Jesus sat down!

Scripture:

Hebrews 1:3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

Observation:

Not only is Jesus the exact representation of God, but he is God himself—the very God who spoke in Old Testament times. He is eternal; he worked with the Father in creating the world (John 1:3; Colossians 1:16). He is the full revelation of God. You can have no clearer view of God than by looking at Christ. Jesus Christ is the complete expression of God in a human body.

The book of Hebrews links God's saving power with his creative power. In other words, the power that brought the universe into being and that keeps it operating is the very power that cleanses our sins. How mistaken we would be to ever think that God couldn't forgive us. No sin is too big for the Ruler of the universe to handle. He can and will forgive us when we come to him through his Son. That Jesus sat down means that the work was complete. Christ's sacrifice was final.

Application:

We are dealing here with a person, not just an idea or a tradition or a religion or a practice. Jesus Christ was and is a living person. And he wills to be known, loved, trusted, followed, worshiped, enjoyed. He is alive and is in this room among us by his Spirit this morning receiving all that we do, and responding to us.

Here is a crucial observation in the way that the writer originally wrote this verse: it is one clause with one subject and one main verb. Everything else serves to shed light on that one main assertion. The subject is "He" (or "who" in the original)—that is the Son of God, Jesus Christ. The one main verb is "sat down." So the one main clause of the verse is: "He sat down at the right hand of Majesty." Everything else in the verse serves that assertion and sheds light on that.

The way to hear it is to translate it like this:

"He . . . being the radiance of God's glory . . . sat down at the right hand of Majesty."

"He . . . being the exact representation of God's nature . . . sat down at the right hand of Majesty."

"He . . . upholding all things by the word of His power . . . sat down at the right hand of Majesty."

"He . . . having made purification of sins sat down at the right hand of Majesty."

What the author here wants us to see is what makes it fitting for Christ to sit down at the right hand of God's majesty. He mentions four things:

He is the radiance of God's glory—so he sat down at God's right hand.

He is the exact representation of God's nature—so he sat down at God's right hand.

He upholds all things by the word of his power—so he sat down at God's right hand.

He made purification of sins—so he sat down at God's right hand.

Prayer:

"Lord, I am so thankful that you sat down after holding the universe together with Your Word and purifying us of our sins by applying Your blood to the heavenly mercy seat. Because You hold the universe together, I know that You can hold my life together. I am so thankful that You are SITTING at the right hand of the Father interceding for me. That helps me make it through each struggle, storm and day. In Jesus' name, amen!"