By Nick Batzig
When I was a boy, an exceedingly famous musician befriended our family. This individual would sometimes come to our home when passing through our town, and it was always a treat. In my late twenties, I reconnected with this person over a meal at a restaurant in Philadelphia. As we sat at the table together, I noticed everyone in the restaurant was looking at us and whispering. It was then I realized a certain notoriety and privilege had been given to me because of my friend’s high social status.
Though it pales in comparison, I have often thought that this illustration, in some small sense, serves to highlight the great privilege believers have on account of the ascension and exaltation of Jesus to the right hand of the Father. No one has ever attained a more exalted state than that of the ascended Son of God.
The Scriptures often speak of the importance of the Son sitting at the right hand of the Father, the place of highest authority and power. In Psalm 110, the psalmist foretold the ascension of the righteous King:
This is the declaration of the LORD
to my Lord:
“Sit at my right hand
until I make your enemies Your footstool (Psalm 110:1).
Here, God the Father is speaking to God the Son about the culmination of His redeeming work, the crowing of His redemptive accomplishments on behalf of His people. And as the resurrected and incarnate God-man, the Son received from the Father all authority in heaven and on earth when He ascended on high (Matthew 28:18).
Right now, Jesus—who walked this earth as both fully man and fully God—sits on the throne of God as the righteous King of all the earth. The One who shared in our humanity now represents us as our King. Unlike the privilege I experienced by virtue of our family friend’s social status, everything that Jesus has received in the ascension has become ours as well. He sends the Spirit, subdues all of our enemies, and has secured the ultimate victory over death. Jesus has received from His Father the everlasting inheritance, one that becomes fully ours by virtue of our union with Him.
Among the kings of Israel, none was so revered and exalted as David. However, Peter explained that there is a King who has done something that David never did—He ascended on high in order to pour out the promised Spirit on His people (Acts 2:32–34). The ascended Christ has secured and distributed the greatest blessings that anyone could ever receive in this world. As we consider this truth, may our hearts be overwhelmed with gratitude for the everlasting privileges we have through Jesus Christ, our righteous and eternal King, who sits on the very throne of God.
Written by Nick Batzig
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