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(2) However, His work is not limited to His kingly rule. He is priest forever after the order of
Melchizedek. When He cried out on the cross, “It is finished,” He did not mean to say that His
priestly work was at an end, but only that His active suffering had reached its termination. The
Bible also connects priestly work with Christ’s session at the right hand of God, Zech. 6:13; Heb.
4:14; 7:24,25; 8:1-6; 9:11-15,24-26; 10:19-22; I John 2:2. Christ is continually presenting His
completed sacrifice to the Father as the sufficient basis for the bestowal of the pardoning grace
of God. He is constantly applying His sacrificial work, and making it effective in the justification
and sanctification of sinners. Moreover, He is ever making intercession for those that are His,
pleading for their acceptance on the basis of His completed sacrifice, and for their safe-keeping
in the world, and making their prayers and services acceptable to God. The Lutherans stress the
fact that the intercession of Christ is vocalis et realis, while the Reformed emphasize the fact
that it consists primarily in the presence of Christ in man’s nature with the Father, and that the
prayers are to be considered as the presentation of legitimate claims rather than as
supplications.
(3) Christ also continues His prophetical work through the Holy Spirit. Before He parted with His
disciples He promised them the Holy Spirit, to aid their memories, teach them new truths,
guide them in all the truth, and enrich them out of the fulness of Christ, John 14:26; 16:7-15.
The promise was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost; and from that day on Christ, through the
Spirit, was active as our great Prophet in various ways: in the inspiration of Scripture; in and
through the preaching of the apostles and of the ministers of the Word; in the guidance of the
Church, making it the foundation and pillar of the truth; and in making the truth effective in the
hearts and lives of believers.
4. THE PHYSICAL RETURN OF CHRIST.
a. The return as a stage in the exaltation.
The return of Christ is sometimes omitted from the
stages of His exaltation, as if the session at the right hand of God were the culminating point.
But this is not correct. The highest point is not reached until He who suffered at the hands of
man, returns in the capacity of Judge. He himself pointed to this as a special mediatorial
prerogative, John 5:22,27, and so did the apostles, Acts 10:42; 17:31. Besides the passages that
speak of Christ’s appointment as Judge, there are several that refer to His judicial activity, Matt.
19:28; 25:31-34; Luke 3:17; Rom. 2:16; 14:9; II Cor. 5:10; II Tim. 4:1; Jas. 5:9.
b. Scriptural terms for the return.
Several terms are used to designate the future coming of
Jesus Christ. The term “parousia” is the most common of these. It means in the first place
simply “presence,” but also serves to designate a coming preceding a presence. The latter is the
common meaning of the term, when it is used in connection with the return of Jesus Christ,
Matt. 24:3, 27,37,39; I Cor. 15:23; I Thess. 2:19; 3:13; 4:15; 5:23; II Thess. 2:1; Jas. 5; 7,8; II Pet.