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Transfiguration and Ascension

In the church calendar of many denominations the celebration of the Ascension of Christ has already been observed — forty days after Easter. It marks the time Jesus went back to heaven after He rose from the dead.

...He was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven. Acts 1:9-11

Oswald Chambers draws an interesting comparison between the Ascension and another mountaintop experience in our Lord’s ministry:

His Ascension and Our Access

We have no experiences in our lives that correspond to the events in our Lord’s life after the transfiguration. From that moment forward His life was altogether substitutionary. Up to the time of the transfiguration, He had exhibited the normal, perfect life of a man. But from the transfiguration forward — Gethsemane, the Cross, the resurrection — everything is unfamiliar to us. His Cross is the door by which every member of the human race can enter into the life of God; by His resurrection He has the right to give eternal life to anyone, and by His ascension our Lord entered heaven, keeping the door open for humanity.

The transfiguration was completed on the Mount of Ascension. If Jesus had gone to heaven directly from the Mount of Transfiguration, He would have gone alone. He would have been nothing more to us than a glorious Figure. But He turned His back on the glory and came down from the mountain to identify Himself with fallen humanity.

The ascension is the complete fulfillment of the transfiguration. Our Lord returned to His original glory, but not simply as the Son of God— He returned to His father as the Son of Man as well. There is now freedom of access for anyone straight to the very throne of God because of the ascension of the Son of Man. As the Son of Man, Jesus Christ deliberately limited His omnipotence, omnipresence, and omniscience. But now they are His in absolute, full power. As the Son of Man, Jesus Christ now has all the power at the throne of God. From His ascension forward He is the King of kings and Lord of lords.

Aren’t we glad Jesus finished the work for which He was sent? Aren’t we glad because of His atoning death, the early gates of Heaven are opened wide? Aren’t we glad that because of what He did on the cross, we too will be able to walk through those gates.

The ascension is a precursor to what we as believers in Christ will experience when He comes back.

For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. I Thessalonians 4:16, 17

And, as Paul went on to say to the church at Thessalonica and which applies to us as well, “comfort one another with these words.”

See you Sunday.

Jim West, Teaching Pastor

 

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First Baptist Church is an exciting, Bible-believing, Bible-teaching church committed to reaching people for Jesus Christ, ministering to the whole family, and teaching the Word of God through innovative means.

Organized in 1876, First Baptist has been a beacon in our community through the years, meeting the needs of all people. You will find our worship services to be warm, genuine, and exciting. From the music to the preaching, we desire to give God our best.

There is truly a place for anyone and everyone in our church. We hope that if you are looking for a church home, you will prayerfully consider First Baptist Church. Please feel free to contact our church staff for any reason.

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First Baptist Church of Elfers
4050 Redleaf Dr.
New Port Richey, FL 34652