The article "Sat Down" by Don Fortner addresses the doctrine of the exaltation of Christ, emphasizing His identity as the God-man seated at the right hand of God the Father. Fortner presents key arguments regarding the significance of Christ's ascension and completed work of redemption, asserting that His position in glory assures believers of their acceptance before God. He supports his claims with Scripture references such as Hebrews 1:3, which emphasizes Christ’s role in purging sins and His authority, and other passages like Isaiah 9:6 and John 1:1-3, which affirm Christ's divine nature. The practical significance lies in the assurance this doctrine provides to believers, as it underscores their positional unity with Christ and their access to salvation through Him.
Key Quotes
“This Man is no ordinary man. This Man is himself God. He is the God-man.”
“Since there is a Man in glory accepted of God there may be another and another and another.”
“He has by himself purged our sins...thereby abolishing them completely and forever.”
“There sits the Man Christ Jesus and all his elect in him.”
What does the Bible say about Jesus sitting at the right hand of God?
The Bible declares that Jesus, the God-man, sat down at the right hand of God after purging our sins, signifying His acceptance and authority.
Furthermore, this truth underscores the assurance believers have that there is a Man in glory who empathizes with our humanity and mediates on our behalf. Because He is exalted and seated in authority, He has the power to save to the uttermost all who come to God through Him, as indicated in Hebrews 7:25. The significance of Christ’s current position cannot be overstated; it emphasizes the hope and security found in our relationship with Him, affirming that we too are seated with Him in the heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6).
Hebrews 1:3, Ephesians 2:6, Hebrews 7:25
How do we know that Jesus is both God and man?
Scripture clearly presents Jesus as the God-man, fully divine and fully human, as seen in verses such as John 1:14.
This understanding is crucial for Christians, as it affirms that Jesus' work on the cross was not only the work of a man but the work of the God-man, whose sacrifice carries infinite value. His humanity ensures that He can sympathize with our weaknesses, and His divinity guarantees the effectiveness of His atoning sacrifice. Thus, we find comfort and assurance in His unique nature, knowing He is fully equipped to save us and bring us to God, represented as our High Priest in Hebrews 4:15-16.
John 1:14, Colossians 2:9, Hebrews 1:3, Hebrews 4:15-16
Why is Jesus’ atonement important for Christians?
Jesus’ atonement is essential as it fully satisfies God’s justice and secures our forgiveness and reconciliation.
Moreover, the atonement is the means by which we receive forgiveness and are declared righteous in Christ. Colossians 1:20 speaks of Christ making peace through the blood of His cross, illustrating the comprehensive nature of reconciliation He provides. The importance of Jesus’ atonement cannot be overstated; it is the definitive work through which believers are assured of eternal life and acceptance with God, a central tenet of sovereign grace theology that emphasizes God's initiative in salvation through the sacrifice of His Son.
2 Corinthians 5:21, Colossians 1:20
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; - Hebrews 1:3“Sat Down”
There is a Man in glory! There is a Man risen, exalted, and seated upon the throne of God. Do you realize what that means? Does not the Word of God ask, “How can he (a man) be clean, that is born of woman?” We read in the Book of God, “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.” Yet, the Holy Spirit here declares that there is a Man in glory, a Man who, “when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high!”
No Ordinary Man
This Man is no ordinary man. This Man is himself God. He is the God-man. He became a man that he might redeem men. He lived in this world as the Representative Man, the Representative of God’s elect. He lived the full age of a man in perfect obedience to the will and law of God to establish righteousness for men, even the righteousness of God, by magnifying the law and making it honorable. Then, when his hour had fully come, this Man, the God-man, our Lord Jesus Christ, died upon the cursed tree as our Substitute, “the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God.” Now, this Man, who as a man put away sin by the sacrifice of himself, is seated upon the very throne of God in glory, accepted as a man, with God! Hear the good news of that fact. -- Since there is a Man in glory, accepted of God, there may be another, and another, and another! Because this Man, the God-man is in glory, “He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him!”
Who is he?
This man, the Lord Jesus Christ, is “the brightness of God’s glory and the express image of his person.” Christ is both God himself and the singular revelation and expression of the glory of God. “The reference,” Henry Mahan wrote, “is to the sun and its rays. The Father and the Son are the same as the sun and its rays. One is not before the other, and they cannot be divided or separated. He is the perfect revelation and the exact image and character of the Father (Isa. 9:6; John 1:1-3; 10:30; 14:8-10; Matt. 1:21-23).”
What has he done?
Much needs to be said in answer to this question; but allow me stick with the words of this text, and simply declare that which is the essence of all our Savior did as the God-man, our Mediator. The Lord Jesus Christ has “by himself purged our sins!” The Lord Jesus, of himself, by himself alone, and by the sacrifice of himself, made atonement for all the sins of God’s elect. He took our sins upon himself, bore them and died under the penalty of them, thereby abolishing them completely and forever (2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 9:26; Col. 1:19-22; Isa. 53:4-6).
Where is he now?
He is yonder in glory, where, two thousand years ago, “he sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high.” The “Majesty on high” is God the Father to whom majesty belongs and who is clothed with majesty. His right hand is the place of power, greatness, acceptance, and glory. There sits the Man, Christ Jesus, and all his elect in him. We have been made to sit down with him in heavenly places!
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