The bible is an amazing book. Hidden in it's pages are insights beyond counting. I've read it hundreds of times, but daily find new gems I had not seen before. There is no book like it.
In Acts 7 is chronicled the testimony of Stephen as he's tried for his "crimes." It's a lengthy passage and at the end he is stoned to death for his words. The words that brought his death sentence were these,
"Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God."
Everyone knew, in that day, that the son of man was Jesus. What he declared was that Jesus was the victorious Messiah. It drove the religious leaders to murder. It drives us all in one of two ways- to God or away from him. In that short testimony from Stephen are these truths,
1. Jesus is alive, he's not dead. He's risen!
2. He's standing at God's right hand, the hand of power, the place of honor!
3. He's standing in victory when anyone else in God's presence would be bowed in worship.
4. The fact that God lets him stand there is a sign that God approved him, approves who he claimed to be and agrees.
5. He's standing in the place of Messiah.
6. With this vision Stephen is telling the Jews this- Not only did you not believe in Messiah, but you killed him too!
7. It means the Kingdom of Messiah was completely different than the Jewish people thought it was.
8. It says to the Jews, you completely missed God's Messiah and plan.
Well, that's enough....enough to get him killed, but in that vision we see this- Our Messiah is not dead in a grave, but standing in God's presence, at his right hand, in power and glory.
And soon we will see him again, The King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
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