Christ’s Ascension: Part II
Daniel 7:13 “I kept looking in the night visions, And behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming, And He came up to the Ancient of Days and was presented before Him. 14 “And to Him was given dominion, glory and a kingdom, in order that all the peoples, nations, and men of every language might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away; and His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed FN#1.
Introduction
Now remember, last week we began our celebration of the Ascension by noting that at its heart the Ascension is a presentation that results in an application.
That is, the Ascension is the presentation of the completed work of salvation to God on our behalf. As such, the Ascension means that Christ, our all sufficient sacrifice and new life, is continually before God on our behalf.
The result is that God now responds to His people in light of Christ and His completed work. In other words, the new life Christ accomplished and then presented is now applied to His people.
This morning I want us to continue our celebration of Christ’s Ascension, by looking a bit further into this notion of application and noting the two primary ways that God applies Christ’s all sufficient Sacrifice to us.
A] The first way that God responds to us in light of Christ’s Sacrifice is by seating Christ (in His human nature and as our representative) at the Father’s right hand. Notice the results:
Colossians 3:1 If then you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 3 For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
Ephesians 1:20 He raised Christ 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 every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come. 22 And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church,
Notice then what the Ascension and Christ’s reign mean to you right now today:
Romans 8:28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
Romans 10:11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.”
Matthew 6:33 “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you.
Bottom line: the Ascension means that your security and your advocate (that is, the source of your salvation and the one who champions your cause) now sits enthroned as the Lord of all creation directing the whole of existence according to His plan for His people.
However, please note how Scripture says that Christ will reign:
Psalm 110:1 The LORD says to my Lord: “Sit at My right hand, until I make Thine enemies a footstool for Thy feet.” 2 The LORD will stretch forth Thy strong scepter from Zion, saying, “Rule in the midst of Thine enemies.”
Importance: first, notice what God does not say- God does not say that Christ’s reign means the immediate end of all His enemies; nor does God say, Christ’s reign will have to wait until His enemies are gone to really begin. Instead, God says that Christ will rule in the midst of His enemies Fn#3.
This is so important, especially for the church today. Two point:
Daniel 2:21 “And it is He [God] who changes the times and the ages; He removes kings and establishes kings;
Daniel 4:32 You will be given grass to eat like cattle, and seven periods of time will pass over you, until you recognize that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind, and bestows it on whomever He wishes.’
Matthew 28:18, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 “Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, (2 Pet 3:9)
Bottom line: Christ’s Ascension and His reign in the midst of His enemies mean that I am to respond to the world around me with faithfulness, courage, and compassion not indifference, timidity, and despair (II Tim 1:7-8)
B] Next, notice the second way that God responds to us in light of Christ’s Sacrifice is by pouring out the Holy Spirit on us that the Spirit might apply to us, the salvation that Christ accomplished for us. Fn#4
Act 2:33 “Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear. Fn#5
Importance: next week we will talk more about the Spirit and His work. However, for now just remember that the Holy Spirit is the one who applies the salvation and new life that Christ accomplished for you to you. That is, the Spirit seals salvation to you, He marks you as God’s Child, and He renews you with God’s grace
Bottom line: notice at once, the Ascension means that inside and out Christ is unfolding the Salvation and Kingdom that He accomplished for you. In fact, inside and out, this unfolding is the single defining reality that you confront in every detail of existence.
Footnotes
1] Notice at once: Daniel chapter 7 provides a stunning picture of the Ascension. However, Daniel’s vision views the Ascension from the top down. Thus, while the disciples watch as Christ is taken up into the Shekinah Glory Cloud to heaven, Daniel is allowed in his vision to see the other side of this event. That is, Daniel watches as Christ, who has just departed from the Disciples, arrives in heaven and enters the heavenly Holy of holies. Compare:
Acts 1:9 And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.
Daniel 7:13 “I kept looking in the night visions, And behold, One like a Son of Man was coming with the clouds of heaven, And He came up to the Ancient of Days and was presented before Him. 14 “And to Him was given dominion, Glory and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations, and men of every language Might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away; and His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed.
Note, Daniel provides one of the most concise theologies of the Ascension in all of Scripture. Remember the Ascension may be summarized in two words:
Both of these elements (Presentation and Application/Reign) are front and center in Daniel’s vision.
2] Everything Christ does in His human nature He does as our representative and on our behalf. Therefore, we don’t just passively benefit from what Christ has done, we actively share in it (be it the salvation of the Cross or the Resurrection of the body- we directly partake of and participate in what Christ has done as our mediator). The Ascension is no exception. Christ does not just reign over us and for us; we actively participate in that reign. In other words, the work that grace is doing in you and through you (along with the spiritual gifts and ministry that God has given each one of us) are some of the chief means that Christ uses to accomplish the work of His reign. Notice then, throughout Scripture we see the believer assisting Christ at every stage of His reign
1) Your work participates in the present work of Christ’s reign
Matthew 6:33 “Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness;
Matthew 6:10 ‘Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Matthew 24:14 “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a witness to all the nations, and then the end shall come. 2) Your work participates in the future work of Christ’s reign
1 Corinthians 6:2 Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? 3 Do you not know that we shall judge angels?
3) Your work participates in the fullness of Christ’s reign
Revelation 5:10 “And Thou hast made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth.”
Bottom line: your work shares in Christ’s reign. That is, you have been given an active part in the work that Christ is doing.
3] A while back we looked at Christ’s burial. Paul says that Christ’s burial is a matter of “first importance” (I Cor 15:3-4). We found that while the Cross is the source of our salvation and the resurrection is the content of that salvation (i.e. the new life that Christ accomplished for us), Christ’s burial establishes the way we experience this salvation while on earth.
Christ’s burial provides for an essential delay between the completion of salvation (on the Cross) and the reception of the full measure of its reward (at the Resurrection). As such, Christ’s burial establishes the very context of your whole existence on this earth. Thus, between the completion of salvation (the Cross) and the reception of its full blessings (your own resurrection) there is a delay. A delay in which the Church is sent into the world, enduring its conditions and even its death, yet not under God’s judgment but under God’s promise that the whole of our salvation is secure and that our certain victory is already underway.
Case in point: as we turn our attention to Christ’s Ascension and His reign, Christ’s burial is not the bases of that reign (Christ would reign as our head over all creation even if there had been no burial). However, Christ’s burial does determine the way we experience that reign while on earth as well as the way that Christ administers His reign in light of His people’s mission/delay. Notice then the way that Hebrews 2:8 talks about Christ’s reign in terms of the very delay that His burial established for His people:
Hebrews 2:8 Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet.” For in subjecting all things to him, He left nothing that is not subject to him. But now we do not yet see (i.e. recognize, realize, experience) all things subjected to him.
In the end, it is the very framework established by Christ’s burial which determines the manner of His reign prophesied in Psalm 110:1-2.
4] Stepping back we can see the full picture of our salvation:
The salvation accomplished on the Cross; brought forth in the Resurrection; and presented at the Ascension is now enthroned for us and applied by the Holy Spirit to us.
5] To be theologically precise, the Father responds to us in light of Christ’s sacrifice by seating Christ and then pouring out the Holy Spirit through Christ. Notice then, this notion that the Father pours out the Spirit through the Son is an idea and pattern that we encounter over and again throughout the Scriptures to describe the working relationship between the members of the Trinity. For example:
John 1:2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through (by way of) Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.
2 Corinthians 5:18 Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ, and gave us the ministry of reconciliation,
Titus 3:4 But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, 5 He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,
John 15:26 “When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, He will bear witness of Me,
Notice then John 15:26 describes this very pattern: the Spirit proceeds from the Father through the Son, who sends Him to us from the Father. It is important to note that here we are dealing with the working relationship of the Godhead and not any grounds of being with regards to the Spirit. The passage is not addressing from where (or whom) the Spirit derives. The Spirit is co-eternal and co-ultimate with the other members of the Trinity. As such, He is not derived. Instead, the passage’s concern is to show us something of the relationship of the Spirit’s work to that of the Father and the Son. The Father responds to the Son’s completed work of Salvation by pouring out the Spirit through the Son in order to apply that salvation and to equip God’s people as the heralds of the Gospel. Notice then what this tells us about the Spirit’s work: it tells us that the Spirit’s work always has reference to the salvation Christ accomplished and to the Father’s plan for and acceptance of that Salvation. In other words, the Spirit proceeds from the Father’s acceptance of our Salvation and points back to Christ and that Salvation.
To put this another way: the Spirit’s role in redemption always has reference to (takes its bearings from) the work of both the Father and the Son. Thus, the salvation that the Spirit applies is the Salvation that was planned by the Father and accomplished by the Son. The result is that the Spirit’s work in redemption always has reference to the work of both the Father and the Son.