looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:02, NKJV).
There are some who deny the Deity of Christ, and by deity I specifically mean those aspects of Godhead that most defy human understanding - His eternality (no beginning and no end), and His all-encompassing authority.
The Gospel of John and other New Testament writers address the first issue, but Hebrews, as much or more than any other book, attends to Christ's authority. And it does so in a surprisingly simple refrain - Christ's exalted position at the throne of God.
In Hebrews Chapter 1, the writer quotes God Himself: But to the Son He says: “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your Kingdom. (Hebrews 1:8, NKJV). Then in Hebrews 8 and here, he specifically mentions Christ being seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
Throughout human history, the right hand of the king has signified his sovereign authority. It was the hand of honor, and of life and death.
One motion of the royal scepter, typically held in the right hand, rendered unquestionable judgment that could not be breached or rescinded.
To stand at the right hand of the throne was to serve, but to sit there was to be co-regent, equal in authority and power.
Humans in our natural state crave power and despise authority. The first is motivated by both sin and fear. The second primarily by sin alone - the desire to throw off the yolk of God's authority and to be our own sovereign.
Left unchecked, these dual impulses inevitably lead to violent anarchy, to mob rule of the most inhuman (but really quintessentially human) kind.
Given the totality of recorded history, it makes perfect sense to distrust authority as embodied by human rulers and human institutions. One of the brilliant protective aspects of our form of government here in the U.S. is that it was established by men who trusted God, but held men themselves as irremediably corrupt.
Thus our system of checks and balances and the bedrock principle that abuse of power and authority WILL inevitably occur.
The prescription: three co-equal branches of adversarial government - the Legislature, the Supreme Court, and the Executive; all to protect the citizenry from ourselves AND overreaching authority.
But the authority of Christ is entirely different.
Instead of being held in suspicion, His sovereignty should be embraced as a great comfort to us. We are His children and subjects by faith, and He has proven His undying and immeasurable devotion to us by His momentous act of Self-sacrifice that paid the price of our sin, and gives us eternal life.
I can think of no greater, nor eloquent, nor succinct summary of this then Paul's exposition in his letter to the Philippians.
Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery [something to be held onto or grasped at all costs] to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:5-11, NKJV).
Note the three words the Holy Spirit inspired Paul to use regarding Christ's deity and humanity: form, likeness, and appearance. These are telling and immensely significant, and much more could be written than I intend here, but know this:
He whose form is God, took on the essential form of Man, putting aside for a time all the privileges and power of Deity in His own right.
And taking on the likeness of men (the entirety of those existential aspects that make humans human), and in every way the appearance of a man (comprising everything in a person which strikes the senses, the figure, bearing, discourse, actions, manner of life, etc. - the habitus of a man, as Strong's so precisely puts it) - He humbled Himself, to come, not as a powerful King, but as a sacrificial Lamb.
Focus on that last thought especially and be amazed. For the eternal, all-powerful Second Person of the Trinity of the Godhead, purposely, voluntarily, and out of filial obedience to the Father, made Himself lowly in order to be killed in a most horrific manner so that we (His subjects) could live in Him.
And in His humility He was exalted by God the Father, and given authority over all flesh as a Man. That Man, Jesus (note the emphasis on His human nature), is the one to whom every knee will bow and every tongue confess that He is Lord, not to His own glory, but to the glory of God the Father.
Do you see the comfort and confidence these truths should instill in us?
All the perfection, power, holiness, righteousness, goodness and intelligence of God, embodied in a Divine Human ruler, who has already demonstrated His love for us beyond anything we could ask or think.
It conceivably could have been very different. Christ could have exercised His authority in a much less assuring way. He could have manifested Himself as that Divine Dictator, that Holy Terror, that the world so often mischaracterizes Him to be, who squashes rebellious humanity without mercy, and without any chance of redemption.
But instead, He surprised us with an unimaginable demonstration of His love - something we could not have anticipated were it not for God's Word, and the evidence of the Cross.
Thus, the ultimate and superior authority of Christ is a strong tower and a shelter for His children by faith.
And while it is of the greatest assurance to us who believe in Him, to those who remain in rebellion, it will be a source of the greatest possible fear.
As forewarned in Revelation, there will come a Day when …the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, [will hide] themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and [say] to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! “For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?” (Revelation 6:15-17, NKJV).
Submit to His authority now, while it may be done by faith, so that you will be spared when His authority is revealed as inescapable in the judgment that is to come.
