At the Right Hand of God
Bernard’s Oneness reading of God’s right hand as power, authority, favor, victory, and the exalted mediatorial office of the man Christ Jesus.
Overview
What does it mean that Jesus sits or stands at God’s right hand? David K. Bernard rejects the picture of two divine bodies occupying adjacent seats. Scripture identifies God as invisible, omnipresent Spirit, while “right hand” repeatedly symbolizes power, saving action, favor, victory, and royal authority.
In Bernard’s Oneness reading, the exalted man Christ Jesus receives and exercises the authority of the one God. He reigns, pours out the Spirit, intercedes, and subdues every enemy. The language distinguishes God in transcendence from Christ’s human, messianic office without requiring two divine persons.
The Bible’s right-hand imagery
The Old Testament can speak of God’s right hand shattering enemies, saving, supporting, and sheltering (Exodus 15:6; Psalm 98:1; Isaiah 41:10). These texts are not anatomical descriptions of an invisible Spirit. They are embodied metaphors for effective divine action.
The same idiom appears in ordinary royal life: standing at someone’s right hand can mark favor or office. Bernard therefore lets the wider biblical usage define the heavenly session before turning the phrase into a map of divine bodies.
Psalm 110 and messianic authority
Psalm 110:1 announces that Yahweh gives David’s Lord the place of authority until the enemies are made a footstool. Bernard reads this as prophecy: the eternal God addresses the future human Messiah and grants him royal power. The two “Lords” are not two gods. One is Yahweh; the other is David’s genuine human descendant and Lord.
The New Testament applies the psalm to resurrection and exaltation. Acts 2:33–36 joins the right hand, the outpouring of the Spirit, and the proclamation that Jesus is Lord and Messiah. Acts 5:31 calls him Prince and Savior. The point is not heavenly furniture but the authority now exercised through the risen Christ.
Intercession and supremacy
Romans 8:34 says the right-hand Christ intercedes. Ephesians 1:20–23 places him above every rule and authority. Hebrews connects session to completed sacrifice and continuing priestly mediation.
Bernard assigns these actions to the glorified human role of the Son. Because God is fully in Christ, this received authority is not the power of a lesser deity. Yet because the humanity is real, Scripture can speak of exaltation, appointment, obedience, and intercession.
Stephen’s vision
Acts 7:55–56 describes Stephen seeing Jesus standing at God’s right hand. Bernard treats the scene as revelatory symbolism: Stephen sees God’s glory and Jesus in the place of divine power and welcome. The vision confirms Christ’s authority and Stephen’s vindication; it need not imply that the invisible God has a second physical body beside Christ.
Nicene interpreters usually read the same vision as personal distinction between Father and Son. The disagreement concerns what the symbolism reveals about divine personhood, not whether Jesus is exalted.
One throne
Revelation complicates any simple two-chair picture. Jesus shares the divine throne (Revelation 3:21), and the new creation has “the throne of God and of the Lamb,” followed by singular references to serving him, seeing his face, and bearing his name (Revelation 22:3–4). Bernard reads this as the one God eternally visible in the glorified Jesus.
Key passages
- Exodus 15:6; Psalm 98:1; Isaiah 41:10 — right hand as saving power.
- Psalm 110:1 — messianic enthronement until victory.
- Matthew 26:64 — the Son of Man at the right hand of Power.
- Acts 2:33–36; 5:31 — resurrection, exaltation, Spirit, and salvation.
- Acts 7:55–56 — Stephen’s vision.
- Romans 8:34 — intercession.
- Ephesians 1:20–23; Hebrews 1:3 — supremacy and session.
- Revelation 3:21; 22:3–4 — shared throne and final divine rule.
Connected Atlas concepts
Ascension and Session · Sonship: Beginning, Purpose, and Fulfillment · One Throne, God and the Lamb · Why Jesus Prays to the Father · Christ’s Mediatorial Authority
Primary source
This article paraphrases The Oneness of God, chapter 9, especially pp. 200–206, with Bernard’s earlier treatment on pp. 106–108.