Jesus Christ: Ascended into Heaven
The Apostles’ Creed • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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What I am for vs. what I am against
The glorious nature of Jesus continues to be on display in the Apostles’ Creed. He was born of a virgin, suffered, died, and was raised from the dead. All of that by itself is certainly a miracle but His ascension continues to tell us about who God is.
This morning I want to place our focus on three areas of Jesus’ ascension. The first will look at a future hope that Christians have and the second and third give us an understanding now on how we ought to live with the ascension of Jesus in mind.
Read Acts 1:6-11
Jesus’ Ascension Points to the Future Resurrection of the Souls of the Redeemed
It is important at this point to point out that Jesus remained fully God and fully man after His resurrection. It was certainly a divine work that He was raised from the dead. But this does not negate the fact that Jesus was raised from the dead, still as a human. We read in Luke 24:41-43.
And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate before them.
Even raised from the dead, Jesus still God and man walked this earth for those 40 days. But why does this matter when it comes to Jesus’ ascension? Jesus lifted up to be with the Father is foreshadowing what Paul writes in 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.
Those who are in Christ will be raised up and then those who have gone on before will follow. Because Jesus was the substitute for our sins and He fit the qualifications to die for our sins because of His human nature as well as the perfect life that He lived. The direction of the departure of this world of those who have trusted Christ is the exact same as that of Jesus Himself. Just as we have been called to follow in His way of living here on earth, we will also follow His way when He calls us home.
I’ve talked in general terms regarding the destination but I would do us a disservice at this point if we didn’t look into where exactly Jesus rose to. The use of the word heaven is generally defined in three ways according to J. I. Packer.
The endless, self-sustaining life of God.
2. The state of angels or men as they share the life of God, whether in foretaste now or in the fullness hereafter. In other words, the Christian hope and reward.
3. The sky or space above as used in Genesis 9 as the rainbow is defined as being in the heavens.
The reference to Jesus’ ascension to heaven in the Apostles’ Creed is certainly referring to the second option where we will share in the presence of God. This gives clarity to the destination that Jesus was going to, which we will cover further next week, as well as the eventual destination of the disciples of Christ.
It is also helpful for us to understand that the ascension of man will be glorious just as His ascension. Not only is He lifted up and a cloud is lifted up, which would be an unprecedented sight, but we can tell just how majestic this scene was based on the reaction by those who were present. The gazing that takes place in verse 10 is a longing stare. In the same way, there will be many who will stop and stare at the redeemed rising into heaven.
What a beautiful hope we have when we look at the ascension of Christ. But the next two points are the effects of the ascension of Jesus currently. Next,
Jesus’ Ascension is Cause for Worship
Acts 1 is not the only place where the event of the ascension of Jesus is recorded. We also see a shorter chronicle of this event with some different, though not contradictory, details in Luke 24:50-53.
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.
The disciples who were present at the ascension most certainly gazed toward the sky as Jesus rose but they responded two ways, one of which I’ll cover here. In verse 52, the disciples are said to have worshipped.
There are three things that I want to point out in regards to the worship that takes place here. To begin, the worship that takes place here is not organized. They weren’t in need of a sanctuary, a piano, a microphone or a pulpit. They witness the Lord ascend to heaven and they simply worship.
The second thing that we notice is that there are no details regarding the worship that goes on. We aren’t given the words of a hymn that was sung or specific words that were said. Those things are less important than the reaction of worship in general. Too often we think that we have to have the exact right situation in order to worship. In fact, our approach to worship according to Romans 12:1 is in the way that we conduct our lives even to the point of what we do with our bodies. And so the disciples worship in the moment. They don’t say, “we need to wait until we get to a home or to the temple.” They worship right there in the moment.
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
Finally in regards to the worship that goes on, we should notice the object of their worship. It is Jesus. He is the one and the only one who is deserving of worship.
We also read that this keeps them in the current established place of worship, the temple, and continue to bless God. The idea of blessing God is to praise Him or to give thanks. They see Jesus as the source of their worship and show their gratitude for the departure of Jesus to God Himself.
I mentioned earlier that the disciples responded in two ways, one of which was worship. Finally this morning, I’d like to look at the second response.
Jesus’ Ascension Comes with a Calling
There are two moments in Acts 1 where a calling is given to the disciples which extends beyond just the individuals that were present to all followers of Jesus. In verse 8, Jesus is pointing out that the Holy Spirit will come and empower them for a specific purpose: being witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth. There is a purpose for all followers of Jesus to go and provide witness of His death, resurrection, and ascension to heaven to all of the world. Disciples of Christ have been called to provide testimony to those who do not know the Lord about who Jesus is, what He has done for us, and what He has done for the world. This includes those people that we are speaking to!
A very similar telling of this instance takes place in Matthew 28:18-20.
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
The calling is fleshed out a bit more beyond just being witnesses. It calls us to take action through witness. The end goal is making disciples and baptizing them for the purpose of public proclamation. We baptized four individuals last week and the expectation is now for them to continue to grow in faith and go on to make disciples themselves, in the name of Jesus.
Now, I want to also point your attention to verse 11. The two men that stood by in white are angels and they simply ask the disciples, “why are you just standing there? He’s coming back!”
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So, I ask you the same question? Why just stand there? Jesus is Risen and has called us as His disciples to get to work
