Every day the church experiences the fruits and effects of Christ’s session, his heavenly rule.

The Leiden professors close their treatment by turning from what the session is to what it does — and to the priestly work that makes all of it effective.

‘And the enemies of Christ, including even Satan himself, whether they like it or not, marvel at it, and tremble.’

Daily Fruits

31. Every day the church experiences the fruits and effects of Christ’s sitting down at the Father’s right hand; and the enemies of Christ, including even Satan himself, whether they like it or not, marvel at it, and tremble. For Christ gathers his church by his Word and Spirit, while they vainly resist; he preserves it against the tyranny of the whole world and the gates of hell, and he destroys the Antichrist by the Spirit of his mouth. And just as he daily more and more unfolds his kindness and the riches of his grace to those who are true members of the church (both in their consciences and in their outward status), so he daily manifests the clear signs that the judgment is coming against a great many of [the enemies].

32. What is more, all these fruits rest upon that intercession whereby Christ interceded before the Father not just in his state of humility but especially in that state of his glorification.

Notice the word daily appearing three times. This isn’t a doctrine about a distant throne. It’s a description of what is happening to the church this week.

Not His Only Priestly Act

33. And this intercession by Christ in heaven at God’s right hand is not the only, single action of Christ as Priest, as the godless Socinus imagines,¹Faustus Socinus (Fausto Paolo Sozzini), was a 16th-century Italian theologian whose anti-Trinitarian thought became foundational to Socinianism, later shaping Unitarian theology. A nephew of Lelio Socinus, he is chiefly remembered for denying the Trinity. but it is one of his [many] priestly actions. By this, after he offered himself on earth outside the heavenly sanctuary as the atoning sacrificial victim for our sins, he also appeals in the presence of the Father’s countenance in heaven. And he does so against Satan and all his instruments, and on behalf of the church and its members, in the manner of which Zech 3:2ff. presents us with an outstanding example of each.

The correction there matters. Socinus wanted to reduce Christ’s priesthood to heavenly intercession alone — which conveniently removes the sacrifice. The reply is that intercession is one of his priestly actions, and it rests upon the offering already made.

Three Features of the Intercession

34. And this intercession, or appeal, by Christ consists of these three features: (1) that Christ has brought his atoning sacrifice into the very sanctuary of heaven to sanctify it for us, and there to appear before the face of God on our behalf (Heb 9:23-24). (2) that by his will and burning desire, just as he had done earlier while on earth (John 17:11, 15, 24, etc.) so also in heaven with the Father he asks earnestly that the power and efficacy of his death be applied to us for our salvation, as can be seen from Zech 1:12 and John 14:16 as well as Acts 2:33. Finally, (3) that by what he has merited and his own desire, he causes the prayers that we pour out in his name to be pleasing and acceptable to God the Father (John 14:6 and 13, likewise 1 John 2:1-2).

Three things, then. He presents the sacrifice. He asks that its power be applied to us. And he makes our prayers acceptable.

That third one deserves a pause. Your prayers don’t arrive on their own merits. They arrive because someone at the throne makes them welcome.

The Day of Atonement, Fulfilled

35. The entry by the great High Priest into the holy of holies on that day of atonement formed a representation of all these features [Leviticus 16], as the apostle … himself points out in Hebrews 7 and 9. For (1) the atoning sacrifice was offered outside the sanctuary and then his blood was taken from there into the sanctuary by the same Person. (2) the incense was joined to his blood, as it was a symbol of the offerings and prayers, as Rev 8:7 explains. And he also bore on his shoulders and breast the names of the tribes of Israel, for whom the foreshadowing atonement was obtained.

Every element of the old ritual turns out to have been a picture. The sacrifice made outside the holy sanctuary on a cross surrounded by mocking religious leaders, the blood carried in, the incense rising with it, and the names of the people carried on the priest’s own body into the presence of God.

The Last Act

36. The final deed of his reign as Priest will be the last judgment, when he will come again from heaven to judge the living and the dead, and all people, good as well as evil, shall be gathered together to appear before his judgment seat, for everyone to give an account of what he has done in the body, whether good or evil (2 Cor 5:10). And then, at the last, when he lays aside his reign as formed by this economy, like a victor of all things and a conqueror he will first hand himself, and then his reign, over to God and the Father, that God may be all in all (1 Cor 15:24, 28).

Where the Whole Story Ends

That final sentence is where everything in this document has been heading.

The mediatorial kingdom — the reign Christ took up at his ascension for the gathering and defence of the church — is not permanent in its present form. It has a purpose, and when that purpose is complete it will be handed back.

Not surrendered in defeat. Handed over ‘like a victor of all things and a conqueror.’

And the end of it is not a throne, or a kingdom, or even a victory. It is a person: ‘that God may be all in all.’

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  Faustus Socinus (Fausto Paolo Sozzini), was a 16th-century Italian theologian whose anti-Trinitarian thought became foundational to Socinianism, later shaping Unitarian theology. A nephew of Lelio Socinus, he is chiefly remembered for denying the Trinity. ↩︎