…who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.
Hebrews 1:3 NKJV
THE HISTORY OF THE ASCENSION
Christian life and preaching focus on the death of Christ and His resurrection on the third day. Paul said, “We preach Christ crucified.”1 When he defended himself in Acts 24, Paul appealed to his preaching on the resurrection. When He boasted, it was in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ.2 The death and resurrection of Christ are at the very heart of what it means to be a Christian and the very focus of faithful Christian preaching. But life and preaching do not end with the history of the resurrection.
40 days after Christ’s resurrection, He ascended up into Heaven. Acts 1 describes the Disciples watching Jesus ascend. They were eyewitnesses to Christ’s resurrection and His ascension. Mark says that when Christ ascended He, “sat down at the right hand of God.”3 Hebrews brings the seven perfections of the Son to a conclusion focusing us on Christ’s perfect, exalted, majestic position. He sat down at the right hand of the majesty on High. Here is the 7th perfection of the Son. He ascended to Heaven.
THE IMPACT OF THE ASCENSION ON THE DISCIPLES
When Elijah went to Heaven he was carried up by a chariot sent from the Lord. Christ ascended up into Heaven of His own power. When Elisha saw Elijah go up into Heaven, he received a double portion of Elijah’s spirit. Ten days after Christ ascended, the Holy Spirit descended upon the Disciples.
Before Christ’s resurrection, the disciples were fearful. Peter denied Christ three times. The rest fled from Christ’s presence. After Christ’s resurrection the disciples were no longer afraid. After Christ’s ascension the disciples grew bold. They would continue preaching in small upper rooms to friends, but they would also preach outside to masses of unbelievers. They made Christ and His gospel known wherever they could at whatever cost and at all times. The disciples saw the risen Christ, they watched Him ascend, they knew the power of His gospel, they made Him known.
THE MEANING OF THE ASCENSION
Why did the disciples rejoice and worship God after their friend and Savior departed from them to ascend into Heaven? What about the ascension is so glorious?
First, Christ’s ascension confirmed Jesus’s work on Earth is done. Salvation is certain for the believer. We are not looking for Christ to keep purging sin, die again, or offer another sacrifice. We have a mediator interceding for us at the right hand of the Majesty on high who finished the work that He came to do. He sits at the right hand of the Majesty for He has conquered sin and death. Therefore, we must go to Him for help.
Second, Christ’s ascension teaches that the King is seated on the highest of the highest thrones. He is at the right hand of the majesty on high. The church will be kept secure and grow because the Sovereign King is ruling over it. The Kingdom of Satan will shrink because the King is putting His enemies under His footstool. Therefore, do not shrink back from the arrows that strike but rally to the banner of the King.
Third, Christ’s ascension comforts the Christian. As you lay down and go to sleep tonight, what greater comfort is there than this? Your God never sleeps or slumbers, He never grows weary nor is subject to change. He is reigning on His thrown above. Whether we live through the night or die, we are the Lord’s. He is on His throne, I am secure. Therefore, fear not what men can do unto you, follow Christ.
Fourth, the ascension confirms the purging of sin is complete. Much was said on this last time and a few points are worth repeating. The greatest confirmation of the completed work of salvation is the Savior’s position. The conqueror does not sit until he has completed his conquering. Christ the conqueror of sin and death, the destroyer of Satan, sat down after He had by Himself purged our sins. He has purged sin. He finished His work. Having finished the work He came to do, He sat down at the majesty on high. Therefore, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved!
Fifth, the ascension emphasizes the resurrection and exaltation of Christ. Christ rose from the dead bodily. He was not in the tomb when Peter and John arrived because He had risen just as He said. His exaltation began at the resurrection. It continued to the ascension. Chris is exalted right now as He sits in the flesh in Heaven. Therefore, go to the living Savior for help!
Sixth, the ascension demonstrates the authority of Christ and His office as King. He sat down! He sat down in the heights. No position is higher than His. Christ’s battle is over. Satan is defeated. Jesus did all He came to do. He sat down. The Old Testament priests never sat down in the house of the Lord. They stood offering sacrifices continually. Their work was never done. Christ’s work was done. He sat down. Therefore, go to Him, He is your able to save to the uttermost and has all power to do so.
Seventh, Christ sat down at the Majesty on high for the benefit of His people. Christ’s Kingship is certainly in view as He ascended to the throne. But so is His priesthood. He sat down as priest. We have such a high priest who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens…4 Therefore, go boldly to Him in prayer. He is a merciful high priest.
PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS OF THE ASCENSION
The ascension and the Lord’s Day. Where did Jesus go when He ascended? He went to the heights of heaven. When God called the people to keep the Lord’s Day holy He gave them a positive reason why they must do so… “then you shall delight yourself in the LORD; and I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth” (Isaiah 58:13-14).
As Jesus is high and lifted up, He lifts His people high up one day a week to look down at it all from something closer to His perspective. The world’s trials, pains, and sorrows, are nothing to be compared to the glory that shall be revealed. Let us delight in the Lord on the Lord’s Day!
The ascension and the proximity of the Lord. Jesus ascended in order to call and ultimately bring us to His throne. Here is a thing altogether glorious concerning the love of God for His people. He did not ascend to glory to be far from us but rather to prepare mansions and to bring us to Himself. What was the joy Jesus had in enduring the cross, despising the shame, and sitting at the right hand of the throne of God? From that throne He would call us to sit with Him. He is near, call upon the Lord while He may be found.
The ascension and fables. As Peter neared His death, He was concerned for the future of the church and gave final exhortations from the Lord. Peter did not teach on follow cunningly devised fables or raise questions on genealogies, but He preached on the basis of an “eyewitness of His majesty.”5 Peter saw Christ die, rise from the dead, and ascend into glory. For that reason, Peter endured all suffering and counted those sufferings all joy. Peter had a glorious king in Heaven who conquers and will conquer. Christians have the same. Worship Christ!
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Copyright © 2025 by Ben Stahl
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