Catechism Question #32

Wherein consists Christ’s exaltation?

Christ’s exaltation consists in His rising again from the third day, in ascending up into heaven, in sitting at the right hand of God the Father, and in coming to judge the world at the last day

Main Proposition:

Statement of Doctrine or Application (SILVER BULLET)

Now we can see Christ in all of his Glory

A remarkable testimony to Christ’s infinite superiority over all that are born of woman.

Intro:

Statement of proposition

Last week we talked about the Cross, the brutality of the cross, the torment of the cross and the necessity of it.

We talked about Christ’s humiliation of being born into flesh, adding human nature to his divine nature

Today we are going to see the other side of that humiliation. We are going to see Christ in all of his Glory. From defeating death, ascending into heaven, sitting next to the right hand of the father and his coming to judge the world.

This is the good news. It is revealed that God’s plan to salvation is through faith in Christ and now we are able to enjoy the glory of God and Christ

Christ in all of his Glory is what we are going to talk about today.

Why does this matter?

The bodily resurrection of Jesus is something that must be believed to be a follower of Jesus. this reality isn’t just a nice thought but a reality that gives the believer real tangible hope.

Matthew 17:1–13 ESV

1 And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. 2 And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. 3 And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. 4 And Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” 5 He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” 6 When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified. 7 But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and have no fear.” 8 And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only. 9 And as they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, “Tell no one the vision, until the Son of Man is raised from the dead.” 10 And the disciples asked him, “Then why do the scribes say that first Elijah must come?” 11 He answered, “Elijah does come, and he will restore all things. 12 But I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they pleased. So also the Son of Man will certainly suffer at their hands.” 13 Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist.

It was at this time that Jesus crossed from the human to divine nature

The only time that Jesus revealed his glory in this way while he was on the earth

The cloak of humanity that hid His his true glory was removed and Peter, James and John were able to see Christ in his divine nature

Can you imagine that these three apostles were able to see Christ in all of his gory and his ultimate humiliation at the cross.

The presence of Moses and Elijah was significant because Moses represented the law and Elijah represented the prophets.

All of the law and prophets point to Christ and are fulfilled in Christ.

The description of the brightness that was described in this passage: “intense like the sun.”

Wearing solar eclipse glasses because of the seating brightness of the sun that returns can damage your eyes

Saul on the road to Damascus in Acts 9:3

Acts 9:3 ESV

3 Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him.

It was the same splendor of the glorified Jesus that appeared to him on the road to Damascus that appeared to the three disciples on the mountain.

Sproul quote: “I think If I had lived in that same time and had seen the transfiguration, I would have been able to, sing hymns of praise while the lions were waiting to devour me in the Coliseum.”

Could you imagine being there. People can get motivated by listening to certain music nonetheless seeing Jesus in His glory and Moses and Elijah? Yeah I’d be willing to run through a brick wall all day after that.

Given what they were able to witness it shouldn’t be surprising that they went on to do the ministry that they ended up doing.

This was a taste of Heaven, where we will live eternally with Jesus

Here we have Jesus Christ showing his disciples His true glory here on earth.

Main Point #1: The importance of Christ defeating death

Statement

1 Corinthians 15:1–8 ESV

1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.

Why is the resurrection a cornerstone in the Gospel?

Prove:

The resurrection of Jesus Christ showed God’s approval of Him and qualified Him to judge

Christ did not just rise to the head as a private person, but as the public head of the church, and the head of being raised, the rest of the body shall not always lie in the grace. Christ’s rising is a pledge of our salvation.

If Christ did not defeat death then there would not be a reason to preach the Word of God or do any of what we are doing today.

This opened the gate for all of God’s elect

The bodily resurrection of Jesus is something that must be believed to be a follower of Jesus. This reality isn’t just a nice thought, but it gives the believer real and tangible hope.

The question that I hear quite a bit around church when meeting people is “when were you saved?” Like it is a past event

Our salvation is past, present and a future reality.

Greek grammar has a tense called “perfect” meaning it a tense that has past, present and future connotations.

We see that tense in Ephesians 2:8

Ephesians 2:8 ESV

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,

Our salvation is not complete until we have passed through the judgment day.

When a believer talks to an unbeliever, they often find out that the convictions and truths that they have in God’s words are either disbelieved or even at times mocked.

But there are also many friend groups where it is not so strange to believe in God and his son and scripture.

Many people have the basic intellectual knowledge of Jesus. They look at him as either a good man or even a great moral teacher.

But this in itself does not give people assurance in salvation.

Jesus being a good, moral person and teacher does not repay the debt that we owe God.

The doctrine of Resurrection can be one that is tough for people to grasp onto with confidence.

Modern science would conclude that it is not possible for someone to be resurrected from the dead.

BUT this is not a post modern, scientific nuance that we face today. This is something that has been going on since the NT time period

Why is Paul bringing this up at this point in his letter to the Corinthians?

Because he has dealt with a number of theology and worship problems at the church in Corinth.

He is facing church leaders that are outright denying Christ’s resurrection.

He needed to remind the believers of Corinth if the Gospels in which they have been saved

At this point Paul has made his stance with the Gospel and anybody that does not hold to the gospel could not be saved.

Salvation comes through belief in the good news of Christ’ death AND resurrection.

Not only did Christ raise from the dead, but he appeared to many.

More than 500 people saw the resurrected Christ

Including Paul himself who claims is not worthy of the position that he is in.

It wasn’t enough for Christ to have just died for our sins and suffer God’s wrath. Yes, that is absolutely incredible and we cannot minimize that, but that is not all that is required in order to appease God and to save His elect.

In order for us to cross the finish line we needed something more. We needed Christ not just do die for our sins, but also to defeat death. Death is undefeated up until this point. 2,342,245,255,134,525-0.

Christ in His ultimate glory gives death it’s first loss.

and because of that we are able to escape eternal death

His resurrection validates his identity as the divine Son of God, demonstrates his victory over death and the grave, and secures both the present salvation and future physical resurrection of believers

Flowers in text:

2 Corinthians 4:14 ESV

14 knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence.

This should give us hope, give us confidence.

Apply or Confront:

The world today is going to argue that there is no proof, they want medical records to show that Christ died on such and such day and on such and such day he rose again.

This is like someone trying to describe the color blue to Hellen Keller

Main Point #2: The importance of Christ’s Ascension to Heaven

Statement

Acts 1:9–11 ESV

9 And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. 10 And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, 11 and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

Christ came in humiliation and returned on the glory cloud, being elevated into Heaven to the right hand of God.

Prove

Before returning to heaven to his former glory he left the apostles in the coolest way possible.

Christ’s glorious ascension is our stepping stone to heaven, it is our ladder by which we ascend after him.

Because with this ascension we have the gate opened for us, the way is now clear for us to enter

By his ascension to glory, we have an advocate in heaven, a descent of heavenly blessings, a pledge of our ascension, and an assurance of our welcome there.

We see the ascension described in the OT in Daniel 7:13

Daniel 7:13 ESV

13 “I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him.

Christ’s ascension into heaven was an important part of his ministry, because if he didn’t return to the Father, he could not have sent the promised gift of the Holy Spirit.

As the believers watched Jesus taken up to glory, two angels appeared and rebuked them.

They gave them assurance that Jesus Christ would come again just as He had been taken from them.

At this moment, this is the first time that they would be without Christ with them.

Now,I could imagine this being a very bittersweet moment. Bitter from the point of at this point they would only see Christ when they enter the gates of Heaven, but sweet to know that it was at this moment that he was being completely glorified as the son of God.

At this point he is going back to sit by the right hand of the Father. His rightful place.

As we talked about last week, Christ came into this world with the most humble action.

There is another aspect that we need to talk about and understand because since Christ is ascending in Heaven the Apostles are now the one’s who are going to be teaching, preaching etc

The burden of proclaiming repentance of sins, the good news of forgiveness etc is now on their shoulders.

I cannot imagine this feeling. I remember specifically when I was to teach this class for the first time and I remember talking to Tim when Grant asked him to teach through James for the first time.

Imagine Peter and John knowing that they are the ones that are going to be leading this charge, but in their own words they were not ready

Matthew 26:69–70 ESV

69 Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. And a servant girl came up to him and said, “You also were with Jesus the Galilean.” 70 But he denied it before them all, saying, “I do not know what you mean.”

All except for John, none of the disciples could be found at the crucification site or after for fear of their lives.

They needed the help of the Holy Spirit to come and help them and when Christ ascended to Heaven that is actually what happened

Acts 2:1–2 ESV

1 When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.

The promise of sending the Holy Spirit to believers was complete

John 7:37–39 ESV

37 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ” 39 Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

We’ll end this point with this: The word was flesh, he suffered for man’s sins, he was crucified, died, buried and three days later raised from the death and now he is going to sit by the Father. He faces the ultimate humiliation and now he is facing the ultimate glory.

Flowers in texts

Matthew 24:30 ESV

30 Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

Illustrations

Rocket launch illustration

Apply or Confront

Main Point #3: Christ is sitting on his rightful throne

Statement

Matthew 26:64 ESV

64 Jesus said to him, “You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

Prove

Here is thing: The only spot that is worthy of Christ is at the side of God.

We all think that we deserve to be at places where we really don’t. Whether that is certain schools, companies, positions at those companies. We think that we should be given things because we worked hard and are “good people”. In reality we don’t deserve anything in life. It is all a gift from God

Christ on the other hand deserves to be in his current position than anybody or anything in the existence of time and space

It was at this time during this passage when Christ was being questioned about “who he is” that the people at the Sanhedrin sealed their fate for eternity.

Christ says that not only is he the Son of Man which was the commonly acknowledged title of the Messiah, the one Jesus used most often and “Power” which was a figurative designation of God.

Because of the ungodly members of the Sanhedrin or the supreme council refused to receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior, they had sealed their doom to face Him at the end of times as their judge and executioner.

In a sense the accused (Jesus) would become the accuser and the judges (deniers of Christ) would become the judged.

And no matter what signs or words that Christ would have said in this moment would not have changed the hardened hearts of these men.

Yes, Christ was the one on trial now, but when it really matters Christ in all of his glory sitting in heaven next to the Father will be the one that gives the final judgment on all men.

That is what he deserves.

Jesus stated that in the future they would see the son of man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One. God’s right hand is the position of authority and honor.

Acts 17:30–31 ESV

30 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, 31 because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”

The recognition of God exists, and the understanding of who he is will not lead to a saving knowledge of Him.

That only comes from a special understanding of special revelation.

There is a coming day in which God will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom he has appointed… Jesus Christ

Not even the Father judges anyone, he has given all judgment to the Son.

Anyone who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father

“Truly truly I say to you, he who hears my word, and believes Him who sent me, has eternal life and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.”

Over the last few months going through the book of Romans we know that judgment is coming for all. There is nobody that is outside the judgment of Christ.

The world at one time judged Him and now he is going to judge the world.

How does judgment fit into scripture?

We will all be judged 100% accurately

Matthew 10:15 ESV

15 Truly, I say to you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.

John 3:19 ESV

19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.

For all that respond to the Gospel in unbelief, their final doom is set by divine judgment

Paul wrote in Romans: “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”

Flowers in texts

Mark 16:19 ESV

19 So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.

Illustrations:

In courtroom anywhere in the world if someone is guilty of a crime there is still a chance that they will be set free because we live in a broken world. The same can be said of someone who is innocent but found guilty of a crime. We live in a world where mistakes and errors happen, but when the judgment day arrives and we are standing before Jesus we know that no matter what he is going to 100% count people as justified or guilty of sin and it is going to perfectly accurate.

Apply or Confront

Application:

We must believe in the resurrection of Christ

This is the foundation in which our Church was built

2. Because of Christ’s ascension to Heaven each of God’s elect have the Holy Spirit indwelled in their hearts.

3. Have confidence that Christ is going to judge man perfectly.

a. If you are a believer you should feel blessed

b. If you have not yet come to Christ than I beg you to pray to Christ, he will forgive you of all your sins