Regional Synod of Canada - Reformed Church in America

Pioneer Christian Monthly

Date - May/79

Contributor - Rev. Gary Dekker

Title - In Majesty On High

Topic - Ascension

The Easter proclamation is JESUS LIVES!!

What a proclamation that is; it is the heart of the Christian faith. Easter, God's glorious exclamation mark, the triumph over sin and death. But Easter moves on to Mount Olive, where the Lord Jesus ascended into the heavens.

Now may I ask you in the words and answer of Question 49, from the Heidelberg Catechism, "What benefit do we receive from Christ's Ascension into heaven?"

The first benefit, Jesus is our Advocate in the presence of the Father. Had Christ not ascended, He could not have been our Advocate to intercede for us in the presence of the Father. But through His Ascension, the Living and Exalted Lord is now our Great High Priest, before the throne of God. He presented Himself to the Father as the Lamb without blemish or spot and on that basis, His reconciling work, He makes intercession on our behalf. We have a High Priest in the heavens who understands us, who has gone through what we go through, and who has been tempted as we are, YET WITHOUT SIN! What a tremendous assurance it is for God's children that Jesus lives in majesty on high, in the very presence of the Father to plead for you and me, that our faith may not falter. Worries may surround us; doubts may try to break our faith down; temptations may shake us; but in spite of all this, Jesus, the Christ, our Advocate, pleads for us!

The High Priest of the Old Covenant carried the names of the twelve tribes of Israel in precious stones engraved on the breastplate attached to the heart. The High Priest of the New Covenant carries the names of those who are His in HIS HEART. And if we sin, we have an Advocate with the Father: Jesus Christ the Righteous.

The second benefit is, "That we have our flesh in heaven as a sure pledge that He, as the Head, will also take us, His members, up to Himself."

In the incarnation, God lowered Himself to assume our flesh and blood - sinful humanity. The ascension shows us that the Lord Jesus Christ took the human reality with Him into the presence of God. Such is the final phase of the solidarity which binds Jesus Christ, true God and true man, to the sinful form of man. Then since He frees us from sin and death, He will also give us a share in His glory, "for I go to prepare a place for you, that where I am you may be also." Such will be the reward for those who are willing to follow in His footsteps, who are ready to take up their cross and die unto their old self, who allow Christ to live in them. Then, too, for those who love Christ, the assurance that Jesus intercedes before the Father on their behalf, so that their faith will not falter, but on the contrary through all hardships may grow. As our High Priest He knows, because He has experienced that the way home goes by way of the cross. But lift up your heads, redemption in the fullest sense draws nigh - you will be where I am.

The third benefit is, "that He sends us His Spirit as a counter-pledge by whose power we seek what is above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God ' and not the things that are on earth."

I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Counselor, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of Truth .... Christ is our Advocate in heaven, in the presence of the Father. The Spirit of Truth, which is the Holy Spirit, is our Advocate on earth. Ascension for the believers in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ opened the way for the Spirit of Truth to come to guide us in all truth and to protect us from sin. How much we need the Spirit of Truth in our lives in this day in which so many false teachings appear on the scene in the name of Christ, in order to deceive God's children. There is an urgent need for God's people to be filled with the Spirit of Truth, to be led by the Spirit of Truth and not by the opinion of self, and to be obedient to the Spirit of Truth, in order that the claims of Jesus Christ may become a living reality in the lives of God's people. The claims of Christ will never become real in your and my life as long as we allow our Christian faith to remain a theory.

The Ascension of Jesus Christ was necessary so that the Holy Spirit could come to make Jesus Christ known to a lost world. In order to make Him known, the Spirit wants to use us, but we must be obedient to the Spirit.

Yet, there is where the problem with the church lies. We confess with our mouths, but not with our lives, the claims of Christ. We are inconsistent and our inconsistency makes us to rely on programs. But God does not want programs, He wants men and women who are filled to the brim with His Spirit and who are obedient to Him.

"If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God" (Col. 3:1).

When we seek the things that are above - walking in a newness of life - then we can seek the power from on high and be assured that He will empower us. Then it will be possible to live a vital Christian life, for He who ascended, lives in me through His Spirit, "for all power has been given unto Me", that trusting Him for that, we can also be assured that He is with us always, until the task is completed to which He called us!

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