Hebrews 1:3, Part VI

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 on the right hand of the Majesty on high;

Sat Down

Sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high

Christ is entered into the heavenlies for us. A work of redemptive sacrifice completed, but what about the fulfillment of prophecy? What is yet to come? He will be enthroned on earth after He makes all His enemies His footstool. This is a work that is yet to come. He will set up His glorious kingdom on earth, and Israel will be brought back to her spouse. She will become, once again, blessed of the Lord. No longer “not my people,” but now the people of God. But until then we have the remainder of Church history in which He is the High Priest of our profession. He ministers to us daily and makes intercession for His beloved. He has the care of the Church, and when the Church has run it’s course, He will be the one to call it home. Once the Church has been translated, the world as we know it will suffer through seven years of tribulation. His work and will upon the earth will be performed from His heavenly throne of judgment upon the nations of the world.

Why this judgment? In simplicity and yet with profound complexity it is because the world has rejected God’s Christ. During this time period the world will once again say, “we will not have this man to rule over us.” But we are in our time— the Church is treading through time as a witness of Christ. It is His grace and His love that keeps us day by day. He is our perfect High Priest after the order of Melchisedec. Although He has sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, He also fulfills His duty as the High Priest walking among the candlesticks of the church. All this — Church history, the tribulation, and the setting up of His kingdom have all met in the past in one place in time, and that was on Calvary at the death of our Savior on the cross. His death and resurrection establishes all to come in the history of the world, the history of man, and all eternity.

God the Father has exalted Him high above the heavens. He has sat down as King of Righteousness and has been “anointed with the oil of gladness above his fellows.” The Son of His love now as the man Christ Jesus is worthy to receive glory and honor and power, “for thou hast created all things and for thy pleasure they are created.” In Revelation 4:9-11 God has reinforced this wonderful truth again in the next chapter of Revelation 5:9-14. He has magnified this truth by the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world.

And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; (Revelation 5:9)

And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth. (Revelation 5:10)

And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; (Revelation 5:11)

Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing. (Revelation 5:12)

And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever. (Revelation 5:13)

And the four beasts said, Amen. And the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped him that liveth for ever and ever. (Revelation 5:14)

 What a wonderful scene we have in heaven. Should not this be the scene on earth of all His redeemed falling down and worshipping Him? What we miss by not understanding His great majesty and worth. He is the Sovereign of all things and possesses the world; the mountains, the valleys, the rivers and the oceans, and they who are all contained and dwell therein. It is our heart that should be full of this great wonder that God has revealed to us. We would not have received it by our own intellect or devices. It is a gift from the Almighty God that we should know such things. In the Song of Songs, chapter 3, verses 8-10 we read

The voice of my beloved! behold, he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills. (Song 2:8)

My beloved is like a roe or a young hart: behold, he standeth behind our wall, he looketh forth at the windows, shewing himself through the lattice. (Song 2:9)

My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. (Song 2:10)

 It is His voice I long for, though we see Him not with our eyes, we see Him with the eyes of our heart. Our faith paints a glorious image of our exalted Lord shadowed with the love of His sufferings and the grace of His eternal Being. My beloved spake and said unto me, Rise up, my fair one, and come away. Is this not the hope we have in Him — to dwell with Him forever — to see Him on His throne in all His majesty, to cast ourselves down and worship Him forever and ever.

We only see in part, He looks at us through the lattice work so we only get glimpses of part of His majesty through the eyes of faith. But each time He passes by, our hearts want to go with Him, whether our journey in this life is short or long, we as Paul desire to be with Him. Yet it is His will whether we stay or leave this world to do His work. For He is our Sovereign and it is He who has sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on High. Hebrews 1:3 is the only place in the entire Bible that the phrase “sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high” is used. This refers to the finished work of Christ. It shows the completion of His work and the acceptance by the Father. This is the Son’s throne which He earned by His death on the cross.

Before the ascension of Jesus Christ, we did not have a man in heaven for us to meet all God’s requirements. Now we have a glorified man in heaven , Jesus Christ, the Son of God. In verse 8 of Hebrews 1, referring to the Son, the Godhead declares the Son of God as full Deity. He sits upon the throne anointed with the oil of gladness far above His fellows. And this throne is possessed by Him forever! Though He has yet to be crowned King on earth (He awaits that day) He has a kingdom far greater which encompasses all eternity. So emphatic are the words of the Holy Spirit of God that this throne is forever and ever. Compare Revelation 4:10-11 with Revelation 5:9-14. In Revelation 4:10-11 He possesses all the reins of heaven and earth. He is the Creator of all things and by Him all things were created. In Revelation 5:9-14 we see the throne of the Lamb that He has gained by the sacrifice of Himself. Yet, is this not one throne? Do not we have the Son of God, the son of man, and the Lamb of God united in this one throne? The conquering hero has conquered both death and hell and the works of the devil. Through His victory He has sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.

The right hand in scripture always speaks of the place of strength and righteousness. ( Isaiah 59:16; 63:5; Psalm 98:1) All declare the arm of his strength. Psalm 98:1 refers directly to “his right arm.” In Christ’s position upon the throne in Hebrews 1:3, He is in the position of strength and all power is given unto Him. As He humbled Himself to the death of the cross (Philippians 2:5-8) now He is exalted high above the heavens.(Philippians 2:9-11; Ephesians 1:20-23) It is He who filleth all in all. There is no more or no one but our great God and saviour Jesus Christ. (1 Timothy 6:15-16) He is the eternal God and the fullness of the Godhead bodily. (1 John 5:20; Colossians 2:9; Romans 1:20) We must always remember that these are the testimonies of the Spirit of God concerning God’s Son. They are written in the Word of God and His Word cannot be broken. These words are settled in heaven forever. As the Spirit of God looks over the crowds of humanity He sees the ones who belong to Christ. They shine as the stars in heaven, and are forever settled there by the grace of God. They belong to Christ and the Spirit of God hovers over them. Though He has no shape and cannot be seen; His presence is felt with every soul bought with His precious blood. He, the Spirit of God, witnesses within them of all the glories of Christ. Only if we could establish our hearts as the throne room for God we would have such a glorious life; however, it seems that the flesh gets in the way and derails us from this closeness to the Lord of Glory. Paul spoke of the things without and the things within, he declared that this was his fight daily. And we also fight this same battle. But we must fight on to show our present evil world the love of Christ our Savior. We must keep Him on the throne of our hearts and earnestly contend for the faith once delivered to the saints, and pull from the fire those who are in darkness. The Lord of Glory is sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high, it is His throne by right of His sufferings on the cross of Calvary. He sits on a glorious throne. A glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary. (Jeremiah 17:12)

Just a note: Personally, I have enjoyed this verse of Hebrews 1:3. I hope the Spirit of God will bless you in you study, but always remember, as the stars are innumerable so are the riches of Christ in the Holy Word of God. We can never be full enough of Him who loved us and gave Himself for us.

I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)

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“Freely ye have received, freely give.” (Matthew 10:8)

© Copyright 2015, Michael C. Haigh

Coming soon The Book of Hebrews 1:4, Part 1

All Scripture references from the Authorized King James Bible (KJV).