The Ascension Of Christ

The Ascension of Christ is the only occurrence in Christianity that can rival the resurrection in its significance. The Ascension of Christ is the culmination of the Resurrection experience. After many days of proving His sameness and genuinenes, Jesus ascended before the mortal eyes of His followers. He spent some 40 days sharing with those whom He would leave to represent Him in the earth realm. The word proving in the Greek has a legal implication; it means to provide indisputable evidence in support of an event or occurrence. Before Christ would leave them, He would thoroughly convince them that He was the same Jesus. His last words concerned the souls of the men. It is the primary purpose of the church to wittness concerning the things of God. The angels reminded them that earth and not the sky should be the center of their focus. He went up to prepare our home. But He left us to prepare its people. The ascending Savior leaves hope for the decending sinner. The lifting of Jesus has drawing efficacy upon sinful men. He said; "If I be lifted up from the earth, I’ll draw all men unto me." Jesus left to go home and make home ready for us. But He left us to make men ready for home. In the ascendency of Christ, every believer ascended with Him. He ascended to heaven fully as the God-man. He who had walk waters, cured diseases, silence the stormy winds and muted demons; He now departs earth in a most conquering way. Divinity raises humanity to the highest level. Divinity and humanity are eternally linked in the Resurrected Savior. In His descent, God brought divinity to earth. In His ascent, He brought humanity to heaven. Nothing compares to our Lord’s ascension. The airplane needs a run-way. The bird needs wings. Superman needs his cape. The helicopter needs propellers. But Jesus ascended under the might His own power. The bible says; He was taken up. Nothing on earth lifted Him; He went up soley by the power of God. In His resurrection He conquered death. In His ascension He conquered life. He rose so high that the aviators would not find Him on the radar. He rose beyond the sight of the star gazing astronomers. He rose with such might and splendor that gravity could not hold Him. He rose so high that the highest mountain looked like a pebble. He soared so high until the Majestic eagle stopped in flight and became a spectator. He ascended without wind velocity. It took a storm to lift Elijah. Unlike Elijah, Jesus needed no storm to elevate Him; He ascended amid the calm. Jesus does not die away from mortal view, He soars away from their view. He ascended beyond the eye of sense, where only the eye of faith could see Him. The upward gaze was their last view of Jesus. Their last view was an upward view. Beyond every believer’s death is an upward view. The ascension of Christ reminds us that after all is done, we too will rise upward to be with the Lord. The last view of many loves ones is a hospital bed or a coffin. Though we declare their death as a homegoing; we last see their bodies being lowered into the earth. But through the eyes of faith, we envision their spirits ascending to heaven. But in Jesus, we saw the whole man ascending upward toward heaven. There is no need for faith in Christ’s ascension except when He vanished from their sight. In the ascension Christ blessed our sight with a marvelous display of power. The angels reminds us that the ascension was not the end. The same Jesus will return in like manner. He’ll be the same Jesus. Not another! The same Jesus that raised the dead. The same Jesus that healed the sick. The same Jesus that drove out demons. The same Jesus that died for our sins. The same Jesus that was buried and rose on the third day. Yes, that same Jesus that ascended up to heaven! That Jesus, will return. We are told that the clouds received Him. He vanished out of their sight. He did not vanish bodily but the clouds hid Him. The clouds arrested their vision but not their thoughts and affections. What a joyful memory! They would remember His suffering. They would remember His death. They would remember His burial. But they would never forget that He got up from the grave and ascended to Heaven. In our darkest moments, let us remember that the hospital bed is not the end. No matter how dark our clouds become; we must remember that it was the clouds that veiled our precious Jesus. He who was received by the clouds will one day burst forth from them. Our Lord rose in an unsual direction until a cloud received Him. Beyond the clouds, the eyes of faith pierces. His ascension captured the on-lookers. His return should capture every believer today. I believe that with every believer’s departure there is an ascending spirit. The welcoming clouds were a testament of Divine approval and acceptance. Let us consider the following concerning Jesus’ ascension: