WHAT'S SO GREAT ABOUT THE ASCENSION?
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ACTS 1:6-11
ACTS 1:6-11
Happy Ascension day!
You’re probably, like what?
Let me ask you a question, am I the first person to ever wish you a happy ascension day?
Well, technically Thursday is Ascension day. According to Acts 1:3
He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.
So, 40 days after we celebrate Easter, we can remember His ascension. And then 10 days later, we can remember Pentecost!
This Sunday we will do that. We will remember and attempt to answer the question, what’s so great about the ascension?
Next Sunday, Celeb will be presenting the message. It will be his 2nd to last Sunday with us and he has a word from the Lord to present to us.
The following Sunday, May 28th, we will remember the Pentecost.
We are still on the topic of the heart of God and you will see how the ascension connects to the heart of God, this morning. I am excited.
But we are attempting to answer the question this morning, what is so great about the ascension?
Honestly, I had never done a ton of research on the importance of the ascension until last year. I had always read Acts chapter 1 and just kept moving. I imagined the craziness of that scene but not the significance of that event.
So, this morning, I want to bring you portions of a message I preached a year ago with some tweaks and changes.
FYI, I have a lot of scriptures today. I will have them all of the screen. Just try and write down the references or you can ask me to send you the references afterwards and I will have no problem doing that.
First, let’s pray.
So, before we get to our main texts in Acts, let me read quickly the two other accounts of the ascension in the Gospels.
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. And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by accompanying signs.
And he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple blessing God.
I wanted to give you all accounts of the ascension because it is important to see the full picture. Mark’s account is the only account that talks about sitting down at the right hand of the Father. While Luke and Acts, both written my Luke by the way, doesn’t.
Now let’s read the Acts 1:6-11
So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 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.” 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. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”
I have 4 main points for you today to attempt to answer the question, what’s so great about the ascension.
The first one is this,
THE ASCENSION WAS LITERAL AND PHYSICAL.
THE ASCENSION WAS LITERAL AND PHYSICAL.
We believe that this event was literal.
Look at the phrases this verse uses.
“they were looking on”
“He was lifted”
“out of their sight”
These phrase do not suggest and we do not believe that the ascension of Jesus was metaphorical or symbolic.
These phrases strongly suggest that this event actually took place. It literally was something that happened in the sight of the disciples.
We also believe that this event was physical, because Jesus was in a physical resurrected body.
We know it had some physical attributes because Mary and the women at the tomb grabbed hold of His feet and worshiped Him. Matthew 28:9 (Don’t read)
And behold, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him.
We also know that Jesus invited the disciples to touch Him John 20:27 (Don’t read)
Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.”
We also know that Jesus eat fish with His disciples. Luke 24:42-43 (Don’t read)
They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate before them.
However, we can not deny the fact that He was in many aspects a spiritual being. He walked through locked doors, John 20:19 (Don’t read)
On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
He could also hid His identity, Luke 24:16 (Don’t read)
But their eyes were kept from recognizing him.
He could also vanish in their sight. Luke 24:31 (Don’t read)
And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight.
But going back to the ascension account in Act chapter 1. We believe that it was a physical event because they saw it with their eyes. We know that Jesus’ resurrected body was a combination of physical and spiritual attributes.
If He wanted to, He could have just vanished from their sight and not let them see what happened. But it was deliberate on the part of Jesus to let them see He physically and literally ascending in the flesh.
This is significant for point number 2 of what’s so great about the ascension.
FLESH WAS BROUGHT INTO THE SPIRITUAL REALM
FLESH WAS BROUGHT INTO THE SPIRITUAL REALM
The ascension is significant because for the vast majority of history, there has been a barrier or wall that has separated the spiritual realm and the physical realm.
We see throughout the entire OT and the life of Jesus, that that which is spiritual has had to come down to that which is physical.
Meaning, God or the Lord or angels have had to come to mankind.
Now, I don’t know specifically what happened to Enoch, Moses, and Elijah. They may be the exception to that rule.
But for the vast majority of history, the spiritual came to man. Man mostly had to see vision to visit the spiritual.
Now, why is that significant to you and me?
I’m getting to that, slow down… haha
Jesus, is His resurrection body, ascended to the right hand of the Father in an event that is physical and literal, so that that which is physical (you and me) has access to that which is spiritual (the throne of God).
The ascension is a big deal because you and I, who are in Christ, who had been made one with Christ, now have access to the Father while we are still in the flesh. We can approach the throne of Grace with confidence because we have been made one with the great High Priest.
Want proof?
Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
The power in these verses. If you want to study more on the topic, Ephesians chapters 1 and 2 talk a lot about it.
But can you see why the ascension is so important, if Jesus wasn’t resurrected from the grave, given His new resurrected body, ascended to the right hand of the Father, we would NOT have access to the Father. We would not be able to have a relationship with the Father. We would not be able to approach the throne. We would not be able to come to the presence of God.
Last week, we talked about the heart of God and who He says that He is. Without access to the Father through Jesus Christ, we would not have access to His mercy, His grace, His slow to angerness, His ABOUNDING, patient love and faithfulness to you. All that we talk about who God is last week, we would miss out on if our great High Priest wasn’t giving us access to Him.
So, what’s so great about the ascension? THAT’S what so great about the ascension!
That is a part of the reason why Jesus says that it would be to our advantage that He went away from Earth.
The other part is the next point of the message.
THE ASCENSION MARKED THE END OF JESUS’ EARTHLY MINISTRY AND THE BEGINNING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT’S.
THE ASCENSION MARKED THE END OF JESUS’ EARTHLY MINISTRY AND THE BEGINNING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT’S.
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. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 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. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.
The ascension of Jesus is so great because without it we would not have the Holy Spirit and all that He brings to our lives.
1 Peter 1 talks about that this Gospel that we receive, this gift of the Holy Spirit is what the prophets and angels have longed to see and understand. The grace and the new covenant, was talked about and hoped for but never realized in their time.
But we today, through Christ have access to greater things, great fellowship, greater power, greater comfort, greater peace through the filling of the Holy Spirit into our lives.
The Holy Spirit is one of God’s great gifts to the believer.
According to His Word, the Holy Spirit:
IS OUR HELPER WHO TEACHES AND REMINDS US (JOHN 14:26)
CONVICTS THE WORLD OF SIN (JOHN 16:7-8)
DWELLS IN BELIEVERS AND FILLS US (1 CORINTHIANS 3:16)
THE SOURCE OF REVELATION, WISDOM AND POWER (1 CORINTHIANS 2:10-11, ACTS 1:8, EPHESIANS 1:17-20)
GUIDES TO ALL TRUTH AND KNOWLEDGE OF WHAT IS TO COME (JOHN 16:13-15)
GIVES SPIRITUAL GIFTS TO THE BELIEVER (1 CORINTHIANS 12:7-11)
IS THE SEAL FOR ETERNITY FOR THE BELIEVER (EPHESIANS 1:13)
HELPS IN OUR WEAKNESS AND INTERCEDES FOR US (ROMANS 8:26-27)
MAKES BELIEVERS NEW AND GRANTS US ETERNAL LIFE (ROMANS 8:10-11)
SANCTIFIES US AND PRODUCES FRUIT IN OUR LIVES (GALATIANS 5:16-25)
So, what’s the big deal about the ascension???
This is just a brief synopsis of the incredible gift that the Holy Spirit is in our lives.
When Jesus ascended and sent the Holy Spirit, it ended Jesus’ earthly ministry and began the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
But it also began man’s earthly ministry through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Now, this ministry has been pasted to us. We are now ministers of reconciliation. We are now the messengers of the gospel through the power and gifts of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
We get to take the great message to the world. The good news.
John MacArthur describes verse 21 as one of the greatest gospel verse in the Bible.
He = God
made Him = Jesus
to be sin (not that He ever sinned but God treated Jesus like He committed every sin in the world. On the cross, He was the spotless Lamb but God treated Him as if He had lived my life)
so that we = those who put their faith in Him
might become the righteousness of God (He treated Jesus like He lived my life so that He could treat me like I lived His life.)
That is the incredible message of the Gospel that you and I get to share with others. And that is the message for someone in this room.
And this final point as to why the ascension is so significant is for all of us.
HIS RETURN WILL BE LITERAL AND PHYSICAL.
HIS RETURN WILL BE LITERAL AND PHYSICAL.
and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”
Because of this verse, we believe that Jesus is coming back and it will be a literal and physical return.
According to 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17
For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.
When Jesus returns, He will be bringing with Him the judgement of the Father to the Earth. It will be literal and it will be physical. It will be visible.
We can count on this!
He is coming back and He will take those that are in Christ with Him.
We can put our hope in that resurrection. That is the salvation that we put our hope in. That one day He will return and those who have pasted away will be resurrected and those who are still alive will meet Him in the sky. And He will take us and our resurrected bodies into eternity and the presence of the Father.
This is the hope that we have.
This is what makes the ascension of Jesus so great and so significant to us.
So, Thursday is the chosen day of remembrance of ascension day but my prayer is that throughout the week you would spend some time thanking God for the significance of the ascension of Jesus Christ and what it means to us.
Prayer point:
the ascension was literal and physical
flesh was brought into the spiritual realm
the gift of the Holy Spirit
Jesus’ return will be literal and physical