The Throne

 DEVOTION

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

THE THRONE

Acts 2:29-36

29 "Brothers, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day. 30 But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne. 31 Seeing what was ahead, he spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to the grave, nor did his body see decay. 32 God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact. 33 Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. 34 For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said,

"'The Lord said to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand 35 until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet." '   

36 "Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ."

NIV

Peter makes it clear that all men are like David; we die and are buried, or at least our bodies are. Christ, or the Messiah, died on the cross, or at least his earthly body did. Jesus gave up his spirit, leaving his body that he came in the form of a man, hanging there without life to be taken down and buried. Peter also makes it clear that God raised Jesus from the grave, for his body did not see decay, and all the disciples are witnesses to the fact that Jesus is alive and is sitting at the right hand of God. This brings us to the idea that has floated around for centuries. If God has a right hand, then he must be in some form like the man he created. Michelangelo’s painting in the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican conveys the idea that God’s finger touched Adam's, giving the man life; therefore, God was portrayed as a physical, older, gray-haired man.  However, we also know that to be seated at the right hand of a king is the place of honor, and Jesus has been given the place of honor with the Father. We know that God is Spirit and his worshippers must worship in spirit and in truth. There is some question about the form of Jesus as he ascended in his physical form, although he was in a glorified state. What we can be assured of and have complete confidence in is that although we die, we will live. When this body comes to its end, we will leave it behind to ascend into the presence of our Lord and Savior, Jesus. We will be in spirit, just as Jesus was when he left his body on that cross. Yet his body was raised from the dead, just as ours will be, and somehow we will be reunited with it, just as Jesus was. Our bodies will be in that glorified state, just as Jesus was, and we will live in the new city of Jerusalem with Jesus for all eternity. This is the truth that Peter expressed when he called Jesus both Lord and Christ. Jesus has saved us from our sins and freed us from death, giving us life and life abundantly. Peter said that Jesus sits on the throne of David, as it was promised. Once, we might have thought we sat on our own throne, being in charge of our own lives, but we have abdicated, making Jesus our King, our Lord, and now he sits on the throne over our lives. He is high and lifted up on his throne.