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Hello, I'm Kevin DeYoung, pastor at Christ Covenant Church in Matthews, North Carolina. And you are listening to Doctrine Matters. Each week on Doctrine Matters, we explore the rich doctrine of the Christian faith. We'll pull from the church's long history, complex debates, and over the course of the year, the hope is that we'll begin to frame out what what is a clear, accessible, systematic theology. We'll be looking at different Christian doctrines and their relationship to each other. And the hope, Lord willing, is we will grasp more and more the riches and the beauty of God's word. Thanks for listening. Let's turn to this week's Doctrine Matters. We've been talking about the two states of Christ, his state of humiliation and now his state of exaltation. Think about the language of the Apostles Creed. The Jesus Christ was raised from the dead. On the third day he ascended into heaven. He is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. He is coming again to judge the living and the dead. That's what we want to walk through in his state of exaltation, his resurrection, his ascension, his session and his return. So just a few minutes on each. Obviously the one we are most familiar with and think about most is the resurrection. And that's wonderful. We ought to. Paul says that if Christ has not been raised, then our faith is useless and we are still dead in our trespasses and sins. So everything hinges upon the resurrection. And in most churches, Easter along with Christmas are the two highest holy days and pull out all the stops and is a great glorious celebration of the resurrection. We also do the most to think about apologetically how to defend the resurrection. The resurrection in Scripture is obviously important. It's there in all four gospel accounts and it's part of Paul's preaching in Acts. He tries to convince the Roman and the Jewish officials that Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead. And this is no spiritual resurrection, just an emotional feel good story about how good triumphs over evil. No, he is thinking about a physical body would not have been any interest to the Jews, simply a story of good triumphing over evil. Of course they believed that, but they believed it because that was their history. That's what they saw in their history from the Exodus and the return from exile and God's many wonders over the years. This was about a real flesh and blood man. Christ's resurrection was not merely some feel good story with a nice point, and this is important too. It was not a mere resuscitation. Jesus raised several persons from the dead. He raised a young Man Jairus daughter Lazarus. But none of these resurrections marked the turning point in history. So it isn't simply that a dead person comes to life and I say simply like that's not a big deal. Of course it is. It's a miracle and we don't see it happen except for a few times in scripture and it happens from Jesus and there are some in a few other places as well. But what makes Christ's resurrection different? Well one. Christ's body was raised incorruptible. So Jesus did not die again. His body underwent a transformation. 2. Through the resurrection, Christ became a life giving spirit. I don't mean that the second person of the Trinity became the third person of the Trinity. But then the Father and the Son together send the Holy Spirit. He is able to give the gift of the Spirit to his disciples. 3. In fulfilling the old Testament and Israel's feasts in particular, Christ became the first fruits. So this is important, not just to say here's a miracle and wow, this is exciting. Someone we love has come back to life. But with Jesus alone it means that all who belong to him will be raised to newness of life. 4. The resurrection signified the accomplishment of Christ's mediatorial work on earth. 5. By his resurrection he triumphed over death. This was different than raising up Jairus Daughter. That was an act of mercy and a miracle of sovereign power. But it did not mean that for all time death now had been conquered. I Love Acts 2:24. Maybe my favorite verse to preach on for Easter. God raised him up loosing the pangs of death because it was not possible for him to be held by it. Not possible. The grave could not hold the Son of God because it had no claim on him. Think about it. The wages of sin is death. Once sin is paid for, there is no obligation to pay the wages of sin. Nothing left to pay. He could not stay dead. And six, the resurrection tells us that God's justice has been satisfied. All of those are reasons to see the uniqueness of Christ's resurrection. A turning point in the history of the entire cosmos. This is the first aspect of this state of exaltation. But we can't stop there. And sometimes well meaning Christians only think about his triumph in terms of his resurrection, say the cross and the Resurrection. Of course that's a great summary of the Gospel message and the work of Christ. But we must not stop there. The creed doesn't stop there and the Bible doesn't stop there. And we need to see the other elements of his State of exaltation. It's all being a part of this resurrection package. So then we have his Ascension. This is often overlooked. How many churches, every church just about celebrates Easter. How many churches will celebrate ascension? Maybe they'll say something on Pentecost Sunday. But very rarely do churches mention anything about ascension which happens during the week, but even an Ascension Sunday, or sing a song or. Or note it in a prayer. The Ascension is not simply how Jesus got to heaven. It matters how he ascended. Yes, that he ascended locally. He was in a real place, visibly in front of many people bodily. So this was not an ethereal disappearance. There were other stories in the ancient world of people maybe who went down to heaven or hell for a time, but they just disappeared. And then they would say they had been someplace. This was right here, publicly in front of people. And then he says he's going to come back in the same way. But we need to say more than that. The ascension, it's not just important that they could witness it. And it has some bearing on how then Jesus will return, but it's a further fulfillment and vindication of the triumph of the resurrection. It's no wonder the Ascension is highlighted throughout the New Testament as a necessary precursor to all sorts of blessings in the age of the Spirit. It's linked to the giving of gifts, to the intercession of our high priest, to the subjection of all things under Christ. Because he is our conquering king, he is positioned to gift us with the spoils of victory. That's part of the ascension that now he ascended into heaven is able to give us gifts. He is a conquering king. The Ascension means we have an advocate with the Father. The Ascension means we are, in a manner of speaking, already in heaven. That's where Christ is and our lives are hidden with Christ. It means we can receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. And think about this. The Ascension means that human flesh in a mysterious way sits enthroned in heaven. The Incarnation's perpetual. God has granted all power and authority to a man, the God Man. He's exercising dominion that human beings were meant to have. This is what human beings were meant to do in the garden. We squandered our opportunity, been suffering the consequences. And now we have a man like us to sit on the throne. I always like to bring in here the reference to Lord of the Rings. There will be a man to sit on Gondor's throne. And Elrond says the race of men is weak, but they have faith. Gandalf does that There is a king, and we see with Christ, he is that king of the race of men to sit on the throne. And the ascension is that testimony that our king, the God man, is in heaven, on the throne, and he is seated. That's the third part, the session. Now, in a Presbyterian church, the board of elders is often called the session. It speaks to men who are seated and who are exercising authority. The session is an important part of Christ's work. Now, that may seem even stranger. Why does the Creed bother to mention he is seated? We don't usually think, all right, now, the great coronation. And we are going to highlight the exaltation of our King. He raised from the dead. Yes, he ascended into heaven, and then he sits down. But when you think about it like a coronation, when the king sits down, crown upon his head, scepter in his hand, it signifies his reign has begun. And it signifies that all is at rest. To be seated, it's not a literal statement. There are other places where Christ is seen standing. Think of Stephen's vision or walking Revelation 2. But the session is a figure of speech. It's not an exact statement of personal geography, but it signifies something important about the completion of Christ's atoning work. That's the point. Yes, he continues to exercise kingly rule, priestly intercession, prophetical speech, but the work of satisfaction upon which all the rest depends, that has been accomplished. Think of Hebrews 1. After making purification for sins, Jesus sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. So to change images from a king now seated on his throne, ready to reign. Picture an attorney making his closing arguments to the jury. And then, after a crescendo of rhetoric, he says, I rest my case. And he sits back down. Or it'd be more relatable. Think of a mom. There's no time for herself. All day she's made meals, cleaned the house, changed diapers, folded clothes, homework played with kids in the backyard, gone to the grocery store, taking the kids to their soccer games, finally put them to bed. She walks wearily down the stairs, and for the first time she sits down. Down. Why? The work has been accomplished. To be seated is more than an act of rest. Not that Christ is tired. It represents completion. All that was needed has been accomplished. Seated now at the right hand of God, where he is given all authority to rule. And then finally his return. Christ's exaltation is to be located not only in all that he has accomplished in the past, not just looking at something in the past, but the final act of judgment that is still to come. He will return to earth in the same way he was taken up, Acts 1:11. So his return is not going to be a secret or spiritual return. He will come visibly, bodily. The New Testament makes much of the fact that that Christ has been appointed by God to judge the living and the dead. Think about that. That's in the Apostles Creed. Almost every Christian knows that line. And he's coming again to judge the living and the dead. And yet it happens in every generation, especially in the last 200 years. And I've seen it even in my life in ministry in the last 20 years. People come along and they have a new Jesus who contains a lot of the elements of the old Jesus, but they're lopsided, they're truncated. And we're told to look at this Jesus who is a great teacher of the kingdom, this Jesus who's a great example for us to imitate, this Jesus who shows us the way to have intimacy with God, this Jesus who has care for the poor, this Jesus who teaches us and shows us the right way to live. All those things can be found in Scripture. But if we don't confess also that this Jesus rose, ascended, seated, and is coming again to judge the living and the dead. See, that's the part that if you emphasize all the rest, many modern proponents don't want to mention. But we have to if we have a biblical view of Jesus. The Bible makes so much of this. He is to separate the sheep from the goats. He has been given power and being raised from the dead, this man will judge the world. Paul mentions that in his areopagus speech in Acts 17, he's coming again. It will be an appearing, a coming, a revealing, those words. And there's different Greek words for each of them. But those words show us we are not waiting merely for God to show up or for the end of the world. Vaguely considered, that doesn't begin to speak to our final hope. We are waiting for the man, Christ Jesus, the God man. It is significant that the judgment has been given to him, for it means that the judge will be visible. God is invisible. He can't be seen. But in the Incarnation we see the invisible God. So this judgment, the final judgment given to Christ, is very important. Two things we don't think about often. It will be visible and it will be exercised by a man, by one of us. So it's of a kind. But it's also different than other sorts of judgments. Well, there are plagues that are judgments upon Egypt or even in revelation. The various bowls or trumpets which pour out judgments upon the earth. Now they are felt in a very real and visible way. But you're not seeing God. It's not the God man in front of you, but that will be the final judgment. You look on his face, it will be Jesus Christ himself, and the disbelieving will have to look at the one that they have rejected. The Lord Jesus is not to be trifled with. We must never skip his humiliation to get to his exaltation, but neither should we focus only on the state of his humiliation, as if this state were not meant to give away to the now and forever state of his exaltation. Raised from the dead, ascended into heaven, now seated at God's right hand with all authority, and he is coming again to judge the living and the dead thanks again for joining us on Doctrine Matters. I'm your host Kevin DeYoung. Our hope and prayer is that this has been helpful to you as you look at Scripture and try to understand the best of our theological tradition as Christians. Please consider subscribing to doctor Matters and if this has been encouraging, consider passing it on to others. If you'd like to learn more about this week's doctrine, you can ask your pastor for good resources or check out my year long mini systematic theology book called Daily Doctrine. It's available in print or audio from Crossway.org the Doctrine Matters podcast is produced by Crossway. To learn more, visit Crossway.org.