Sit at My Right Hand Until…

After Jesus had died and resurrected, He ascended into heaven and sat at the right hand of God. So, what must happen since then until His second coming?

Acts 1:9-11
And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them. They also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.”

We know that Jesus will come back and touch down on the earth in the same way that He was lifted up from the earth, and be present (Greek “perousia”) among us again. Even Apostle Paul described this second “perousia” coming event, and how His saints, both dead and alive, will be taken up to the clouds to welcome His return to earth, in his letter to the Thessalonians (c.f. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17).

Since His death, resurrection, and ascension, two thousand years have elapsed. So, what is Jesus waiting for since He sat down at the right hand of God?

Revelation 22:16-17,20
“I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.” The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost. … He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming quickly.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

Acts 3:20-26
“and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time. Moses said, ‘THE LORD GOD WILL RAISE UP FOR YOU A PROPHET LIKE ME FROM YOUR BRETHREN; TO HIM YOU SHALL GIVE HEED to everything He says to you.”

Hebrews 10:12-13
but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD, waiting from that time onward UNTIL HIS ENEMIES BE MADE A FOOTSTOOL FOR HIS FEET.

Psalms 110:1
The LORD says to my Lord: “Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”

Jesus is waiting UNTIL certain things are completed and fulfilled on earth first. In other words, we are not waiting for Jesus to return, but He is waiting for us so that He can return.

Ephesians 1:9-10
He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him with a view to an administration [“oikonomia”; steward or manager] suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth…

Ephesians 3:9-10
and to bring to light what is the administration [“oikonomia”; steward or manager] of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things; so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places.

In this mystery of the gospel that has been brought to light, the church (or “ekklesia”) has a major role to play as the “oikonomia” administrator of the fullness of the times, such that “the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places” for “the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth”.

Thus, the church can hinder, delay, or hasten the return of Christ depending on its theological persuasions, fivefold ministry expressions, organisational mission, spiritual formation processes, operational synergies, body-life accountabilities, and fruitfulness management.

Isaiah 9:6-7
For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.

If Jesus is the “head of the body, the church” (Colossians 1:18), then we, the members of the body or saints of the ekklesia, constitute the part of the body from shoulders to feet. In other words, the government of Christ rests on us, the church, and through the church, there will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace.

Just as the kingdom of heaven was at hand when Jesus Christ was walking on earth (without ruling from Roman palaces), the kingdom of heaven is equally at hand today through the body of Christ walking on earth. Therefore, the church must not think that the government of Christ will only be established after He returns to earth for His Millennial reign, and hence, become passive in becoming the administration or steward suitable to the fullness of the times for the consummation of all things in Christ.

We must recognise that we are the ones given the mandate and providence to consummate all things in Christ and to Christ! This is the “ten minas” with which we must “do business” until the “nobleman” comes back to a triumphant entry (c.f. Luke 19:12-38; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).

Jesus is waiting for the church, not the church waiting for Jesus, to hasten His return to earth.

Today, as Christ’s ekklesia, are we hindering or hastening the day of the Lord’s return?

There are broadly three “summing up” milestones that Jesus is waiting for the church, the body of Christ on earth, to fulfil or complete before He returns to “perousia” with us on earth again.

In the first of the three milestones, Jesus is waiting from ascension onwards until the purification of His bride is complete, so that He can present and join to Himself a spotless, blameless, holy, and glorious bride just like He, the Bridegroom, is Himself spotless, blameless, holy, and glorious.

In other words, holy conduct and godliness of the bride of Christ will hasten the coming of the Bridegroom (c.f. 2 Peter 3:11-12).

When this milestone is complete, the Spirit and the bride will say, “Come,” and He who testifies to these things will say, “Yes, I am coming quickly.” (c.f. also Song of Solomon 8:14)

For a more detailed treatment of this milestone, please read my post entitled “What Holds the Promise for the Present Life and the Life to Come” and Tribulation, Rapture, and the Enduring Triumph of the Church.

In the second of the three milestones, Jesus is waiting from ascension onwards “until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time” is complete.

The “things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time” is the overarching gospel as testified by Jesus Christ; “for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy” (Revelation 19:10). While this overarching narrative includes the aforementioned first milestone and the third milestone to be discussed later, we can broadly classify this milestone as one concerning the restoration of Israel (c.f. Malachi 3:1-4) and of the Edenic mandate (c.f. Isaiah 51:3; Romans 8:19-21).

As this milestone is too extensive for proper treatment here, please read my posts entitled “It is Finished, and It is Finishing!” and “The House of Jacob and the House of Israel in the Last Day” for more details.

In the third of the three milestones, Jesus Christ is waiting from ascension onwards until His enemies be made a footstool for His feet.

Hebrews 2:6-8
But one has testified somewhere, saying, “WHAT IS MAN, THAT YOU REMEMBER HIM? OR THE SON OF MAN, THAT YOU ARE CONCERNED ABOUT HIM? YOU HAVE MADE HIM FOR A LITTLE WHILE LOWER THAN THE ANGELS; YOU HAVE CROWNED HIM WITH GLORY AND HONOR, AND HAVE APPOINTED HIM OVER THE WORKS OF YOUR HANDS; YOU HAVE PUT ALL THINGS IN SUBJECTION UNDER HIS FEET.” For in subjecting all things to him, He left nothing that is not subject to him. But now we do not yet see all things subjected to him.

If the earth is His footstool, the feet is His body that treads the earth, and the church is His body on earth, then this means that He is waiting for His enemies to be subjected under our feet before returning to receive His kingdom from us, His stewards.

Genesis 1:26-28
Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

God has appointed man to rule over the works of His hands, and He has put all things, including the enemies of Christ and sons of disobedience, in subjection under our feet like our footstool. In subjecting all things to us, He left nothing that is not subject to us. This is the Edenic mandate that God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophet, Moses, from ancient time.

But now we do not yet see all things subjected to us because of our disobedience.

2 Corinthians 10:4-6
for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, and we are ready to punish all disobedience, whenever your obedience is complete [“plēroō” or made full].

Indeed, we are only ready to punish ALL disobedience, and subject all our enemies at our feet, when our obedience is complete or made full, like the obedience of Jesus towards the Father; for how can we punish disobedience when disobedience is also found in us? How can we destroy the strongholds of the ruler of the world when he has something in us that originate from him, like disobedience? (c.f. John 14:30)

The most important prophecy that God spoke by the writing of Moses, the prophet, is this:

Genesis 3:15
And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel.”

During this “period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time”, the serpent’s works may bruise the heels of Christ’s body, but Christ’s body shall crush the serpent on its head.

Praying against Satan and casting out demons are relatively easy, but to crush Satan’s head and prevailing over all his works in the nations with all of heaven’s authority within us will require a different stature in our whole being.

It requires the incarnational “stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13), in which all the fullness of Deity dwells in our bodily form (c.f. Colossians 2:9), just like it was in Jesus during the days of His flesh; for only then shall we do the works that Jesus did, and even greater works than those that He did (c.f. John 14:12). It requires being sent in the same image and true oneness of the Father and the Son (c.f. Jon 17:11, 18, 21-22); for only then “whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (Matthew 16:19), and “if you forgive the sins of anyone, they are forgiven; and if you retain the sins of anyone, they are retained.” (John 20:23 AMP). This is the promise of “all authority” (Matthew 28:18) that has been given to those who are truly one with the Seed.

Therefore, just as the gates of hell cannot prevail against the incarnate body of Christ on earth, the gates of hell cannot prevail against the incarnational body of Christ on earth. Just as the incarnate body of Christ crushed the head of the serpent under His feet, the incarnational body of Christ shall crush the head of the serpent under its feet.

Indeed, “the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet” (Romans 16:20); for we will be the instrument of God’s wrath and judgment to crush him and his hosts in the last days.

The great tribulation of Satan and his hosts will be the great glory of the “ekklesia” on earth.

Matthew 24:14
“This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.”

1 Corinthians 4:20
For the kingdom of God does not consist in words but in power.

Verily, the most powerful testimony for the gospel of the kingdom in the whole world is not, with all due respect, the “Four Spiritual Laws” or Easter musicals, but prevailing power and surpassing glory of the “ekklesia” that is mighty to save, even to the salvation of “all Israel” (Romans 11:25-26) who shall witness the glory of the “ekklesia” that is greater than the glory on Moses’ face (c.f. 2 Corinthians 3:8). Thus, until this “fullness of the Gentiles has come in”, the end will not come.

So, what is Jesus waiting for in this milestone? He is waiting for Christ to be formed in us (c.f. Galatians 4:19); He is waiting for His people to “become like One of Us” (Genesis 3:22), knowing good and evil yet without doing evil, like One of Us.

He is waiting for His body, the ekklesia, to be built in His image, function as His incarnational body on earth, and subject His enemies under their feet, just like what He did when He walked on earth.

Let the prophetic mandates of God in Eden be consummated in the heavens and on the earth through Christ’s incarnational body on earth (c.f. Ephesians 1:10), just like how He started and executed it through Christ’s incarnate body on earth.

For a more detailed treatment of this milestone, please read my post entitled “Tribulation, Rapture, and the Enduring Triumph of the Church” and “It is Finished, and It is Finishing!“.

Luke 14:27-30
“Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’”

Philippians 3:10-11
that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.

Hence, let us build up His body until we attain to the standard of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ’s image, and let us count the cost, carry our cross, and go after His image so that we can attain to the same resurrection from the dead.

If Paul could pay the cost and pour out his life as a drink offering to imitate the holy Christ, fight the good fight, finish the assigned course, and keep the complete faith in his lifetime, we can imitate him as well in our lifetime (c.f. 2 Timothy 4:6-8; 1 Corinthians 11:1).

Can we see the image of Christ’s incarnate body on earth being mirrored by His incarnational body called the church on earth?

Can we count the cost and complete what Jesus has started so that we can hasten His return to earth?

Can we finish and consummate the course of history to bring about the fullness of the times?

Post-Script

Isaiah 2:2
Now it will come about that In the last days the mountain of the house of the LORD will be established as the chief of the mountains, and will be raised above the hills; and all the nations will stream to it.

If we are the imagers of the image of Christ, then our prevailing grace is found in the complete image of His godliness, obedience, and works in us, just like what Jesus represented and did through His godliness, obedience, and works in the world; not in cultural wars in the social, economic, or political domains according to the current understanding.

In other words, do not climb the “seven mountains” as though that is the primary mandate of the church; rather, raise up the mountain of the house of the Lord as the chief of all mountains in godliness, wisdom, power, and glory; for Jesus, in His flesh just like us, was the mountain of the house of the Lord raised up above all mountains without even climbing the “seven mountains”.

The image of God, which is godliness, made Jesus who He was as the house of the Lord and chief of all mountains, and the image of Christ will make the church as the house of the Lord and chief of all mountains as well.

When the majesty, wisdom, power, and glory of the mountain of the house of the Lord stand in the midst of all the mountains of the world, it will be chief of all mountains on its own terms and in its own prevailing stature, and nations will stream into it, just like how the Queen of the South streamed into King Solomon’s palace to inquire of him.

Indeed, when the image and glory of Christ is made complete in us, and we lift up the image and glory of this Christ formed in us, Jesus will draw all men to Himself (c.f. John 12:32; Galatians 4:19; Colossians 2:9-10). Then, we who have been made a little lower than angels will have all the fullness of Deity dwell in our bodily form, just like Jesus, and we shall be the head and not the tail, above and not underneath, subjecting all things with nothing left in the “seven mountains” that is not subject to us (c.f. Hebrews 2:6-8); to the praise of the glory of His grace.

Post Post-Script

By the way, I am not against equipping Christians to infiltrate and influence the “seven mountains” with godliness. However, to major on this “minor” is to put the cart before the horse.

If our mission is to punish all disobedience in the “seven mountains”, then the most effective primary strategy of the church is to sanctify every saint unto complete obedience, and build up the body of Christ until we all attain to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.

Just like Jesus spent (not took but spent) thirty years growing in wisdom and stature, increasing favour with God and men (c.f. Luke 2:52), sanctifying Himself in truth (c.f. John 17:17-19), and learning obedience (c.f. Hebrews 5:8), before God launched Him out into public ministry as a proven imager of the Father, which even then God still tested Him by leading Him to the wilderness to be tempted by the devil (c.f. Luke 4:1-14), the church will do well to focus its primary ministry, time, and efforts on accountable spiritual formation, equipping, and proving of saints through rigorous discipleship, orthopraxy, and “imaging” processes.

Look at Paul’s work in Ephesus (c.f. Acts 19:9-20). For two years after planting the church in Ephesus, Paul reasoned [“dialegomai”; to mingle thought with thought, resolve in mind, and act differently] daily with his disciples in the school of Tyrannus. He laboured until Christ is formed in them (c.f. Galatians 4:19). Knowing Paul, his teachings would be weighty and his discipline would be strict so that his disciples would be found blameless in the Word of God. At the end of two years, all who lived in Asia Minor heard the Word of the Lord. In addition, the whole city of Ephesus was impacted and transformed, with the Word of the Lord growing mightily and prevailing over the social ills of the day. This is the authority and power of a true apostolic church that focused on spiritual development, equipping, and orthopraxy of disciples.

Even though the church in Ephesus had fallen away from their “first love” twenty to thirty years after the death of Paul, God reminded them to remember the heights from where they had fallen, repent, and do the deeds that they did at first (c.f. Revelation 2:1-7). Surely, God was pleased with the godly “first love” that they embodied and the deeds that they did at first during the days of Paul.

Today, with all the technologies and men in high echelons of the “seven mountains”, we have yet to match the embodiment of such “first love” as a church, or the impact of such social renaissance through a church, in a city.

Let us major in the major!

Please read Defining Apostle and Apostolic Fathering for an Apostolic People, The Great Reset of the World? and Until We All Attain To… The Fullness of Christ for more details.