“If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.... - Colossians 3:1
Every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God.” - Hebrews 10:11–12
The Old Testament describes the temple's furnishings in exhaustive detail — the ark, the mercy seat, the seven-branch lampstand, the basin for ceremonial washings, and much more. However, one piece of furniture is conspicuously absent: a chair. For almost fifteen hundred years, priests stood. There was simply too much sacrificing to do – year after year, month after month, week after week, day after day, morning and evening, for known sins and unknown ones – for the priests ever to sit down.
Then one Lamb went to a hill called Calvary, offered Himself once for all, and the curtain of the Holy of Holies tore from top to bottom in the Temple where so much blood had been shed to atone for sin. The sacrificing was finished. Access to God required no additional atonement. The penalty for sin was fully paid. So, for the first time in more than a millennium, the priests could sit down — and our Great High Priest did sit down at the right hand of God, the place of highest honor and rest.
That Lamb and Great High Priest is Jesus Christ. Now to be “raised with Christ” and seated with Him, as Paul describes, means something wondrous: all who are with Him are also seated at God’s right hand. There is nothing left to do to earn God's favor. The wrestling is over. Every anxious question — how much is enough, when will God be satisfied — is answered by an empty altar and a seated Savior. Since we are united to the One who sits in the place of privilege, full atonement has been made for our sin. We are not merely tolerated by God; we are treasured the way He treasures His own Son who sits at His right hand.
RESPOND: In your spiritual life are you still standing and striving for God’s approval rather than resting in the full atonement made by Christ?
What would change in your prayers or your self-talk this week if you fully believed the sacrificing that atones for your failures, weakness, and sin is already, completely finished?
Today, spend a few moments in quiet contemplation as a physical reminder of the rest that you have from anxious striving for God’s approval: the work is done, Christ is at God’s right hand, and you are with Him. Rest in that reality.
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, thank You that Jesus sat down at Your right hand because there was no atoning work left to do. I don't have to keep standing, keep striving, and keep wondering if I've done enough to earn your love or compensate for my sin. The sacrificing is finished. Jesus did it once for all. Let me actually rest in that today. In Jesus’ name, amen.