With regard to the verse that enjoins us to worship at his footstool, in EO that always refers to the Cross, where Christ's feet were nailed (to the tiny crossbar that only allowed a person to push up for a small gasp of breath while suffocating to death). Our God is the Crucified One.
But I would suggest a necessary refinement to Bate’s analysis .
Yes, the Ascension is crucial. But Christ does not ascend to begin his rule. He returns to the Father who already reigns. The Ascension is not a coronation in the sense of a power transfer—it is a rejoining. The rule of Christ is not a new reality but the visible continuation of what the Father has always done. The Ascension does not make Christ King; it affirms that the Kingdom he preached—the reign of God—is now embodied in him, in glory.
And even more decisive than the Ascension, I would argue, is Pentecost.
Pentecost is the moment when the Trinity is revealed in full—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It is not just the confirmation of Christ’s kingship, but the inauguration of a new kind of communion. At Pentecost, the Spirit descends not merely to mark Christ’s rule, but to create the Church, the body that carries that rule into the world. Without Pentecost, the Ascension would remain distant—cosmic but inaccessible. Pentecost makes the reign of Christ personal, communal, immediate.
So yes, let us not stop at Easter. But let us also not stop at the Ascension. The heart of the gospel is not only that Christ is enthroned—but that his Spirit is poured out. That we are invited not just to declare his Lordship, but to share his life.
But let’s not stop there either! In the ‘Apokatastasis’ there will be a complete restoration of all things – “God will be All in All”. A beautiful New Heavens & New Earth that has begun in the here and now, through the pouring out of The Spirit. In Matthew 13:43 Jesus says in the ‘Parable of the Wheat & Tares’ That –
“ Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears, let them hear”.
Could it be that what Jesus implies in the conversation before (in verses 40-42) doesn’t necessarily infer or suggest that those ‘evil tares’ that will be gathered together by the angels and then burned, is a permanent extinguishment of those who “weep and gnash their teeth” (?) It potentially could be understood rather as a purge or refinement of those individuals by & through the ‘Fire’ (of God’s glorious presence!) Once ‘refined’ and restored (as in Malachi, Zechariah and Cor. 3:13) they along with all of the others who believed in the flesh, will be the ‘Righteous’ as well that will then “shine” as he mentions (?) If this is not the case, then why would Jesus want the sadistic punishment of the ‘wicked’ to then make the other Righteous believers “Shine like the sun in the kingdom” – Torturous flames burning the wicked, to make a 'Resurrected Me' shine like the Sun (?) - No Thanks! This actually sounds kind of twisted and not in character with who God reveals himself to be in Jesus – Remember; “Father forgive them for they know not what they do!”
Both the Parables of the Wheat & Tares and The Sheep & Goats are pre-resurrection admonishments and rebukes, but not necessarily definitive in their sequential structure. Especially in the abuse of the term “aiónios” in Matt.25.
With regard to the verse that enjoins us to worship at his footstool, in EO that always refers to the Cross, where Christ's feet were nailed (to the tiny crossbar that only allowed a person to push up for a small gasp of breath while suffocating to death). Our God is the Crucified One.
Dana
⸻
But I would suggest a necessary refinement to Bate’s analysis .
Yes, the Ascension is crucial. But Christ does not ascend to begin his rule. He returns to the Father who already reigns. The Ascension is not a coronation in the sense of a power transfer—it is a rejoining. The rule of Christ is not a new reality but the visible continuation of what the Father has always done. The Ascension does not make Christ King; it affirms that the Kingdom he preached—the reign of God—is now embodied in him, in glory.
And even more decisive than the Ascension, I would argue, is Pentecost.
Pentecost is the moment when the Trinity is revealed in full—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It is not just the confirmation of Christ’s kingship, but the inauguration of a new kind of communion. At Pentecost, the Spirit descends not merely to mark Christ’s rule, but to create the Church, the body that carries that rule into the world. Without Pentecost, the Ascension would remain distant—cosmic but inaccessible. Pentecost makes the reign of Christ personal, communal, immediate.
So yes, let us not stop at Easter. But let us also not stop at the Ascension. The heart of the gospel is not only that Christ is enthroned—but that his Spirit is poured out. That we are invited not just to declare his Lordship, but to share his life.
But let’s not stop there either! In the ‘Apokatastasis’ there will be a complete restoration of all things – “God will be All in All”. A beautiful New Heavens & New Earth that has begun in the here and now, through the pouring out of The Spirit. In Matthew 13:43 Jesus says in the ‘Parable of the Wheat & Tares’ That –
“ Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears, let them hear”.
Could it be that what Jesus implies in the conversation before (in verses 40-42) doesn’t necessarily infer or suggest that those ‘evil tares’ that will be gathered together by the angels and then burned, is a permanent extinguishment of those who “weep and gnash their teeth” (?) It potentially could be understood rather as a purge or refinement of those individuals by & through the ‘Fire’ (of God’s glorious presence!) Once ‘refined’ and restored (as in Malachi, Zechariah and Cor. 3:13) they along with all of the others who believed in the flesh, will be the ‘Righteous’ as well that will then “shine” as he mentions (?) If this is not the case, then why would Jesus want the sadistic punishment of the ‘wicked’ to then make the other Righteous believers “Shine like the sun in the kingdom” – Torturous flames burning the wicked, to make a 'Resurrected Me' shine like the Sun (?) - No Thanks! This actually sounds kind of twisted and not in character with who God reveals himself to be in Jesus – Remember; “Father forgive them for they know not what they do!”
Both the Parables of the Wheat & Tares and The Sheep & Goats are pre-resurrection admonishments and rebukes, but not necessarily definitive in their sequential structure. Especially in the abuse of the term “aiónios” in Matt.25.
I hope.