God and the Lord Jesus Christ are Always Busy

8/22/2020 22 Comments

As ordinary humans, sometimes we wonder, what must the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ be doing in heaven right now? What keeps them busy? 

Do they simply watch what we do down here on Earth? Or, are they too busy attending to so many pressing matters that concern mankind?

By referring to some verses from the Bible, we will have an idea about the things that preoccupy them. Let us start with the Lord Jesus Christ.

HEBREWS 8:1-3 (KJV)

1 Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; 

2 A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man. 

3 For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices: wherefore it is of necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer.

Right now, the Lord Jesus Christ is in heaven, seated at the right hand of God’s throne. When we say that He is set or seated on His throne, we should not have the impression that He is simply seated the whole time, literally, and not doing anything.

To be seated on a throne means to be in power. Therefore, the Lord Jesus Christ is on the seat of power. And to be in His post entails so many duties and responsibilities that need to be fulfilled.

One of the duties that the Lord Jesus Christ performs is the duty of a high priest. As He is our high priest, He is tasked to offer gifts and sacrifices at the altar in heaven.

During the time of the Israelites, they offered goats, sheep, and cows for the forgiveness of their sins, and the ones who accepted those offerings were the high priests who, in turn, would offer them to God at the altar.

In the Christian dispensation, the one who performs that task is the Lord Jesus Christ because He is our high priest. In heaven, there is a temple and an altar which God built. And it is in that altar where the Lord Jesus Christ presents to God the offerings of His servants, which are not sheep and cows anymore, but their prayers, praises, hymns, vows, and thanksgivings.

The Lord Jesus Christ serves as our mediator to God; He intercedes for us. We need His intercession because, as sinners, we are not worthy to approach God. But through the mediation of Christ, God accepts our offerings; thus, our sins are being forgiven.

HEBREWS 13:15 (KJV)

By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.

The pronoun “him” in that verse refers to the Lord Jesus Christ. By Him and through Him, our praises and thanksgiving are able to reach God, because Christ is the one Mediator between God and men.

As written in 1 TIMOTHY 2:5-6 (KJV),

5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 

6 Who gave himself as a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.

All our sacrifices and offerings, including the love that we give to our spouses, the help we extend to our fellowmen, the support and care that we give to our family, and all the good works that we do, are presented to God by the Lord Jesus Christ. In addition to these are the vows, fasting, contributions, charity works, and prayers of the servants of God, which the Bible likewise regards as offerings.

Aside from the duties of a high priest, there are other things that the Lord Jesus Christ is busy with.

HEBREWS 1:13 (KJV)

But to which of the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool?

We have to understand that when God told the Lord Jesus Christ to “sit on my right,” it means that the Father was letting Him take the seat of honor and power. He was giving Christ the authority to reign and rule as King over heaven and earth.

MATTHEW 28:17-18 (KJV)

17 And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted. 

18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

All power in heaven and in earth have been given to the Lord Jesus Christ. He has power over all flesh.

As it is written in JOHN 17:2 (KJV),

As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.

Included in the power that the Father gave Him is the power to give men eternal life. Thus, part of Christ’s function is to save men for them to enjoy eternal life. And until now, Christ is working toward the fulfillment of that intention; in other words, it is a work in progress.

Others might ask, how is He able to carry out the function of saving men when He is in heaven?

Simple. The Lord Jesus Christ sends angels to deliver His servants from harm; He also sends the Holy Spirit to teach and guide the people here on Earth; and His Spirit goes with the preachers of God as they propagate His Gospel to all men.

Let me clarify — Christ only goes with the preachers of God, and not with all preachers. Definitely, you do not expect Him to go with preachers who make money out of the word of God and make a lucrative business out of religion. He will only be with the preachers who faithfully teach the Gospel with the sincere intention of leading people back to God for them to be saved and merit eternal life.

MATTHEW 28:19-20 (KJV)

19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 

20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

Christ gave the early apostles an assurance that He would be with them until the end as they went forth to preach His teachings. The fulfillment of Christ’s promise was also experienced by later apostles like Paul and Barnabas for they, too, felt the guidance of Christ’s Spirit as they preached the Gospel.

ROMANS 16:25 (KJV)

Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ...

Modesty aside, I can also testify to the guidance of the Spirit of Christ whenever I preach, whenever I answer questions of faith of different people, and whenever I defend the Christian faith.

As I am not young anymore, there are times when I tend to be forgetful. Sometimes I could not easily recall the specific chapter and verse of a particular book of the Bible that I want to cite. But whenever that happens, the spirit of Christ readily comes to my aid, and very swiftly, the verses that I want to cite flash in my mind.

Always, His spirit never fails to supply me with His words that I need to impart to people at a given situation. And without a doubt, I know in my heart that the Spirit of Christ is with me as I fulfill His commandment of making disciples in all nations.

The Lord Jesus Christ is always true to His promise, “I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” And that promise is still in effect until now because the world has not ended yet. We can expect that the preachers who teach the undefiled teachings of God are being accompanied and guided by the Spirit of Christ.

The Lord Jesus Christ wants to draw people closer to Him, so He goes with His preachers as they teach His words to people. It is Christ who finds a way so that people can find the one true faith.

JOHN 12:32 (KJV)

And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.

When Christ was still on Earth in the form of a man, He was able to preach only in Israel. He was not able to reach the other parts of the world that were already existing during that time, such as the Philippines, because there was a limitation to what His human body could do; He couldn’t be in several places at the same time.

I said that the Philippines was already existing at the time that He was preaching in Israel because based on documents, the Philippine rice terraces in Ifugao were constructed 3,000 years ago. Since Christ preached on earth 2,000 years ago, it means that at the time that He was preaching, the rice terraces in Ifugao, Philippines had long been in existence.

But before He ascended to heaven, He made a promise that when His physical body has been changed into a glorious spiritual body, He will let all men be drawn to Him. When that happened, He was no longer barred by limitations. He could already approach any man anywhere on Earth, although not really by His own person, but through the instrumentality of the preachers that He sends. And He is the driving force that attracts or draws people to His teachings.

Very clearly, the Lord Jesus Christ is not idling in heaven. He is very busy in taking charge of so many things. As mentioned earlier, the Lord Jesus Christ is ruling over heaven and earth; this means that He is ruling over His servants and even over the angels, cherubs, and seraphs.

The angels in heaven are under His command. In fact, He sends them to Earth to safeguard the would-be heirs of salvation.

HEBREWS 1:14 (KJV)

Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?

Angels are ministering spirits, and they are being commissioned to deliver the people of God from mishaps; that is why they are called guardian angels. If you are of God, if you are God-fearing, then you have a guardian angel.

As it is written in PSALM 34:7 (KJV),

The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.

Although we do not exactly know everything that happens in heaven, we can be sure that the Lord Jesus Christ is always very busy.

How about the Father, is He equally busy? For sure, the Father is busier.

ACTS 17:26 (KJV)

And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;

The Father made all nations on Earth for men to dwell on. Not only that, He is also the reason why we live.

ACTS 17:28 (KJV)

For in him we live, and move, and have our being...

God is our Creator; we owe Him our lives and our beings. We exist because of Him. He maintains our lives; He provides us with all of our needs in order for us to survive.

ACTS 17:25 (KJV)

Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;

God is the Provider of all our needs in life. He sees to it that we’ll not run short of our sustenance. Thus, He lets the crops grow and yield bountifully; He multiplies the fishes in the ocean to satisfy our hunger.

He makes the complex structure of nature and maintains ecological balance for us to have fresh and clean air and water, and a healthy environment as a whole, which are all vital to our survival. While the Lord Jesus Christ takes charge of the salvation of our souls, the Father is the great Provider of everything that we need.

The Father is also the one who makes the very tough decision as to who will live and who will die. We know that our lives are in His hands.

He also addresses the prayers and supplications of people, even if their requests happen to be self-centered and are in contradiction with other people’s prayers. Indeed, people often ask for two contrasting things.

For example, a farmer may pray for rain so that his crops will grow for him to have an abundant harvest. On the other hand, a salt maker, who also lives in the same village, prays for the rain not to pour because the rainwater will dissolve his salt. As he is a sea salt maker, instead of rain, he prays for the scorching heat of the sun so that his salt brine would dry, crystalize, and be harvested at the soonest possible time. We can just imagine the difficulty that the Father faces in addressing the prayers of men alone.

I repeat, we do not exactly know what really happens in heaven, but the Bible gives us a glimpse of how busy the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ are up there. And we can be very sure that the things that keep them busy are all for the benefit of men.

To God and the Lord Jesus Christ be all the glory!