The Ascension
After 40 days, of his resurrection
Jesus ascended into heaven. The Ascension
is a unique part of Christ that further displayed the supremacy and the Godhood.
He died and he was resurrected physically, ascended into heave; Acts 1.1-12.
Strong's Greek: 354. ἀνάληψις (analémpsis) --
Ascension, taking up
Strong’s Greek 354, ἀνάλημψις, though occurring only in Luke 9:51, anchors a sweeping biblical portrait: the ascension of Jesus Christ completes His saving work, inaugurates His heavenly …[1]
He was enveloped in
shekinah glory of God and carried to heaven where he now sits at the right hand
of God the Father; to the throne of God; Mk. 16. 19.
Jesus was not only worshipped by the
people, the disciples, but also worshipped by the angels. Angels were assuring
Jesus into heaven, and this tells us that He has authority over the angels. Jesus
ascended in to the Shakinah glory of God in heave. This is a very glorious
thing to think about and remember.
The
Shekinah Glory
Now when Solomon had finished praying, fire
came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the
glory of the Lord filled the house. And
the priests could not enter the house of the Lord because the glory of the Lord filled
the Lord’s house. All the sons of Israel,
seeing the fire come down and the glory of the Lord upon the house, bowed down on the pavement with their faces to
the ground, and they worshiped and gave praise to the Lord, saying, “Certainly He is good, certainly His faithfulness is
everlasting;
2 Chro. 7: 1-3.
Why is the ascension so important?
Key things to remember:
Jesus takes his rightful place; sitting at the right hand of God the Father, and
he is Godhood.
No longer emptied himself; Phil. 2. We are not saying that He did not
surrender any of the attributes of God. But Jesus offered some of the exercises
in order to be fully man.
Example: Omnipresence: he was not with all people all the
time; the physical impossibility of being a human. But God is Omnipresent.
It
demonstrates Jesus’ sovereignty: Jesus is now over all the created things. If
we belong to Him, everything we go through, is for God’s glory. The chief end
of man is to glorify God, and worship HIM for ever.
It seals our hope in Him: Jesus is reigning Supreme, where we all can go
to Him. Jesus is interceding for us, sitting at the right hand of God the
Father now. Can we picture this? Jesus the High Preist (Ref. Hebrews: 4. 14-16)
interceding for you and me?
Seeing then that we have a great high priest,
that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our
profession. For we have not an high
priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in
all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come
boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to
help in time of need; Heb. 4:
14-16.
To the ancient Greeks, the primary attribute of
God was apatheia, the essential inability to feel anything at all. Jesus isn’t like
that. He knows and He feels what we go through. The ancient Greek word
translated sympathize literally means “to suffer along with.”[2]
Jesus knows what it is like to be tempted and to battle against sin, though He was
never stained by sin. “His sinlessness was, at least in part, an earned
sinlessness as he gained victory after victory in the constant battle with
temptation that life in this world entails.” (Morris)
“But listen to me; do not imagine that if the Lord
Jesus had sinned he would have been any more tender toward you; for sin is always of a hardening
nature. If the Christ of God could have sinned, he
would have lost the perfection of his sympathetic nature.” (Spurgeon)
He
is our Advocate. We fallen sinners, because of the work of Christ on the
cross, when the Father see us on the day of Judgment, He sees the ascended Christ
in our place…this indeed gives me goosebumps! Jesus is standing up for us in
the gap; as a way to the Father.
Boldly does not mean proudly,
arrogantly, or with presumption. Boldly means we may come constantly; we may
come without reservation; we can come freely, without fancy words;
we can come with confidence; we should come with persistence.
Jesus became the head of the church because of
his ascension, and that is his rightful place. All believers play a different
part, as members of the body, which are many and different. But only one head
and that is Jesus Christ; and dictates and guides how the body of believers
move. He is Supreme and Unique in all of His ways!
Jesus in glory, but also his human nature is
exalted. His ascension took place in his bodily form with all the pierced marks.
He is above, all things and is able to stand in the gap. Please do not miss
this.
Exaltation
After the ascension,
Jesus became exalted. Jesus received the former glory once again it was
restored. This is applied to all who receives Jesus. What Adam and Eve lost
in the Garden, because of the Original Sin, (Peccatum Originale).. and
its effects on humanity. This will be restored.
In other words, although Jesus was God
inwardly, while still maintaining his humanity, Jesus now was clearly God at an
outward level. He was given various titles after the ascension, and his
glorious exaltation. As Lord; Acts 2: 36; Saviour; Acts. 5: 31; Head of the
Church; Ephe. 1: 21.
What do we understand by Jesus
as Lord?
This
means whatever little control we relinquish, we have to give it to Jesus,
because He is our Lord, and He owns it all. He is in charge of us. John's attitude
is a type of Christ's own humility, as Jesus later exemplifies in His
sacrificial death. The decrease of John and the increase of Jesus must be
applied in our lives.
He must increase, but I must decrease; Jn. 3: 30.
As Christians, we have to crawl upon the altar
daily, and say “I surrender, please take over today. May this day be for your
glory, and You my Lord, who owns it all. My time, my talents, my work, my
heart, my friends, my family, my thought process, my hopes, and my vision, my possessions
and all in all”.
For pride is spiritual cancer: it eats up the very possibility of love, or contentment, or even common sense. A proud man is always looking down on things and people; and, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you. C. S. Lewis.
As Jesus as Lord of our lives, we have larger
hope and larger vision, possibly we do not fully comprehend. Letting Jesus taking
charge of our lives is wiser. He is all in all our authority. Stop pretending
that Jesus is just a Saviour! In the Book of Acts we are receiving the
affirmation for this. This proves the exaltation of Christ.
Jesus is the only Person who can forgive our
sins; because He paid the penalty for our sins; and exalted. Exalted Christ is sufficient to save; to guide and to redeem.
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth,
and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me; Jn. 14: 6.
