![\"Where-is-Jesus\"](\"http:\/\/orangevillechurch.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Where-is-Jesus1.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Where is Jesus and what is he doing?<\/b><\/p>\n
To boldly go where no one has gone before… beyond the earth, to the stars, to the heavens!<\/i>\u00a0 That is something that has fired the imagination of man for ages.\u00a0 In our time, imagination has been made a reality by space exploration and travel.<\/p>\n
The Bible relates one space quest that took place nearly two thousand years ago.\u00a0 It is referred to in the words of the Apostles’ Creed which say that Jesus ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father almighty.<\/b>\u00a0 As members of the Orangeville Canadian Reformed Church<\/i><\/b> we also wholeheartedly believe those words.\u00a0 They answer two questions about Jesus. The first is: Where he Jesus right now? The second is: What is Jesus doing right now?<\/p>\n
Jesus is in heaven<\/b><\/p>\n
In the New Testament book of Acts, chapter 1, we are told that after Jesus rose from the dead, he appeared to his disciples over the next forty days.\u00a0 Then, as they were walking outside Jerusalem, Jesus suddenly was taken up from their midst, going up into the air.\u00a0 The group of disciples looked at this with utter amazement, until a cloud came and took Jesus out of their sight. Whereas before Jesus had come and gone, it was clear to them that Jesus\u00a0 had now physically left the earth.<\/p>\n
No doubt, this talk about Jesus going to heaven is all very strange to our modern ears.\u00a0 Christians, however, are guided by the Bible.\u00a0 The Bible speaks about heaven in different ways.\u00a0 First there is what we would call the atmosphere.\u00a0 Then there is what we call the place where the stars are.\u00a0 Finally, there is the third heaven, the heaven of heavens, and that is where God dwells in his majesty and glory.\u00a0 This heaven is a definite place, just like the earth is a definite place. As earth is the dwelling place of man, so heaven is the dwelling place of God.<\/p>\n
When the Lord Jesus Christ was taken up from the earth, a remarkable event took place: a man<\/i> entered heaven, the dwelling place of God!<\/p>\n
Jesus is busy as Priest<\/b><\/p>\n
This raises the question as to what Jesus is doing.\u00a0 The Bible teaches that he very busy doing priestly<\/i> work.\u00a0 The priests were mediators between the people and the LORD.\u00a0 Whenever sin brought separation between God and his people, sacrifices made symbolic payment for sin, and brought reconciliation between God and sinner. They did this work in an earthly sanctuary.<\/b><\/p>\n
If you look in the New Testament book called Hebrews<\/i> you will notice that Jesus Christ is also called a priest.\u00a0 He is the Great High Priest because he sacrificed himself!\u00a0\u00a0 We are told that “Christ entered, not into a sanctuary made with hands, a copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the Holy Place yearly with blood not his own; for then he would have to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world.\u00a0 But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the age to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself<\/i>” (Hebrews 9:24-26).<\/b><\/p>\n
In the first place, then, Jesus is busy working for his followers, acting as mediator.\u00a0 We are told in Hebrews 4:14-16 that since Jesus is in heaven as high priest, Christians can confidently draw near to the throne of God, where they will receive mercy and grace to help in their time of need.<\/p>\n
Jesus is busy as King\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/b><\/p>\n
Jesus, however, is not only busy as priest. Jesus is also busy as king.\u00a0 This is what is meant by the phrase that Jesus “sits at the right hand of God the Father almighty.”<\/i> At the end of the gospel according to Matthew you can read how Jesus told his disciples before he ascended that he had received all authority in heaven and on earth. The ascension was a coronation.<\/p>\n
This has far reaching consequences.\u00a0 In heaven Jesus Christ rules as king, not just over his Church, his people, but over all of creation. He is establishing his kingdom.\u00a0 We should realize that this kingdom is not so much a physical kingdom, marked by geographic boundaries, but a spiritual one.\u00a0 His kingdom, his rule, is evident where people confess him as King, and where they begin to obey him from the heart.<\/p>\n
Further, as king in heaven, Jesus Christ controls all things that happen on earth.\u00a0 This is shown clearly in the last book of the Bible, Revelation<\/i>.\u00a0 To many people the book of Revelation is a puzzle. When you read the book of Revelation, one fact becomes absolutely clear:\u00a0 Jesus Christ has power and authority over all creation!\u00a0 The world is not spinning aimlessly, nor is it spinning out of control.\u00a0 Jesus controls all events in the world.<\/p>\n
Effect on worship and life<\/b><\/p>\n
This belief that Jesus is in heaven shapes weekly worship and daily life. Worship is a spiritual activity, where believers come together and think of their Saviour in heaven at God\u2019s right hand. In worship, God the Father and his Son Jesus are addressed in song and prayer. In the worship service, it is proclaimed that Jesus is in heaven, covering all sins and ruling all things. As for daily life, believers seek to live in obedience to their heavenly king, showing in their daily life something of the holiness of heaven. This will be done with weakness, but it is the desire of every sincere Christian to live in obedience to Christ as king.<\/p>\n
Call to join in worship<\/b><\/p>\n
It is this Priest and King who also continues to call to all people through the ministry of the church, “Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.\u201d Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.\u00a0 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”<\/i> (Matthew 11:28-30). We hear the call to submit to him as priest, who will give rest to sinners, and as king, whose yoke is light. And so we invite you to come and join us in the worship of Jesus Christ, who died, who rose, and who now is in the heavens at God\u2019s right hand.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Where is Jesus and what is he doing? To boldly go where no one has gone before… beyond the earth, to the stars, to the heavens!\u00a0 That is something that [Continue Reading…]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":771,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"page-full.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2080","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/orangevillechurch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2080","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/orangevillechurch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/orangevillechurch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orangevillechurch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orangevillechurch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2080"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/orangevillechurch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2080\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orangevillechurch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/771"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/orangevillechurch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2080"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}