12. The Ascension And Session Of Christ

CHAPTER XII The Ascension and Session of Christ The ascension of our Lord is recorded by two of the Gospel narrators. "So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God" (Mark 16:19). "And he led them out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up his hand, and blessed them. And it came to pass while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven" (Luke 24:50-51). "And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight" (Acts 1:9). A comparison of John 20:17 where we read, "Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God," with Luke 24:39 where He said to His disciples, "Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have," reveals two ascensions of our Lord. On the morning of the resurrection day Christ ascended into heaven, in fulfilment of the wave-sheaf type, the sample and earnest of the mighty harvest that was to follow. So, also, having accomplished the sacrifice for sin, it was necessary for Him to present His blood in heaven. We read, "Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption." And, "It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these" (Hebrews 9:12; Hebrews 9:23). Read the context; it will do your heart good. When our Lord ascended the second time--after forty days of post-resurrection ministry--He began His present ministry in behalf of His own. Concerning this we read, "Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high" (Hebrews 1:3); "But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God" (Hebrews 10:12).

Note that our Lord ascended in His glorified human body and that He now occupies the place of power and honor. He is the man in glory. The man Christ Jesus has left the earth, and entered into that invisible region of the universe where God sits on the throne of His Majesty. To believers, it is a source of consolation to know that He has not laid aside their nature, but retains it in His glorified state and position. They can look up to Him with confidence, in the full assurance of His sympathy, and see, in His exaltation, an earnest of their future glory. The right hand is the place of honor. It is so reckoned among us, and was so accounted by the Jews. When Solomon’s mother came to him, "he sat down on his throne, and caused a seat to be set for the king’s mother; and she sat on his right hand." In the position given to our Saviour in heaven, He is invested with great dignity and glory. The words of His intercessory prayer reveal the glory that is His, "And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was" (John 17:5). The right hand is the emblem of power. This is the general idea which is suggested, when hands and arms are attributed to God, because it is with our hands and arms that we exert our strength. The right hand is most commonly used. The sitting of our Saviour at the right hand of God signifies therefore that He is exalted to the place of authority and dominion. "Hereafter," He said to the members of the council, "shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven" (Matthew 26:64). The fact that when He ascended He was received of His Father is the proof that His earth-ministry was accepted. The fact that He sat down reveals another important truth--that His work was finished. In the earthly tabernacle no place was provided for the high priest to sit down. That was because his work was never finished. When Christ ascended He sat down as the evidence that the work He came into this world to accomplish was once and for all completed. But note, it was on His Father’s throne that He sat down, and not on His own. This proves that He did not set up His kingdom on the earth, when He came the first time, but that He is now "expecting, till his enemies be made his footstool" (Hebrews 10:13). Then will the kingdoms of this world become the kingdom of our Lord; and He shall reign for ever. The angel told Mary, "He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his Father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end" (Luke 1:32-33).

Scripture clearly teaches that He is not now establishing His kingdom-rule in the earth, but rather that He is taking out a people for His name. It is in behalf of this called-out people that our risen and glorified Lord is now ministering. Our Lord’s present ministry in behalf of His own is fourfold.

1. He Is Bestowing Gifts to the Church

"But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and he gave gifts unto men. ... And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers" (Ephesians 4:7-8; Ephesians 4:11).

Note the purpose of these gifts. They are "For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ; till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ" (Ephesians 4:12-13). The true purpose of the ministry is to provide the saints with the equipment necessary for the rendering unto the Lord effectual service. When the saints are so equipped they will no longer be "children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive."

2. He Is Interceding for His Own

Concerning this ministry of our Lord we read, "Who is he that condemneth? Is it Christ, who died, yea rather, who is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us?" (Romans 8:34).

"But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them" (Hebrews 7:24-25). Our Lord began this His ministry of intercession, while here on earth. He said to Peter, "Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he might sift you as wheat: but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren" (Luke 22:31-32). In His high priestly prayer, He prayed not only for His disciples, but also for all that should believe on Him. He said, "I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. ... I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. ... Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word" (John 17:9; John 17:15; John 17:20). This ministry of our Lord has to do with the weakness, and the helplessness of the saints who are on the earth. He knows their limitations, and the power and the devices of the evil one with whom they have to contend. We read, "For ye were as sheep going astray, but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls" (1 Peter 2:25).

3. Christ Now Appears for His Own in the Presence of God As Advocate As Christ’s ministry of intercession is that the saved ones might not sin, so His advocacy is for the saved one who has sinned. We read, "For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us" (Hebrews 9:24). An advocate is a lawyer, one who pleads and espouses the cause of another one in the open courts. We need an advocate because we have an accuser--Satan, called "the accuser of the brethren." It is when the child of God sins that Satan appears as the accuser, and it is then that the Lord Jesus Christ advocates for the sinning one. We read, "My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: and he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world" (1 John 2:1-2).

He does not excuse our sins, nor does He ask God to be lenient with them. But since He is the propitiation for our sins He pleads His own precious blood shed for them. What He does is infinitely righteous in every respect.

Through our Lord’s ministry as Intercessor and Advocate, the child of God is secure for time and eternity.

4. The Lord Jesus Christ Is Now Preparing a Place for His Own In His farewell message to His own He said, "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also" (John 14:1-3). This is the first reference to our Lord’s coming for His own--the saints of this dispensation. His own going back to the Father as the glorified man in a very special way enters into this work of His. He is now the man in glory. His going there has opened the way for those who will be glorified with Him.