Resurrection is connected to death, and resurrection is also connected to ascension. We cannot find a place in the entire New Testament that mentions only ascension without mentioning resurrection. Ascension is not a particular topic in the New Testament, but resurrection is, and resurrection is connected to ascension. Resurrection includes ascension. Take the book of Acts for instance. Does this book speak of resurrection or ascension? Did the apostles testify concerning resurrection or ascension? Strictly speaking, Acts is a book on the testimony of the Lord’s resurrection. The apostles said that they all were witnesses of the resurrection of Jesus (2:32). Although their testimony was a testimony of resurrection, no other book in the New Testament talks about ascension more clearly than Acts.
In Acts 2 we see how the apostle Peter mentioned the matter of ascension, the whole story of ascension, and the condition of ascension. However, when Peter spoke of ascension, he connected it to resurrection. Ascension is not something independent of resurrection but something dependent on resurrection. Ascension is not its own topic, but resurrection is its own topic, and ascension is a section within the topic of resurrection. Here we clearly see that where there is resurrection, there is ascension and that it is impossible to have resurrection without ascension. In the New Testament resurrection is always connected to ascension.
Ephesians 1 talks about the power of Christ’s resurrection (vv. 19-20). This resurrection power raised Christ from the dead and seated Him at God’s right hand in the heavenlies, far above all rule and authority and power and lordship and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. This shows us that resurrection brings in ascension and that ascension is connected to resurrection. No one can separate resurrection from ascension.
From this we see that death, resurrection, and ascension are joined together as one. Hence, we can say that there are three main elements in the Holy Spirit—the divine element, the human element, and a “triune” element—the element of death, resurrection, and ascension.
These three main elements in the Holy Spirit are actually five elements—the divine element, the human element, the element of death, the element of resurrection, and the element of ascension. The Bible mentions many times that the Lord is God, man, and resurrection, but it does not say that the Lord is ascension. Therefore, of the five elements of the Holy Spirit, the Lord occupies three—He is God, man, and resurrection. Moreover, 2 Corinthians 3:17 says, “The Lord is the Spirit.” The Lord is God, man, resurrection, and the Spirit. Hence, in the Spirit there are God, man, and resurrection. Before the incarnation God was God, having no human element, but after His incarnation the story of His being God and man began in Bethlehem. At that time He was not only God but also a man. He was a God-man.
When this God-man was on the earth, did He have the element of resurrection in Him? This is a big question in theology. Did the Lord’s resurrection life and power exist before His resurrection or after His resurrection? What is the basis of resurrection? Resurrection is according to life and comes from life. For instance, before a flower seed is planted into the soil, there is life within the seed, but does it have the element of resurrection within? Strictly speaking, it does not yet have the element of resurrection within.
Before the Lord’s resurrection He had the resurrection life and power within Him, but He had not yet accomplished the matter of resurrection. In John 11:25 He said, “I am the resurrection.” This is what the Lord said before His crucifixion and death, but immediately He continued by saying, “[I am] the life.” Then in chapter twelve He said that unless the grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it abides alone, but if it dies, it bears much fruit (v. 24). Had the Lord been resurrected at that time? The resurrection life was in the “grain of wheat,” but the fact of resurrection had not yet been accomplished. It is not until the seed is planted into the ground and grows out from the ground that resurrection is accomplished. This is the expression of life, and the expression of life is resurrection.
From this we see what life and resurrection are. Before the seed is planted into the ground, it has the life of resurrection, but it does not have the resurrection of life. It is only after the seed is planted into the ground and grows out that it has both the life of resurrection and the resurrection of life.