The Ascension 5-29-22
– 2Cor 1:20 (TPT) “For all of God’s promises find their YES of fulfillment in Him. And as His Yes and our Amen ASCEND to God, we bring Him glory.”
– When God is Glorified, His power is Magnified. It is the power given to believers to overcome any obstacle that may arise.
– Message Bible – “It is a sure beginning to what God plans to complete.”
–PROMISE- [Grk] Espangelia – Both the Promise itself and the assurance of that promise’s fulfillment
– REMEMBER – RECORD – REVIEW – RECITE (aloud) and they will become the very fabric of your Being and the platform of your operations.
– Jesus Christ is both the Promise of God and the fulfillment of it.
– Phil 2:13 – “For it is God who works in you to will and to work, for His good pleasure.”
– It is God, Himself, whose power creates in us the desire to come to fulfill His Purpose for us.
– Rom 8:28 (NLT) – “All things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”
– Rom 8:29 (NLT) -” And having chosen them, He called them to come to Him. And He gave them right standing with Himself, and he PROMISED them his glory.”
– God has invited us into the holy community He shares with His Son and the Holy Spirit.
– Qualifiers:
1. To LOVE as defined in 1Cor 13:4-7 {please read for clarity}
2. Say “YES” to His call. We are “called” to become MORE THAN WE ARE: A call to His Purpose.
– Eastertide: 5 celebrations that each underline a specific step in the process of “becoming’.
- Lent – A sacrifice of SELF. Speaks of the 40 days Jesus spent in the desert and the 3 temptations He faced and overcame.
– These are common to humanity and must be faced and rejected:
a. Temptation to sieze Power – b. To base identity on Prestige – c. Gain status through Possessions.
- Palm Sunday Relates to the Passion with which Jesus embraced His purpose.
Passion Week – Week in between Palm and Resurrection Sundays.
Speaks of the need for daily expressions of purpose.
3. Resurrection Sunday – Speaks of the transformation of all creation
4. Ascension Day – Celebrates the final blow to satan’s power over the
earth. It is the assurance of the promise’s fulfillment
5. Pentecost – The giving of the power to become the New Creation
through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit
– *Interesting* – Before Jesus ascended He took His disciples to the Mt. of Olives: The place first associated with His suffering and passion but now the place associated with His Glory.
– It was a seminal moment of transition: From the passion of His suffering to the Glory of His resurrection.
– Within the process of Transformation there is Transition.
– Ascension Day – is a reminder of Jesus’ total victory over evil.
– Remembrance – becomes a transitional factor as we move from sorrow, doubt, discouragement, and fear to joy, hope, and greater faith.
– Three Important Theological Truths
- He ascended into heaven in bodily form – not just vapor – not just Spirit
Inference; He took humanity to the heavenly realm with Him
- Assures us of joining Him, The Father, and the Holy Spirit in Holy Communion and Community
- Assurance of His continued mediation and intercession for us and giving us access to the ongoing flow of the Holy Spirit’s power.