This morning we're going to examine the ascension of Christ. Last Sunday night, we looked at the Great Commission. And so, we're going to go back to that Great Commission, to begin with, and then we're going talk about some of the impacts of the ascension of Christ.
Now, when Luke wrote the book of Acts, he wrote of the apostles whom Christ had chosen.
- Acts 1:1-2
And so he speaks of that. He is there with His apostles, the ones to whom He had shown Himself alive after His passion, after His sufferings, after His crucifixion, over a period of 40 days.
Now, why was there a 40-day period? You know, the Lord had additional teachings and challenges He wanted to give to the apostles before His ascension. It seemed that He wanted to do whatever, take whatever time was necessary to prove to them with infallible proof that He really rose from the dead. He wanted no doubts whatsoever to remain in their minds.
And in the gospel accounts, the events of these 40 days, they're kind of blended together. Sometimes, it makes it seem like events that happened weeks apart or happened all on the same day. When we look at the various references to that period of 40 days, they are at least 10 appearances of Jesus recorded in the gospel accounts and the book of Acts. The giving of the great commission and the ascension close out the period that Christ spent on this earth.
Before His Ascension
- Acts 1:9
And so, as He is there on the Mount of Olives with His disciples, with the apostles, He gives that great commission.
- Matthew 28:18-20
- Mark 16:15-18
- Luke 24:46-48.
We'll suffice by looking at Matthew 28 as we did last Sunday night.
There's really the Four Alls of the Great Commission here.
And so, with His imminent departure, we would expect Jesus to have much to communicate. He surely spoke about many other things concerning the kingdom of God. His primary purpose, though, was to give that great commission.
And so in summary, He had all authority in Heaven and on Earth and to go to all the nations. They were to go and teach all nations.
Prior to the crucifixion, Jesus and His disciples basically restricted their teaching to the Jews. Now that restriction was going to be lifted.
- Acts 1:8
Thus, the great commission is self-perpetuating. teach them and help them to grow, and he says, I am with you always.
Now, when the great commission is obeyed, several things occur.
- People are taught the message about Jesus - Matthew 28:19, Mark 16:15
- They're to become disciples.
- They are to believe that the message is true and trust in the sacrifice of the One who died for them.
- They are to repent of their sins and change their lives.
- They're to be baptized, to have their sins washed away for the remission of sin.
- When men obey, uh, when they respond obediently, God saves them and their past sins are forgiven, Luke 24:47
Primarily He gives the Great Commission. But also, there are some things about the ascension that we need to understand. Some things that kind of come to a conclusion.
And so as we look at the time of the ascension, there are historic accounts given of it taking place.
- Mark 16:19
- Luke 24:50-52
And so, He was carried up into Heaven in their presence as they saw.
- Acts 1:9
When we come here to the natural conclusion of the life of Christ, to His ascension. It was a natural conclusion for His life, but because He came from Heaven, it seems right that He should go back and return to Heaven. And again it is hard to fully comprehend all that this is describing and all that is taking place here.
In addition to these three brief accounts, there are multiple references both direct and indirect to this event in the New Testament.
- Acts 2:33
- Acts 3:21
- Ephesians 4:10
- Revelation 12:5
Here the child is a reference to Christ here and so called up to God on his throne. And so there are numerous references to the ascension of Christ.
The Purpose of the Ascension
Now, what was the purpose for the ascension other than Christ returned to Heaven? You know, it really had two purposes.
1) The glorification of Christ
He is glorified as Christ. He is glorified as Prophet, Priest, and King. You know, at the ascension Jesus was received up into glory.
- Luke 24:25-26
- 1 Timothy 3:16
- 1 Peter 1:21
The ascension is the high point of the work of Christ. The Savior had been preparing Himself for His work as High Priest and King.
And so, Jesus was now going home. He was returning to the glory that He once had before He came to this earth.
- John 17:5
This is of course, at the Last Supper, knowing He is about to be crucified. H says, "Father, restore to me the glory which I had before the world began." We see the divesting of that glory of Himself and the future glorification.
- Philippians 2:9-11; 5-8
And then, because of His obedience to the Father's will, He is then glorified at the right hand of the Father.
And so we see one of the purposes was the glorification of Christ.
2) Glorified as High Priest
You know, Christ was glorified, as the High Priest. When He ascended, He became our High Priest. He assumed the role of High Priest.
- Hebrews 4:14
- Hebrews 9:11-12, 24
On the Day of Atonement, the High Priest, went into the Most Holy Place. He appeared before God and He made that sacrifice. Christ is forever with the Father in Heaven. And ever interceding for us.
- Hebrews 10:12
Year by year the high priest of the old law would make that same sacrifice over and over again for the sins of the people. Christ offered Himself one time, once for all, reconciling man to God and now sits at the right hand of the Father. A feature of Jesus' High Priesthood is that He is our Mediator.
- 1 Timothy 2:5
That was basically the role of the priesthood of the Old Testament, to mediate, to go between man and God. They took the sacrifices of the sinful man and offer them up to the Holy God. Christ does that role for us. He is our Mediator.
- Hebrews 4:15-16
Again, on the Day of Atonement, the high priest had to first make a sacrifice for himself, for his own sins, so that he could represent the people to God and make the sacrifice for their sins.
Christ never sinned, He had no sacrifice for His own sins to make. There was no need for it. He is a greater High Priest than any high priest that ever came before. And so, after Jesus ascended, He did not forget how weak the flesh is or how we struggle in our physical bodies.
He remembers and He understands because He knows our feelings. He knows and He has experienced life on this earth as we have.
3) Glorified as King
He was glorified also as King. He was received up into Heaven and sat down on the right hand of God.
- Mark 16:19
- Colossians 3:1
He sits on the right hand of God, in the place of power, the place of authority, the place of preference, the right hand of God.
- 1 Peter 3:21-22
Again, going back to the idea that He has all authority in Heaven and on Earth.
- Acts 2:33-36
He is glorified as our Hing. He is the one who rules over the kingdom of Heaven, the kingdom of God.
- Daniel 7:13-14
And so He is glorified as the Messiah. He is glorified as the High Priest. He is glorified as our King. We see that took place. This glorification took place at the ascension.
He Ascended for the Preparation of the Apostles
He said, "...it was expedient for you that I should go away."
- John 16:7
And so, if He remained, then the Holy Spirit would not come unto them. And so it was expedient. It was to their advantage that He leave them. You see. the responsibility has now shifted.
- John 20:21
Even so, I send you. Christ came from the Father to do His will to return, to restore people back, to reconcile them back to Christ, back to God. And now, He says, even as I have been sent, I am now sending you. He is shifting the responsibility to them.
- Acts 1:8
We see there a preview of the scope of the book of Acts as they spread out from Jerusalem to Judea, to Samaria, and finally into all the world. The responsibility, though is shifting from Christ. He has done His work. His work on this earth was concluded. It is now time for His disciples to take up where He left off.
- Acts 1:10
So they watch him as He ascends. He's gone. It was confirmed by the two men that He will come again. But in the meantime, the responsibility has been shifted to them. We see part of this preparation is the Holy Spirit given to the apostles.
It was necessary for Him to go away. It was expedient, it was advantageous for Him to go away so that they could receive the Holy Spirit. He could not send the Spirit upon them until He was reigning in Heaven.
He could not reign until He sat down at the right hand of God.
- John 16:13
They were told to stay there, to remain in the city of Jerusalem until they were clothed with power from on high.
- Luke 24:49
- Acts 1:8
- Acts 2:1-4
You know, the Lord then prepared His apostles to fulfill the weighty responsibility that He had given them to go into all the world to teach the gospel to every creature.
And so the twofold purpose of the ascension was to glorify Christ and to prepare His disciples for their great mission.
There's a lot more that could be said about the ascension. Maybe what we've said is enough to bring each of us to a greater appreciation of the ascension at the close of Christ's life on earth.
The purpose of the ascension is Christ is now in Heaven at the right hand of God, reigning over His Kingdom, the church. Is interceding, acting as High Priest on our behalf.
You know, the next climactic event for Jesus and us will be His second coming when the faithful will meet Him in the air.
Those two men, those two angels, they said, "...in like manner as you saw Him ascend, you will see Jim descend..." when He returns.
- 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17
- Revelation 1:7
Every eye will see Him descend just as the apostle saw Him ascend. And every eye will see Him descend on that great day of judgment. That great climactic event.
Are we ready for that day? Are we prepared to face that day, to look up and to see Him returning in the clouds? That's a great day for those that are faithful in Christ. That's a great day for those that live their life and died in faithful service to God.
But to those that are outside of the body of Christ, again, it says, all kindred of the earth shall wail because of Him. For those that are outside of Christ, it's not going to be a great day at all. It's gonna be a day of abject terror.
How do we prepare ourselves to be ready for that day? We become His disciples. Even as we've looked at in the Great Commission, we become His disciples. We follow him. We obey Him. A disciple obeys his master.
You know, Jesus said, "If you love me, keep my commandments." First John 5:3 tells us that "...His commandments are not burdensome, they're not grievous."
We must believe and based upon our belief, we must repent of our sins, confess our belief, be baptized to wash away our sins, baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. And then, we just need to continue and be faithful, in dedicated service to Him.
Today, if you have not obeyed the gospel, we urge you to make preparation and to put on Christ in baptism. If you are one who has not been faithful as a Christian, we urge you to repent.
Today is the day of salvation and tomorrow may be too late. we can assist you in obeying the gospel or walking faithfully with Him, we ask that you contact us.
