He Ascended Into Heaven and Sits at The Right of God
The Apostles Creed • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Without the Ascension of Jesus, the gospel possess no present power.
When Jesus sat down at the right hand of God, He inaugurated a new age of hope founded upon His completed ministry.
Christians must, orient their lives around the splendor of Christs ascension into heaven and His coronation as King of the universe.
These 2 truths should stand as a beacon of Christian spirituality. Few words should be as comforting to the Christian as “He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God”
What Does the Bible Say About the Ascension?
What Does the Bible Say About the Ascension?
The framers of the Creed penned into its affirmations only what they understood as essential to the Christian faith.
The assertion that Jesus ascended into heaven and sits enthroned at Gods right hand made its way into the creed because of its significance to the New Testament and to the faith of the church.
The gospels of Mark and Luke contain the fullest and most detailed accounts of Jesus ascension.
Luke also included the ascension in the book of Acts.
The gospels of Mark, Luke, and the book of Acts, however contain explicit historical accounts of the final moments of Jesus time on earth with His disciples.
51 While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. 52 And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, 53 and were continually in the temple blessing God.
19 So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. 20 And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by accompanying signs.
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” 9 And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.
These three accounts testify to the intimacy and drama of Christs final moments with His disciples.
Mark and Luke record this event for the benefit of the whole church.
Their narratives preserve the beauty this moment encapsulates and the hope that Christians have in the eternal reign of Christ over the creation.
Christs ascension reveals three pillars that are essential to Christian theology.
1.) Christs Exaltion
1.) Christs Exaltion
God ordained the ascension to exalt Jesus above all creation.
In each of the ascension narratives Christ goes up to Heaven.
This ascent, more than more than just a spatial progression from earth to heaven, enshrines the glory, supremacy, and exaltation of Jesus Christ.
The Father received His Son back to His throne of glory.
Paul also revealed the exaltation of Christ after His ascension: Eph 1:20-23
20 that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22 And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
This seat represents the place of supreme authority over the entire creation.
Every throne on earth, every king in authority, every power in the cosmos, submits to the reign of the One who conquered the grave.
The seating of Christ at the right hand of God underlines Christs present reign and His continuing work on behalf of believers.
9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
The ascension of Christ, therefore serves as a cosmic coronation whereby God the Father confirms Christs sacrifice and subjects the universe to His rule.
Without His ascension, exaltation, and coronation, Jesus would possess no authority to rule, and ultimately, to reconcile all things to himself. Col 1:18-20
18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
In short there would be no gospel to proclaim.
2.) The Giving of the Holy Spirit
2.) The Giving of the Holy Spirit
When Jesus ascended to heaven, He did not leave His disciples alone in the world. Indeed, the ascension secured a peculiar power that Christians in every age would know and depend upon.
Through Jesus ascension He gave the church the Holy Spirit.
7 Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.
Without His ascension the Spirit could not come, and in some mysterious, spectacular way, the indwelling of the Spirit eclipses the physical presence of Jesus Christ.
Jesus gives three reasons why His ascension and the subsequent giving of the Spirit marks a glorious turning point for His disciples and the Church. John 16:13-14
13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14 He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.
When the Spirt of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth.
The Spirit, will guide the church in the truth of Christ and preserve them from the danger of doctrinal error.
He will declare to you the things that are to come.
Not only will the Spirit guide the disciples in the truth, He will reveal the eschatological hope for the chruch.
He will take what is mine and declare it to you
The Spirit, therefore brings the direct revelation of God to the Church.
Without the Spirits revelation of the things of Christ, the chruch would have no word to guide them, no instruction by which to live, no truth upon which to build their hope.
The ascension of Christ, therefore, assured the fullness of God’s revelation to His chruch, which He communicated through the power and ministry of the Spirit.
Seen in this light the ascension of Christ provided for the chruch the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus revealed to His disciples that without His ascension, the Holy Spirit would not come and fulfill His crucial and necessary role for the people of God.
3.) The Eternal Dwelling of Gods People
3.) The Eternal Dwelling of Gods People
The ascension of Christ secures the eternal dwelling place of Gods people in Heaven.
2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?
Jesus ascension paved the way for the eternal resting place of the household of faith.
He grounded our future hope in heaven with Hs ascension to the right hand of the father.
Jesus focused not on the “rooms” in the Fathers House; rather He communicated the blessed and eternal communion and fellowship that will exist between Christ and His People.
3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.
Jesus ascension secured an intimate fellowship with God Himself in the age to come.
Christians everywhere glory in the inheritance that Jesus Christ Himself prepares for them- for us, together, as Christs people.
A Theology of Ascension
A Theology of Ascension
The reason so few Christians contemplate Christs ascension stems from a deficient theology of ascension and the myriad crucial doctrines connected to this affirmation in the Apostles Creed.
Without its support we have no assurance in the present and hope for the future.
Specifically the doctrines of Christs vindication, the reality of Heaven, and our union with Christ, flow powerfully from the Confession, “He ascended into Heaven and sits at the right hand of God.
The Vindication of Jesus
The Vindication of Jesus
The ascension of Jesus manifests the seal of Gods approval for all that Christ has done.
After Jesus ascension the Father seated His Son at His right hand and showed His affirmation of the life and ministry of Christ.
Specifically, God the Father sent Jesus to accomplish the establishment of the new kingdom and the salvation of sinners.
Christs ascension marks a glorious moment for this new kingdom.
When Jesus came, He came to establish a new kingdom - a reign that would make all things new; a reign that would span eternity.
The phrase inaugurated eschatology defines the age in which we live.
The chruch lives in the “already-but-not-yet” reality of the kingdom.
His vindication through the kingdom will come fully when this earth passes away and the words of Rev 21:3-4 become reality.
3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
The ascension proclaims the certainty of the Kingdom and the sufficiency of the sacrificial work of Christ.
The ascension revealed Gods vindication of the earthly work of Christ.
Without the ascension Christians could not live in confidence of the eternality of the Kingdom and the sufficiency of the Cross.
The Reality of Heaven
The Reality of Heaven
19 So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.
This verse clearly identified a specific location to which Jesus ascended.
Jesus ascension, therefore, provided further grounding for a literal location of Heaven- the dwelling place of God, the heavenly host, and His people.
Heaven exists as a reality and place to which all who believe in Christ will one day live for all eternity.
Our Union with Christ
Our Union with Christ
Jesus ascension deepens our understanding of our union with Him.
21 The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne.
Just as Christ ascended and sits on the Heavenly throne, the father will usher His people to a glorious seat of authority because of their union with Christ.
Applying the Truth
Applying the Truth
The Biblical and Theological currents of Christs ascension and celestial reign should draw all Christians to a state of gratitude and worship.
The Certainty of Salvation
The Certainty of Salvation
The ascension of Christ provides an immovable foundation and security in our salvation.
Christians can rest in the knowledge of Christs ascension because we know of the saviors completed and continuing work and His eternal rule over the cosmos.
The Means to Live Boldly
The Means to Live Boldly
Finally, because Christ ascended to heaven, Christians can live boldly for the glory of God.
Christians can live boldly because our God has in Christ accomplished the work, finished the task, and rules over all by His providential care.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Without His ascension the Spirit would not have come.
Without His reign at the right hand of God, the Christian would face insurmountable obstacles and overwhelming satanic opposition.
The ascension of Jesus marked His exaltation and vindication.
The entirety of His ministry culminated in His ascension, a watershed event that became the seal of the Fathers pleasure on all Christ accomplished.
The reality of Christs ascension and celestial enthronement enshrines all the hopes, expectations, and promises of the gospel.