This Last Thursday was Ascension Day, the 40thday after Easter, the day on which Jesus ascended into Heaven. The Christian Church has historically marked this Sunday to proclaim the Ascension of Jesus as a central and glorious aspect of our salvation. Not only did Jesus die for our sins, not only did He rise again from the grave, but He then ascended to the right hand of the Father where He sat down, having been given all authority and power and dominion. He sat down like no High Priest ever could, He sat down as the Mediator of the Great and New Covenant, offering in His own body, a pure sacrifice that never needs to be repeated again. A true man is in God’s presence now for us. The ascension of Jesus is the down payment and guarantee of our hope. Jesus was raised and He ascended into God’s presence in a glorified human body, but it is a human body just like yours and mine.
So hear this good news this morning. Your salvation is no longer merely a promise, it has become reality. The promises of God have become flesh in Jesus Christ, and the Promises of God have been fulfilled in Him. God has set His Son, the King, on his holy hill of Zion. And He has given him the nations for his inheritance, the ends of the earth for His possession. China belongs to Jesus. Russia belongs to Jesus. Saudi Arabia belongs to Jesus. America belongs to Jesus. They belong to Him because He purchased them with His precious blood. And He sits in Heaven as their rightful Lord and King, and He intercedes for them there. His blood pleads for them. The scars in His hands and feet and side are still there, receipts of His purchased possession. And He is the sure Word of our salvation and the salvation of this whole world. And He gave us this meal to proclaim all of this until He comes. And so this is what we proclaim: Jesus died, Jesus rose, Jesus ascended to the right hand of the Father where He reigns, where He intercedes, where He prepares a place for you and me.
And until then He invites us here, to sit down at His table, to sit because He is seated, to sit with Him in the heavenly places. So, come and welcome to Jesus Christ.
Photo by sergio souza on Unsplash
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