What is Christ Doing at the Right Hand of God in Colossians 3:2?

    What is Christ doing at the right hand of God?  There’s probably a lot of speculation out there about this. I know I’ve heard a few. Last week I read some amazing chapters at the end of the Life-Study of Colossians that filled me in on what the Lord’s really doing based on Colossians 3:2:  

I took this at a tulip farm last week.

If therefore you were raised together with Christ, seek the things which are above where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. 

   In chapter  59 of the Life-Study of Colossians Witness Lee opens up this topic by saying that Christ’s ministry has two aspects.  As most people are aware of from the Gospels, Christ carried out His earthly ministry for 33 ½ years doing things like healing the sick, casting out demons, and teaching people. And he points out in this chapter that the goal of Christ’s earthly ministry was to accomplish redemption so that He could be become the life-giving Spirit to regenerate people for the building up of His Body.

   Then he shares that after Christ’s ascension recorded in Acts, He has been carrying out His heavenly ministry.  And Romans 8:34 states clearly what Christ is doing at the right hand of God:  …It is Christ Jesus who died and, rather, who was raised, who is also at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.  But here’s a part that I never heard before —The Lord needs us to join into His intercession! These excerpts  from chapters 59 and 65 really helped me get this:

"To seek the things which are above and to set our mind on them is to join ourselves to the Lord in His ministry in heaven…..Do you not aspire to be one with the Lord in the heavenlies and to have a heart that is one with His heart?...We all need to care for the Lord’s interests.  While He is praying in heaven, we respond on earth….Christ works in heaven, and we work on earth….Christ’s ministry in heaven is all for the goal of building up the Body and forming His Bride. However, Christ’s ministry in heaven requires our response. We need to become on earth the very reflection of that heavenly ministry. When we seek the things above, we respond to the Lord’s heavenly ministry and reflect it" (Lee, Witness. Life-Study of Colossians. Anaheim: Living Stream Ministry, 1979, Print). 

   I really like the words respond and reflect because they show that our prayers need to correspond to God's prayer.  This makes me think about a message I heard a few weeks ago from the Crystallization of Genesis messages on Living Stream Ministry’s website covering Genesis 18. In this chapter God tells Abraham He is about to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. 

    In response Abraham began to ask God questions that appealed to His righteous nature. Back and forth God and Abraham went until the Bible says “And Jehovah went away as soon as He had finished speaking with Abraham,…" Through this example, I saw how Abraham responded to God's need for an intercessor to pray for Lot.  The prayer that Abraham prayed was a reflection of God's concern for Lot and his family.  These messages encouraged us to echo what is on the Lord's heart. 

You can listen to excerpts from the Life-Study of Colossians given in 1979 on The Life-Study of the Bible with Witness Lee. 

Other Posts on the Life-Study of Colossians:

What is God's Will in Colossians 1:9?
What is the Stewardship of God in Colossians 1:25?
What is the Hope of Glory in Colossians 1:27?
What is the Mystery of God in Colossians 2:2? (Part 1)
What is the Mystery of Christ in Ephesians 5:32?   (Part 2)
What is the Greatest Mystery?
What is God's Intention for Your Life?
From the Life-Study of Colossians - What Happens When We Pray?
How Does God Get the One New Man in Colossians 3:10?
What Does Colossians 2:7 Say About Spiritual Growth? (Part 1)
What is the Goal of Spiritual Growth in Colossians 2:19?  (Part 2)
What is Christ Doing at the Right Hand of God in Colossians 3:2?