praise Him for His glorious administration at the right hand of the Father.  Bow before Him.  Extol Him for His mighty triumph.   He is Lord of all.

    In Scripture the term ‘ at the right hand of God’  was repeated on 15 occasions, so that we should revel in His exaltation and rejoice in our transcendent Lord.

RI