See also: Session of Christ
Definition · Webster 1828 · Scriptures · Corruption · Roots · Usage · Related
📖 Biblical Definition
The session of Christ is His being seated at the right hand of God the Father following His ascension—the enthronement of the exalted Mediator in the place of supreme honor, authority, and rest. After He had by Himself purged our sins, He sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; this is the great recurring testimony of the New Testament, fulfilling the messianic word, “The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.” The “right hand of God” is not a place in space but a figure for the position of highest dignity and power, sharing the Father’s throne and government. The session signifies several things. It declares the completeness of His finished work: the Old Testament priests stood daily ministering, for their work was never done, but this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down—the posture of a work accomplished and a satisfaction made. It signifies His reign: from the throne He governs all things, head over all to His church, until every enemy is put beneath His feet. It signifies His continuing priestly intercession: seated at God’s right hand, He ever lives to make intercession and appears in the presence of God for us. And it signifies the believer’s exaltation in Him: we are raised up together and made to sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that the Head’s enthronement is the pledge and beginning of the members’ glory. The session is therefore a doctrine of immense comfort: our Substitute’s work is done, our Advocate is enthroned, our King reigns, and our place is secured in Him who sits at the right hand of the Majesty on high.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
Webster 1828 defines SESSION as the act of sitting, or the state of being seated; and notes the session of Christ at the right hand of God.
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SESSION, n. — 1. A sitting, or the actual sitting of a court, council, legislature, etc., for the transaction of business. 2. The session of Christ, his sitting at the right hand of God after his ascension.
SESSIONS, n. — A stated sitting of justices or magistrates.
📖 Key Scripture
Hebrews 1:3 — "...when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high."
Hebrews 10:12 — "But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God."
Psalm 110:1 — "The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool."
Ephesians 2:6 — "And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
No major postmodern redefinition, but the session is neglected—believers forget the present, enthroned reign and intercession of Christ, treating Him as absent rather than seated in power and pleading for them.
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The session of Christ is corrupted chiefly by neglect—a forgetting of the present, enthroned activity of the ascended Lord. Many believers, vividly aware of the cross and perhaps of the second coming, live as though the present age were a gap in which Christ is absent, far away in a distant heaven, uninvolved in the affairs of His church. But the session declares the opposite: the very Jesus who was crucified is now seated at the right hand of the Majesty on high, reigning over all things, governing history for His church, and ever living to make intercession. To neglect the session is to live as orphans when we have an enthroned King and a pleading Advocate; it breeds anxiety, as though no one ruled, and prayerlessness, as though no one interceded.
The doctrine, rightly grasped, is full of comfort and force. The posture of sitting proclaims a finished work—unlike the priests who stood because their labor was never done, Christ sat down, His one sacrifice complete, nothing left to add. His enthronement proclaims a present reign—all authority is His, and He governs every enemy and every providence until all are beneath His feet. His seated intercession proclaims a continual advocacy—He appears in the presence of God for us, so that no accusation can stand. And His session is the pledge of ours, for we are already seated with Him in the heavenly places, our destiny secured in our enthroned Head. To recover the doctrine of the session is to live under an open heaven, conscious that our work-finishing Savior, our reigning King, and our interceding Priest is not absent but enthroned, and that in Him we already sit in glory.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
The doctrine rests on Christ who sat down (kathizō) at the right hand (dexios)—the posture of a finished work and the place of supreme power foretold in Psalm 110.
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['Greek', 'G2523', 'kathizō', 'to sit down (sat down on the right hand)']
['Greek', 'G1188', 'dexios', 'right hand (the place of honor and power)']
['Hebrew', 'H3427', 'yāshab', 'to sit, dwell, be enthroned (sit thou at my right hand)']
['Greek', 'G2362', 'thronos', 'throne (sharing the Father’s throne)']
Usage
"The session of Christ is His being seated at God’s right hand—the posture of a finished work and the place of supreme power."
"The priests stood, their work never done; Christ sat down, having offered one sacrifice for sins for ever."
"We are made to sit together in heavenly places in Christ—the session of the Head is the pledge of the members’ glory."