Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:2)

The Right Hand Of God

From the earliest days of the world, when kings ruled over a domain, a person of high authority stood to the king’s right. The one sitting on the throne had all power and authority, but that authority could be invested in another as the one seated at the right hand of the king. This principle was known by Jacob when he was blessing the children of Joseph. Jacob put his right hand on the head of Ephraim, the younger son of Joseph. It displeased Joseph to see what his father did, but Jacob assured him Ephraim would become greater than his brother Manasseh.

Jesus is often referred to as sitting at the right hand of the throne of God. The expression shows Jesus’ proximity to the Father and that, by being next to God (on His right hand), Jesus has been given all power and authority. Before ascending back to the Father, Jesus told the eleven that He had been granted all authority from the Father. Peter preached on the Day of Pentecost that Jesus was exalted to the right hand of God as Lord and Christ. David had prophesied that the Messiah would be at the right hand of God, which Peter referred to in his sermon. When the apostles were imprisoned for preaching Christ, Peter once again defended the gospel by proclaiming that God exalted Jesus to His right hand to be Prince and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. Before Stephen died, he gazed into Heaven and saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God.

It is significant to understand the meaning of Jesus at the right hand of God. Jesus makes intercession for the children of God by His authority as one who sits at the right hand of God. The place at the right hand of God was given through the power of the Father to His beloved Son, who accomplished all things in His death, burial, and resurrection. Jesus is King of kings and Lord of Lords who has all authority and power. Nothing is lacking from Him who sits at the right hand of God. He is the High Priest of the redeemed. Jesus is the author and finisher of the faith of the saints because He endured the cross, despised the shame, and was glorified by the Father to be placed at His right hand. God did not offer this place to the angels. Jesus is Lord with all authority.

The grace of God is found in Jesus sitting at the right hand of God. Jesus purged away the sins of the world through His death, after which He sat down at the right hand of God. He offers the redeeming grace of God to come to Him, accept Him as Lord and King, and live within the rule of His authority, sitting at the right hand of God. Confessing that Jesus is Lord requires accepting that, as He sits at the right hand of God, He has authority over every part of His disciples’ lives. No one can come to Jesus and accept Him as a Savior without complete surrender to His authority. Every soul who seeks the redeeming blood of Jesus accepts the full and unreserved will of Him who sits at the right hand of God. It is either all or nothing. To deny the words of Jesus is to deny the words of Him who sits on the throne – the Almighty God.

When Jesus returned to the Father, He sat down at the right hand of God. Angels are subject to Him. All authority is given to King Jesus. Full power has been ascribed to the Son of God. While the Father sits on the throne, Jesus has been given dominion, power, and all authority to exercise the will of His Father. He can claim this authority through the things that He suffered. Submission to the will of God requires submission to the will of Jesus Christ. Jesus makes intercession for the children of God through His authority of ruling at the right hand of God. God exalted Jesus far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and above every name that is named. No man has greater authority. Jesus, sitting at the right hand of God, is the only one who is the head of the church. Salvation comes by the grace of God, realized when one submits themselves to the One who sits at the right hand of God.