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*Are You Living the “Ascended” Life?*
*Hebrews 5:7-9*
May 31, 2000
A group of Japanese high school students were on a tour of the United States.
As they went through busy air terminals, bus and railway stations, their leader told them, “I will hold a Japanese flag high above my head as we work our way through the crowds.
Just keep an eye on that flag, and /you won’t get lost!/”
When the group returned to Japan, a teacher asked them, “What is the one thing you remember most about your trip to the United States of America?”
“The Japanese flag!” they chorused in unison.
Christ is our flag, and on this day we look to him as he ascends into heaven.
But we also ask, “Now what?”
We are not just to stand around and bemoan the dep0arture of our Lord; but like the early disciples we are to evidence his living presence and to fulfill Christ’s last words, “Ye shall be witnesses unto me” (Acts 1:8 KJV).
So I ask you, if you are to be a witness to the Lord of life, what do people see when they look at you? Do they see the marks of a Christian?
My theme: Although we are often proud, lifeless in our devotion, disobedient to God, and do not lead ascended lives, God calls us to humility, devotion, and obedience to him.
!
The Marks of a Christian
Humility, devotion, and obedience: The marks of a Christian come from Christ himself.
As our text spells out, “In his life on earth Jesus made his prayers and requests with loud cries and tears to God, who could save him from death.
Because he was humble and devoted, God heard him.
But even though he was God’s Son, he learned through his sufferings to be obedient.
When he was made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all those who obey him?
(Heb 5:7-9 TEV).
Not those last words: He is “the source of eternal salvation for all those who obey him” (v9 TEV).
Paul puts it beautifully in his letter to the Galatian Christians (2:19b-20 TEV), “I have been put to death with Christ on his cross, so that it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.
This life that I live now, I live by faith in the son of God, who loved me and gave his life for me.”
Note well: We are saved totally through our faith in Jesus Christ, not by any of our own doing.
Now, that being granted, what are some of the characteristics of our Lord’s life which he calls us to follow?
We are not just speaking of virtues to emulate.
That is the evil of moralism.
Moralism exalts a value as a way one achieves spirituality.
Biblical Christianity sees any virtues as results of the Gospel active in the believer’s life.
Further, Christ is not just guide, model, or example.
He is prototype.
We focus not on his humility as a precept to follow, but on his humiliation, his sacrifice for us.
Morally, we fail totally, But through his death and resurrection we are forgiven and then called to the fruits of faith, empowered solely by the Holy Spirit (see Galatians 5 and 6).
Christ as prototype is the firstfruits of those who believe in him.
The Christian life, then, is “Christ in me,” a concept Paul uses some 32 times in the New Testament (see, e.g., Col 1:27).
What then are the marks of our Lord here?
! Humility
Our text says, “In his life on earth Jesus made his prayers and requests with loud cries and tears to God, who could save him from death.
Because he was humble and devoted, God heard him” (v 7 TEV).
Note those first two blessed qualities in our Lord’s life: humility and devotion.
Humility.
As the writer to the Hebrews puts it, “Think of what he went through; how he put up with so much hatred from sinners!
So do not let yourselves become discouraged and give up” (Heb 12:3 TEV).
Humility.
Is it a distinguishing mark of your life?
Remember the classic comment, “Oh, he’s very humble; He’s got so much to be humble about!”
Humility.
It means a quiet recognition of the capacities God has given you--balanced by your limitations.
It means knowing your shortcomings but making a full and responsible use of your abilities—to the glory of God.
Scripture says in effect, “Accept the limits of personality potential with which God has endowed you.
God is not interested in success as it is measured by competition.
God is concerned that a person’s life be developed to the fullness of its potential.”
Do you want to overcome your anxiety that flows from a sense of inadequacy in this age of competitive supremacy?
Then make this insight your own: Stop competing with others.
Rather, remember that it is required in stewards that a person be found faithful—not always effective or successful, but faithful.
In faithful humility, dedicate yourself to the service of God, in whatever position of life you may be.
! Devotion
Humility—and /devotion./
Can you honestly say that your life is one characterized by devotion?
Have you learned from our Savior how to take time for periods of quietude, for mental and spiritual rest?
Examine your frame of mind right now.
Are you totally open to what God grants to say to you, or are other things on your mind?
The real problem is that many of us don’t see a need for or a value from daily use of God’s Word.
God, however, wants to bless us every day.
The means he uses is his Word—straight in Scripture and~/or explained in devotionals and other religious books.
Spend time with him daily, and you will know and experience the blessings—the strength, joy, and peace—he has for you.
! Obedience
Humility, devotion—and /obedience.
/“But even though he was God’s Son, he learned through his sufferings to be obedient” (Heb 5:8 TEV).
As Christ was obedient to his heavenly Father, are you obedient to him?
A pastor tells the story of a sprightly old woman who suddenly developed breast cancer and was facing surgery on her 65th birthday.
Her husband had been dead for many years.
Her mother, a venerable saint, had died in the Lord at age 87, having spent the last 18 years of her life in a wheelchair, her right side totally paralyzed.
How often, the pastor said, they had both recalled her rugged, indomitable faith!
And now the daughter, with the years coming on, faced surgery the next morning.
They sat in the sunroom of the hospital.
She said, “I’m not really afraid at all, Pastor.
I’ve had a rich and full life.
God has been so good to me.
This breast cancer is quite a surprise to me, but it hasn’t gotten me down.
I have the finest of doctors.
And whichever way it turns out, that’s fine with me.
Either way—I accept it.”
What an example of humble, devoted Christian obedience!
How do you and I learn such obedience?
By suffering!
Be sure to read through the first letter from Peter.
In 1 Pet 4:1: “Since Christ suffered physically, you too must strengthen yourselves with the same way of thinking” (TEV).
And vv 12-13: “My dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful test you are suffering, as though something unusual were happening to you.
Rather be glad that you are sharing Christ’s sufferings, so that you may be full of joy when his glory is revealed” (TEV).
Joy?
Joy in suffering?
I can just guess what you’re thinking, “That’s just too glib to put into practice!”
Yet Job said, “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him” (Job 13:15 KJV).
A doctor in Oakland, California, told her pastor, “I thank God for giving me tuberculosis.
I had wandered far away from him for years.
But lying on this hospital bed all these months has brought me up sharply again to remember /who/ I am and /whose/ I am and /where/ I am going.
Thank God I got TB!”
! Christ, the Source of Salvation
So the inspired writer concludes, “When he was made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all those who obey him” (Heb 5:9 TEV).
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