«　WEEK 3　DAY 5　»

　　Acts 7:56And he said, Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.

　　20:28 Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among whom the Holy Spirit has placed you as overseers to shepherd the church of God, which He obtained through His own blood.

　　God exalted the man Jesus, who had been rejected and killed by the Jewish leaders, as the highest Leader, the Prince, the Ruler of the kings to rule over the world (Rev. 1:5; 19:16), and the Savior to save God's chosen people. Leader is related to His authority, and Savior to His salvation. He rules sovereignly over the earth with His authority that the environment might be fit for God's chosen people to receive His salvation (cf. Acts 17:26-27; John 17:2). (Acts 5:31, footnote 2)

　　Acts 7:55 speaks of Stephen seeing Jesus standing at the right hand of God: "But being full of the Holy Spirit, he looked intently into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God." This verse unveils that Christ is the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God to be the comfort, encouragement, and strength to the one martyred for Him.

　　Stephen saw the ascended Christ as the Son of Man. This means that the Christ who is in the heavens still has His humanity; He still possesses a human nature. Some do not believe that Christ today is still the Son of Man. They claim that Christ became a man by incarnation but that in His resurrection He put off His humanity. They think that Christ today is merely the Son of God, that He is no longer the Son of Man. However, it is erroneous to teach that Christ in ascension is no longer the Son of Man. In ascension Christ is still both the Son of God with divinity and the Son of Man with humanity.

　　According to Acts 7:55, Stephen saw the glory of God. This was a great vindication and encouragement to the persecuted one. Verse 55 says that Stephen also saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God. The Lord in ascension is usually referred to as sitting at the right hand of God (Matt. 26:64; Heb. 1:3, 13). But Stephen saw Him standing there. Sitting is for resting, whereas standing is for working. Because a member of His Body was suffering on earth, the Son of Man was seen standing at the right hand of God.

　　In Acts 20:28 we see Christ as God: "Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among whom the Holy Spirit has placed you as overseers to shepherd the church of God, which He obtained through His own blood." This verse reveals that Christ as our God is the Purchaser of the church, having obtained the church with His own blood. God secured, purchased, and redeemed the church with His own blood. God's own blood is the blood of Jesus Christ (1 John 1:7). This also implies that the Lord Jesus is God.

　　The blood that has redeemed fallen human beings is the blood of Jesus, the Son of God (1 John 1:7). As human beings, we need genuine human blood for our redemption. Because He was a man, the Lord Jesus could fulfill this requirement. As a man, He shed human blood to redeem fallen human beings. The Lord is also the Son of God, even God Himself. Therefore, with His blood there is the element of eternity, and this element ensures the eternal efficacy of His blood. Therefore, as a man He has genuine human blood, and as God He has the element that gives to His blood eternal efficacy. In Acts 20:28 Paul had the boldness to speak of this blood as being God's own blood.

　　Therefore, Christ died on the cross as the God-man, and the blood He shed there for our redemption was the blood not only of the man Jesus but also the blood of the God-man. Therefore, this blood, through which God obtained the church, is God's own blood. This implies that Jesus Christ is God as the Purchaser of the church who obtained the church with His own blood. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 2990, 3005-3007)

　　Further Reading: The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 292