The Ascension and Session of Jesus Christ

An important event in the Christian calendar is the Ascension and Session of Jesus Christ, which was commemorated yesterday, May 14^th. This historical occurrence took place 40 days after Easter, the day Christ was resurrected from the dead. It was foretold in Psalm 68:18: “You have ascended on high” and is described in two New Testament passages, Luke 24:49-52 and Acts 1:9 -11. 

In the account given in the first chapter of Acts, Jesus assures His apostles that they would receive the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. Luke then states that Jesus “was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.” The apostles had already witnesses their Lord’s defeat of death, so this would certainly have been an equally amazing occasion for them, seeing Jesus ascending bodily into the heavens.

So where is Jesus Christ now? Paul writes in Colossians 3:1 that He is seated at the right hand of God. This period of time is termed the Session of Jesus Christ. It is a period of special activity which the theologian Lewis Sperry Chafer states that “Christ is now engaged in a ministry which determines the service and destiny of all those who have put their trust in Him.”  

What He is doing presently is a matter the Scriptures have not left silent. Christ stated in John 14:1-3, that He was going to prepare a place for all believers to be with Him forever after death. The writer of the book of Hebrews 7:25 declares that He presently makes intercession to the Father for all believers, as well as being an advocate on our behalf (Hebrews 9:24; 1 John 2:1). He is also said to be the head of the church (Ephesians 1:22-23) which includes all those who trust in Christ.

And there is every reason to expect His return to earth at the end of time. For when the apostles were watching Him ascend into heaven, Luke mentions that there were two men in white who spoke to them saying, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.” John affirms this in Revelation 1:7: “Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him.” Christ will return to establish His kingdom, to put an end to evil, to vanquish His enemies, and to eliminate the last enemy, death (1 Corinthians 15:26).

Jesus asserted that no man knows the day or the hour of His return (Mark 13:32). He stated further in Acts 1:7 that “it is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority.” Instead we are to comfort ourselves with the fact of His present ministry for us in heaven and to demonstrate our confidence actively waiting for His return.

How Then Can We Survive?

     Now as for you, son of man, say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus you have spoken, saying, “Surely our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we are rotting away in them; how then can we survive?”’ – Ezekiel 33:10[1]

 

     The prophet Ezekiel was appointed as the watchman over his nation Israel. His specific duty was to announce to those who had rejected righteous living that if they would turn from their sinful ways the Lord God would preserve them from the utter destruction that awaited them in 586 B.C.

     The people of God had reached rock bottom in their pursuit of godlessness and were fully aware of the consequences that laid ahead of them. They cried out “How then can we survive?” They had awaken out of their rebellion just a little too late and now judgment was imminent.

     The state of our culture parallels the conditions set forth in Ezekiel’s day. The exception being the United States does not hold the same position is God’s plan as did the nation of Israel. Our country may have been founded upon principles based in the Judeo-Christian belief system, yet it is obvious that at the present hour of our history, there is a substantial element within our population which repudiate not only the standards and morals of the founding fathers, but also the reality of the Creator. This has been evident beginning with liberal theology of the 1920’s, the rise of postmodernism of the 1950’s, and of late, the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The deep political divide that we see today has its roots in the false belief that America is an evil empire, seeking to rob and pillage the International community of all of the world’s riches – oil, electronics, entertainment, quality air, employment. The present insatiable drive towards Progressive/Socialism erroneously assumes that the confiscation of the wealth of our Nation can remedy the problems of our country, not to mention the world.

     Soon after the terrible events of September 11, 2001, Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson in an interview, expressed their opinions concerning these attacks. They rightly mentioned the need for spiritual revival in the United States. But then Falwell made a terrible blunder, placing the blame on a host of social issues. Here is what he said:

     "The ACLU has got to take a lot of blame for this. And I know I'll hear from them for this, but throwing God...successfully with the help of the federal court system...throwing God out of the public square, out of the schools...I really believe that the pagans and the abortionists and the feminists and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People for the American Way, all of them who try to secularize America...I point the finger in their face and say you helped this happen."[2]   

     Certainly these social evils are unpleasing to the Creator. But Christians should be held accountable for having allowed themselves to be led astray by the false teachings of liberal theology. The absolute authority of God’s Word states these social ills to be sin in His sight. We as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ must stand up against this surge of ungodliness that has infiltrated our churches and seminaries. Our Nation is on the brink of financial disaster – millions are out of work, trillions of dollars in debt. Our culture is morally bankrupt, with a generation of Christians whose desire seems to be that of compromising, letting the culture dictate right and wrong. It is because of this laissez faire attitude of believers that our Nation is in serious peril. We Christians are supposed to be the salt of the earth, providing preservation from God’s wrath by infusing our culture with His principles of righteous living.

     When will we ask: “How then can we survive?” Will it be too late? Should we look to what God’s Word says?

     Paul wrote: Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. - 2 Corinthians 7:1

     The perfecting of holiness is a process of studying God’s Word and applying it to the experiences of our lives. That means not only building ourselves up in our faith in Christ but making His truths evident within the Church and the culture. This means that Christians at all levels of society (judges, congressmen, teachers, office workers, homemakers, factory workers, lawyers) must speak and live Christianity back into our culture.

     God’s Word also stresses that we should beware of those who are disobedient to His Word. Recall the words of the Apostle Paul:

     Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from every brother who leads an unruly life and not according to the tradition which you received from us. - 2 Thessalonians 3:6

     If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of that person and do not associate with him, so that he will be put to shame. Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother. - 2 Thessalonians 3:14-15

     Christians cannot be friends with this evil world.[3] The fact of the matter is that this secularized culture is not satisfied with a tolerant Christian – one who tacitly assents to their alternative lifestyles and other godless values. They don’t simply want us to compromise, they want total capitulation. They want us to repudiate Scripture and the “idea” of absolute truth, so that they can serve their master, the evil one, Satan, without any obstruction, with seared consciences, on their merry way to perdition.

     It is our responsibility to dissuade them. Our final defense must rest solely upon the absolute truth and authority of God’s Word. We must emphasize to them that the undeniable pleasure of the Creator is not to punish the wicked, but for the wicked to repent. This is what the Lord answered in Ezekiel’s day:

     “Say to them, ‘As I live!’ declares the Lord God, ‘I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you die, O house of Israel?’ - Ezekiel 33:11

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[1] All Scripture references are from the New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

[2] http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/f/falwell-robertson-wtc.htm#.Urhdd_s2a9c [12/23/2013]

[3] Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. - 1 John 2:15

DANIEL PRAYS FOR HIS COUNTRY

While he and his fellow countrymen were in captivity in Babylon, Daniel prayed to God to forgive their sin, iniquity, wickedness and rebellion towards the Lord. It would be fitting for all who claim Christ as their Lord to adapt the following prayer to the situation we face in our country today. A country which began with noble Biblical intentions. And now Christianity seems to be a distant memory, not simply because of those who reject Christ, but because we Christians have turned away from the authority of Scripture and have failed to speak Christianity back into our culture. We have sought to amalgamate a belief system that conforms to public approval, based on social justice and political correctness.

I encourage you to read Daniel’s prayer and in your own words, substitute his locale – Israel, Judah, and Jerusalem – with our country; his leaders – kings – with our president, congress men and women; his spiritual leaders – the prophets – with the apostles and pastor/teachers. By doing so, I believe you will realize the relevance of praying for the spiritual recovery of our nation and that it will take all who claim Christ as their savior to adhere to “every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.”[i]

I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed and said,

“Alas, O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and lovingkindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments, we have sinned, committed iniquity, acted wickedly and rebelled, even turning aside from Your commandments and ordinances.

“Moreover, we have not listened to Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings, our princes, our fathers and all the people of the land.

“Righteousness belongs to You, O Lord, but to us open shame, as it is this day—to the men of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, those who are nearby and those who are far away in all the countries to which You have driven them, because of their unfaithful deeds which they have committed against You.

“Open shame belongs to us, O Lord, to our kings, our princes and our fathers, because we have sinned against You.

“To the Lord our God belong compassion and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against Him; nor have we obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in His teachings which He set before us through His servants the prophets.

“Indeed all Israel has transgressed Your law and turned aside, not obeying Your voice; so the curse has been poured out on us, along with the oath which is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, for we have sinned against Him.

“Thus He has confirmed His words which He had spoken against us and against our rulers who ruled us, to bring on us great calamity; for under the whole heaven there has not been done anything like what was done to Jerusalem.

“As it is written in the law of Moses, all this calamity has come on us; yet we have not sought the favor of the Lord our God by turning from our iniquity and giving attention to Your truth.

“Therefore the Lord has kept the calamity in store and brought it on us; for the Lord our God is righteous with respect to all His deeds which He has done, but we have not obeyed His voice.

“And now, O Lord our God, who have brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand and have made a name for Yourself, as it is this day—we have sinned, we have been wicked.

“O Lord, in accordance with all Your righteous acts, let now Your anger and Your wrath turn away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; for because of our sins and the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people have become a reproach to all those around us.

“So now, our God, listen to the prayer of Your servant and to his supplications, and for Your sake, O Lord, let Your face shine on Your desolate sanctuary.

“O my God, incline Your ear and hear! Open Your eyes and see our desolations and the city which is called by Your name; for we are not presenting our supplications before You on account of any merits of our own, but on account of Your great compassion.

“O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and take action! For Your own sake, O my God, do not delay, because Your city and Your people are called by Your name.” - Daniel 9:4-19 (NASB)

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[i] Matthew 4:4 NASB