The title to this afternoon’s message is: “Where Can I Find Christ Jesus?”
I will begin with something for which I might get some flack, but I know I’m not the only guilty person here, so I might let you shield me if there is any push-back. Years ago, I read and enjoyed the novels written by Frank Peretti. Peretti, a Canadian, was born in Lethbridge, Alberta, a place where I ministered for a few years. Today he and his wife live in Coeur d’Alene. So he is a local boy, as far as I’m concerned. Some people say that he is the creator of the “Christian Thriller” genre of literature. He is a member of an Assembly of God congregation, and he also plays in the Blue Grass band “Northern Lights.” The picture on the back of this dust jacket convinces me that I have seen him around town. He has authored: “This Present Darkness,” “Piercing the Darkness,” “The Oath,” and also this one “The Visitation.”
One of the fun things about Peretti’s books is that he sets them in real places around our region. “The Visitation” for example, takes place west of Spokane in Reardan or Davenport, out on Highway 2. The gist of the story is that in a small Eastern Washington town a prophet of God appears, performing undeniable miracles. And when people begin say that he is the Messiah, he doesn’t deny it. Soon that little community is being flooded with people who are asking, “Where is He? Where is Christ?” The story is about a man who struggles between what the Bible says and what he sees in this “messiah.” It is not Peretti’s best book, in my opinion, but it’s a fun read with some important lessons.
Down through the millennia since the days of Peter, there have been thousands of pretend messiahs. Jesus warned us of this: “Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.” If you Google the subject of “Messiah Claimants,” you’ll find quite a list; some of whom are still living today. Many of them have been Jewish, but there are more who claim to be “Christian” of one sort or another. Perhaps you’ve heard the names: Sun Myung Moon, Father Divine, David Koresh and Allan John Miller. The Muslims have produced their human messiahs as have the Zoroastors and the Bahai’s. Even some politicians have made the claim, such as Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia. Not one of the many hundreds claiming messiahship were actually Christ come in the flesh.
I would like to believe that people can find Christ Jesus when they come to our church. I believe that the omnipresent God is here with us in this building. I hope that it can be said that through His Spirit, Christ declares His gospel in this place, just as He did in Noah’s day. But if someone came into our service hoping to shake hands with the Messiah, he will be disappointed. Christ is not here in any physical way. He is not here bodily.
WHERE is Christ today? Peter tells us that He is in Heaven.
Christ Jesus died for our sins according to the scripture, and then He was buried. “But (he) was quickened by the Spirit” – verse 18. And now He is “gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him” – verse 22.
That Christ is now in Heaven is not something open to successful debate. How many scriptures would you like? Mark describes the great commission, and in the next verse says, “so then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.” The Gospel of Luke closes with the words, “And he led them out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands, and blessed them. And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven. And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy…” The first chapter of Book of Acts contains the words, “And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.”
Please don’t ask me where Heaven is located, because I can’t give you a specific answer. But I know that from His location in Israel, Christ ascended upwards into Heaven. And there He is today. Where is Heaven? It is wherever the throne of God is to be found. And there is Christ Jesus sitting at the right hand of God the Father.
We are told more often that Christ is at the Father’s right hand than we are specifically told He is in Heaven. Psalm 110:1 is quoted over and over again in the New Testament – “The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.” Paul told the Ephesian Christians that he steadfastly prayed for them, that “the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of (God’s) calling… which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places.” Paul exhorts us all saying, “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.” And what Christian cannot be blessed by the words of Romans 8:33 and 34 – “Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.” When Stephen had finished his final sermon, and the Lord was preparing him for his departure, “he being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right of God,“ ready to receive him.
These aren’t even half the scriptures which declare that Christ is at the Father’s right hand in Heaven. And the implication of those scriptures is that He has been exalted to the highest possible honor. At the Father’s right hand is a place where no mere child of Adam can ever be. No angel has ever been, or ever will sit, resting at the right hand of Jehovah on high. It is the place where only God’s beloved Son could sit, in whom the Father is eternally well pleased. It is a place of honor declaring that the work He was commissioned to do, He has perfectly carried out.
WHAT is it that Christ Jesus is doing there in Heaven?
He “is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him.”
Let’s try to remember the people to whom Peter is writing. They include servants or slaves, some of whom were being mistreated and physically abused. There were Christian wives and daughters whose husbands and fathers rejected or hated Christ. The Christians, generally throughout heathen Asia, were to one degree or another suffering under various kinds of persecution. Peter tells them, “Don’t render evil for their evil or railing for their railing upon you.” “If ye suffer for righteousness’ sake happy are ye, and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled.” And remember that your Saviour is now the sovereign God over all those people who trouble you.
His reference to “authorities” refers to institutions and positions such as governments or parents. They usually have legal or administrative power over others, whether or not they use or abuse them. “Powers” points to actual strength to apply, or inflict, their authority. And Peter’s reference to “angels” could speak of either the angels of God or the demon associates of Satan, including the devil himself. And by the way, if Christ has authority over demons, angels and kings, shouldn’t we also assume He has authority over the hearts and bodies of lesser souls, like us?
Interestingly, the Holy Spirit led Peter to us the word “subject” – these things are subject unto Christ. He has already used that Greek word four times. “Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers…” Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward. Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives; For after this manner in the old time the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands:” After exhorting us to submit to various authorities for the Lord’s glory, Peter declares that those secular and even spiritual authorities are under subjection to our Saviour’s authority.
And once again, this is not the lone scripture to aver Christ’s authority. In writing to the Ephesian church, Paul reiterates his prayers for them, saying: “The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: And hath put all things under his feet…” Don’t worry, brethren, our Saviour is King of kings and Lord of lords.
And then there is the blessed statement of Romans 8 – “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Why can’t any of these things separate us from the love of God? Because they are all subject to the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ.
As a result, Peter goes on in the next verse to say, “Forsasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh (and now has all His enemies under His authority), arm yourselves likewise with the same mind….” The apostle might have quoted the Lord at this point: “Peace be unto you.” “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
Besides wielding this authority, there are a few other things which Christ is doing in heaven on our behalf. What is Christ doing while seated at the right hand of the Father? He is leaning over towards the ear of the Father, interceding for us. What shall we say to all the problems in life as we consider the promises God has given to us? Romans 8 again, “If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? It is Christ that died, ye rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.”
What is our Saviour doing there in Heaven? He has gone to prepare a place for us. “Let not your heart be troubled, ye believe in Ggod, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions… I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that were I am, there ye may be also.”
With that I’ll close with one more point.
Christ is in Heaven right now, but He is making preparations to return to earth.
As the disciples watched the Lord Jesus ascend from the earth, their amazement was interrupted. “And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as (Christ) went up, behold, two men (apparently angels in the form of men) stood by them in white apparel. Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.”
Earlier, Jesus told the high priest, “I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of Man (referring to Himself) sitting on the right hand of power, (but soon) coming in the clouds of heaven” – Matthew 26:64. Jesus is coming to earth again. “Christ was once offered to bear the sins of man; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation” – Hebrews 9:28. The Saviour has plans on returning to this planet. “But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but (the) Father only” – Matthew 24:36. So, “Be patient; stablish your hearts; for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh” – James 5:8. He will come to reward, bless and gather His redeemed people. And He will come to judge the unbeliever. But as “Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these… Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds …”
Today’s children of God should take to heart the truth that no matter how terrible this world becomes – and it will become much more terrible… We have nothing to fear, because our Saviour is seated upon the throne of the sovereign God. He can, and often does, put down authorities and powers, whether or not we actually recognize it. And He is coming again. He’ll be here soon. Perhaps He’ll be here before you reach your home this afternoon. Are your ready? Are you excited about that? Are you a child of God through faith in Christ Jesus. Or should you expect the wrath of Christ?