Have you ever wondered what Jesus is doing now that He is no longer on earth as a human being?

Is He preoccupied with 'more important' things? Or what might He be doing for us RIGHT NOW?

We know a lot about Jesus' life on earth. When we hear His name, we probably picture a man in his 30s, of medium height, with long brown hair and a full beard, wearing white linen clothes and simple sandals. Just the usual image of Jesus or a man from the first century. You probably have in mind the image of Jesus on the cross, or perhaps the empty tomb on the Sunday morning after His resurrection. The last thing that is reported about Him, when He was visible to His followers, is His ascension. But what has happened since then, and what is He doing now? It is precisely this that is unclear to many.

The book of Hebrews in the New Testament tells us that as our advocate (the Bible calls this the 'high priest'), it is now His job to appear in court on our behalf. We are accused by Satan, the great enemy of God and deceiver of mankind, because each one of us has sinned, that is, broken God's law. Satan therefore believes that we rightly belong to him and should not receive eternal life. Jesus counters and defends us. He points to His own perfect life, which He wants to credit to us, and to His substitutionary death, by which He took the punishment of transgression upon Himself and paid for us.

In ancient Israel, this important heavenly event was symbolised by the temple. It was only a picture, an illustration of what Jesus would do later – that is, today – in heaven, with the true sacrifice, His own life, which He offered for us on the cross. All the animal sacrifices of the past merely pointed to what would one day happen on the cross in the spring of 31 A.D.: that the 'Lamb' chosen by God, Jesus Christ, would die in our place for our sins so that we might live forever.

The prophet Daniel tells us in very impressive words that this judgement for our salvation is taking place now, just before the return of Jesus:

"As I looked, thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took his seat. His clothing was as white as snow; the hair of His head was white like wool. His throne was flaming with fire, and its wheels were all ablaze. A river of fire was flowing, coming out from before Him. Thousands upon thousands attended Him; ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. The court was seated, and the books were opened" (Daniel 7:9-10).

The next verses tell us that normal world events will continue during the Judgment until the Judgment in heaven is finished. Then Jesus will return to bring home those who have now been legally acquitted.

This judgement has already begun, as the far future prophecies of Daniel 8 and 9 explain. They explain that this judgement is for the purpose of cleansing the heavenly sanctuary. But how can it be defiled?

When someone commits a sin, he becomes 'unclean', so to speak. Satan deceives even those who are on God's side to accuse them before God. But Jesus makes sure that the dirty person can become clean. In this way, the dirt enters the heavenly sanctuary, because God takes responsibility for our failure. But it doesn't stop there: God's sanctuary is cleansed by Satan's accusations being thrown back at him at the end.

It is important to understand that in the first phase of the Judgment, which lasts until the return of Jesus, NO ONE is condemned! Every person who belongs to God will be acquitted by the merits of Jesus on the cross. This means that our citizenship in heaven has already been officially transferred to us. At the Second Coming of Jesus, this process will finally be completed, and we can rejoice that there will be no more accusations against us.

We can live for eternity. Paradise will be ours again! I look forward to it!

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Bible texts for in-depth study:
Leviticus 16; Daniel 7:9-27; 8:13-14; 9:24-27; Zechariah 3:1-5; Hebrew 1:3; 2:16-18; 4:14-16; 8:1-5; 9:11-28; 10:19-22; Revelation 8:3-5; 11:19; 14:6-7, 12