He is revealed within His cross; death; resurrection; ascension; glorification: We need to realise that there is a Man in heaven sitting on the throne of God, and that man is Christ Jesus the Lord, the head of the Church.
It may take a day or a month, I do not know how long, but I do know that when any child of God will believe and begin to express that faith in thanksgiving, day by day thanking Him for the fact which one may not yet have experienced, the Holy Spirit will lead that one into a glorious personal realization of his identification with the Lord Jesus in His death, burial, resurrection and ascension. -L.L.L.
It is a great thing to have the consciousness that we are bound up with Him there in heavenly glory, and to know that we are with Him in that sphere of ascension to participate in all that constitutes His life in that blessed circle of love and glory where He lives unto the Father.
Most do not go beyond His resurrection; they do not extend to His ascension.
His death, resurrection and ascension translated the believer from his own side to His side, so that as He is so are we in this world; and according as we are at full rest about ourselves, we are occupied with Him who has set us free for fellowship. -J.B.S.
What a promise to rest your weary soul upon. This assurance was given to the confused disciples at the ascension of their Lord. The understanding of this difficult saying was later given to the apostle Paul: lo I am with you always..
Intimate or Afar
Not to know the Lord in this capacity is not to know Him as all. Not to know as the Son of God’s love is to miss out on intimacy with Him. We may be quite familiar with the facts of Christ’s life – His birth in Bethlehem; His marvellous miracles; His ascension from Olivet.
If ministers and teachers of God's Word would set saints free and establish them in the Gospel, let their preaching and teaching be based upon the sixth and seventh of Romans, the central theme of which is our union with the Lord Jesus in death and burial; and our resurrection and ascension with Him into newness of life; where not the law, but grace, reigneth; where not the letter but the Spirit, moveth the heart and life of the believer.
The great work of the Lord Jesus was wrought on the Cross to bring us to the Father; His death and His Blood, His ascension and sitting on the Throne; all mean one thing - our being brought nigh to dwell in the Father's presence.
The believer shares the Lord Jesus' Cross knowing this, that our old man was crucified with him' Rom. 6:6); His death:- ye died and your life is hid with Christ in God' Col. 3:3); His burial:- we were buried with him by baptism into death' Rom. 6:4); His resurrection:- as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we' Rom. 6:4); His ascension:- made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus' Eph. 2:6). -F.J.H.
Not the theological Christ; not the doctrinal Christ; not the Christ of the letter, much less the Jesus of history; but the Christ of eternity in all the meaning of His death, burial, resurrection, and ascension into the Throne of God revealed in the heart by the Holy Spirit.
Final Instructions
In chapter 1 it summarises the gospel of Luke and Christ’s ascension into heaven. It also confirms the certainty of the resurrection and its many infallible proofs. It reviews the final instructions that the Lord Jesus gave before His ascension. It details the topic about which Christ spoke to His followers – the kingdom of God.
And though there were to be further disclosures to be revealed after Christ's Resurrection and Ascension, it was not until the full counsel of God was revealed through Paul and recorded in the Word of God, that they fully understood: That because I live you will live also.
God purposed in His plan that Christ must first come to save His people from their sin, through His death, burial, resurrection, and ascension, BEFORE He could smash in pieces the kingdoms of this world system.
But after the Cross, at the close of His earthly sojourn, with its humiliation and sufferings, came Christ's Resurrection, Ascension, and Glorification, and with it came an eternal weight of glory.
The prophets of old did not see the twin-peaks of Calvary and His Second Coming, with the Church dispensation nestling between these two majestic peaks (stretching from the Cross to His Second Coming and Kingdom rule) which was why the disciples asked the Lord before His Ascension Will You at this time set up Your kingdom? Like the prophets of old, they did not understand the mystery of the coming 2000-year long Church age (from Pentecost to the Rapture of the Body of Christ), and the unique privileges (which in general were revealed to Paul), that believers in this Church age are afforded.
Just as the angels at the tomb had to remind these men of things Christ told them while He was still with them, so also the two men in white at His Ascension, had to remind them of Scriptural truths as they beheld Jesus being lifted up and watched in amazement as a cloud received Him out of their sight.
Just as Christ's first coming began with His birth at Bethlehem and ended with His Ascension into heaven, so the Rapture of the Church and the return of Christ to the Mount of Olives stand as two bookmarks, at the beginning and the end of Christ's second advent.
Unlike the apostles who accompanied Jesus throughout His earthly 'pre-Cross' ministry, beginning with the baptism of John, Paul was called to be an apostle by Christ following His 'post-Cross' Resurrection, Ascension, and Glorification.
Just before His Ascension, the Lord gave the Church their great commission to go and make disciples of all the nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
The commission Christ gave His own disciples at His Ascension was not simply a call to evangelise the lost (who certainly need to learn about God's free gift of salvation through Christ so that they can trust Him as Saviour), but it is equally a call for all believers to learn of Christ and to keep on learning of Him throughout their whole life, and even to become teachers of Christ as they grow in their Christian life.
However, it was during the final few weeks before His crucifixion that Jesus started preparing His disciples for His death, Resurrection, Ascension, and Day of Pentecost together with the coming of the Holy Spirit to indwell the Church during a new dispensation - the dispensation of the Grace of God.
The suffering of God's chosen Servant was well documented in the Scriptures, as was His glorious Resurrection and Ascension into heaven, for it was foretold by prophets of old including Israel's great patriarch, King David.
Not only were the apostles among the many eye-witnesses of the resurrected Christ during those 40 days between His Resurrection and Ascension, but the crowds in Jerusalem who were listening to the blistering truth from Peter's discourse that day, had themselves been spectators to all that had transpired on that momentous Feast of Passover, only fifty days before when the sky turned black for three hours and the veil of the Temple was torn in two from top to bottom - giving all who will believe on Him forgiveness of sin, life everlasting, and access to the heavenly throne of grace.
The Cross must have appeared to be a huge success to Satan's evil forces, but it was short-lived, for by means of His death, Resurrection, and Ascension, Christ was enabled to proclaim, Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out.
Christ's sacrificial death, glorious Resurrection, and triumphant Ascension into heavenly places, disarmed the principalities and powers of darkness, destroying the one with power over death and dismantling Satan's armies of all their powers.
Unlike the rest of Christ's apostles who walked with Jesus throughout His earthly ministry, Paul was called to be God's apostle to the Gentiles following the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ and His Ascension into heaven.Because of Paul's unusual calling and unique ministry, there were many who criticised his teaching and challenged his authority, which is why he so vigorously defended his calling and frequently made reference to the direct revelation he received from the Lord.Here in first Corinthians, Paul found it necessary to severely admonish the believers in Corinth for their disgraceful conduct which discredited the Lord, tarnished their witness, and rendered them carnal Christians and spiritual infants.The unruly disunity, riotous behaviour, greedy indulgence, and disregard for the needs of their brothers and sisters in Christ, was even displayed during the celebration of the Lord's Supper – which Paul had already taught was a time to reflect on the reality of Christ's sacrificial death, until His coming again.And so in this passage, Paul is preparing to criticise and correct the shocking behaviour of these carnally minded believers, by reminding them of his own unique calling and the direct revelation he received from the Lord, which had already been taught to them on an earlier occasion.He reminded them that he had been called personally by God, and delivered a specific message regarding the importance and seriousness of the Lord's Supper, which they were currently disregarding:For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, Paul reminded them, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; and gave thanks, and broke it and said, 'This is My body, which is given for you – do this in remembrance of Me.'May we never forget the enormous price that was paid for our redemption, at the Cross.
He described the soldiers gambling for His garments, prophesied of the Messiah's resurrection from the dead, His ascension into heaven, and Him sitting on the right hand of the Father as it was written...
The hope that was placed into the hearts of the disciples on that wondrous ascension morn, kept the expectation of their Lord’s return alive in His disciples' hearts for the rest of their difficult lives.
It is right and proper that we joyfully sing the old songs that tell out His miraculous conception and birth, His Word of truth that has rejoiced our soul, His sacrificial death, glorious Resurrection, spectacular Ascension, and the blessed hope we have in His soon return.
John witnessed how the world hated Jesus during His earthly ministry and experienced increasing hatred towards Christians following Christ's Ascension into heaven.
For ten days, the disciples had been without the Lord Jesus since His Ascension into heaven, following His sacrificial death and glorious Resurrection from the dead.
John the Baptist was the first to testify that Jesus would baptise with the Holy Spirit, and on that last meeting before His Ascension, the Lord explained that this baptism of the Holy Spirit was not many days away.
Jesus came to fulfil the Law, and the death, burial, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus of Nazareth, was the historical marker that changed the priesthood and displaced the Law of Moses by ending the Dispensation of Law, and beginning the Dispensation of the Grace of God.
John gave his prophecy at the start of Christ's ministry, but moments before His ascension into heaven, Jesus informed his disciples that the baptism of the Spirit would happen a few days later: John baptised with water, Jesus told them, but you will be baptised with the Holy Spirit, not many days from now. Indeed, on that first day of Pentecost, the believers who were all together in one place were not only baptised by the Spirit but were also filled with the Spirit and endowed with the spiritual gift of 'tongues'.
Although over 500 people rejoiced to meet their risen Saviour, only 120 were to be found in the right place at the right time when the fledgling Church was birthed - and those present were all baptised with the Holy Spirit, as promised by the Lord Jesus Himself at His Ascension.
And although the Lord Jesus was the eternal Son of God and equal in honour and glory with the Father, Mark announces the beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ from the human perspective, tracing the gospel of Jesus from His lowly birth to His glorious Resurrection and Ascension into heaven.
Christ was the perfect Man, and His legitimacy was endorsed or justified at His baptism, His transfiguration, His resurrection, and His ascension.
The mystery of godliness, where the resurrected life of Christ is manifested in the life of godly leaders and spiritual believers, will always stand secure on the glorious truths of the death, burial, resurrection, ascension, and glorification of Jesus Christ.
Jesus came to earth as our holy Comforter, but following His Ascension into heaven, where He acts as the Churches Mediator and great High Priest, He asked the Father to send another Comforter to the Church, to be with us forever.
It was this same apostle who felt the tender touch of Christ's gracious hand of forgiveness upon him, when He said to His distraught disciple, Feed my lambs, on that memorable day before His Ascension into the heaven of heavens, where He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.
After this disturbing verse, where Jesus shows how hating Him without a cause was simply the fulfilment of the Word written in the Law, Jesus then tells them that after His Ascension, the Helper would come: And He will testify about Me, Jesus told them, and you will testify also, because you have been with Me from the beginning.
It is not surprising that when Jesus told them that the outpouring of the promised Holy Spirit would take place within a few days of His ascension into heaven..
Before the death of Christ, God was working through the Jewish nation to forward His redemption plan, but following His Resurrection and Ascension, God set Israel aside for a season and began a new work through the Church; the Body of Christ.
Such apostate teachers with their heretical doctrines always insist that salvation requires something to be added to the Cross - that man must engage in some meritorious work, other than simply believing in the death, burial, resurrection, and ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ, for their salvation.
The majority of Church age doctrine would have to wait until it was given to His New testament apostles and prophets after His death, burial, resurrection, ascension and glorification..
Other areas included Christ's rejection, suffering and death, His Resurrection, Ascension, and Glorification, the Rapture of the Church, the great and terrible 'Day of the Lord', His Second Coming, and our blessed hope in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Following Christ's death, resurrection, ascension and glorification we discover the murderous Saul of Tarsus being selected for a unique ministry by the Lord Jesus Himself, which he describes as; the dispensation of the grace of God.
The wonderful story of redemption is picked up by Peter following the death, burial, resurrection and ascension of the Lord Jesus - when the promised Holy Spirit was sent from heaven to indwell and empower all who believe.
and rejoiced because of all that occurred at Christ's resurrection, ascension, glorification and exaltation to the right hand of God.
Christ was clearly identified as the seed of David according to the flesh, but He was also to be identified as the Son of the Most High God according to the Spirit, as evidenced through His supernatural Resurrection from the dead and Ascension into heaven.
His incarnation and unique birth, His tests and temptations, His sinless life and obedient death, His Resurrection, Ascension, glorification, and exultation are all aspects of the person of Christ: And you belong to Christ and Christ belongs to God.
The Resurrection of Christ from the grave is the most compelling sign He could have given to these disbelieving Jews, and a few were brought to faith following His Resurrection and Ascension into heaven.
Christ's slow, ascension into heaven, where He was enveloped by the Shekinah glory of God, as He returned to the Father, would call to mind His recent promise that He must go away but would return, to take them to be with Himself in glory.
However glorious this precious picture of His ascension is to us – we too have a time of hopeful expectation on which to train the eyes of our hearts – for this same Jesus, Who was taken from that little company into heaven, will come to meet us in clouds, at the end of the Church Age.
The hope that was placed into the hearts of the disciples on that wondrous ascension morning, kept the hope of their Lord’s return alive in their hearts, for the rest of their difficult lives, knowing that one day their Lord would return in like manner to take them to be with Himself - for we are not appointed to the wrath that will be poured out during the Great Tribulation.
They probably 'witnessed' His Crucifixion, Resurrection, and Ascension, and they will return to earth as 'witnesses' to preach a message of judgement on all who will not repent and believe.
From other passages, we understand that the 'end times' or 'last days' started in the times of the disciples with Christ's death, burial, Resurrection, and Ascension, and will continue until His Second Coming to set up His earthly kingdom.
Although He was rejected by His people and His enthronement and kingdom reign was postponed, Christ was appointed God's King-Priest following His ascension where He was rewarded with the pledge, You are My Son; TODAY I have become Your Father.
Christ is not only the First-fruit from the dead, assuring all who believe in Him will also be physically resurrected, but His entrance into the heavenly realm following His Ascension, prefigures our own thrilling access into the holy place of God and our promised heavenly inheritance.
And so as the time for His ascension drew ever closer and His disciples were to take full responsibility to carry on the work that Lord Jesus had started, He said to them once again: Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you...
It traces the early beginnings of the Church from Christ's Ascension and the Day of Pentecost, when thousands of Jews came to faith in Jesus, through the tumultuous times of early Christendom.
Although written by David, this Messianic psalm makes clear reference to the resurrection of Christ and His glorious ascension into heaven, where at this very moment He is seated in heavenly places - on the very throne of God.
In the midst of the assembly, I will praise You. This Messianic prophecy, penned by David, was beautifully fulfilled by Christ through His death, burial, resurrection, ascension, and identification with all who believe on His name.
For much of His ministry, the Lord Jesus was teaching the gospel of the kingdom to none but the lost sheep of the house or Israel, but as the animosity and hatred towards their promised Messiah became increasingly evident among the Jewish leaders, Jesus began to prepare His little band of disciples for the significant changes that were about to take place after His Crucifixion, Resurrection, and Ascension.
He used three ways to prove that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of the living God - His miracles, His Resurrection, and His Ascension into heaven.
The miracles Christ performed, His sacrificial death, His glorious Resurrection, and His Ascension into heaven to sit on the right hand of God the Father, are a few of the prophecies within Peter's sermon, when he quoted David's words about Christ - that God would not abandon His soul to Hades, nor would He allow Christ Jesus, the Holy One of God, to decay in the grave.
His threefold 'ascension' qualifies JESUS to be the One to give spiritual blessings to the Church and heavenly gifts to all who will believe on His name.