LEARNING DAILY

 

I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth. And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord; Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit; Born of the Virgin Mary; Suffered under Pontius Pilate; Was crucified, dead and buried; He descended into Hell; The third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven; And sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; From thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit; The Holy Christian Church, the Communion of Saints; The Forgiveness of sins; The Resurrection of the body; And the life everlasting. Amen.   The Apostle’s Creed

 

Have you ever considered what Jesus did after He ascended into heaven?  According to Ephesians 1:20, He sat at the right hand of His heavenly Father in the heavenly places.  Hebrews 1:3 tells us the same thing.  We are told in those verses that Jesus had accomplished what His Father had sent Him to do and now He is reigning and ruling from the Father’s right hand.  Why the right hand specifically?  Placing a person on one’s right side is saying that he or she has equal power with you.  This was the right position for the Lord Jesus Christ.  In Psalm 110:1, a prophetic word is given about this, “The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool.”  In Psalm 118:16, the right hand is an exalted position, “The right hand of the Lord is exalted; the right hand of the Lord does valiantly.” 

 

Jesus said this in Luke 22:69, “Hereafter the Son of Man will sit on the right hand of the power of God.”  What is the power He was talking about?  Jesus told His disciples that He had to return to His Father and when He did, He would send them a Helper, the Holy Spirit.  On Pentecost, those disciples in the Upper Room were filled with the Holy Spirit; they received power from heaven to fulfill their mission to go into all the world to preach the gospel.  They knew Jesus was where He said he was going. 

 

The book of Hebrews calls the Lord Jesus a High Priest. The duties of a priest are to facilitate a service.  As High Priest, Jesus is the mediator of the New Covenant.  That means the unsaved need Jesus to atone or forgive their sins.  The saved need Him to be their advocate before the Father.  Let me explain by an example I read about long ago (It has been so long ago, I can’t remember who wrote it!).  The thought goes like this:  Visualize a courtroom in heaven.   Satan accuses the saints (the forgiven) every day in heaven.  Did you see what Bob did today?  Did you hear the words that came out of his mouth?  Did you hear the thoughts he had?  I have no idea how long it goes on until our Advocate, our defense lawyer interrupts and speaks.  “Father, Bob believed in July of 1976 that I died on the cross for all his sins -past, present, future -  and he is forgiven of all the stuff he is being accused of.”  At that moment the Father strikes His gavel and says, ”Case dismissed!”  Whenever you sin admit it, confess it and know that you have a defense lawyer in heaven!

 

In Acts 7, Stephen was accused of blasphemous words against the law of Moses.  He was allowed to give a defense for his words and actions.  He spoke boldly and truthfully; and was sentenced to be stoned to death.  Acts 7:55 gives an important thought for this page of the blog, “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.”  Let no one tell you that the Lord Jesus Christ does not care about each of His people, each one of us who have placed their faith in Him.  Here Jesus is standing, watching, concerned, and ready to welcome His first martyr to Himself.  Stephen had confessed Christ before men, defended the faith and now He was Stephen’s Advocate before the Father.  I wonder if our Savior stands ready to welcome His faithful believers near death as their intercessor and advocate.  I believe He does.

 

What a Savior!  What a High Priest we serve!  He is worthy of all the praise and honor you and I can give to Him each moment of every day!

 

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