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We Must Never Forget The Ascension

In Acts 1, we see Jesus ascending into heaven just as He gave the apostles His orders to remain in Jerusalem to wait for the Holy Spirit. A lot of times we have kind of swept the ascension under the rug so to speak. We preach of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, but we neglect His ascension.

Why is it we tend to neglect the ascension? I wish I had the answer. I think (in my opinion) the ascension is not as glorious to some as the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. The ascension of Christ is part of the gospel message and good news for Christians today. Yes, Jesus died for our sins on our behalf. He also was buried in a borrowed tomb and rose from the dead, but He also ascended to the sit at the right hand of the Father.

Why should we not forget the ascension? For starters, the angels that appeared to the apostles, after Jesus ascended, said Jesus "will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven" (Acts 1:11). As we went into the clouds, He will come back the same way. Another thing is if Jesus did not ascend, God could not send the Holy Spirit. In the gospel accounts, Jesus said the Father will send the Holy Spirit after He departed from this world. We see that promise fulfilled in Acts 2. We see acts of the Holy Spirit throughout the rest of the New Testament and as recorded in church history.

The Bible says that Christ intercedes for us (Hebrews 7:25). Yes, Jesus is praying for us while we are still in this world. The Bible also says Jesus is our advocate when we sin (1 John 2:1-2). These two important truths matter because Jesus performs He duty as our High Priest (Hebrews 8:1). Jesus could be our Great High Priest had He not ascended.

The ascension of Jesus must not be forgotten for it is very important in our faith. We believe God became a man, walked on this earth, died on a cross, was buried, rose again, ascended to heaven, and one day will return in the same way He left, but as judge and king.

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Jesus Died, Rose, and Ascended

Have you ever noticed that most churches teach on the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, which is the gospel, but leave out the part about Him ascending into heaven? It seems we have put Christ's ascension on the back burner because it has not implication regarding our salvation. The fact is that Christ's ascension is a very important theological truth that must be preached in churches and studied by all Christians.

Chuck Colson wrote three important reasons why Jesus' ascension into heaven is important:

First, Jesus' exaltation to God's right hand brings the gospel story full circle.

Second, Jesus' exaltation to God's right hand means that gospel preaching proclaims a royal reality, not strictly a system of salvation's mechanics.

Third, we share in Jesus' exaltation to God's right hand where we experience the riches of God's grace.

Click here to read the post in its entirety.

Also check out Why the Ascension of Jesus Matters by Tony Reinke