"This same Jesus,…is taken up… into heaven."—Acts 1:11.

"Christ sitteth on the right hand of God."—Col. 3:1. In this modern day, too many, in speaking or writing of the life of our Lord Jesus Christ, leave Him in the tomb. They confess, "He lived a remarkable life," a life which they bring to a close with the death on the cross. They sing their mournful song:

"The Man in the Glory." He is there with a real body, a literal body, which men could touch. In the Upper Room He said to those believers there gathered, "Handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones such as ye see me have" (Luke 24:39).

If Jesus Christ is not "the Man in the Glory," He cannot carry on a present work, nor can He perform a future work. Our salvation falls to the ground. We need expect nothing from a dead Christ—One who is still resting under the curse of sin, which is death. Those who believe in Him sometimes live as if He were a dead Christ, but we know better. His own word is, "I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore" (Rev. 1:18). Such a Being had never before been in Heaven, until the Man Christ Jesus took His place there. We shall think of "the Man in the Glory" in several relationships which He bears toward us.

In Hebrews 1:3 we read that Christ, "when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high." Hebrews 10:12 tells us the same thing: "But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God." After His work was accomplished, He went into the Holiest in Heaven and sat down.

A seat speaks of finished work. The Tabernacle in the wilderness has often been called the "chairless house in the wilderness." God furnished the Tabernacle with a table, a candlestick, and so on; but there was no chair. The priest in olden times always stood—he never sat down. The reason why he never sat down was that his work was never finished. He might offer a sacrifice today, but it must be repeated tomorrow; he might sprinkle the blood on the mercy seat this year, but it must be repeated next year—all this because "it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins" (Heb. 10:4). The high priest in Israel never reached the end of his work. He never sat down.

But "this Man" sat down and demonstrated the truth of the cry that came from His lips near the end of the six hours on the cross: "It is finished"! A perfect sacrifice for sins had been made; the Saviour’s work was done.

There is another word in Hebrews that tells us the same thing. It is the word once, which is found a number of times. Once used in relation to the work of Christ does not mean "once upon a time," but "once for all." The word declares the fact that the work for which He came into the world has reached a glorious achievement.

"So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many" (Heb. 9:28). This means that Christ went to the cross and bore our sins in His body "once for all"! He will never go to the cross again. Salvation is accomplished. "We are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all" (Heb. 10:10). The translators noticed an ellipsis here and supplied the words "for all," which are printed in italics.

"God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ" (Acts 2:36). Thomas said, "My Lord and my God." We join with him in the confession and adoration. Christ is on the right hand of God in the place of dignity and honor and power.

God’s thoughts of Him are expressed in Philippians 2, where we are told that He was in the form of God, yet took upon Himself the form of a servant that He might be obedient unto death, yea unto the ignominious, the terrible, the shameful death of Calvary’s cross. Following that statement comes: "Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God, the Father" (Phil. 2:9–11).

Jesus Christ was not always in the place of dignity and glory. On earth He went into the place of shame. Men spat full into His face when He was here on earth. They plucked the beard from His cheeks and laid the scourge on His back. His brow was pierced with thorns, His hands and feet with nails. He was mocked and derided. In agony He cried from the cross, "Eli, Eli, lama sabach-thani?" and they called back to Him in derision. It may be that some did not catch His words, but others did, and they were ready to make out of them quips and jests. They said, "Why! He’s calling for Elijah! God paid no attention to Him; let’s see what Elijah will do!"

But that mocking and jeering came to an end. The One who was in the place of shame went back into the Glory from which He came. The feet that had carried the cross up the hill of Calvary now carried the Saviour up the slant of Heaven. The pierced and torn feet that went up the heights to the cross now go up the stairs to the throne of God, the throne of the universe. That was when the 24th Psalm was fulfilled: "Lift up your heads, O ye gates…and the King of glory shall come in." That day when Jesus Christ left the earth, the gates lifted up their heads, and the King of Glory went in.

The Word declares that He was "made higher than the heavens." That means that He was made higher than the inhabitants of the heavens. I can well imagine that angels, so numerous as to be uncounted, cried out when He came back, "Hail! Hail! March on to the throne in victory and glory!" Down, all Heaven, at His feet and worship. Angels and archangels, down before Him! Cherubim and seraphim, down! All Heaven, worship at His feet!

John saw Him, covered with the scars of Golgotha, on that throne, with the hosts of Heaven on their faces before Him. He is there, our Lord whom we serve, our God whom we worship.

Jesus Christ was once in the place of humiliation; He is now in the place of glorification.

He was once in the place of degradation; He is now in the place of exaltation.

He was once in the place of debasement; He is now in the place of dignity.

He was once in the place of the curse; He is now in the place of the crown.

He was once in the place of horror; He is now in the place of honor.

He was once on the accursed tree; He is now on the Father’s throne—the tree was gruesome, but the throne is glorious.

He was once in the place of wrath; He is now in the place of worship.

He is our Lord and our God!

"Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God…" (Heb. 4:14). He was not a Priest on earth, nor could He be one if He were on earth now (Heb. 8:4), but He is a Priest in the true Holy of Holies in Heaven.

His life in Heaven is not one of self-gratification. He is there for us. He is accessible to us. We may come boldly to the throne of grace. He hears our prayers.

When the apostles selected a man to take the place of Judas, they prayed to the Lord Jesus, ‘Lord, Thou knowest the hearts of men. Direct our ways.’

When Stephen was stoned to death he prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit."

When Huss was led to the stake, he was surrounded by his enemies who consigned his soul to the Devil; but with quiet, calm faith, Huss prayed, "I commit my spirit into Thy hands, O my Lord Jesus Christ."

The same One hears our prayers. We know that prayer is to God, through the Son, by the Spirit. We believe that every prayer that gets to God goes through the Son. The prayers of the saints the Son offers in His incense basket as sweet incense unto the Father. We come to God through Him.

The priesthood of Christ is unchangeable (Heb. 7:24). It is not passed on to another, nor are its duties delegated to another. Its unchangeableness is our hope.

In Hebrews our Lord is contrasted with earthly priests. An earthly priest could only hold office for a certain length of time. If he were not removed from office, he was bound to die; so the priestly duties were passed on from one man to another.

Christ’s priesthood never changes, because He has endless life. One man with an endless priesthood because of endless life is better than a long line of priests in succession, because endless life means endless power, and it takes just that to save us.

Jesus Christ is our sympathetic Advocate and our faithful Intercessor. I wonder if we are clear as to what this means. Our Lord’s life as Priest in Heaven is an exact counterpart of the actions of the high priest in the Holy of Holies on earth. Once a year the high priest went into the holiest place, and he never said a word. He was there in the presence of God, but he was silent.

It is not what our Lord says, but what He is that constitutes Him our Advocate. Herein lies my security. "And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righ-teous" (I John 2:1). If I am unrighteous, He is righteous, and He is there at the right hand of God as my righteousness. If we sin, we have an Advocate—not if we repent; it does not say that. Neither does it say "when we sin." If God had written "when we sin" He would have, in a certain sense, given us permission to sin. But that is not what He says. He does not want us to sin, but He does recognize the possibility of one of His children falling into sin, so says, "If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father." It is "with the Father," for this is a family matter. Every sin of a child of God is a sin against his Father in Heaven. You can’t do something wrong without hurting your Father in Heaven—you cannot, child of His.

If a child of God sins, he has with the Father a sympathetic Advocate, One who understands the power of sin, since He has Himself felt its tremendous pressure upon spirit, soul and body, and yet One who has been uncompromising in His refusal to yield to it in thought, word or deed. Such a righteous and effectual Advocate the believer has in Jesus Christ! Through Him we have restoration and cleansing when we come by way of confession.

Hebrews 2:10 speaks of Christ as the ‘Captain of our salvation.’ According to W. H. Griffith Thomas, the word captain means "prince-leader." A prince-leader is one who has those who come after him. This is the thought in the same verse when it speaks of Him as the one who shall bring "many sons unto glory." He is there; we shall follow.

In Hebrews 6:19,20 we are told that Christ entered Heaven as a "forerunner." A "forerunner" is one who goes on before, with others to follow him. The high priest in Israel never entered the Holy of Holies as a "forerunner." No one ever followed him. But we shall follow our Lord. Our Lord’s entrance into Heaven is the pledge and promise of our entrance there. "Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am," is a prayer that will be answered. Christ’s death, resurrection and ascension become the guarantee of our own, as is declared in I Thessalonians 4:14, which promises all, "If we believe that Jesus died and rose again…."

The day when we shall be with our Lord cannot come too soon. We know something about the limitations of the flesh. We know something of the cry of a better man that any of us: "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" We will be glad when deliverance comes.

Bramwell Booth used to tell of a man who had an appalling lisp and stammer when he spoke. Yet Christ so evidently dwelt in that man’s heart that, in spite of the impediment, General Booth got him to testify whenever he could. General Booth heard this man’s testimony, a verse from Cowper’s hymn:

He sits upon the Father’s throne in Heaven, but He exercises a spiritual sway over the hearts of men. We have been translated out of the darkness of sin into the ‘kingdom of the Son of His love.’ We are His spiritual subjects, and He is King of our hearts. Yet His kingship does not end here, for someday He will sit upon the throne of His father David and have ‘the uttermost parts of the earth for His possession.’ He will be King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Toward this He is looking. Hebrews 10:13 says that He took the throne of Heaven "from henceforth expecting."

Someday soon the Father will make His enemies to be the footstool of His feet, and He will be the recognized King of the whole universe of God.

Sinner, be warned. Christ is seated now, the Mediator between God and men, the Man in the Glory. You can take God at His word and come through Him today to be saved; you can yield your allegiance to Him now. But if not now, then someday you will be compelled to do so; for someday He will rise from the throne, and when He rises, the acceptable year of our Lord will end, and the day of the vengeance of our God will begin.