“Christ’s exaltation consisteth in his rising again from the dead on the third day, in ascending up into heaven, in sitting at the right hand of God the Father, and in coming to judge the world at the last day”

Although there is a certain priority of each of Christ’s three offices in successive phases of his ministry, at no moment was Jesus a prophet without being a priest or a priest without being a king. Even in his “state” of humiliation, he was a king building his empire of grace, and even in his “state” of exaltation, he served the will of the Father and the good of his people.

In what sense was Christ exalted even at the cross?

What a paradox: The King of kings and Lord of lords standing bound and silent before an officer of Caesar and the rulers of his own people, reigning even as he submits voluntarily to the cruelest human injustice.

In its present phase, the kingdom is like its King before he was raised from the dead and exalted to the right hand of the Father. It can only appear weak and foolish to the world, even though this kingdom is more extensive in its global reach and more intensive in its redemptive power than any earthly empire in history.

The claim “Jesus is Lord” is not simply a confession of his deity. It is that and more. The important eschatological point that this claim makes is that in Jesus Christ the threats to God’s promises being fulfilled have been conquered objectively and will be realized fully in the age to come. There are no powers, authorities, thrones, or dominions that can thwart his purposes, although they may present fierce opposition until they are finally destroyed.

Therefore, the announcement of Christ’s lordship is as much a part of the gospel as the announcement of his prophetic and priestly ministry are. Christ’s reign topples all rivals who hold us in bondage, so that even death has lost its legal authority to keep us in the grave: “The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Co 15:56–57). Yet once again we see that Christ’s cosmic victory and lordship is good news only because it first deals with the root problem. Death is a sanction invoked by transgressing the law, so that the solution to the latter brings salvation from the former. Jesus “was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification”

Jewish as well as Christian commentators have pointed out that this psalm encapsulates Israel’s military march from the desert of Sinai to Jerusalem—God’s earthly Zion (see also Psalm 68, with the reference to Yahweh’s solemn “processions” from wilderness to Zion). Only Jesus Christ perfectly fulfills this commission and is qualified to demand that the ancient doors of the heavenly throne room open to his triumphal entry with his liberated hosts behind him. He claims his victory, announcing, “Behold, I and the children whom God has given me”

Because of the ascension, there are now two “histories”: the history of this passing evil age, subject to sin and death; and that of the age to come, subject to righteousness and life. Because Jesus Christ is Lord, we are made alive by the Spirit, drawn away from our alliance with death, and made cosufferers as well as co-heirs with Jesus Christ. It is the ascension that both grounds the struggle of the church militant and guarantees that one day it will share fully in the triumph of its King.

Because of the ascension, there are now two “histories”: the history of this passing evil age, subject to sin and death; and that of the age to come, subject to righteousness and life. Because Jesus Christ is Lord, we are made alive by the Spirit, drawn away from our alliance with death, and made cosufferers as well as co-heirs with Jesus Christ. It is the ascension that both grounds the struggle of the church militant and guarantees that one day it will share fully in the triumph of its King.

As difficult as it is to hold both simultaneously, the New Testament eschatology indicates that the kingdom of Christ is present now but not yet in its consummated form.