THE MAN UPSTAIRS
Occasionally I hear a preacher condemning the common expression “the Man upstairs” as a reference to God. They will say something to the effect that there isn’t a “Man upstairs” but an Almighty God who created all that exists, and is the Supreme Ruler of creation. While I understand and even appreciate what is being said, every time I hear such a discourse, I want to scream at them, “But there is a Man upstairs — in heaven! And if there isn’t, neither you nor I have any eternal hope!”
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
John 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
Jesus, the Christ (Messiah, Anointed One), the Son of the Living God is still both fully God and fully man. The Man Christ Jesus was raised from the dead, and that included the resurrection of His physical body, which was “in the likeness of sinful flesh” [see Romans 8:3], after He died on the Cross of Calvary for our sins. He is risen! He is risen indeed!
Some might be tempted to say that He was both God and Man, but once He was resurrected, He became “just God” again, as before the incarnation. If that were true (and it isn’t) what would one do with Romans 8:29, which says that Jesus Christ is “the firstborn among many brethren”?
He is still both the Son of God and the Son of Man, seated at the right hand of God the Father, a high priest forever after the order of Melchizadek, ever living to make intercession for us!
Hebrews 7:25 Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever lives to make intercession for them.
1Timothy 2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.
While we don’t want to dishonor our Lord and Savior with cheap talk, unworthy of His stature, it must be stated:
“There is a Man upstairs!”
And He is our Lord, Savior, and Redeemer; our Great High Priest, our Mediator and Intercessor; and, the Author and Finisher of our faith!