Thursday, May 1, 2008
Ascension Day
Mark 16:19-20 So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen.
ASCENSION ADVANTAGE: STILL THE QUIET VOICE
The whole idea of Christ not ascending is contrary to every thing the Bible teaches us about God and the way in which He reveals Himself to man. We can start all the way back in the garden of Eden immediately after the first sin, the fall. God comes to Adam not in force, not in anger, not in a show of power, but walking quietly in the garden.
It is hard to imagine a scenario in which Christ could have remained on this earth for the two thousand years since His resurrection and done so in anything like a quiet manner. Yet since His ascension Christ comes to men not in a show of force, but in the quiet voice of His love. There are certainly many preachers out there upon whom this simple concept is lost. They thunder away from the pulpit and walk around town with puffed out chests. But for those of us who stop to consider, as the Christmas hymn puts it, "how silently, how silently, the wondrous gift is given, so God imparts to human hearts the blessings of His heaven" we can not help but marvel at the advantage of the Ascension.
Christ rules all things, but not as a tyrant. Christ guides, directs, and fellowships with His Church, but forces no one to enter it. Christ comes to men in the quiet voice of His word which speaks of His love and mercy, and not in the terrible thunderings of Mt. Sinai. Christians themselves live and grow quietly among the people of this earth, not pledging allegiance to a foreign power, but living right among all people and sharing their faith with their neighbors. The Lord does not demand respect with grand imperial palaces or with nuclear missiles aimed at the heart of nations that oppose Him. Instead He simply walks among us, unseen by those who close their eyes, but so close to those who open His word.
The advantage of the Ascension is clear. Christ comes in love.
