Over the last few weeks, we discovered several things that happened the moment Jesus arrived in Heaven. First, we saw that upon entering Heaven, He shed His “resurrection” body only to be immediately clothed in His “glorified” body. And then we discovered that Jesus, our Great High Priest, performed the same functions in Heaven as the earthly high priest performed on earth, but with some significant differences. As we saw last week:    

1) He entered the “perfect” sanctuary in heaven, not the imperfect one on earth

2) He offered Himself as our sacrifice (He did not take an animal)

3) He offered Himself as the “perfect sacrifice,” not one with any blemish

4) He took (figuratively speaking) His own blood and offered it as a sacrifice for our sins

5) He only did it once in order to pay for our sins for all time

After Jesus left His disciples on the Mount of Olives and then ascended into Heaven, the Apostle Mark wrote, 

“After the LORD Jesus had spoken to them, He was taken up into Heaven and he sat down at the right hand of God” (Mk. 16:19).

Those who have taken the time to study the various items found in the Temple, including alters, candelabras, and tables, are immediately struck by the fact that there was no chair in the Temple. In fact, God never intended to include a chair in the Temple. Why? Because God wanted the priests to always be “working” to perform the “divine service” that He required. But after Jesus performed his priestly “duties” as noted above, he “sat down.” Here is what the writer of Hebrews said:

“After He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in Heaven” (Heb. 1:3).

Although there was no chair for any of the priests in the earthly Temple, there certainly was one for our Great High Priest in Heaven. And as the above Scripture tells us, He sat down “at the right hand of the Majesty in Heaven.” The writer of Hebrews continues to emphasize this truth in following chapters, saying,  

“We have a high priest who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven…. When this Priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God” (Heb. 8:1; 10:12).

That chair (actually, a throne) was located at the right hand of the Father. And sitting at the Father’s right hand was the place of both power and authority.

But what does it mean for us when Jesus “sat down?” It simply means that Jesus rested from His work and that everything He set out to accomplish was completed. When Jesus said, “It is finished” on the cross, He meant that the price for sin had been paid, and that no other sacrifice was necessary. The only other thing needed was to confirm His sacrifice by sprinkling His blood on the Mercy Seat in Heaven (figuratively speaking), and then to sit down, having “finished” in Heaven what He had previously “finished” on Earth. 

Furthermore, just as Jesus “sat down” after accomplishing all His work, we too need to “sit down” and rest from all of our labors and efforts trying to please God through good works or religious ritual. The Bible is clear, in fact, abundantly clear, that having faith in Christ’s finished work on the cross is the only way to be “justified” before Him. It has never been, nor ever will be, a matter of works. Although good works are the natural outcome of one’s salvation, it is never the basis of it. As the Apostle Paul stated in His letter to the Church in Rome,

“For by the works of the Law shall no flesh be justified in His sight” (Rom. 3:20).

And to the Churches scattered around the Province of Galatia, Paul wrote,

“The Law has become our tutor to show us our need for Christ so that we may be justified by faith” (Gal. 3:24).

If you have been trying to “earn” your salvation through good works, take a moment to look back not only on the positive things you have done, but also at the many failures you have had by simply trying to live up to your own standards, let alone God’s. And then let those failures, as Paul said, “show you your need for Christ so that you can be justified by faith.”

Faith is believing. Faith is confidence. Faith is assurance. Faith is asking God to forgive your sins on the basis of His Son’s “finished” work of dying on the cross for our sins, and then confirming it in Heaven. May God bless each of you this week.