Are You Living The Ascended Life
Are You Living the “Ascended” Life?
Hebrews 5:7-9
May 31, 2000
Have you ever noticed how a flag provides a rallying point for people to gather around? During boot camp training, our company flag stood for something important and meaningful to us. We weren’t the best company there, but we had a very good reputation. That made us proud of holding our flag high with spirit and shouting out the cadence: “We are comp’ny 549, we are here to be so fine.” A flag is a marker of whom and whose and what those who gather around it are all about. It is a witness of a nation’s presence.
I would like you to consider Christ as our flag. The ascending Lord leaves no doubt about who we are, whose we are, and what we are all about. So, like those first 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 let’s ask ourselves, “If we are to be witnesses to the Lord of life, what do people see when they look at us?” Do they see what the flag stands for? Do they see the marks of a Christian?
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: These marks come from Christ himself. Our text spells it out this way: “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).
Note those last words: He is “the source of eternal salvation for all those who obey him” (v9 TEV). The word “obey” is not very popular in our culture, is it? In marriage counseling, I tell couples that the word actually means to rank oneself according to one’s place. Paul speaks of his obedience to Christ, that is, his submission to Christ, when he writes 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.”
Paul is not just speaking of a way to behave. That is the evil of moralism, which exalts virtuous behavior as a way of achieving spirituality. Biblical Christianity sees any virtuous behavior as the result of God’s action and work in the believer’s life. Having God working in our life is a very powerful thing. Paul says, “His incomparably great power for us who believe. … is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms.”
You see, Christ is not just a guide, a model, or an example. He is prototype. We focus not on his humility as a precept to follow, but on his humiliation, his sacrifice for us. We do that because morally, we fail totally. Only through his death and resurrection do we find forgiveness and the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Christ 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. One is Colossians 1:27 where he writes: “God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
What are the marks of our Lord? What is the flag?
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 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, “It’s hard to be humble when you’re as great as I am.” That isn’t what biblical humility is.
Humility is better described as a quiet recognition of one’s God-given capacities in balance with the recognition of one’s limitations. In other words, we have not been called to compete. Instead, we are called to be faithful—not always effective or successful, but faithful. In faithful humility, we are empowered by Christ to dedicate ourselves to God’s service, in whatever position of life we might be.
Devotion
Humility—and devotion. Can we honestly say that our life is one characterized by devotion? Let’s ask ourselves this question? Are we here to be totally open to what God is saying to us, or to occupy our mind with other things?
So many Christians don’t see a need for, or a value from daily use of God’s Word. God, however, has given His Word as the means by which we receive His power. “Sanctify them by the truth,” Jesus prays to his heavenly Father for his disciples, “your word is truth.” It is that word that sets us apart for God’s own purposes. It is that Word that we Christians are all about. We are about Him whom the Scriptures speak, Jesus Christ.
Obedience
And that means we are not only about Humility and devotion, but also obedience. “But even though he was God’s Son, he learned through his sufferings to be obedient” (Heb 5:8 TEV).
How do you and I learn such obedience? By suffering! 1 Pet 4:1 says: “Since Christ suffered physically, you too must strengthen yourselves with the same way of thinking” (TEV). And vv 12-13 says: “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 in suffering? Are you thinking, “That’s just too glib to put into practice!” I don’t think so. Remember what Job said of God, “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him” (Job 13:15 KJV).
Christ, the Source of Salvation
The inspired writer of our text concludes, “When he was made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all those who obey him” (Heb 5:9 TEV).
This means we can look to Jesus who is “the author and finisher of our faith” (Heb 12:2 KJV). Jesus Christ is no mere symbol of love, no mere example to follow. Listen: “Christ himself carried our sins in his body to the cross, so that we might die to sin and live for righteousness. It is by his wounds that you have been healed” (1 Pet 2:24 TEV).
Christ is the source of our life and salvation. By his power in us, we are “those who obey him” (Heb 5:9 TEV).
Living It Out
So—as we continue in life, how can we live out these marks of Christ’s character? How can we represent our flag when so many problems and questions and doubts assail us? The answer is this: Rally to the flag.
Dr. Donald Defner shares this image that might help explain. You are walking on a suburban street and see three little children in the back of a station wagon. The luggage rack on top of the car is loaded with baggage. The father is just closing the garage door, the mother shutting the front door. It is obvious the family is leaving on a trip.
You walk up to the little children and say, “Where are you going?” Wide-eyed they stare back at you. They don’t know.
“What highway are you taking?” No answer.
“Where are you going to have dinner tonight?” No response.
“Where are you going to sleep tonight?” Still no reply.
“With whom are you going?” you ask.
There eyes light up, their faces break into smiles.
“With Mommy and Daddy!” they exclaim.
Those children didn’t have the answers to your questions. But they knew with whom they were going. And that was enough for them.
Likewise for us: Our life lies ahead of us. There are many unknowns and questions for which we have no answers. But we do have the Answerer, the flag, the ascended Christ. He is with us every step of the way. And He knows where he is going. Do we really need anything more? Amen.