After his resurrection and appearances to his disciples, Christ ascended to heaven. The ascension of Jesus Christ into heaven demonstrates he is the eternal King. Christ’s right to rule was always his as God, but now he places his humanity on the divine throne. The sequence is important: By his death, the human Christ atoned for our sins; by his resurrection, he defeated the devil and death; and by his ascension, he was declared the eternal King who had become the human Christ and ascended. At his ascension, Christ also presented his atoning blood sacrifice to the Father to gain humanity access to the throne. He also purified heaven by his victory over Satan.

Significant Old Testament prophecies foretold this historic moment. Hebrews 1 repeats the prophets’ declaration that Christ is the Lord:

• God promised David that his human son would be God’s own Son, and that he would reign forever (2 Sam. 7:14; Heb. 1:5b).
• God likewise revealed in the first royal psalm the Messiah’s dual divine–human sonship (Ps. 2:77; Heb. 1:5a).
• God also instructed the angels to worship the Son (Ps. 97:7; Heb. 1:6), for the Son created them (Ps. 104:4; Heb. 1:7).
• God declared his Son to be the Anointed Messiah, both by virtue of his divine nature and the ascension of his perfect humanity (Ps. 45:6-7; Heb. 1:8-9).
• God also proclaimed both that Christ created all things and that all things conclude in Christ. Creation grows old and wears out, but Christ remains, for he is the immutable God (Ps. 102:25-27; Heb. 1:10-12).
• Finally, through the most cited psalm in the New Testament, God told his Son to sit upon the divine throne while he makes everyone submit to the Son (Ps. 110:1; Heb. 1:13).

Hebrews 2 tracks the human Christ through his incarnation and cross into glory: God the Father, speaking to “the Son,” names the Son, “God.” God also declares the Son’s eternal kingship: “Your throne, God, is forever and ever, and the scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of justice” (Ps. 45:6; Heb. 2:8). By divine right, the Son possesses complete and eternal authority. One of my teachers at Oxford University correctly wrote, “The enthronement sequence is not, of course, to be construed as the Son’s acquisition of a status not previously possessed or exercised, but as the definitive irrefutable declaration of his inherent dignity.”  In other words, after taking humanity to himself in the incarnation and perfecting it through his own obedience, suffering, and death (v. 10), Christ ascended to set his humanity upon the divine throne where he continually intercedes for us (v. 17).

May we learn to worship the Lord of creation who has ascended to glory with his humanity! We now have access to God through Christ Jesus, truly God and truly man!

In Christ,