The Importance of the Ascension
The triumphant ascension of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is a sadly neglected subject.
And yet it’s of great importance to us as Christians.
In his book Accent on the Ascension Carl Brumback claimed that if the Lord Jesus Christ had not ascended:
- The infallible proof of the incarnation would be lost
- His sacrificial death on Calvary would have been in vain
- Access into the presence of God would be denied to all
- It would be impossible to be saved
- None would be indwelt or infilled by the Holy Spirit
- We would have no advocate with the Father
- The Church would be bereft of its blessed hope
Accounts of the Ascension
Mark 16:19
After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and sat at the right hand of God
Luke 24:50-51
When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them.
While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven
Acts 1:9-11
After he had said this, he was taken up before their very eyes and a cloud hid him from their sight.
They were looking up intently into the sky as he was going when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them.
‘Men of Galilee’, they said, ‘why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus who has been taken from you into heaven will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven’.
Eight Aspects of the Ascension
Jesus demonstrated his deity
He reclaimed his rights
He assures us of access into heaven
He has poured out his Spirit
He acts as our advocate
He sends out his servants
He prepares a place for his people
He awaits his advent
- Jesus demonstrated his deity
John 6
38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.
39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that …
everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life…
41 At this the Jews began to grumble about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.”
42 They said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven’?”
In these verses Jesus claims quite clearly to have come from heaven. The Jews understandably find such a claim extremely difficult to believe
Jesus replies that the evidence that he has come from heaven is that he will one day be seen to return to heaven (v.62)
60 On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”
61 Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you?
62 What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before!
The ascension is the final proof of the incarnation
If there had been any remaining doubt in the disciples’ minds as to who he was, it was dispelled by the ascension
They had seen him go! (Acts 1:11)
Far above all principality and power and might and dominion!
By his ascension Jesus demonstrated his deity.
- He reclaimed his rights
Philippians 2:5-8
5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death– even death on a cross!
When Jesus left heaven, he made himself nothing
He was essentially one with God
and possessed all the attributes that make God God
but he voluntarily stripped himself of all his privileges and assumed the place of a slave and was born as a human being
This does not mean that during his life on earth as a man He ceased to be God
He did not choose to draw upon the attributes of deity which as God he still possessed
His miracles were performed by faith through the power of the Holy Spirit
Illustration: a prince in a far country who voluntarily refuses to draw on his royal assets back home is still a prince
He did this that he might come and die for us sinners
But having died for us
and having risen again the third day to demonstrate his power over death
he finally ascended forty days later
He returned to his Father and reclaimed his rights
Philippians 2:9-11
9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 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.
- He assures us of access into heaven
Without the ascension, Christ’s sacrificial death would have been in vain
In the Old Testament, says Brumback:
‘The supreme moment in the ministry of the High Priest was not at the altar but at the mercy-seat.
On the Day of Atonement the High Priest became the representative of all the priests who had ministered at the altar throughout the year;
the offering on that day was the one from which all other sin-offerings derived their efficacy;
hence the ministry at the altar was an exceedingly solemn and sacred moment for the High Priest.
But the high point of the great day came when he bore the blood of the sacrifice beyond the veil…
Until the blood was sprinkled on the mercy-seat, there was no atonement, no remission of sins.
For no matter how perfect the sacrifice, the blood was not efficacious unless the High Priest took that blood within the veil’.
But, thank God, Jesus has ascended
By his own blood he has entered the Holy Place as our great High Priest (Hebrews 9:12)
and because he has so entered, we too may have boldness to enter (Hebrews 10:19-22)
By his ascension Jesus assured us of access to heaven.
- He has poured out his Spirit
The ascension was the necessary prelude to Pentecost
The descent of the Spirit was dependent on the ascent of the Son. Jesus had said:
Unless I go away the Counsellor will not come to you, but if I go I will send him to you (John 16:7)
During the time of Jesus’ earthly ministry the Holy Spirit had not yet been given, for Jesus had not yet been glorified (John 7:39).
But as a result of his ascension Jesus was glorified
Peter, preaching to the crowd on the Day of Pentecost, declared:
Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear (Acts 2:33).
Because of his ascension Jesus has poured out his Spirit.
We have now considered four aspects of the ascension
These all relate to the past
They tell us what Christ has accomplished by his ascension
The remaining four aspects relate to the present and the future
Christ’s ascension is not merely a fact of history
It is vitally relevant to us here and now
- He acts as our advocate
We will discuss this subject more fully in the next talk
but it is important to remember that it was because of the ascension that
We have someone who speaks to the Father in our defence (1 John 2:1)
As our heavenly lawyer, Jesus defends us against the accusations of Satan, ‘the accuser of the brethren’.
- He sends out his servants
Ephesians 4:8-11 tells us that when Jesus ascended he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men
It is the ascended Christ who gives men and women to the Church who will equip others for works of service – apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers
As we work for him on earth we do it in the knowledge that he is at the right hand of God exalted in majesty and power!
For more on this subject, see Body Builders
- He prepares a place for his people
Another amazing aspect of the Lord’s ascension is that he has gone to prepare a place for us (John 14:3)
The exact details we do not know
We still see through a glass darkly (1 Corinthians 13:12)
It is enough for the time being to know that we shall be where he is
- He awaits his advent
Jesus said:
If I go…I will come back (John 14:3)
He has gone, and he is coming
This was confirmed by the angels at his ascension:
Why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven (Acts 1:10-11).
But that too is a subject for another talk