Ascension Day

Ascension Meditation

Text: Ephesians 1:16b-23

(I) make mention of you in my prayers; that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. And He put all things under His feet and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

In Christ Jesus, our risen and ascended Lord and Savior, dear fellow redeemed:

Is Jesus Christ real? Does He really exist, or is Christianity simply an elaborate hoax? I am sure that everyone here tonight would agree, "Jesus Christ is real and does exist! Christianity is definitely not a hoax?" But how do we know that for sure? We can confirm from the Bible and secular historical accounts that Jesus lived on this earth at one time, that He grew up in Nazareth, and that He was crucified by the Romans. Even secular historians would agree that Jesus was real and did exist. But what about now? Skeptics challenge us to prove our faith. They question our claims that we possess absolute truth, in contrast to the false claims of non-Christian religions.

We are gathered here this evening to celebrate the ascension of our Lord into heaven. We believe that He is sitting at God’s right hand ruling over us. How do we know that for sure? The ultimate answer lies in faith. We can no longer reach out and touch Jesus’ physical body as He encouraged His disciples to do after His resurrection. We can no longer walk, talk, and eat with Him as the disciples did during the forty days between His resurrection and ascension. But God does prove His existence in creation. We can look around anywhere and see manifestations of His power and wisdom. He also proves the inspiration of the Bible through the fulfillment of prophecy and impresses the truth of the gospel on our hearts through the Spirit’s work. Dear friends, the Scriptures define faith as "the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Heb. 11:1). Scripture also promises that although "now we see in a mirror dimly,” we shall ultimately see Jesus “face to face” and that while now we only "know in part” the day will come when we “shall know” Jesus just as we also are now known by Him (cf. 1 Cor. 13:12). Dear Friends, let us not become discouraged by the assaults of the unbelieving world on our most holy and valid faith. Let us rather REJOICE IN OUR ASCENDED SAVIOR...

I.

...who fills our hearts with hope! Paul begins this text by assuring the Ephesians that he is keeping them in his prayers. For what was Paul praying? He says, “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowl-edge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints.” Paul wanted the Ephesians to know Jesus Christ, to understand the wonderful future that lay ahead of them in view of Christ’s work, and so to understand fully the hope they possessed as God’s children by faith!

Dear friends, our Savior God wants the same thing for all of us! We need that wisdom and knowledge which is only available through the Bible--God’s inspired and inerrant Word. The Bible tells us, “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him” (1 Cor. 2:9). We need to know Jesus and embrace the future He has secured for us, for then and only then will that hope generated by faith be able to stand firm in the midst of and indeed overcome the assaults of Satan and his hosts in this world!

This past week has been a very intense one for the family and friends of Earl Schweim. Bud lay in intensive care at Immanuel-St. Joseph’s Hospital, the victim of a heart attack. Individual, family, and congregational prayers were offered to God requesting a miracle to sustain Bud’s life and restore his health. Our God, however, in His wisdom chose otherwise, taking Bud home to heaven yesterday morning. God took Bud’s hope and transformed it into a living reality by giving him his inheritance--the gift of everlasting life. It is that same hope of an eternal inheritance which comforts and sustains us who are left behind. Paul tells us, “Having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God” (Rom. 5:1-2). God did not give Bud eternal life, because of his upright character or the good deeds he performed during his life, nor will He bestow that gift upon any of us for such reasons. The simple fact is that we have “all sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). The reality of our situation by nature is that “the wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23a), but an equal fact and reality is that “the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 6:23b). Dear friends, we need to know this wisdom and knowledge, for such wisdom and knowledge leads to eternal salvation. All who place their faith in Jesus’ blood and righteousness will be saved! The Scripture so promise! All who in true penitence confess their sins are washed clean by the blood of Christ in accordance with the promise of God. Our hope is not to be clouded by the doubts which inevitably come when we look to ourselves for salvation. Rather we place our hope in Jesus, for in Him alone do we find certainty! Jesus tells us, “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you, I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also” (Jn. 14:1-3). REJOICE IN OUR ASCENDED SAVIOR who fills our hearts with hope...

II.

and who rules our lives as our Head! Paul writes, “( I ) make mention of you in my pray-ers...that you may know...the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is name, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.” Our God manifested His power when on Easter Sunday morning He raised Jesus from the dead. We human beings are very good at creating powerful things to destroy life, but we are absolutely helpless to restore life! Only God can instill and restore life once it has passed, and this is what God did for Jesus. Having done so, He went on to bestow upon Jesus’ human nature all power and authority. He raised Jesus upon and seated Him at His right hand to occupy a position of power and to exercise that power throughout eternity for the blessing of us His body, the holy Christian Church.

If this is true, the skeptics say, why then does not your Christ rescue you from all pain and suffering? Why does He not simply judge this world and deliver you into heaven immediately? The answer quite simply is that God has planned the eternal salvation of His elect and the time of the end has simply not yet come. Paul tells us earlier in this first chapter of Ephesians, “He (God) chose us in Him (Christ) before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Him-self...that in the dispensation of the fullness of times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth” (Eph. 1:4-5,10).

Peter warns us of such scoffers in his epistles. His response is to point our eyes to our living hope in Christ Jesus and to our incorruptible inheritance received by faith (cf. 1 Pet. 1:3-4). He then goes on to say that “now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 1:6-7). Yes, in this life we may well have to suffer the assaults of Satan and the world, even as did our precious Savior, but if so, let us do so in faith and with hope. Our Savior promises to be with us (Mt. 28:20). Our Savior promises that He will "work all things for good to those who love God” (Rom. 8:28). Our Savior promises that nothing “shall separate us” from His love (Rom. 8:35). This is certainly true, for Jesus occupies a position of power superior to all, and everyone and everything which opposes Him will ultimately suffer the eternal wrath of God, while everyone who embraces Him in faith and love will enjoy eternal glory. Let us, therefore, not fear, or doubt, or worry, but rather join the hymnwriter who says:

Dear friends, let us REJOICE IN OUR ASCENDED SAVIOR who fills our hearts with hope and who rules our lives as our Head! Amen.

—Pastor Paul D. Nolting