Regional Synod of Canada - Reformed Church in America

Pioneer Christian Monthly

Date - May/76

Contributor - Rev. Henry Van Essen

Title - The Ascension of Christ And Our Assurance of Salvation

Topic - Ascension

For many people the ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ from our world to His Father's world is often no more than a teaching which has little to do with our present lives on this earth.

Others see the ascension of our Lord as being of great importance in connection with His coming again. But here too there is little understanding as to what His ascension means to our life of faith while we are on this side Of the grave. What is really missing is the tension which His ascension causes in our fellowship with Him. It is this eschatological tension, which is not realized or understood by many Christians. "Eschatological" speaks of things which are yet to come. The eschatological tension of our faith, then, means that we do not receive everything in this life, rather, that, while we are rich in Christ we are poor while on earth. Or, different again, that we are now still heirs, people who stand to inherit much, but who at present have little or nothing to show for.

DIFFICULT PROBLEM

This often presents difficult problems for Christians on earth. There are such texts as "Whatever you ask in My Name I will do it that the Father may be glorified in the Son," John 14 :13 and "Be perfect, even as your heavenly Father is perfect", Matt. 5 : 48. These and other texts seem to say that Christians can have anything done in and for them, while yet in this life. We are touching here upon the matter of assurance of salvation and the victorious life. "How can I be sure that I am saved?" "If I am saved, than I must be able to do all things through Christ Who strengthens me.

It may seem far removed from the ascension of our Lord, yet there is a direct connection between the assurance of salvation and the victorious life on the one hand, and the ascension on the other.

SPIRITUAL YARDSTICKS

The question about the assurance of salvation is usually answered by the use of man made spiritual yardsticks: we seek for signs in our life which clearly tell us that we are saved; we look for fruits, and for spiritual experiences which must confirm without a doubt: I am saved. Normally the use of such yardsticks creates two groups of people: those who are sure (or who are told) that they are not saved; and those who are sure that they are saved. Many a congregation has experienced the pain and the bitterness which are the inevitable results of people measuring each other with such man-made yardsticks. Inevitable, because nobody on this earth is able to decide whether somebody is saved. It is completely unbiblical to do this, and impossible at the same time, all because of the ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ.

COLOSSIANS 3:3, 4

Here we are clearly told, "For you have died and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory". This is said of all Christians, for a Christian is everyone who through faith shares in Christ, everyone who through faith is crucified with Him, has died with Him, was buried with Him, was raised with Him, but also: has ascended with Him into heaven: "your life is hid with Christ in God." It is here we make the big mistake: we think that the new life in Christ is handed to us here on earth, on this side of the grave. Because of this idea we keep busy searching our life for signs of being born again. But our life here-and-now is not the life Christ gives us. That life is hidden with Him in God. That life will be revealed in glory, when Jesus returns. Paul says, "You are not here, you are with Christ hid in God". "You have died, and your life is hid with Christ in God." You are now dead; the life you now live is no life, is not the real life, not the new life. That life is not here, it is with Christ in God. That is a very important ascension message.

JESUS LIVES AND SO SHALL I

First we are told: do not search yourself, whether you can find the new born again man somewhere inside of you. For that will be a hopeless search. How can I find something in myself, that has ascended with Christ and is hid in God? No wonder that many honest people sometimes get upset, because they cannot find signs of being born-again with absolute certainty in themselves. It is impossible for that life is not there. I am dead. I remain temporarily in this earthly tent, but the longer I am in it, the sharper I see it: "For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh." Romans 7:18. Everything is affected by that deadly illness, called "sin". Everything I touch I spoil. Even if I try my utmost, I cannot get anything out of my hands that is clean. Everything I do, think, say, will be judged "no good". The best of our good works fall short. The judgement of the law remains, "Do this, and you shall live", and if not, "The wages of sin is death". That is true even for the Christian. Only, that -death cannot hurt the Christian anymore, for he already has died, with Christ, and he did not remain in this death but has been raised with Christ.

TO HAVE CHRIST

Even though then we are in the midst of death, yet we live. "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live, in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God." Galatians 2 :20. Just before that Paul writes, "For I through the law died to the law, that I might live to God."

The same message everywhere: I am dead here and now, but my life is hid with Christ in God. I cannot find my new life here on earth; there is only one place where I can find it: with Christ in God. My life is so closely bound up with Christ, that I have eternal life only when I have Christ. ". . . . God gave us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he wn? has not the Son of God has not life." I John 5 :11, 12.

IN HEAVEN

And where does the believer find the Son of God? Ascended into heaven. Where does he then find his life? Ascended into heaven! How does the believer have the Son of God? Through faith only! How does he then have his life? Through faith only! There is no other assurance, as long as we are in this world: only through faith, only through Christ, only through grace, sola fide, sola Christo, sola gratia.

EVIL IN AND AROUND US

The Ascension of our Lord tells us then, that we should not be amazed about all the evil in this world and in our life. We are as Job, covered with sores; we can hate ourselves; yet we do not despair, we long for deliverance, we cry, "How long yet, Lord?" But one thing we know: our Redeemer lives! Jesus lives and so shall I. Death, thy sting is gone forever! He who deigned for me to die, lives, the bands of death to sever. He shall raise me from the dust: Jesus is my Hope and Trust.

Therefore we do not give up, or give in to all kinds of evil (desires). To the contrary, we know that all this has been conquered. Thus we fight the good fight, in and with Christ. And when we fall, we do not panic, for our life is hid with Christ in God.

OUR LIFE SAFE

Here another reason emerges why the ascension of our Lord is so important for us here below: if my life is hid with Christ in God, than nobody will be able to take this away from me, "neither death, nor life, nor angels ... etc." Romans 8 :38,39. That is the glory and joy of the ascension: Christ is our life and has conquered death. He is already in the new existence, and when He has prepared our place he will return so that we too may be where He is now. Though the angry storms blow, the anchor holds. "We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner shrine behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf," Hebrew 6 : 19, 20. That is also the reason that we here on earth do not have to hold onto Christ perfectly, in order to finally gain salvation; no, Christ holds onto us, since He is our life. As we cannot separate Christ and our life, so Christ cannot separate Himself from those whose life He is - "And those who he predestined he also called; and those whom he called he also justified; and those whom he justified he also glorified" Romans 8:30. He does not forsake the work of His hands.

ROUGH WEATHER

All this is not to say that the Christian has easy sailing: once saved, always saved. True, the anchor of our soul is safe and sure, but a ship anchored in a storm sometimes is so tossed about that there seems to be more chance to survive by cutting the cable and just drift before the wind. So it is with the Christian. He is surely and safely anchored, but meanwhile he is on the other end of the cable and sometimes you are in such a storm and turmoil that you do not know what is front and back, what is left and right, that we do not know whether we will make it so that we call out as the disciples did, "Lord save us, for we are perishing". That is lack of faith, true, but it happens. And then His words come once again, "Fear not, I am with you"; the anchor holds.

ANCHOR AND FAITH

Something else comes out oi the picture of the anchor. Who sees the cable which connects ship and anchor? Especially in a storm? Sometimes we see 20 feet, or 50; but who guarantees us that the ship is still connected to the anchor? Faith is the cable which connects the Christian to the anchor. That faith is often just like that cable: according to us it only goes so far; does our faith reach all the way to Christ? Sometimes we doubt that very much. But then we forget, that not only the anchor, Christ, is given us by God, but also faith: faith is not of ourselves, it is a gift of God. When we are in a terrible storm, when our faith is attacked, or when we have spiritually fallen asleep, and suddenly seem to have lost all certainty, then we realize that our faith cannot save us. If the cable must be taken from the ship to the anchor, then all is lost. If we are not being saved, than there is no hope. Only the anchor Christ is sure and steadfast. And that anchor reaches out to us when we come to faith. It is God the Holy Spirit who holds onto us. Our faith is that we know that we are being held. But when we sometimes do not know anymore whether we are being held, than He still holds us! The cable runs from the anchor to the ship! "You have died and your life is hid with Christ in God."

DESIRE FOR THE NEW LIFE

Believers who so live out of the ascension of our Lord, do not take it easy by saying, "I am saved, therefore I can do what I want". Neither do they live in constant uncertainty, as to whether the anchor holds. Instead they begin to long more and more for the new life which is hid with Christ in God. They long for "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control". They long to be freed from all "immorality, impurity, licentiousness . . . enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, selfishness, dissension, party spirit, envy, drunkenness . . ." Galatians 5:19-23. We pray for all this to be done and over with, but in ourselves we do not find the strength to do what is good, and to stop doing that which is bad. Even when we ask for the help of Christ, we are unable, for we have died, and, what does it help a dead body, if someone tries to help it? One who has died can do nothing. How can he be helped to do something?

ALL THROUGH CHRIST

That is why everything has to be completely done through Christ. "I can do all things in Him who strengthens me," Philippians 4:13. God said to Paul, "My grace 'is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness". That means, when I give up and sincerely confess, "Lord, I cannot do it, every time I make a mess of it," when I know myself bound in sin, and call to Him, then, in my weakness does the ascended one reveal His power. That is why we are taught to pray, Deliver us from the evil one", for we are unable to do that even for 1 %. Therefore Paul says, "I will all the more gladly boast of 'my weakness, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of then, I am content with -weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities, for when I am weak, then I am strong" II Corinthians 12 :9, 10.

LIVING IN EXPECTATION

Living by faith in the Son of God is therefore living in expectation of what is going to take place. That is the eschatological tension in our life of faith. We do not expect anything of our works here on earth, for we are dead and our lives are hid with Christ in God. We do not find any signs of our being born again on ourselves, as you do not find signs of life in a corpse. We have no ower in ourselves. Yet we have everything, but in Christ, who is ascended.

There is nothing in ourselves on which we can build, no works, no faith, no spiritual experiences, because all those are so deceptive as building in sand. We build only and solely on the Lord Jesus Christ, who for us was crucified, died, buried, and raised. He who has the Son has life. We must reach for Christ.

But we have not seen Him. For He is ascended. Thus we live by faith which the Holy Spirit creates in our hearts. ". . . our commonwealth is in heaven and from it we await a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will change our lowly bodies to be like his glorious body, by the power which enables Him to subject all things to Himself." Philippians 3 :20, 21.

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