2) God has highly exalted Christ in His ascension to heaven.
a)
The ascension provides for the coming of the Holy
Spirit (John 16:1-15). Jesus lovingly and wisely prepared His disciples for
difficult times that they would face.
They persecuted Me, Jesus told them, so if you follow Me they will
persecute you. Yet He had told them He
was going to leave them and go somewhere where they could not come. But then He told them that His leaving was
actually going to provide much greater help than if He stayed. 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 depart, I
will send Him to you (v7). This “Helper”
would be the Holy Spirit. The Spirit
would dwell in each and every follower of Christ, so His Apostles would have
this help even though they would not be in the same place. The Spirit would help prepare the hearts of
unbelievers to hear and receive the gospel (16:8-11). He would guide them into the truths which
Christ had not yet told them, so that they could provide the New Testament for
Christ’s people (16:12-15). The
ascension of Christ is for our good!
b)
The ascension prepares for the second coming of Christ
(Acts 1:11). Jesus had told His
disciples He would return for them (John 14:1-6). The angel said the same: they needed to go
back to Jerusalem, as Jesus told them, to be empowered to serve Him. In due time He would return to earth. At that time, the exaltation of Jesus’
resurrection and ascension would be even greater.
3)
God has highly exalted Christ in His session at the
right hand (Eph. 1:19-23). At this very
moment Christ is at the right hand of the Father, awaiting the time when the
Father says it is time for His return.
More on that later. But for now
Christ’s place at the right hand is important for His followers.
a)
Christ’s session at God’s right hand provides for us an
Advocate (1 Jn. 2:1-2). The word
here is the same as the “Helper” word in John 16 that spoke of the Holy
Spirit. Christ helps us. In 1 John the help Jesus gives is the
continual application of His blood to the believer when we sin. That is major!
b) Christ’s
session at God’s right hand provides for us an Intercessor (Ro.
8:34). There is so much to this. These passages are worth additional study:
Ps. 110; Eph. 1:20-23; Hb. 2:17-18; 10:12; and 12:2. The OT Law could not bring a person to spiritual
maturity (in Heb. “perfection”). But
Christ, by His blood, has brought in a new covenant whereby we can be
saved. He is also able to save to the
uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lived to make
intercession for them (Hb. 7:17-27, esp. v25). He does this as our High Priest (Heb.
8:1). He appears for us in the
presence of God (Hb. 9:24). And a
wonderful truth is that He understands what we need. So we are invited to enter into His presence,
at the right hand of the Father, and there to obtain mercy and find grace to
help in time of need (Heb. 4:14-16).
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