Creed 22 He ascended into Heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father, and He will come again to judge the living and the dead

He ascended into Heaven During the 40 days “He ate and drank” with His disciples “Being seen by them during 40 days and speaking of the things pertaining to the Kingdom of God” (Acts 1:3).

He ascended into Heaven Why the cloud Heaven in ascension. The last apparitions of the risen Christ.

He ascended into Heaven During the 40 days the glory of the Risen One was veiled. No one can open an access for humanity to the Father’s house – God’s life and happiness - except the One “who came from the Father,” i.e. Jesus Christ.

He is seated at the right hand of the Father “And I when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself” (John 12:32). “entered, not into a sanctuary made by human hands but into Heaven itself now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf” (Heb 9:24). “always lives to make intercession” for “those who draw near to God through Him” (Heb 7:25) as “high priest of the good things to come” He is the center and the principle celebrant of the liturgy that honors the Father in Heaven (Heb 9:11; Rev 4:6-11).

He is seated at the right hand of the Father What is the ‘Father’s right hand’? “No one has ascended to Heaven but He who came down from Heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in Heaven” (John 3:13).

He is seated at the right hand of the Father Daniel’s vision concerning the Son of Man? “To Him was given dominion and glory and Kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him; His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom one that should not be destroyed” (Dan 7:14). After this event the apostles became witnesses of the “Kingdom that would have no end” (Nicene Creed).

And He will come again to judge the living and the dead Christ is Lord both of the dead and of the living (Rom 14:9). Jesus Christ is Lord: He possess all power in Heaven and on earth (the final proclamation of the liturgy Christ is Lord “pikhristos pinnotti”). He is “far above all rule and authority and power and dominion,” for the Father “has put all things under His feet” (Eph 1:20-22). Christ is Lord of the cosmos and of history. In Him human history and indeed all creation are set forth and transcendentally fulfilled (Eph 1:10).

And He will come again Christ is the head of the church We are already at “the last hour” (1 John 2:18; 1 Peter 4:7). Already the final age of the world is with us, and the renewal of the world is irrevocably underway; its even now anticipated in a certain real way for the church on earth is endowed already with a sanctity that is real but imperfect (1 Cor 10:11).

And He will come again Christ reign is already present in the church, but nevertheless yet to be fulfilled with “power and great glory” with His return to earth (Luke 21:27). This reign is still under attack by the evil powers, even though they have been defeated definitively by Christ’s Passover (2 Thess 2:7). Until everything is subject to Him, “until there be realized new heavens and a new earth in which justice dwells,” the pilgrim church groan and travail and awaits the revelation of the sons of God (Peter 3:13; Rom 8:19-22).

And He will come again Since the ascension Christ’s coming in glory has been eminent (Rev 22:20). Even though “that is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has fixed by His own authority” (Acts 1:7). This eschatological coming could be accomplished at any moment, even if both it and the final trial which will precede it are “delayed” (Matt 24:44).

And He will come again Before Christ’s second coming the church must pass through a final trial that will shake the faith of many believers (Luke 18:8). The persecution that accompanies the church pilgrimage on earth (Luke 21:12) will unveil the “mystery of iniquity” in the form of a religious deception offering men an apparent solution to their problems at the price of apostasy to the truth. The supreme religious deception is that of the Anti-Christ, a pseudo- Messianism by which man glorifies himself in place of God and of His Messiah come in the flesh (2 Thess 2:4-12; 1 Thess 5:2-3; 2 John 7; 1 John 2:18-22). Note: the Anti-Christ’s deception already begins to take shape in the world every time the claim is made to realize within history that messianic hope which can only be realized beyond history through the eschatological judgment.

And He will come again The church will enter the glory of the Kingdom only through this final Passover when she will follow her Lord in His death and resurrection (Rev 19:1-9). This is the third biblical Passover (1. Israel Passover, 2. Christ Passover, 3. Church Passover). The Kingdom will be fulfilled, then, not by a historic triumph of the church through a progressive ascendency, but only by God’s victory over the final unleashing of evil, which will cause His bride to come down from Heaven (Rev 13:8; 20:7-10; 21:2- 4). God’s triumph over evil will take the form of the last judgment after the final cosmic upheaval of this passing world (Rev 20:12; 2 Peter 3:12-13).

To judge the living and the dead Christ our Lord announced the judgment of the last day in His preaching. The last day has been announced before by the Holy Spirit through all the prophets of the Old Testament as the “Day of the Lord” (Dan 7:10; Joel 3:3-4; Mal 3:19; Matt 3:7-12). On that day the conduct of each one and the secrets of hearts will be brought to light (Mark 12:38-40; Luke 12:1-3; John 3:20-21; Rom 2:16; 1 Cor 4:5). Unbelief that counted the offer of God’s grace as nothing will be condemned (Matt 11:20-24; 12:41-42). Our attitude about our neighbor will disclose acceptance or refusal of grace and divine love (Matt 5:22; 7:1-5). On the last day Jesus will say: “Truly I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren you did it to Me.”

To judge the living and the dead Christ is the Lord of eternal life, full right to pass definitive judgment on the works and hearts of men belongs to Him as redeemer of the world. He “acquired” this right by His cross. The Father has given “all judgment to the Son” (John 5:22; Matt 25:31; Acts 10:42; 17:31; 2 Tim 4:1). Yet the Son did not come to judge but to save and to give the life He has in Himself (John 3:17). By rejecting grace in this life one already judges oneself, receives according to ones works, and can even condemn oneself for all eternity by rejecting the spirit of love (John 3:18; 12:48; Matt 12:32; 1 Cor 3:12-15; Heb 6:4-6; 10:26-31).