“Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him.” God is perfectly glorified, sin perfectly manifested, and the work completely accomplished, which puts it away; in a word, God, in all that He is, is glorified in the death of His Son. And what then? “If God be glorified in Him, God shall also glorify Him in Himself, and shall straightway glorify Him” (John 13:32). The glory of the Father raised Him from the dead, and after forty days on earth He ascends. “He led them (His disciples) out as far as to Bethany, and He lifted up His hands, and blessed them. And it came to pass, while He blessed them, He was parted from them, and carried up into heaven” (Luke 23:50). What a wondrous fact to contemplate! A Man has gone up into the glory of God, more than man surely, but a real true man. Imagine what a sight it must have been for the heavenly hosts to witness, as this blessed One ascends! Higher and higher He goes, passing rank after rank; principalities, powers, angels — all left behind in the marvelous ascent, till He reaches the very highest point in glory. As Ephesians 1 puts it, “Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come.” Where does Stephen see Him? At the right hand of God. Now I have got a Man in glory, and a Man who did not go there until He accomplished a work whereby I might be there too. Now there can be association, and what a wonderful thing that is! I must first have the Man in order to have association with Him; but where? “At the right hand of God.” Did it ever strike us (I speak to my own heart) how the Spirit of God seems to labor to educate the children of God on this very point? It appears as if He would spare no pains to get us instructed as to the exact spot where Christ is, and yet how little we realize it. Mark 16:19 reads, “He was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.” Acts 2:33 uses the phrase, “By the right hand of God exalted.” Twice over in Acts 7 we have the expression, “On the right hand of God.” Romans 8:34 says, “Who is even at the right hand of God.” Finally, Hebrews 1:3 emphasizes that He has now “sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.”
Bible Herald, 1880 (adapted)