John 3:13 – “No one has risen into the heavenly realm except the Son of Man who also exists in heaven.”
This verse gives a glimpse into one of the facets of the mystery of Christ becoming a man. He was clearly here as a man, living as a man under the power of the Holy Spirit. At the same time He did not cease from being God, ruling the universe even as He walked among us on earth. Augustine spoke about this often, here is something he said about this profound mystery.
“As a human being he was on earth, not in heaven where he now is … although in his nature as Son of God he was in heaven, but as Son of man he was still on earth and had not yet ascended into heaven. In a similar way, although in his nature as Son of God he is the Lord of glory, in his nature as Son of man he was crucified.”
This is one of those things that the natural mind just can’t grasp, only glimpses of the unseen world given to us by the Word of God and the Holy Spirit can give us a sense of this truth. Brian Simmons also speaks about this.
“Jesus shares a mystery with Nicodemus. While he was on the earth ministering, Jesus was also in heaven in the spirit realm. Being in two places at the same time is also the privilege given to every believer. We are seated with Christ in the heavenly realm and living our earthly life to please him. This is what it means to be “in Christ.” See Eph. 2:6; Col. 3:1-5. In the realm of the Spirit, heaven and earth is one. Jesus is telling Nicodemus that only those who are seated in the heavenly realm will understand spiritual truths.”
Jesus shared this revelation with the great teacher of Israel called Nicodemus. The Lord went immediately from sharing this profound truth to something even more shocking to Nicodemus. He told him about His coming death on a cross for all men. All of this was earth shattering to the academic Nicodemus, thankfully he pressed on to know the Lord and became a follower of Jesus.
For us today we can rest assured that Jesus Christ is seated on the throne in heaven in both of His natures. He is reining today as Son of Man and the Son of God. For us, we can just rest in this knowing our Lord who walked among us on earth is now ruling our lives from the right hand of God.
