We now come to see the sixteenth experience of life, which is knowing the ascension. Although this lesson is rather profound, yet it is not difficult to understand. We will speak of this in several main points.
In order to know ascension, we need firstly to know the redemption of Christ, because ascension is included in it. Concerning Christ’s redemption, many comprehend only Christ’s crucifixion, His dying for us. Some see something deeper; they realize that Christ’s redemption includes also the resurrection. But if we read the Scriptures again carefully and examine our experiences, we will discover that His redemption includes ascension also. Christ’s redemption consists of three main parts: death, resurrection, and ascension. If any part is missing, the redemption of Christ cannot be regarded as complete.
In these three main parts of Christ’s redemption, Christ’s death emphasizes deliverance from the negative aspects. That is, it saves us from sins, the world, the flesh, that which is natural, and all those things which are incompatible with God. Christ’s resurrection emphasizes the entrance into the positive aspects. That is, it brings us into all the riches of the new creation, which God has in Christ. And Christ’s ascension is the glorious conclusion of His death and resurrection. Christ’s death and resurrection are not the conclusion of His redemption; His ascension is. We cannot say that Christ rested when He was raised from the dead. Christ did not rest in death nor in resurrection; He rested in His ascension. The Scripture does not say that the Lord sits in resurrection, but that He sits in the heavens (Eph. 2:6). Sitting signifies that the work has already been accomplished. Therefore, the redemptive work of the Lord was not considered accomplished until He ascended to the heavens. We can say that death and resurrection are only progressive stages of the Lord’s redemption. Ascension is the final stage of the Lord’s redemption. The Lord’s death and resurrection are the path which leads to His ascension. Thus ascension is the conclusion of His death and resurrection.
Since the Lord’s ascension is the conclusion of His death and resurrection, all three steps are closely connected. When the Lord came forth from death and entered into resurrection, He had already reached the heavenly realm. Immediately following death and resurrection is ascension. In Christianity, there is an inaccurate understanding that Christ ascended forty days after His resurrection. Actually, in the resurrection morning the Lord ascended to the heavens. In that morning, the Lord appeared to Mary Magdalene and said to her, “Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended unto the Father.” And He continued, saying, “I ascend unto my Father” (John 20:17). In the evening of the same day, the Lord again appeared to the disciples and said, “Handle me, and see” (Luke 24:39). By this time the Lord could let men touch Him. This reveals that before this time He had already ascended to the heavens and offered to God the freshness of His resurrection. Therefore, before His ascension in the sight of His disciples forty days later, He could say, “All authority hath been given unto me in heaven and earth.” This authority was obtained from God when He ascended to the heavens on the resurrection morning. Thus we see that Christ’s death and resurrection are connected with His ascension. They cannot be separated. Finishing of school cannot be separated from graduation; when one finishes his study, he graduates. Likewise, when the Lord was risen from the dead, He ascended.
In Christ’s ascension, He brought all that He had accomplished through His death and resurrection to the heavens. He brought the fruit of all His redeeming work into the heavenly realm. Thus, the Lord today, in the position of His ascension, applies the efficacy of His redemption to man. Certainly, the Lord’s forgiveness of our sins is based on His blood shed on the cross. But if He had not ascended to the heavens, He would not have been able to apply His death or His blood. He has achieved redemption on the cross, but it is in His ascension that He applies His redemption. In the position of ascension, He gives man salvation. To speak accurately, all the redemptive grace experienced by the church, from forgiveness of sins to experiencing the ascension and obtaining various gifts, is being applied in a practical way by the Lord in His ascension. Therefore, the ascension in Christ’s redemption occupies a very important place. All that Christ has accomplished through His death and resurrection is brought into the ascension for application. Without ascension, nothing in Christ’s salvation can be applied to us in a practical way.
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