22: These words give me goosebumps. Jesus, forever bound by human flesh, ascends to the very throne room of the Ancient of Days as recorded in Daniel 7. Coming on the clouds of Heaven, He takes His seat at the right hand of the Father. Here is reason enough to do away with the notion of Heaven being a dimensionless non-space, where spirits float in the aether. In reality, the throne room must be more solid than the upper rooms of our own world. He was able to walk through walls here, but not because He was ghostly. The walls themselves were but shadow to His resurrected body. Just as the flood is a shadow of baptism, and baptism a shadow of the cross, so this world, in all its glory, is a shadow of what lies ahead. Shadows are not more substantive than the object which casts it. Indeed they pale in comparison. Heaven, therefore, casting the shadow we call Earth, must be more real, more solid, more definite than we can know or dream. Heaven alone holds the throne that will support His glorified body. Heaven must be not only real, as in having an address, but also solid, a place suitable for the human body. We should think of Heaven as Lewis does in The Great Divorce, as a spatial existence where we in our present state resemble smoke and shade, but in the glorified condition carry the full weight of real bodies, borne by a very real ground. Too often, Christians are frightened by the thought of a disembodied existence where gregorian chant is our only means of communication. This is a lie and has done much to damage our perception of who Jesus is and what He is currently up to. He sits enthroned, on a throne we would break our knuckles on were we to rap it. A physical throne for a physical God. From this very real throne, He rules the nations of men.
This truth should bring us comfort. To think of our Lord as He is, sitting enthroned in a real throne, one we could touch were we there, instead of in some abstract space that somehow sits outside of existence, gives our mind real handles to grasp the Lordship of Christ. Consider this. If Heaven is a dimensionless non-space, then Jesus really only exists in our thoughts as we think of Him on a throne. With this mindset, when trials come we place our hope in an abstract thought that even we don't really understand, even though the thoughts are ours. But if Jesus, fully God and fully Man, sits in a real location, then He really does rule, for it is suddenly outside our own minds, and not dependent on our willing it into existence. This is the truth behind our hope. Jesus does not rely on us to be what He is. He does not require our mental comprehension nor our mental assent to rule as Lord and King. Here lies the danger of our speaking of Jesus sitting on the throne of our hearts. Through the Spirit He does enter our very person, working to change us from the inside out. But Jesus of Nazareth Himself sits at the right hand of Power, judging the world. Indeed, angels and powers and authorities have been subjected to Him. Here again is our comfort, and the thrust of Peter's encouragement to the Dispersed. Every angel, every demon, every king, every counselor, every lord, every governor, every mayor, every city councilman will answer to the authority of Jesus Christ. As Jesus Himself told Pilate, "You would have no authority over Me at all unless it was given you from above." That authority has been given to our crucified and resurrected Lord. It just goes to reinforce what Peter has been saying. When you suffer, which you will, trust in Him who rules the one at whose hands you suffer. Trust the One who writes your story, the dark parts and all. As Kuyper majestically proclaimed, “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry: ‘Mine!’” This is hope-full. This is bedrock comfort. As David asks, "Where can I flee from your presence?" The answer is nowhere.
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