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CHRIST’S RULE AT GOD’S RIGHT HANDText: Acts 2:34-36
Introduction:
I. Psalms 110 contains several important truths
concerning the Messiah, His nature, and His reign.
(Read Psalms 110)
II. Did David mean that Christ will reign at God’s right
hand until all of His enemies are conquered, or does
he mean that after all His enemies are conquered He
will begin His reign.
A. If the last, then He is not reigning.
B. The Scriptures teach:
1. Peter quoted David’s statement that Christ was
to be exalted to God’s right hand, to prove
Christ’s present exaltation as Lord or ruler.
Thus, Peter’s statement in Acts 2:36.
2. Christ is also a priest after the order of
Melchizedek. Psalms 110:4
3. After His enemies are conquered, Christ will
return the Kingdom to the Father. 1 Corinthians
15:24-28.
III. Let us notice some of the things that this Psalm
implies about the nature of the Messiah and His
kingdom.
Body:
I. The nature of the Messiah.
A. God approved Christ, and Peter said that He was a
man approved of God (Acts 2:22).
1. Christ was human in that He was a descendant of
David according to the flesh (Acts 2:30; Romans
1:3).
2. However, the Christ who was to reign was not
only the child who was born, but also Mighty
God, who was to reign on David’s throne (Isaiah
9:6-7).
3. Since He was divine, it was not possible for
death to hold Him, and He was raised from the
dead, which was one proof that He was the Son of
God.
a. Acts 2:24
b. Romans 1:4
B. His divinity is brought out in the fact that He was
not only David’s son, but also David’s Lord.
1. Matthew 22:41-46
2. Answer: He was of the fruit of David’s loins
according to the flesh, but He also was the Son
of God (begotten by the Holy Spirit – Matthew
1:20-23).
C. The superiority of the Messiah to David is also
brought out by the fact that the Messiah was to
reign at the right hand of God. No mere mortal had
ever occupied so exalted a throne.
D. The Messiah, then, was to the divine—human king.
II. The teaching in Psalm 110 about the Messiah’s kingdom.
A. The present reign of Christ was prophesied.
1. The kingdom of Christ and the church are the
same.
a. Colossians 1:13 – He was writing to the
church at Colosse.
b. Matthew 16:18-19
c. In Ephesians 1:20f, Paul states when Christ
was exalted to the Head of the church was
when He was exalted to God’s right hand.
Also, in Acts 2:34-35, Peter states that
Christ is ruling at the right hand of God.
2. Peter quoted Psalms 110:1 as a prophecy of
Christ’s present reign at God’s right hand. Acts
2:34-35
3. In spite of this clear language, there are those
who believe that the kingdom of Christ has been
postponed because the Jews rejected Jesus.
a. This is why we see Jerry Farewell doing what
he can to help the nation of Israel.
b. Some Christians hold to this belief.
4. The present days are the Messianic days
prophesied by David.
B. The prophet David prophesied the place of Christ’s
reign.
1. In heaven, at God’s right hand.
2. There were Jews who thought that the Messiah was
to abide on earth forever during reign. John
12:34
3. An understanding of Psalms 110:1 would have
showed them their error.
4. Acts 7:55-56
C. The prophecy of David showed that the king Messiah
was to be invisible during His reign.
1. In heaven He would not be seen by mortal men.
2. This prophecy would answer any question that any
Jew might ask as to where Jesus was if He were
the Christ.
D. David’s prophecy indicated that the reign of
the Messiah could not be under the law of Moses.
1. How did David indicate this?
a. Psalm 110:4
b. Melchizedek was king and priest. Hebrew 7:1
c. Under the law of Moses, the priests came from
the tribe of Levi (Hebrews 7:5), but from
that tribe the kings did not come.
d. The fact that the Christ was to be king and
priest indicated that the law of Moses
regulating priesthood would have to be done
away, since the Christ was of the tribe of
Judah.
(1) Hebrews 7:14
(2) However, the priestly system was part and
parcel of the law of Moses, and a change
in the priestly system would be possible
only after the abolition of the entire
law. Hebrews 7:11-12f.
E. David prophesied that Christ’s reign would not
begin with a destruction of His enemies, but that
there would be enemies during His reign.
1. Psalms 110:1 – “until I make thine enemies…”
2. Psalms 110:2 – “Rule thou in the midst of thine
enemies…”
3. He was to reign in their midst until they are
all conquered and the last one to be conquered
will be death. (1 Corinthians 15:24-28)
4. This reign began on the day of Pentecost.
a. Peter said so. Acts 2:34-35
b. His reign began in the midst of His enemies.
c. He was enthroned in spite of their
opposition. Psalms 2:1-5; Acts 4:25-27
d. His rule was proclaimed to His enemies. Acts
2:23-24, 34-35
e. He did not conquer them all then.
f. He has yet to conquer them all.
III. The duration of His reign.
A. David taught that Christ’s reign was to continue
until all His enemies were conquered. Psalms 110:1
1. Paul said that the last enemy is death. 1
Corinthians 15:24-28
2. The resurrection of the dead does not take place
until the last day, the last hour. John 5:28-29;
6:44, 54
3. Which is at the second coming of Christ. 1
Thessalonians 4:13-18; 2 Thessalonians 1:5-12
4. After the resurrection and the judgment
(Revelation 20:11-14), death is cast into the
lake of fire. Revelation 20:14
B. The present reign of Christ, the reign that was
first proclaimed as in force on the first Pentecost
after Christ’s resurrection, continues until the
resurrection, the judgment, and the conquest of
death. It started, as recorded in Acts 2, it is
now going on, and it will continue until the end of
time.
This outline is based on the book The Hub of the Bible by James D. Bales
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