"While He was blessing them, He parted from them and ascended into heaven. And they, after worshiping Him, returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple praising God." Lk: 24:51-53
After
the Resurrection Jesus spent time with his Disciples speaking to them about the
Kingdom of God and how as followers of Jesus, they, and all believers should
live.
Jesus,
in many ways, demonstrates to them that it is he himself. They know that he
lives and there is no doubt in their minds that this is true.
The Son of God
The
disciples come to understand, through the reality of the resurrection that
Jesus is the Son of God, and that Jesus is worthy of all reverence and worship,
that is, Jesus is ascended in their minds, he is lifted up.
"and
was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness
by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord," Rm:1:4
The
Resurrection has confirmed Jesus' divinity, that he is fully God even as he is
fully human. The Resurrection has also confirmed the power of the cross, for
without the Resurrection the cross would have no meaning.
Jesus
Ascends
They
have come to see Jesus as no mere "Earth-bound" personality,
that is, “just a man ", rather they have come to see who Jesus
is; the Son of God. Jesus has not just bodily changed locations, that is from
Earth to Heaven, rather Jesus has ascended in their hearts and minds.
Jesus
is lifted up, that is "exulted" in their view and
understanding of who Jesus is he has drawn them to himself and they worship
him.
"And
I, when I am lifted up (Exulted) from the earth, will draw all people to
myself." Jhn: 12:32
Through Jesus' saving work for each and all humanity, Jesus is exulted, he has drawn
all humanity to himself, which means, Jesus has accomplished all of our
salvation, which none of us could have done. Salvation is freely offered if we will but freely recive it through faith in Christ and by grace alone.
At The Throne of God
Jesus
is ascended and we now see him there at the throne of God as our Great High
Priest on our behalf.
But
with, and through Jesus, our Lord has ascended "humanity", all of
us, within himself in his glorified Resurrected state, this means, in Jesus we
now are raised up and ascended along with Jesus.
"But
God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love with which he loved us, even when
we were dead in sins, has quickened us together with Christ, (by grace you are
saved;) And has raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly
places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might show the exceeding
riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by
grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift
of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus to good works, which God has before ordained that we
should walk in them." Eph: 2:4-10
The
Great God, through the glorified humanity of his Son Jesus Christ, views each of
us to be with him and present in Jesus' glorified person.
This
was made possible by the eternal Son of God, the second person of the Holy
Trinity taking on our humanity in the Incarnation.
Understand,
Jesus is not the Son of God because He was sent, but rather, Jesus was sent
because he is the Son of God.
The
Incarnation, that is, Jesus' humanity, God in the flesh, makes the cross and
His death and resurrection possible. By being one of us, that is being fully
human, Jesus could die for all of us and being fully God, his life is worth
more than the sum total of all humanity, this is why Jesus' blood has a greater
value than any others and the sum total of all.
The
value of the blood is found in the value of the life it sustains; the blood of
Jesus sustained the life of God in the flesh therefore is of infinitely greater
value than the sum total of All humanty.
When
Jesus was resurrected, he did not leave his humanity in the tomb, but rather
Jesus' humanity was glorified, and Jesus is, even now, still both fully God and
full human. Humanity and deity have been given union in Jesus.
The Vicarious Humanity of Jesus
It is
in Jesus being "one of us" he can be our perfect
representative for all who will but freely receive it, so that when God looks
upon us, the Father sees Jesus and when he looks upon Jesus the Father sees us.
This is partly what the ancient church called "the vicarious humanity
of Jesus" that is Jesus, provides us each and all who but freely
receive it, with the perfect human response for each and all of us to God and
accomplish our salvation, we can enter this salvation by simply receiving it
freely.
Jesus
is "God with us" through the presences of God the Holy Spirit,
who manifested in the lives of the Disciples ten days after Jesus' bodily
Ascension on Pentecost, He is "us with God" in his glorified
humanity.
This
speaks to each and all of us that when Jesus is Ascended in our hearts and
minds, that means when we see him for who he is, the Spirit of God then
manifest in the lives of believers.
Believers Ascended
Believers
are even now with Jesus in the Heavens this is what the Apostle St. Paul was
speaking of in Ephesians, that we believers share in Jesus' Son-ship even now,
that is Jesus has "drawn all men to himself".
"
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with
all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as he has
chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and
without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us to the adoption of
children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his
will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he has made us accepted
in the beloved. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness
of sins, according to the riches of his grace; "Eph:1:3-7.
When
we enter eternity, it only shows us what is already true for us in Jesus.
Gifts
for Us
When
Jesus ascended, he bestowed upon us "gifts" through the Holy
Spirit that we may use to live out his ministry and life upon the Earth, we,
the Church, Christians, do collectively what Jesus did personally.
But to every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift
of Christ.
Why he
said, when he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts to
men. (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first
into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that
ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)
And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and
some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of
the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the
unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man,
to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ":Eph:4:1-13
Preparing
A Place
Our Lord is even now working with, in and for us as Jesus oversees our
salvation. Jesus is preparing us for eternity and eternity for us. That place
is under preparation and will be fully ours when we enter Eternity, but it is
ours even now in and with Jesus.
Let
not your heart be troubled: you believe in God, believe also in me. In my
Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I
go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will
come again, and receive you to myself; that where I am, there you may be
also"Jhn:14:1-3
Jesus
is there as us "not just one of us”, that is humanity thru him, is
with God, Jesus is there to being for us everything we need Him to be, we shear
in His ascension in His humanity's He is there for each of us if we will freely
receive it.
Being Our Priest
Jesus
has passed into the Heavens and is therefore us that we can approach our God in
times of our need, Jesus acts on our behalf. Jesus has walked this Earth and
understands our life for he has lived it, God has seen our human existence thru
our eyes, not just witnessed it from afar or remotely.
Jesus
knows what the human condition is our Lord has faced life's challenges Jesus
knows what we all go through from first hand experiences. Therefore, we can be
assured of divine assistance when we are in need.
"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 a 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 to
the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time
of need"Heb:4:14-16
His
Ascension is Ours
The
Ascension of Jesus into the Heavens is not just about his Ascension alone,
Jesus has not left us behind to spiritually "fend for ourselves",
but rather in him we have ascended with Jesus and even now.
Jesus'
Ascension guarantees, that ultimately our place in eternity is there, of which
he is now in preparing for us and in us.
When
Jesus is Ascended in our hearts and minds, we worship him and
can be fully assured that we will join Him in glory, fully experiencing the
Ascension that we have in him, that Jesus is for us.
The
Ascension of Jesus not only grants us a future confidence but even now a
present confidence here in this life knowing that Jesus is there standing for
and with us and being "Us with God" and "God with Us"
We
then will worship , for Jesus has Ascended ......Jesus' Ascension is Our
Ascension......
Benediction: May we each and all ever look to Jesus who is
ascended in our hearts and minds, today, tomorrow and forevermore. Amen.
Rev. Todd Crouch, Pastor
Topinabee Community Church
Topinabee Michigan
If You Would Like to Know More About or to Support the Ministry of Topinabee Community Church You Can go to Our Web Site.
https://topinabeechurch.org/index.html
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“If It's Not About Jesus, It's Not About Anything"
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