The Resurrection and Ascension of our Lord Jesus

First Baptist Church Leominster

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We normally would have you open your

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Bibles to a particular text, but I have the passages before you in your notes that we can give attention to.

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Last Lord's Day we read all four accounts in the Gospels of our

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Lord's entrance into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. And today I would like us to take the time to read all four

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Gospel accounts of the day of our Lord's resurrection from the dead. And we're going to see some differences between the accounts, more information in some of the accounts than others.

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But of course the Holy Spirit inspired each of these writers to record exactly what we have.

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And although we won't have time to go into great detail about any one of these accounts, we understand that there is a purpose in every detail.

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The Lord intended it for that purpose. And so first let's consider

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Matthew 28, 1 -10, Matthew's account of the empty tomb.

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Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other

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Mary came to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the

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Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone from the door and sat on it. His countenance was like lightning and his clothing as white as snow.

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And the guards shook for fear of him and became like dead men. But the angel answered and said to the women,

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Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here, for he is risen, as he said.

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Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead, and indeed he is going before you into Galilee.

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There you will see him. Behold, I have told you. And so they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy and ran to bring his disciples word.

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And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, Rejoice. And so they came and held him by the feet and worshipped him.

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And Jesus said to them, Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.

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This is Matthew's account. Mark's account, Mark 16, 1 -14.

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And I might say that there is a passage, a part of this passage, verses 9 through the end of the chapter, which is not in all of the manuscripts down through history.

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And so verses 9 through, what is it, 20, I think is commonly referred to, or through 15, 14, commonly referred to as a longer ending of Mark.

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But we have it included here, Mark 16. Now when the Sabbath was passed,

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Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Salome brought spices. So we have three women here that they might come and anoint him.

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Very early in the morning on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen. And they said among themselves,

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Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us? But when they looked up, they saw the stone had been rolled away, for it was very large.

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And entering the tomb, they saw young men clothed in a long white robe sitting on the right side.

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And they were alarmed. But he said to them, Do not be alarmed.

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You see Jesus of Nazareth, who is crucified. He is risen. He is not here. See the place where they laid him.

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But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you into Galilee. There you will see him, as he said to you.

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So they went out quickly, fled from the tomb, for they trembled and were amazed.

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And they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid. And again, that is the conclusion of the gospel in so many manuscripts down through history.

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But then with verse nine, we have this longer ending found in some manuscripts. Now, when he rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven demons.

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She went and told those who had been with him as they mourned and wept. And when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe.

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And after that he appeared in another form to two of them as they walked and went into the country.

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That would be the Luke 24 account of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. And they went and told it to the rest, but they did not believe them either.

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And later he appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table, and he rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen him after he had risen.

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And then we have Luke's account, Luke 24. Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, that is several women, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb, bringing the spices which they had prepared.

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But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. Then they went in and did not find the body of the

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Lord Jesus. And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments.

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And then as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, Why do you seek the living among the dead?

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He is not here, but is risen. Remember how he spoke to you when he was still in Galilee, saying,

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The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified, and the third day rise again.

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And they remembered his words. Then they returned from the tomb and told all these things to the eleven, and to all the rest.

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It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles.

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And their words seemed to them like idle tales. They did not believe them. But Peter rose, ran to the tomb, and stooping down, he saw the linen cloths lying by themselves, and he departed, marveling to himself at what had happened.

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And then lastly we have John's account, which is, of course, not apart from the

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Synoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke. You have John's account. Now on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb.

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And she ran and came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, that would be

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John, and said to them, They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.

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Peter therefore went out, and the other disciple, and were going to the tomb. So they both ran together. And the other disciple outran

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Peter and came to the tomb first. And he, stooping down, looking in, saw the linen cloths lying there, yet he did not go in.

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Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb, and he saw the linen cloths lying there, and the handkerchief that had been around his head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself.

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And then the other disciple, who came to the tomb first, went in also, and he saw and believed.

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For as yet they did not know the scriptures, that he must rise again from the dead. And then the disciples went away again to their own homes.

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But Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping, and as she wept she stooped down and looked into the tomb, and she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head, the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain.

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Then they said to her, Woman, why are you weeping? She said to them, Because they have taken away my

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Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him. Now when she had said this, she turned around and saw

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Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. And Jesus said to her,

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Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking? She, supposing him to be the gardener, said to him,

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Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away. Jesus said to her,

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Mary. She turned and said to him, Rabboni, which is to say,

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Teacher. And Jesus said to her, Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to my

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Father. And go to my brethren and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my

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God and your God. And Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the

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Lord, and that he had spoken these things to her. And so we have four gospel accounts of the morning of the resurrection, the empty tomb, the angelic witness, other incidentals included in the various gospels.

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Now we have stressed in the past, and rightly so, that the crucifixion of the

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Lord Jesus Christ, when Jesus hung on the cross, should really be regarded as the center of history, really the climax of history,

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Jesus crucified. But as we now consider the resurrection of Jesus, we would not subordinate its importance to the cross.

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But rather, I think it's best that we should understand the crucifixion and the resurrection of Jesus Christ as one event, one great event.

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His suffering, his death on the cross, his burial, his rising from the dead and his ascension into heaven took place over the course of three days, but it was a single event.

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And yet we can see this single event accomplishing two great ends. Of course, when Jesus died upon the cross, he secured the redemption of God's people of all ages from their condition of spiritual death and their sentence of physical death.

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And then with the resurrection of Jesus Christ, he secured new life for all his people.

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For Jesus, of course, is the first fruit of all those who believe.

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And so as what happened to their Savior will happen to them, and his coming forth from the grave guarantees that.

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Now, this morning in addressing this matter, the resurrection of Christ, we want to consider several things.

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First of all, we'll consider the evidence from the New Testament record that Jesus Christ did indeed rise from the dead.

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And of course, although that's contested by non -Christians, because this is an important event, and to remain a non -Christian and feel just in doing so, you've got to discredit this resurrection of Jesus, because it has implications if it's a reality.

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And then secondly, we'll consider some of the details regarding the nature of Christ's resurrection body. So here's some questions about this.

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Some confusion. Thirdly, we'll reflect upon the relationship of our Lord's resurrection with his ascension into heaven.

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His resurrection from the tomb, his ascension to the throne in heaven. We need to understand how the resurrection and ascension fit together.

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And then fourthly and lastly, we'll rehearse several important abiding implications of the resurrection of Jesus Christ for us.

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And so let's work through these matters. And we may do some abbreviating here today, because I'm not feeling all that great, frankly.

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And I'm not thinking all that clearly. Alright, first let's consider the evidence from the

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New Testament record that Jesus Christ did indeed rise from the dead. And there is evidence. It's very clear from the accounts of all four

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Gospels that the Lord Jesus rose from the dead upon the third day after his crucifixion.

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He rose early on the first day of the week, Sunday, which came to be known, of course, by Christians as the

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Lord's Day. Sunday, first day of the week. But though the testimony of the

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Gospels is indisputable, there have been those who have challenged the historicity of the resurrection of Christ.

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And this has been seen especially in the last two centuries as so -called biblical scholars have adopted rationalism, a certain modernistic view of history that they've applied to the biblical records, their own higher critical assumptions that they apply to the

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Scriptures. And so, aside from the clear descriptions and declarations of the

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Gospel accounts, and the facts regarding the Passion of Christ, they deny the resurrection of the

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Lord Jesus. But really, they have no grounds in doing so. And by the way, I would never recommend watching any of these programs that you see on PBS or Discovery Channel about Jesus and the early

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Church. You know, how the historic Jesus became the Christ of the Church, that kind of nonsense.

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Because that all reflects this modern, higher critical philosophy or view of history, which leads them to wrong conclusions.

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Now as we talk about the New Testament record and the facts that we may conclude that Jesus indeed rose from the dead, we're not trying necessarily to prove that Jesus rose from the dead in order to generate faith.

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Because saving faith, of course, in Christ is not built upon evidence and facts.

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The Lord certainly uses evidence and facts in the Proclamation, but ultimately, saving faith in Jesus Christ is a work of the

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Holy Spirit. And although we can recite certain evidences and certain facts, that itself will not convert anyone from being an unbeliever to a believer in Jesus Christ.

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Nevertheless, there are some facts about this matter that cannot be easily dismissed if somebody seriously considers them.

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And so let's consider some of these facts that are undeniable. First of all, it's a fact that Jesus Christ died upon the cross.

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No question about that. And although there have been those in the past who sent forth the so -called swoon theory that Jesus simply passed out, went into a coma on the cross, and he was revived at a later time, he only appeared to have died, it is clear from the

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Gospel records that Jesus died. The execution was carried out in the authority of the

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Roman governor. An execution entrusted to experienced soldiers to perform.

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And when Jesus and the two thieves were hanging on their crosses, the soldiers inspected them carefully.

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They were assigned the duty of crucifying these men to death. And when one of the soldiers came to Jesus, he saw that he was already dead.

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We read of that in John 19. Therefore, because it was a preparation day that the body should not remain on the cross on the

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Sabbath, for that Sabbath was a high day, the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, that they might be taken away, that they might die more quickly.

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Because when a person was crucified, they basically struggled to breathe, and they would suffocate.

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Sometimes it would take several days, a number of days. They would push up on their legs and enable themselves to breathe a little bit, even as it produced more pain and agony to them.

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So they broke the legs, so they couldn't lift themselves up, and they would suffocate immediately. And so the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and the other two, and of the other who was crucified with him.

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But when they came to Jesus, they saw that he was already dead. They did not break his legs. But though he was already dead, in order to assure there was no mistake regarding his death, we read in John 19 .34,

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one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. The fact is, he died on the cross.

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And no one with any credibility is going to deny that. It's a fact.

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Secondly, it cannot be disputed, it's a fact, that when Jesus died, the hopes of the disciples had died with him.

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And that's certainly reflected in the Gospel accounts. Our Lord had taught his disciples, he was the promised son of David, the

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Messiah of Israel, that he would inaugurate the Kingdom of God. And even though our

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Lord taught his disciples of his rejection, and of his maltreatment, death and resurrection, that would take place in Jerusalem, his disciples had their hopes destroyed when

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Jesus died on his cross. They didn't comprehend it, even though he had spoken to them about it.

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As one described it, it is important to recall that first century Jews did not understand the suffering servant of Isaiah 53 to apply to the

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Messiah. We read Isaiah 53, we see it clearly, the Jews didn't. By definition, the

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Messiah was to reign in his kingdom, not suffer and die. And when Jesus surrendered himself helplessly into the hands of his enemies, when he suffered execution as a common criminal, their hope was broken.

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This disillusioned them, every one of them. For them, it was the end of Jesus and his preaching, and the end of their hopes.

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Undeniable. That is what is reflected in the disciples, their unbelief, their refusal to believe the eyewitness account that Jesus rose again.

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Third, another fact that cannot be denied, the feared discouragement of the disciples suddenly and significantly changed into confidence, assurance, and boldness.

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That cannot be denied with any credibility. They were convinced that this dead

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Jesus was no longer dead. He was alive. And it is unreasonable to think that this sudden transformation could not have been borne through a verbal witness.

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The early apostles and women witnessed the risen Lord Jesus. He appeared to them. They did not believe the verbal witness.

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They had to see him, didn't they? And they were transformed. All of a sudden, instead of running and hiding out of fear, they were standing in the temple courts, preaching this

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Jesus as having risen from the dead. A fourth fact, there was the empty tomb, which cannot be denied.

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The Romans had officially sealed the tomb. Nobody was going to mess with that. They had set a guard over the tomb.

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But the tomb was empty. If it was not empty and the Romans or Jewish leaders could produce the body, then the early

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Christian witness would have been fully discredited. Where is the body? It is not there.

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It could not be produced. Yes, the Jewish leaders bribed the soldiers who were guarding the tomb, telling them to say that they had fallen asleep and that the disciples had stolen away the body.

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We read of that in Matthew 28. While they were going, behold, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all the things that had happened.

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We read in the account that they saw. They saw the stone rolled away. They saw the angel.

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They were afraid. And when they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave them a large sum of money to the soldiers, saying,

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Tell them his disciples came at night and stole them away while we slept. And if this comes to the governor's ears, we will appease him and make you secure.

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And so they took the money and did as they were instructed. And this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day, that is, until the day that Matthew wrote this gospel, which may have been 65

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A .D. or thereabouts. If the disciples had stolen the dead body of Jesus, however, it would not explain the transformation of these disciples into bold proclaimers of the resurrection, would it?

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It doesn't explain how all of a sudden they were preaching Jesus raised.

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A fifth fact is the early Christian faith itself. In the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

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How do you explain that faith that they had that Jesus arose? The early

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Christians unanimously believed and proclaimed the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ. It was a foundational tenant of their faith.

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It was central to their gospel message that the crucified, buried Savior had risen from the dead and been exalted as Lord over all.

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This was the faith that created the church, as one wrote. Belief in the resurrection of Jesus is an unavoidable historic fact.

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Without it, there would have been no church. How do you explain the early church had faith that Jesus rose from the dead?

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The only way you can explain that is Jesus rose from the dead and they were convinced of it. And then sixth and last, the sixth fact that substantiates the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is that something actually happened that resulted in the early disciples' belief in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

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Something happened. How do you explain it? It was not their faith in the resurrection that generated the faith and confession of the disciples of Jesus Christ.

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No, rather, it was an event of such significance that it resulted in their faith in the resurrection.

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They saw something. They saw Him. They didn't believe when they just heard people tell about it.

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Hey, we saw Him. They didn't believe that. They believed when they saw Him. The only reasonable explanation for the faith of the early church is that Jesus Christ rose from the dead.

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And He proved to them that He rose from the dead. He substantiated that before His disciples.

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And it transformed them utterly. You cannot explain what happened in the early church in the first century apart from the historic resurrection of Jesus Christ.

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Now, let's consider several details regarding the nature of Christ's resurrection body. There are a few problems here.

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Several matters should be noted or considered. First, we understand that the

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Jewish people themselves could not comprehend the life on earth of an individual.

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They viewed the physical body as the means by which a soul interacts with the world through the five senses.

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And so, apart from the body, how can a soul interact with anything that is real outside of it?

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The Apostle Paul argued that the resurrection of the body was essential to the Christian faith. He wrote in 1 Corinthians 15,

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Now if Christ is preached and He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?

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Paul basically reasons that we have no Christian faith if you take away the resurrection of Christ.

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If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. If Christ is not risen, our preaching is empty.

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Your faith is also empty. Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom

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He did not raise up if in fact the dead do not rise. He saw it as an essential to the

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Christian faith. You cannot be a Christian and not believe in the resurrection of Christ.

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The resurrection of the body of Jesus is essential to the faith, as one wrote. It was of great importance, considering their

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Jewish backgrounds, that the disciples realized Jesus was alive in a visible body. For them, life after death meant life in a body.

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See, it wasn't the Greek sense that you escape this body so you'd be a soul existence or spirit out there somewhere.

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No, for the Jews, it had to be a deliverance of the body, a resurrected body.

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For them, life after death meant life in a body. In the case of Jesus, they needed to see that physical body which had disappeared from the tomb and had not been dumped or buried elsewhere, but had been resuscitated and transformed by the power of God into a new body of a kind that they could see and recognize.

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This was essential to them. A second matter regarding the body of the resurrected

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Jesus is that his body had properties that it did not have prior to his death. By the power of God, his physical body was transformed into a spiritual body.

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I put spiritual in quotation marks because when we talk about Christ's spiritual body, we might think in non -physical terms, and that wouldn't be right.

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And so by spiritual, we do not mean non -physical, but rather his physical body that came forth on that first Easter morning was a physical body, but had spiritual properties.

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The tomb was empty. And the primary spiritual feature of the spiritual body is that it's suitable for eternity, and it's suitable for the resurrected

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Christian to live before God and with God. And so it's raised a spiritual body, but not in the sense of non -corporal, non -physical.

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It's physical, but it has spiritual properties. It was also essential that the same body of the

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Lord Jesus that went into the grave be raised from the grave in order to distance the Christian faith from errant philosophy and later heresies that the

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Church would have to deal with, particularly in the second century. There were those later on that denied that Jesus was ever a man.

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He just looked like a man. And so it was necessary that this physical body of Jesus be seen, understood, as risen.

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John wrote of this in 1 John 1 and following, that which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, talking about Jesus, our hands have handled, see, he's real, he's corporal, concerning the word of life, the life was manifested, we have seen, bear witness, declare to you that eternal life, which was with the

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Father, was manifested to us, which we have seen and heard, we declare to you that you also may have fellowship with us, and truly our fellowship is with the

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Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. There were those, when John wrote this epistle, that were denying that Jesus was ever in a physical body.

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He only made the appearance like he was a human being. And some of these people called themselves

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Christians, but they weren't. They were heretics. And so it was important for the

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Christians of the early church to know this physical body that went into the tomb came out of the tomb.

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Our Lord's physical body before his death, again, that body that went into the tomb, was the same body that came out of the tomb, only transformed.

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We read of our Lord revealing himself to Thomas, on that first occasion that Thomas saw him.

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We read in Luke 24, 36, Now as they said these things, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them.

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He suddenly appeared in the room where the disciples were, said to them,

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Peace to you. But they were terrified and frightened, supposing they had seen a spirit. They thought they saw a spirit, not a physical body.

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He just appeared in their midst. It's understandable why they might conclude that.

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Why are you troubled? Why do doubts arise in your hearts? Behold my hands and my feet. It is I myself.

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Handle me and see. And then he reasons, For a spirit does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.

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It was in his physical body that came out of the tomb. And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet.

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And while they still did not believe, for joy and marvel, he said to them, Have you any food here? And so they gave him a piece of broiled fish and some honeycomb.

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And he took it and ate in their presence. Why did he do that? In order to substantiate that it was his physical body that had rose from the dead.

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Bodily resurrection. And he appeared to them. The Lord made great effort to show his disciples he was in a physical body, not just a spiritual presence.

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Here's a good description of the heresy I mentioned that the church would later have to address, primarily into the second century.

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It was also important that the apostles emphasize in their teaching how Jesus actually appeared to them and was seen in a real body.

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Within a Greek culture dominated by the Roman Empire, there was also the danger of Christians accommodating the

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Greek idea of the immortality of the soul or spirit as a way to explain the resurrection of Christ or Jesus.

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Also, there was the seemingly attractive heresy of docetism. That's one form of Gnosticism.

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Docetism is taken from the Greek word doxa, meaning appear. He appeared to be a man.

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Which held that the flesh or body of Jesus could not have been real. Many people believed that matter, thus flesh and bone, was inherently evil.

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And so, if attracted by the claims of Jesus Christ, they could not understand how this body was real. And thus, he only seemed to possess a body.

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And so it was that the apostles insisted on a genuine incarnation and a real resurrection.

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It's extremely important. The bodily resurrection of the Lord Jesus from the grave. Now, another matter that we need to give attention to is the resurrection of Jesus Christ and his ascension into heaven.

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Because we might separate those two. He rose from the tomb. He ascended into heaven and was seated on the throne of God.

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Now, we here commonly teach, because it's not all that commonly taught, but we commonly teach and proclaim the biblical truth that when

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Jesus Christ was resurrected from the dead, he ascended into heaven. At which time

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God the Father conferred upon him kingly authority over the kingdom of God. And so, it was from the tomb to the throne.

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Since his ascension into heaven, the Lord has reigned as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The Father gave him all authority, authority over all flesh.

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But when we consider the resurrection of our Lord on the first Sunday morning, Resurrection Sunday, and when we consider the many appearances for the next 40 days after his resurrection, we might ask ourselves, when did the risen

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Lord Jesus, who came forth from the tomb, ascend into heaven to receive his kingly authority?

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When did that happen? Some advocate that Christ's ascension occurred immediately upon rising from the dead, that morning.

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He rose from the dead, he appeared to Mary, he ascended into heaven, was enthroned. In a single movement, he was caught up into heaven and there received his kingly authority.

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Others have argued that our Lord ascended into heaven at the end of the long first day. Remember, he appeared to the disciples that Sunday night?

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And they advocate that's when he ascended into heaven, after a long day, Resurrection Day, Easter Sunday.

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Others assert that Jesus did not ascend into heaven to receive his kingly authority until the conclusion of his 40 days of post -resurrection witness and instruction to his disciples.

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And one might find some evidence for this in Acts chapter 1. Luke was writing in the opening words of the book of Acts.

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He addressed Theophilus, the former account I made, both

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Theophilus referring to the Gospel of Luke, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach until the day in which he was taken up.

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The idea of ascension. After he, through the Holy Spirit, had given commandments to the apostles whom he had chosen, to whom he also presented himself alive after his suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during 40 days, speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God, and being assembled together with them, he commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the

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Father, which he said, You have heard from me, for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the

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Holy Spirit not many days from now. Therefore when they had come together, they asked him, saying,

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Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? And he said to them, It is not for you to know times or seasons which the

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Father has put in his own authority, but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem and all

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Judea and Samaria to the end of the earth. And then verse 9, Now when he had spoken these things, while they watched, he was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight.

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And there are numbers of people who argue that is when he ascended into heaven, and he received his kingly authority.

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And the cloud there is not just an ordinary cloud, but it is referencing the shekinah glory of God, where God manifested himself to Israel in the

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Old Testament. He is going into heaven. And so they argue that that is the ascension of Jesus.

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The problem is, if you make the ascension of Jesus at the end of the 40 -day period, where was

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Jesus during the 40 days when he was not with his disciples, if he had not already ascended into heaven?

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And so I think it is probably best, therefore, to understand that Jesus, coming forth from the grave on the day of the resurrection, immediately ascended into heaven.

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And then and there received the kingdom from his father, Peter Toon, who wrote a good book on the ascension of Christ about a generation ago.

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I think he was right when he wrote these words. Therefore, the best way to handle the biblical evidence and the theological problems is to think of the one great act of God, the exaltation of Jesus from death into heaven to sit at his right hand.

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This occurred on Easter morning, and may be seen as having two aspects, both secret and invisible, resurrection and ascension.

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That is, Jesus was raised from the dead by the Father, then immediately received into heaven in his resurrected spiritual body to be crowned

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King of Kings. And I think that is probably right. So if this is true,

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Jesus ascended immediately upon being raised from the dead, going into heaven, receiving kingly authority, what then of his post -resurrection appearances to his disciples for that 40 days?

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Well, the risen and enthroned Lord condescended to come among his disciples in order to instruct and prepare them for their gospel ministry.

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And so he manifested himself to them in a form in which they could relate to him and learn from him.

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I think that is the best way to understand the ascension. There is a problem if you separate the resurrection from the ascension by a great period of time.

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Now let's conclude by considering some important and abiding implications of the ascension of Jesus Christ.

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It's not just that he came out of the grave. It's not just that he was alive again. But that, again, movement was from the tomb to the throne.

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First of all, understand the ascension of Jesus Christ into heaven follows and completes the resurrection.

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It's one event. It's not just a resuscitation from the dead to being alive.

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It is one movement from humility and suffering and death to enthronement in heaven.

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And so the resurrection of Christ should not be severed from its connection to his ascension. There is one movement that takes place.

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And so the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the ascension of Jesus Christ into heaven. We shouldn't think of it apart from ascension.

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And many do. There are many people who don't believe the ascension of Jesus Christ and that he's received kingly authority.

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But clearly that's what the New Testament teaches. Secondly, the ascension of Jesus Christ into heaven secured his role as the firstfruits of his people.

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That's one of the implications of the ascension. Because his people are in union with him when he died upon the cross, they died with him.

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When he was buried, they too were buried with him. And when Jesus Christ came forth from the grave and ascended into heaven, his people were in union with him.

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His resurrection from the dead and ascension into heaven assured our future resurrection and ascension into heaven.

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We will share in his kingly authority. And that's what it means one day when we're glorified.

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God is going to confer authority upon us. And the degree of that authority will be contingent on our stewardship in this life.

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Thirdly, the ascension of Jesus Christ into heaven implies his exaltation. We've already emphasized this.

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He didn't rise from the dead in order to dwell in heaven. Some teach that. He won't reign until the

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Second Coming. He's just up there waiting until that occurs. No. He rose from the dead and ascended into heaven in order that he would rule in heaven over all creation.

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As one wrote, the ascension is the victorious march from Hades into heaven for Christ entered heaven as a conqueror of sin, death, and Satan as the one who could and would give gifts to his people.

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He is a king who conquered his enemy and he's enthroned and has authority over all.

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And then fourth, the ascension of Jesus Christ into heaven was the onset of his ministry as the high priest of his people.

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The book of Hebrews speaks about that. Hebrews 5, we won't read through it, speaks of that.

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But when he rose from the dead through his earthly ministry, he qualified to become a high priest after the order of Melchizedek.

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And when he ascended into heaven after his crucifixion, after his resurrection, he entered into his high priestly ministry.

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And there he represents you and me as Christians. He intercedes for us. Fifth, the ascension of Jesus Christ into heaven enabled him to bestow the gift of the

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Holy Spirit on his people. Just as ancient kings, when they came to rule over Israel, they would give gifts to their friends.

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Maybe confer the authority of an ambassadorship or some position in the court upon the friends that he grew up with in the court.

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Well, the Lord Jesus, when he was enthroned, gives gifts to his people. We read in Ephesians 4, he gives gifts to his church, evangelists, and pastor -teachers, and whatnot.

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He gives gifts to his church. But he also gives gifts to all of his people. And, of course, the primary gift that he gives to every one of his people is the

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Holy Spirit. The giving of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost was proof, was evidence, that he was exercising kingly authority.

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That's what Peter argued in his sermon on the day of Pentecost. This Jesus is sitting on David's throne.

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And the fact that the Holy Spirit now is manifesting himself to us is proof that he's enthroned.

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And then lastly, we'll conclude with this. Excuse me. The ascension of Jesus Christ into heaven inaugurates the promised new creation.

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I picked up a book the other day. I didn't even remember it was in my library. I've been looking at it a couple of months ago.

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I was going to buy it. I'm glad I didn't. I already had it. But it was by Greg Beal, who used to be a professor up at Gordon.

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He's been our Bolton Conference speaker. Excellent. Best Commentary on the Revelations, written by Greg Beal.

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But he wrote a biblical theology of the New Testament. Biblical theology is an effort to set forth exactly what the books of the

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New Testament or Old Testament biblical theology, what the books of the Old Testament teach.

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And so he wrote this wonderful biblical theology of the New Testament.

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And what he showed in his book is that this idea of the new creation being inaugurated by Jesus' resurrection is a major theme throughout the

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New Testament. And I have to admit, I hadn't seen that to the degree that he seemed to emphasize it.

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And actually on page 10 of your notes, I set forth a number of his chapter headings and divisions of his biblical theology to show you the degree of emphasis that he gave to this idea of new creation with the resurrection of Christ.

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And so on page 10 in the middle of the page of part 3, the story of the inaugurated end -time resurrection and new creation as a framework for New Testament theology.

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He was basically arguing this idea of a new creation is at the heart and central of the

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New Testament message. And then he gave forth four chapters that delineate that.

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And then in part 4 he addressed the story of idolatry and restoration of God's image in the inaugurated end -time new creation.

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And he uses that phrase repeatedly, inaugurated end -time new creation. And basically he's saying that that can be applied to just about every portion of the

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New Testament. It is a major theme. And so he talks about it in the

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Gospels, he talks about it in Paul's epistles, he talks about it in the general epistles. And on into page 11, he sets forth continually that there is this inaugurated new creation at the end of time.

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And basically, again, what he's advocating, and he's right in this, is that when the

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Lord Jesus Christ came forth from the grave, a new creation, a new age came into being of which you and I are a part.

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And so we're no longer, as Christians, a part of this old world, but rather we are citizens of a heavenly kingdom and a spiritual realm, and therefore we are no longer citizens here.

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And this is a major theme in the New Testament. And Beal, I think, in a very good way, sets that out.

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I think I'm going to start reading that book this week, by the way. But it's a major theme of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the onset of the new creation, which had been prophesied in the

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Old Testament and is realized in the New Testament. Well, in conclusion, all of what we said regarding our

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Lord's resurrection and ascension is to govern how we think and believe as Christians. Appeals are made in the

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New Testament that we be responsive to these truths. If then you were raised with Christ, there's our union with Christ.

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If then you were raised with Christ, were you? Yes. If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above.

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This should be the major thrust of our lives. Seek those things that are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.

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Set your mind on things above, not on things of the earth. Tomorrow morning,

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Monday morning, we start interacting with the world, don't we? And if we're thinking rightly, behaving rightly in the light of the resurrection, we will not be setting our mind on earthly things, but we will assess things, view things all in the light of this reality of the new creation.

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We set our things on heaven and the Lord Jesus reigning and the implications for that in all aspects of our life, whether it be in school or the workplace or within the home, wherever.

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We are to set our minds on things above, not on things of the earth. And the reason given, for you died and your life is hidden with Christ in God, and so when

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Christ, who is our life, appears, you also appear with Him in glory. This is the way we Christians are to view ourselves and view the world, the spiritual world in which we live.

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We are not to only think on Christ and the things above on Sunday morning when we gather together as Christians, but rather it should engage our thinking, our value system, our attitudes throughout every waking hour of the week.

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We are to see things in the light of our relationship with God through Christ, our union with Christ as our

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Lord and Savior. May the Lord help us do so. Amen. Thank you, Father, for your word, and thank you for,

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Lord, the wonderful realities and the implications of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

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And we pray, Lord, that you would help us as Christians to see these realities more clearly and embrace them.

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And may you help us, Lord, to go forth from this place living in the light of them. We thank you, our

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God, for revealing yourself to us through the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you for the new life that you've given us, the forgiveness of sins, the promise of everlasting life, the deliverance from the power of sin.

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We thank you for your kindness that you show to us. And we pray that you would help us to represent you faithfully, our

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God, as we go out into the world. Forgive us of our failures in this way, Lord, in our own families, among our friends and acquaintances.

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Help us to live as Christians are to live, that the life of Christ might be manifest in us.