If we had been with Jesus for the forty days after His resurrection, sitting under His teaching and learning from Him daily, we would likely have asked Him what would happen next? He would have explained that He was leaving us but sending the Holy Spirit to live within us and empower us to change the world.
We might have asked Him, “But where are you going?” He would have said, “I am going to the Father to sit at His right hand on the throne above all heaven and earth.”
The culmination of the forty days of SENT, will be the ascension of Jesus into heaven and the wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit. So, just as Jesus must have told His disciples the end of the story, let’s look ahead.
This glorious event is described in Acts 1:9-11…
9 “And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.
10 And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them.
11 They also said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven."
After a mostly normal life, three years of ministry, the cross, the resurrection and forty days of instructing His disciples, Jesus ascended into heaven. And where in heaven did He go?
Hebrews 1:8 says this about Jesus…
“But of the Son He says, "YOUR THRONE, O GOD, IS FOREVER AND EVER, AND THE RIGHTEOUS SCEPTER IS THE SCEPTER OF HIS KINGDOM.”
This is what the Father spoke of the Son. When Jesus ascended into heaven, He took His rightful place as the Ruler of the kingdom of God, at the Father’s right hand. The King took His seat on the throne. And this is where He is today. Understanding the place of the throne in the kingdom is essential to carrying out the work of the King and changing the world.
This is not a nascent truth of Christianity; it is at the core of what we believe. It is not something we have to wonder about, we know with certainty that it is true.
Paul describes the work of God placing the King on His throne in Ephesians 1:20…
“…He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places.”
Paul declares the same truth to the Colossians in 3:1…
“Therefore, if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.”
Hebrews 1:3 says of Jesus…
“He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high…”
Since Jesus is on the throne and no longer on the cross, would make a great symbol of Christianity. Think about it historically. The early church used the sign of the fish and the Greek work ichthus as the symbol of Christianity. It stands for Jesus Christ, God, Son, and Savior. The crucifix was a symbol of Christianity for years after that but focused on Jesus still on the cross. The reformation took Jesus down from the cross and the empty cross become the symbol of Christianity.
But think about the life of Christ. Yes, Jesus died on the cross and the cross is central to what we believe. On the cross He paid the price for our sins without which it would be impossible to have a relationship with God.
After Jesus died, He was taken down from the cross and buried. On the third day, the stone was rolled away, and He was no longer there. He had been raised from the dead. We certainly do not use the tomb as the symbol of Christianity, because He left the tomb. So, why use the cross as the symbol of Christianity when He came down from the cross.
For forty days, Jesus walked the face of the earth in His risen body and prepared the disciples to bring the kingdom of God to earth. After forty days, He ascended into heaven and took his seat at the right hand of the Father on His throne. So, where is he today? Where did he go when He ascended into heaven? He sits on the throne as the ruler of heaven and earth. He is the King.
The good news is that Jesus is not in a far away place. He is near to those who follow Him.
Isaiah 66:1 describes how close heaven is to those who follow Jesus…
“Thus says the LORD, "Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool. Where then is a house you could build for Me? And where is a place that I may rest?”
YEHOVAH declares that His throne is in heaven. More specifically it is in the heavenly realm. Heaven is not just a place; it is the realm of the Spirit. We know that is true because Isaiah says that you cannot build a house to contain God. It is impossible to contain God because He is Spirit and He is present everywhere. There is no place that exists where God is not present and fully aware of everything that is happening in that place.
As God sits on His throne in the heavenly realm, where are His feet? God declares that the earth is His footstool. When we approach God, He remains in the heavenly realm and at the same time, His feet are right in front of us here on earth. It is as if God opens heaven and heaven comes to earth right where we stand. Our physical bodies remain on earth and our spirits approach God in heaven on His throne.
Hebrews 10:19-22 offers simple instructions on how we can approach the Father in heaven and Jesus at the Father’s right hand…
19 “Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus,
20 by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh,
21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God,
22 let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.”
In summary, we should approach the throne often and with confidence! The reason we can enter the Holy of Holies confidently is because of what Jesus has done on our behalf. He shed his blood on our behalf, and by doing so, He made a way for us into the very presence of God in the Holy of Holies. He cleansed our hearts. He removed our evil conscience. He even washed our bodies with pure water. The bottom line is that he did everything necessary for us to be in the presence of a holy God.
Therefore, we can enter the holy place and draw near to God. To “enter” means to approach God in His place, in His palace, in the Holy of Holies! It is a miracle that we would have such access to the Almighty God. To “draw near” means that we do not stand in the corner of the throne room, we approach God Himself. We approach the Holy God whose magnificent glory fills the room and fills the earth, the God whose glory terrified the men of old and the prophets.
It means that we are invited into an intimate relationship with Him.
Because of what Jesus had done, we can enter with confidence. The word “confidence” has two connotations. First, it means that we leave all pretense behind. It means that we come with plain speech, nothing hidden, everything just as it is in our hearts and souls. It means that we share everything we feel and think in that moment. Nothing hidden, just as it was in the Garden of Eden.
Second, the word “confidence” is a combination of two other Greek words, “all” and “rhema.” Rhema is God’s utterance, when He speaks to us. So, how does the sum of God’s utterances give us confidence? When God speaks to us, it is as if it is already done. Why? Because God cannot lie and when God speaks something it happens, nothing can stand in its way. In our lives, when we experience rhema and then see God do what he said, it builds our confidence.
Twelve years ago, God gave my wife, Michelle, Jeremiah 33:6, as a promise that He would restore our marriage. He did it. Eleven years ago, God gave me a dream concerning the restoration of the relationship with my daughter, a relationship that had been hindered years before. God restored the relationship within 6 months of that dream. Ten years ago, God gave me Joel 2:25, as promise that He would help us pay an enormous debt from a failed business. He also said, “Trust the process.” We did. And he did it. I could go on and on. The point is that we can go to God with confidence to speak whatever is in our heart because we have seen His faithfulness in our lives. We come to know Him by what He speaks and does on our behalf.
If you do not have your own spiritual markers, your own stories of God speaking and doing, the Bible is filled with those stories and examples of God at work. You can also listen to the stories of the men and women the church community who have heard from God and seen Him do what He says. Eventually, as you abide and receive rhema from the Father, you will build up stories of your own.
Because of what Jesus has done to pay the price for our sins, we can also draw near with a sincere heart. What a miracle that when we come to God, we can come with a sincere heart, a clean heart, purified by God. When we come into the presence of God, we check our old hearts at the door and draw near to God with a sincere heart, a heart that touches and is touched by the heart of God. That s what it means to draw near.
We can also approach God with full assurance of faith. Hebrews 11:6 says…
“And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”
Full assurance is knowing that God exists and that He is the rewarder of those who seek Him. When we come to God and bow before Him, we know that the desire of the heart of God is to reward us. His heart is to honor us for our love for Him. That is who He is. It is in His heart to reward us and to bless us when we come to Him. This is the motivation to come to God often and with confidence.
Now that we understand where Jesus has gone, let’s prepare our hearts to approach Him often and to approach Him with confidence. It is our right and privilege as children of the King.
WORSHIP: Worship Jesus and the Father on the throne in heaven with His feet right here on earth in front of you. Wherever you are today, imagine heaven coming to earth right in that place, and enter in. Approach Jesus and the Father on their throne. Worship the Rulers of heaven and earth.
PRACTICE: The death and resurrection of Jesus have been written about and preached on in great measure. By comparison, not much has been written about the fact that Jesus is now on the throne of heaven. Journal what you know to be true about where Jesus is today. Include your thoughts on how this might change your life and practices.
MEDITATION: It is a lofty thought to realize that all of heaven and earth are ruled from a throne in heaven. The Father and the Son are sitting on that throne. Take some time to contemplate the power and authority of God in heaven and on earth. Since authority flows from the throne, there is literally nothing He cannot do. Take enough time to be persuaded by this truth, to fully believe it, so you can begin to walk in the authority of the King.
ABIDING: By this time, it is very possible that the Father, your Spiritual Director, has led you to a place in Scripture where He wants you to abide. As you go back and read through this teaching one more time, ask the Father if there is anything in these passages specifically for you. Look for the things that reinforce what God is teaching you at this time. Write down anything you hear from Him. Spend some extra time listening to see if the Spirit has anything more to say to you or if there is a deeper teaching for you today. Write down whatever you hear. Ask the Father if there is someone, He wants you to share this with and follow through with His assignment.
© John Santaferraro, 2020