The first Christian sermon Part 4

Acts 2:33-37 This part is about the Ascension of Christ.
Where is Jesus now physically? He now sits at the right hand of the Father in glory, ruling and reigning until His enemies are made His footstool. We know that Jesus lived, died, and rose again for His people. It is the same with His ascension too.
This passage is part of Peter’s sermon on the day of Pentecost. When Peter came to the point in his sermon where he proclaimed the gospel, that was when the mocking, bewildered audience were cut to the heart.
Last week we saw the insight from Psalm 16 into the mind of Christ as He approached His death. Having dealt with the life, death, and resurrection, now we look into the fourth aspect of the gospel—the ascension.

We too must be cut to the heart by seeing the glory of the risen King. While we as believers do not cry out, “Brothers, what shall we do?” we cry out to the Lord, asking for opportunity to serve Him. We also are driven to repent of our sins and set Christ in our hearts as holy and glorious. We too recognise how God has treated Him (exalted Him) as against how we treat Him. May the shock of that realisation cause us to run to Him in repentance.

PLACE OF THE KING
Jesus is at the right hand of God.
1. This points to the special honour being given to Him. We have an example of this in 1King 2:19 [So Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak to him on behalf of Adonijah. And the king rose to meet her and bowed down to her. Then he sat on his throne and had a seat brought for the king’s mother, and she sat on his right.] In Heb 1, the writer demonstrates that Jesus is superior to the angels, and in this chapter in Heb 1:13 the same quotation, Psalm 110:1, which Peter quoted in his Pentecost sermon is quoted to demonstrate honour. The people in Jerusalem had done the exact opposite, by humiliating Jesus and killing Him.
2. This also shows that Christ is Himself divine. The right hand of God is not just a place of honour. God, being so unapproachable, no one else can come and stand before God, leave alone sit at His right hand. In Acts 7, we read about Stephen’s sermon and his death. The point at which his persecutors rushed at him was when he described what he was seeing, which they considered the height of blasphemy. Acts 7:56-57 [And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him.]
In Psalm 110:1, David wrote: “The LORD says to my Lord.” where the Father speaks to the Son. Here, David calls Jesus Lord. How is it possible for David to call Jesus as Lord, if He is just human. In Matt 22:41-46, we read of the time when Jesus asked the same question, ““What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?” and again, “How is it then that David, in the Spirit, calls him Lord?” Jesus was not saying that the Christ was not David’s son. The question was intended to point out that the Christ could not be merely David’s son. He must be much more. He must in fact be God. The Jehovah’s witnesses may say that he could be an angel. But Hebrews 1:13 begins by saying: “And to which of the angels has He ever said . . .”
Thus God has honoured Jesus and declared Him to be God by making Him sit at His right hand, whereas the Jews had treated Him like He was a criminal and heretic. We also make too little of Christ in our thinking and practices. If we could see Jesus the way Stephen saw him, imagine what our lives would be like. Peter’s words were bold ones. Only 50 days prior, the crowd had shouted for Jesus to be killed, and a few chapters later, we read of how Stephen was stoned for saying something similar. This is an offensive message, and preachers in some parts of the world are still killed for it. The message is not that Christ is available for you to choose as King. The offer is that God has raised Him to be King. Submit to Him now or you will perish. Every knee will bow down and every tongue will confess this one day whether you like it or not. We understand that not everyone is a citizen of Christ’s kingdom. But Christ is not king just of His kingdom. He is king over everyone and of hell itself.

POWER OF THE KING
The place indicates His divinity and honour. The power He wields flows from that place. He is enthroned to rule over all creation. [Luke 22:69, Mk 16:42 Right hand of power, Eph 1:20, Ps 110:1 Until I make your enemies your footstool].
From Acts 2:33, we see that He executes His reign through the Holy Spirit. His ascension is not the end of His earthly ministry but rather it is the universalisation of the earthly ministry. And this universal ministry is executed through the Holy Spirit. [Acts 16:7, Phil 1:19, Gal 4:6]. In Acts 1:1, Luke wrote: In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach” Now in the second book, Luke writes about what Jesus CONTINUES to do. He rules and reigns over us and for us. When the spirit awakens a sinner to be born again, that is Christ plundering the kingdom of darkness. When the spirit testifies that we are children of God, it is Christ the king revealing Himself to us. When the Spirit sanctifies us, it is the King shaping us to become a glorious people in His own likeness. When the Spirit convicts us, it is the King snatching us back from hell. When He glorifies us in eternity it will be the King glorifying Himself, showing that His kingly reign and protection has not failed.

What do we do with this information? We must not merely know it but we must also feel it. He is our kingly Captain and Defender. We need to really know that it is true. Let the glory of the King—the glory of who Christ is, what He has done, and what He is now doing—pierce our hearts.