The CatechismGlobal Methodist Church
Question 15 of 77 · Ecumenical Affirmations

Is Jesus Christ Lord of heaven and earth?

Yes. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and His kingdom will have no end.

Catechism for the Global Methodist Church, question 15

Commentary

This question completes the creed's second article. The answer quotes the creed exactly: he "ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end." Article II of the Confession of Faith covers the same ground: he "ascended into heaven to be with the Father, from whence he shall return," and "by him all men will be judged." Article III of the Articles of Religion says he "sitteth until he return to judge all men at the last day."

Ascended into heaven is an event the apostles watched. Luke records that "while he was blessing them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven" (Luke 24:51), and in Acts "a cloud took him out of their sight" (Acts 1:9). Seated at the right hand of the Father is the position of shared rule, and Paul says the one who sits there "indeed intercedes for us" (Romans 8:34). Because God "exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name," the day is coming when "every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Philippians 2:9, 11).

He will come again in glory to judge follows from the ascension. The two men in white told the disciples that "this Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way you saw him going into heaven" (Acts 1:11). Jesus himself taught that the Father "has given all judgment to the Son" (John 5:22), and Peter preached him as "the one having been determined by God as judge of living and dead" (Acts 10:42). His kingdom will have no end repeats Gabriel's promise to Mary (Luke 1:33) and the song of heaven at the seventh trumpet: "he will reign to the ages of the ages" (Revelation 11:15).

A Methodist confesses this Lord every time the creed is said and every time "Jesus is Lord" is spoken at baptism. The believer already lives under a king whose reign is settled and whose return is certain (Acts 1:11). Peter promises that for those who hold to him, "entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be richly supplied" (2 Peter 1:11).