Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Acts 1:8 "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."
ASCENSION ADVANTAGE: BY OUR SIDE
It used to be the confession in every Christian church every Sunday, "I believe in . . . the holy catholic Church," that is, the holy universal Church. We, of course, have changed the word "catholic" to "Christian" so as not to confuse people, but you see how important the universality of the Church was to the early believers. They listed it right along with the forgiveness of sins and life everlasting.
It suited God's plan of salvation for a time to make His people a local community for the most part, so He separated them from the other nations. He made them unique in almost every way. But with Christ's ascension, those walls are broken. Even as He said, "Go into all the world" and again, "I am with you always."
God never meant that He should be known as God to the Israelites alone. "But indeed for this purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth" (Exodus 9:16).
And for those who sought Him, He always provided a means to become a part of Israel. But now for the first time He removes all the structures, boundaries, fences, and rules that kept the Old Testament Church bound together and sends out the Word.
Without the ascension, those who follow Christ would still be following His physical presence. Without the ascension, the Church would constantly be centered around and congregating wherever He was. But with the ascension the Church is centered not in any one place, but wherever two or three are gathered together in His name.
Is it an inconvenient thing that Christ ascended, sat down on the right hand of God, exalted His human nature to the same omniscience as God, and accompanies us wherever we go? Certainly not. This is the greatest advantage we have as Christians -- that wherever we go, there Christ is with us.
