He ascended into Heaven – Acts 1:8-11
The story of Jesus, living, dying, and rising from death gets a lot of well-deserved attention; but sometimes we overlook another crucial mysterious scene in the narrative which is where we find ourselves today- “He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the father.” In the event known as Ascension, we discover that God is really here, that he has always been here, and that he dwells in us.
“On her way home she usually buys a slice of honey-cake at the baker’s as her Sunday treat. But to-day she passes the baker’s by. She climbs the stairs, goes into the little dark room - her room like a cupboard - and sits down on the bed. She sits there for a long time. The box that the fur came out of is on the bed. She removes the fur quickly; quickly, without looking, and lays it inside. But when she puts the lid on box she thinks she hears something cry.” – Kathleen Mansfield Murry
In certain seasons of life, we feel this pain not just in our earthly relationships but with God. God is supposed to be so near to us yet he feels so far.
Summary of the Apostles’ Creed.
The Apostle’s Creed is a summary of the Christian faith that depicts the full story of scripture. The Apostle’s Creed contains one of the most concise summaries of the Christian faith in straightforward scriptural language. It follows the narrative arch of scripture from creation to incarnation, crucifixion to resurrection, and Pentecost to life everlasting.
The Apostle’s Creed reminds us that our story and church are rooted in an ancient faith. There is no singular author by which this creed can be traced, rather it is the work of the Western Catholic Church. Though, it seems to have grown out of Peter’s confession in Matthew 16:16. Its origin is as a baptismal confession, those that are laying down their life to join Christ in his death and resurrection (Romans 6:4) confess this as their new reality and guiding story.
The Apostle’s Creed is not simply a routine repetition of doctrine but rather our pledge of allegiance to one God– Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This is not a routine repetition of doctrine. It is a liturgical poem meant to move our heart as a pledge of allegiance to the triune God revealed in the person of Christ.
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” –Acts 1:8-11
ASCENSION AS IMPORTANT
Matthew Bates in his book Salvation by Allegiance Alone, refers to the ascension of Jesus as one of the most important parts of the gospel for today. But widely, it is not discussed and it is misunderstood as we don’t spend much time talking about it in church circles.
Question 1: Did Jesus take off into outer space or float off into the clouds far far away?
The short answer to this question is no.
“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”– Genesis 1:1
Heaven = God’s Space
Earth = Human Space
God is not ultimately creating a supernatural space where he lives separated from humans. God's vision for heaven and earth- God’s space and human’s space- is that they both become one, that they overlap.
Question 2: What does Ascension to the right hand of the Father mean?
The concept of ascension can actually be traced throughout the biblical narrative.
In the Genesis account, the Garden of Eden was set on a mountain or as Tim Mackey calls it, “the cosmic mountain garden temple.”
Similarly in the Exodus account, God calls Moses and his fellow leaders to come up to the mountain to have a meal from God and receive his instructions.
“Moses' priestly ascension is a recreation of the Eden ideal: humanity resting within God’s presence on a cosmic mountain temple.” – Tim Mackey
In the Deuteronomic code, we see the instructions for the Day of Atonement. On one day each year, the high priest would symbolically ascend to meet God by making a sacrifice to cover all the sins of the Israelite community to make way for the people to live in God’s presence.
We see David go to the high hills of Israel to construct a temple which includes details harkening back to Eden.
People will go up or ascend to Jerusalem to see this very temple singing the Psalm of Ascent as they ascend into the presence of God.
Jesus himself ascends up Jerusalem to be put on trial. He will be condemned to death and lifted up onto a cross. Three days later he will rise from the dead.
“Adam and Eve experienced this kind of overlapping togetherness with God only in part. But Jesus experiences it fully because he chose to follow God’s will from beginning to end. And his uniting of Heaven and Earth in himself is now complete, or as he said, “It is finished” (John 19:30).” – Tim Mackey
Having ascended up as he did, Jesus now exists permanently in both God’s space and human space at once as the ultimate priest.
Question 3: Why does Ascension matter?
It matters because for the first time in human history, if we make the choice to follow Jesus, to ascend with him, God’s presence is guaranteed- constant- will always be there.
“This is what the author means in when he says, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”– 1 Peter 2:9-10
Once we just occupied human space, now we occupy God’s space and human space through Jesus. Our bodies have become a temple that houses the presence of God.
Some may think that Jesus’ ascension removes him from us; Jesus’ ascension guarantees his presence with us. For the first time in human history– God’s space and humanity’s space are fully integrated in us.
HEAD AND HEART ALIGNMENT
How do we work to align the knowledge of God’s presence with what we feel in our hearts?
Suggestion 1: Slow down
“Hurry is the great enemy of our spiritual lives today.” –Dallas Willard
As the mystics say, “the problem is not that God is absent but we are absent.”
Sometimes one of the best ways to help our heart catch up to our head is to simply slow down, remove the distractions, and make ourselves available to hear God. In doing so we often find his presence has been with us all along, we just haven’t noticed it.
Suggestion 2: Practice Gratitude
In moments where we feel God’s absence, it can be really hard to express any abundance or gratitude. But the practice of gratitude can help us realize that God is really there.
Suggestion 3: Read the scriptures
The presence of God can be felt through the reading of the scriptures.
“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” –Hebrews 4:12
Sometimes we forget that the words of God, the scriptures, are his recorded presence. One of the best ways to sync our heads with our hearts is to read the scriptures
