17. Do I Really Know Jesus? He Is Seated at Right Hand of Father

Christ sat down at the right hand of God and on his throne. Now we can be seated with him in heavenly places!

Here is our diagram that outlines the States of Christ.

For a quick explanation of the entire image, click on this link:

1. Do I Really Know Jesus? His Entire Existence in One Image

The Session is in heaven, on the right of the Father. Session comes from Latin sessio, which means sitting.

What is a fuller meaning of session?

Jesus accomplished the story of redemption: birth, life, ministry, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension back to heaven. Therefore, Christ’s session on God’s throne and at his right hand means he has received all authority and power dominion. Sitting on the throne of God, the God-man exercise governance over the entire universe and over his church, his body.

Let’s back up that meaning of his session with Scripture.

If you would like to see the following verses in many translations and in their contexts, please go to biblegateway.com.

Old Testament

First let’s explore the Old Testament background to God’s throne and sitting on it.

God’s throne over the universe signifies sovereignty or God’s rule over the universe:

This verse comes in the context of Israel attacking a possession belonging to Aram:

¹⁹… Therefore hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne with all the multitudes of heaven standing around him on his right and on his left. (1 Kings 22:19)

This one is about the nations of the world:

The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them [the nations]. (Ps. 2:4)

Again he rules over the nations, which tremble. God’s throne further signifies his holiness:

The Lord reigns, let the nations tremble; he sits enthroned between the cherubim, let the earth shake. ²Great is the Lord in Zion; he is exalted over all the nations.
³Let them praise your great and awesome name—he is holy. (Ps. 99:1-3)

His holiness and throne are linked:

God reigns over the nations; God is seated on his holy throne. (Ps. 47:8)

God’s throne signifies his majesty:

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. ²Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. ³And they were calling to one another:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.”

⁴At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. (Is. 6:1-4)

The Messiah occupies the seat of honor at God’s right hand:

The Lord says to my lord: “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.” (Ps. 110:1)

God’s throne means a priesthood is established and can be exercised:

The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind: “You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.” ⁵The Lord is at your right hand. (Ps. 110:4-5; cf. Heb. 7:17)

¹²Tell him this is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Here is the man whose name is the Branch, and he will branch out from his place and build the temple of the Lord. ¹³It is he who will build the temple of the Lord, and he will be clothed with majesty and will sit and rule on his throne. And he will be a priest on his throne. (Zech. 6:12-13)

God’s throne is a place where judgment is exercised:

The Lord is at your right hand; he will crush kings on the day of his wrath. ⁶He will judge the nations, heaping up the dead and crushing the rulers of the whole earth.
⁷He will drink from a brook along the way, and so he will lift his head high.

New Testament

Now let’s look into the New Testament’s teaching on Christ’s sessio or sitting.

After his death Christ will occupy the place of sovereignty and authority:

⁶⁴“You have said so,” Jesus replied. “But I say to all of you: From now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.” (Matt. 26:64; cf. Mark 14:62; Luke 22:69)

Peter depicts Christ in a procession into heaven and is now (sitting) at God’s right hand:

It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, ²²who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him. (1 Pet. 3:22)

The last phrase depicts his right to rule on things and powers in heaven and on earth (see Eph. 1:19-21, below):

That power is the same as the mighty strength ²⁰he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, ²¹far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. (Eph. 1:19-21)

Jesus’s death (and resurrection) leads to his session:

³The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. (Heb. 1:3)

Now the main point of what we are saying is this: We do have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven (Heb. 8:1)

¹²But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, ¹³and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool. (Heb. 10:12)

²Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Heb. 12:2)

However, his session denotes future judgment:

²⁸Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. (Matt. 19:28)

¹⁰For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. (2 Cor 5:10)

In a wonderful variation on the session theme, three times Jesus is shown as standing, one to honor and welcome home Christianity’s first martyr, Stephen:

⁵⁵But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. ⁵⁶“Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” (Acts 7:55-56)

Jesus stands to receive worship:

⁶Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. (Rev. 5:6)

Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. ²And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of rushing waters and like a loud peal of thunder. The sound I heard was like that of harpists playing their harps. ³And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. (Rev. 14:1-3)

Those verses mean Christ is not stationary, but active and authoritative.

These verses are the most powerful and clearest of all:

So God’s power raised Jesus from the dead; it enabled him to sit at God’s right hand in the heavenly realm; now he is far above any kind of authority or jurisdiction or power that exists in this age and the next. God placed everything under his feet because Jesus is seated next to God.

So how do I come to know Jesus more deeply?

Let’s focus on Eph. 1:22-23. Verses 19-21 say that Jesus has done all of this and has been appointed to be the head over everything for the church, his body, his fulness. Now let’s continue with the next verses:

²²And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church,²³which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way. (Eph. 1:22-23)

By God’s will we the church participate in his rulership over dominions and authorities and powers under him.

This remarkable and stunning and brand-new idea and reality is confirmed in this verse:

“And God raised up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:6).

What does it mean to submit to Christ’s authority who in turn gives us his authority over all those things in vv. 19-21?

Let’s apply his session to our world.

Does it mean authority over Satan? Yes.

Does it mean authority over disease because disease is part of the natural world and has a kind of power in its natural realm? Yes.

Does it mean authority over political injustice? Yes.

Over oppression and slavery and anti-liberty policies? Yes.

Over any mental strongholds and arguments and pretensions? Yes.

The list could go on because dominion and authority and power are all encompassing.

Through Christ and submitted to him we have rulership over all of it. And the best way to exercise rulership over it is to preach the gospel.

What is the purpose of Christ’s session when it grants us so much authority under him?

Eph. 2:7 says, “In order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.”

So, the purpose is to display grace and kindness. Believers who rest in Christ have authority, but they also glorify Jesus for the awesome grace and kindness of God, which he applied to us, unworthy though we were.

God gets the glory, not us.

ARTICLES IN “DO I REALLY KNOW JESUS?” SERIES

1. Do I Really Know Jesus? His Entire Existence in One Image

2. Do I Really Know Jesus? He Was the Preincarnate God

3. Do I Really Know Jesus? He Was God Incarnate

4. Do I Really Know Jesus? He Took the Form of a Servant

5. Do I Really Know Jesus? He Came Down from Heaven

6. Do I Really Know Jesus? Why Did He Become a Man?

7. Do I Really Know Jesus? Thirty Truths about His Life

8. Do I Really Know Jesus? He Was Sinless

9. Do I Really Know Jesus? He Died for You

10. Do I Really Know Jesus? Did He Descend into Hades to Preach?