Church: Reformed Baptist Church of Franconia | Text: Acts 1:1-11; Luke 24:45-53 | Date: October 3, 2021 | Speaker: Fred Zaspel

Redemption Applied: The Ascension Of Christ

We are in the series on the doctrine of salvation, a lengthy series that we’ve divided up into three major sections. If you’ll remember, first of all, redemption planned. And there we explored at some length the doctrine of the divine decree and election. And then we looked at redemption accomplished. There we focused on the saving work of Christ, primarily in his death, then in his resurrection as well. We spent a number of weeks articulating the various aspects of the significance of Christ’s death. And then the third section of the series will be Redemption Applied. So Redemption Planned, Redemption Accomplished, Redemption Applied.

Last week, the last two weeks, we dealt with the resurrection of Christ and now today and in the next two times together we’ll deal with just what is a massive, massive mountain peak in the history of redemption, and that is the ascension of Christ. We’ll deal with that today in a broad way and then we’ll explore it in some particulars the next two times together. But this will transition us then into redemption applied—how the accomplished work of Christ and his death now becomes applied to us by the exalted and ascended Christ. But that will be our focus on this morning and the next couple of times together.

Luke chapter 24, beginning with verse 45: “Then he opened their minds.” Well, you remember here the background. We’ve had the disciples on the road to Emmaus. They have heard Jesus teaching. They finally realize who he was. He’s gone. They go back to the disciples in the upper room and then Jesus appears to them, teaches them more. He says in verse 44, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures and he said to them, “It is written that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I am sending the promise of my father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” And then he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands, he blessed them. And while he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy and were continually in the temple, blessing God.

Now you’ll want to put a marker here. We will be back to it, but I want you to look at Acts chapter one. And in fact, you’ll want to keep your Bibles handy today. I want to explore this theme in a number of its expressions throughout the scriptures. For now, Luke chapter 24 and now Acts chapter one. In the first book, chapter one, verse one: “In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach until the day when he was taken up after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. To them, he presented himself alive after his suffering by many proofs appearing to them during the 40 days and speaking about the kingdom of God. And while staying with them, he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which he said, ‘you heard from me. For John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.'”

So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth.” And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up and a cloud took him out of their sight while they were gazing into heaven as he went. Behold, two men stood by them in white robes and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

Let’s bow together for prayer. Our Father, what a marvelous event, and what a marvelously significant event in the history of redemption this is. Lord, we pray that you will give us ears to hear, hearts to grasp, and hearts to adore our wonderful Lord Jesus in his accomplished saving work. Encourage us with it, we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

The Context Of The Ascension

On the background here, as you know, we have the recent events in Jerusalem. When Jesus was crucified in the upper room the night before, he instructed his disciples about his soon departure. He would be leaving. They were confused, perplexed about that, but then things got worse. He was arrested. He was brought to the various trials before the high priest, before Pilate, Herod, and back and forth, until finally he was crucified. The disciples were devastated by it. And we see that in Luke chapter 24, the whole disposition of the disciples in Luke 24 on the road to Emmaus, devastated by what had happened. They had believed that he was the Christ and now he’d been crucified and it’s obvious that he couldn’t be the Christ, they thought.

Saturday, Jesus’ body remained in the tomb and then Sunday. Sunday, the tomb is empty. Jesus is back from the dead. He appears to various people, first to the women, then to some disciples. And over the next 40 days, he appears to many others and teaches them until finally we come here to what’s recorded in Luke 24 and then Acts chapter one. In Jerusalem, he’s still teaching his disciples. He’s still answering their questions. And then in verse nine, when he had said these things, as they were looking on him, he was lifted up and a cloud took him out of their sight. What a marvelous event. Can you imagine? I suppose if you just saw him crucified and then he’s back from the dead, you’re prepared for anything. But oh, man, can you imagine this? Jesus is still teaching them, and then he’s taken up in a cloud and he’s gone. A marvelous event.

Jesus had mentioned that in his high priestly prayer the night before his crucifixion when he said to the Father, “Father, glorify me with the glory that I had with you before the world was.” And so here, the Son of God, the eternal Son of God, now incarnate, crucified, raised from the dead, and now returned to his Father with the glory he had before he was incarnate. New Testament writers, particularly the Apostle Paul, refer to this as Christ seated in the heavenlies. Keep that in mind. We’ll see more of that as we go along.

So what’s the significance of it? Obviously a stupendous event, taken up on a cloud into heaven and he’s gone. What’s the significance of it? In particular, what’s the significance of it with regard to this series with the doctrine of salvation? Well, Luke is the only New Testament writer who records the event of Christ’s ascension. He does it both at the end of his gospel, the Gospel of Luke, and then he does it again, as we’ve read, at the opening of the book of Acts. Luke-Acts is a two-volume work, as you know, by Luke. And the Ascension then serves as both sort of the hinge of the two volumes. We have it at the climax of volume one, that is Luke’s gospel. And then we have it as the opening context and the perspective of the book of Acts. The ascension of Christ, the climax of the gospel, and now the opening context providing the perspective from which we understand the book of Acts.

Now notice how Luke describes the first volume in his opening of his second volume, Acts 1 verse 1: “In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach.” What Jesus began to do and teach. The plain implication is that in this second volume, I’m going to tell you what he continues to do and to teach. And so here’s the context for understanding the book of Acts. This is first and foremost the work of the exalted, ascended Jesus Christ. So even the day of Pentecost and the prominent place that the work of the Holy Spirit has throughout the book of Acts, we are set up at the beginning to see that first of all, this is a work of the ascended Christ.

Remember John the Baptist said that “I’ve baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” Jesus tells them to wait here in Jerusalem for that event to come, and it’s described for us as a work of Christ. We’ve talked about this recently in our Wednesday night Bible studies and prayer meeting—the title of the book of Acts. It’s “Acts of the Apostles.” It’s accurate enough. Many have tried to improve on that and say it’s the “Acts of the Holy Spirit.” And that is a bit of an improvement on that because it is the Spirit of God working through the apostles that we read the advance of the gospel in the book of Acts. But I think this takes us back further to say that if we’re going to understand the book of Acts correctly, we have to see it as the acts of the exalted, ascended Lord Jesus. And in fact, Pentecost itself is the work of the Lord Jesus.

And that’s what Peter says. If you’d like to look at chapter two, verses 33 to 36 at Pentecost, Peter says, this is chapter 2 verse 33: “Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.” And here he gives Old Testament warrant for it, Psalm 110. “For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand.'” This is Psalm 110 verse 1. “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool. Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him, that is Christ, Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you have crucified.”

So Peter’s interpretation of Pentecost is that this is the evidence that God has exalted Christ to the throne and now Christ on the throne has poured out his Spirit on his people on earth. That’s the perspective. Pentecost itself is understood first and foremost only as we see it first and foremost as a work of the exalted and ascended Lord Jesus. This is not something the Holy Spirit is doing on his own. This is the work of Christ as the exalted King in heaven. And to understand Pentecost, to understand the advance of the gospel throughout the book of Acts, we have to see it first of all as the work of the ascended and exalted Lord Jesus. That’s the perspective that’s given to us.

An Achieved Lordship

And all of that then to say that the ascension of Christ is more, if we can say this, it is more than just a return to the glory he had with his Father before the world was. This is more than that. It is an exaltation to an achieved lordship that he has accomplished by his saving work. He’s been exalted and enthroned. Now, I want you to see how we find that in the New Testament writers in several different ways, that this is an exalted position of the Lord Jesus, that he has accomplished this position of lordship by his faithful and successful mediatorial work that we have been looking at in previous weeks.

So I said we’d be looking at several different passages. Look over at 1 Peter 3. 1 Peter 3, just quickly, verse 22: “Jesus Christ who has gone into the heavens and is at the right hand of God with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.” Notice that. He’s been exalted. And now that he’s exalted, angels and powers have been subjected to him. Now you might think, how can that be so? He’s the eternal Son of God. He’s the one that created it all. They’ve always been subjected to him, right? But here he’s been exalted to a position of authority, lordship, and they’ve been subjected to him as a result of his exaltation. So we have here Christ having achieved his mediatorial work. He’s successful in it all. He’s been exalted to the throne, and now everyone is subject to him. That’s what it says.

Look at another one, Ephesians chapter 1 verses 19 and following. Ephesians 1 verses 19 to 22, as he says that you may know “what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that 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 rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come. And he has put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church.” So again, we have Jesus’ ascension spoken of as his newly achieved lordship. As a result of what he has done, he’s been exalted to the throne, and now everything has been made subject to him and put under his feet.

Now both of these passages that I’ve just read, 1 Peter 3 and Ephesians chapter 1, have a couple of things in common. One, they speak of Christ’s exaltation, his achieved lordship that I’ve already mentioned. But they also have in common this language of “seated at the right hand of God,” at the right hand of God. Now where does that come from? That comes from Psalm 110 in verse one. Our time has gone quickly, so I have to let you remember that. It’s a famous psalm, you’re familiar with it. Psalm 110 in verse one: “The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.” And so the New Testament writers pick that up with reference to Jesus’ ascension, and so now he is seated at the right hand of the Father, at the throne of the universe, and all things now have been made subject to him. He’s been exalted.

That’s what Peter said. If you still have a marker back in Acts chapter 2, Peter made that explicit in the verses we read in Acts 2:33 and following: “Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God,” that’s Psalm 110, “being exalted at the right hand of God and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. For David did not ascend into heavens himself, but he himself says, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.’ Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that this God made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” And then he goes on, and if you remember in the sermon to apply that, he’s been made Lord and Christ and you, you crucified him. Now think about that. No wonder they cried out, “What must we do?”

But here we have then in Psalm 110, an enthronement psalm: “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.” He’s exalted, the enthronement of Messiah. He’s on the throne of the universe reigning over all. Peter refers to it. Paul refers to it. New Testament writers regularly refer to this. We have it in Hebrews chapter one. This “right hand seated” kind of language is picked up frequently in the New Testament to refer to the exalted ascended Christ who has taken his position on the throne as King of the universe.

At his trial before the Jewish high priest, Jesus refers to Psalm 110 himself. Why don’t we look at that one? Look at Matthew chapter 26. It takes time to turn to these passages, but I want you to see with your own eyes. Matthew 26, verse 64. Here Jesus at his trial before the high priest. And notice he tells him, Matthew 26:64, “I tell you from now on, you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of power and coming on the clouds of heaven.” Now notice the wording that he uses here. Here he links two Old Testament messianic prophecies. “Seated at the right hand of power,” that’s Psalm 110. Psalm 110 verse 1 that we’ve been talking about. But when he says it’s the Son of Man seated at the right hand of power and “coming on the clouds of heaven,” that’s Daniel 7. You remember Daniel chapter seven, you’ve got the nations raging against God and they’re in this horrible upheaval until finally God, the Judge, steps in and says, “No, that’s enough.” And then you have this Son of Man appearing on the clouds of heaven. And he appears before the throne to receive a kingdom from the Ancient of Days. That’s the ascension of Christ, taking the throne, taking the kingdom, rulership over all of the world.

All right, so this language of seated on the throne, at the right hand of God, coming on the clouds of heaven, taking the throne of the universe—all of that is going on in these passages. Now, there’s one other passage that’s very important in all of this, and I don’t think I’ll take time to turn to it. I hope you’re familiar with it, and that’s Psalm 2. It’s another very important enthronement psalm. Again, the nations are raging against God in Psalm 2. God speaks. He’s not nervous. He laughs at them. You remember that? Psalm 2. And then God speaks to the Messiah in Psalm 2 verses 7 to 9. And Messiah then relays what God said to him. “I will tell of the decree,” this is Messiah speaking, “the Lord,” that is God, “said to me,” so Messiah’s relaying what God had said to him, “I will tell of the decree, the Lord said to me, ‘You are my son, today I have begotten you.'” That’s enthronement language. “I’ve begotten you, I’ve made you king. You are my son, today I have begotten you. Ask of me and I will make the nations your heritage and the ends of the earth your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel. Today I have begotten you.” That’s enthronement language. And here then, Messiah prophetically is spoken of as taking the throne of the universe. This passage as well is picked up in the New Testament writers several times over. It’s in Acts, it’s in Hebrews, and various places. So we have the Lord saying to Messiah, “Ask of me and I’ll give you the nations as your inheritance.”

All of that to say that the ascension of Christ is his exaltation. It is his enthronement. Now Luke is the only New Testament writer that records the event of Christ’s ascension for us. But this enthronement theme is common throughout the New Testament and very important. Let me take the time to turn with you to Philippians chapter two. I want you to see how all of this pieces together. Philippians chapter two, a very well-known passage. Philippians two beginning with verse five: “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking the form of a servant. Being born in the likeness of men and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even the death on the cross. Therefore…” Now notice the “therefore,” that’s the turning point. Because he has humbled himself, because he has become incarnate, because he has gone to the cross and taken the sin of his people to himself, “therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him a name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth, under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.”

So again, we have this explanation of Christ ascending. His lordship is one that’s achieved. God has given him this authority of lordship now as a result of his successful mediatorial work. Well, there are plenty of other passages. We can’t go on, but we see in all of this that the cross, the resurrection, the ascension of Christ—the cross, resurrection, ascension of Christ—is all of a piece. We saw when we were looking at Christ on the cross, we had a couple of times we looked at the subject of Christus Victor, the New Testament presentation of Jesus in his weakest moment, in the weakness of his defeat and death, succeeding in his saving work. And so the older theologians speaking of Christ reigning from a cross, as king on the cross, and you have this exaltation theme of Christ on the cross, dying in humiliation and defeat, and yet being exalted. That continues then in the resurrection of Christ where that exaltation is made evident. And then here finally in his ascension, he takes the place of rulership. And this is what we call the session of Christ. The King in his session. He is reigning. He’s seated on his throne reigning over all of the universe.

The Significance Of The Ascension

All right now then, what is the significance of all of that? And in particular, how is it significant with regard to our doctrine of salvation? Let me point out a few more verses where this is hinted at. Look at Acts chapter 5. Acts chapter 5, verses 30 and 31: “The God of our fathers raised Jesus whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as leader and savior.” And notice the purpose clause: “To give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.” So there is some saving significance to Christ’s ascension. He was ascended in order to give repentance. How does that work? Well, the point is here, first of all, is that because he’s a successful mediator, because he has done the work of salvation, God now has exalted him to the position of universal Savior. He is the one now who has authority to save.

Now, let’s look at one more at least. Matthew chapter 28. Very familiar. The Great Commission. Notice how Jesus himself speaks of this a little bit in advance. Matthew 28 verse 18: “Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.'” He doesn’t say “I’ve always had it.” In one sense, he has always had it; he’s the eternal Son of God. But now there’s a new lordship that’s been achieved. “All authority has been given to me. Go, therefore.” That is, because now he has universal authority to save, you go now into all of the world and make disciples of all the nations and bring them into subjection to me. “I’ve been exalted as king. All authority is mine. You go out and tell everyone so and bring them into subjection to me.” That’s the great commission, Matthew 28 verses 18 and 19.

Jesus alludes to this in John chapter 17 verses one and two, where he says to the Father, “The hour has come, glorify your son, that your son may glorify you since you have given him authority over all flesh…” Now get this: “…you’ve given him authority over all flesh to give eternal life to all whom you have given him.” So here he has universal authority and the purpose of that authority, he says, is to give eternal life and to give salvation now to those whom the Father has given him.

Now, lying behind all of this, of course, is what we’ve seen before. And that is the Old Testament promise of a universal kingdom and of a universal king. It all grows out of particularly 2 Samuel 7. You remember that wonderful passage where David says, “I’m going to build a temple, a house for the Lord.” And Nathan tells him that’s a good idea. And God says, “That’s not a good idea.” And it goes back to David and says, “No, you can’t do it. Solomon will do that. But here’s what God’s going to do for you. You won’t build a house for him, but he’s going to build a house for you.” And there’s that intended pun. David wants to build a real house, a temple. God’s going to build for David a dynasty. “And your son’s going to reign on the throne forever and forever and forever.” And ultimately we find that growing through the Psalms and the prophets and then finally, the New Testament being fulfilled in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

That kingdom theme that we find in the Old Testament so often, it has two aspects to it—two aspects to the kingdom: both salvation and judgment. Various passages in the scriptures speak of one or the other or both. Habakkuk, the famous passage, “The earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.” Wonderful picture of what is to come. And then you have other passages. Like what we read in Psalm 2 verse 8 is kind of vague: “Ask of me and I will give you the nations for your inheritance.” What does that mean? Does that mean salvation or judgment? Psalm 2 verse 9: “You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” Psalm 110, verse one: “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.” In some of these, there’s a military kind of context where Christ comes as conqueror. In others, it’s Christ as the Savior—salvation and judgment.

And now these ascension passages refer, pull on all of that and say Christ has taken the throne and now he has the authority to judge and to save. And all of that then comes into a grand climax in that marvelous scene of Revelation four and five, which is the context of the rest of the book of Revelation. You remember Revelation chapter four, we have God seated on the throne in utter majesty and all of the rulers of the world bowing before him, angelic rulers bowing before him, all of creation bowing before him. And then chapter five, he’s got a scroll in his hand, seven seals, the signal that this is a last will and testament kind of imagery—God’s purposes for history and salvation and judgment. He’s got a scroll in his hand, who’s going to do it? And all of heaven is crying, “Who’s worthy to take the scroll from his hand?” Nobody can do that. And someone says, “Look, there’s a lion of the tribe of Judah.” And they look and behold, the imagery changes: a lamb as it has been slain, and he rises and takes the scroll from the sovereign’s hand. That’s Psalm 110, that’s Psalm 2, that’s Daniel chapter 7—the Son of Man ascending on the cloud to receive a kingdom from the Ancient of Days.

And then Revelation chapter 6 through the end of the book of Revelation, Jesus, the exalted Savior, the one who has been slain and therefore earned this position, this right to rule, takes the scroll and he takes open the seals. And he carries out God’s purposes of judgment and salvation until it climaxes in Revelation 19 at the return of Christ and in chapters 20 to 22, the eternal kingdom. The King enthroned, taking the reins of the world’s government to himself, and all of that with an anticipation of the grand consummation of it when it comes, when he returns, and brings it to its climax. There is both the now and the not yet. He has taken his position as King. He is exercising his rights as King. And he will bring that to full consummation when he returns. Christ’s kingly work has already begun. His work of establishing the kingdom has already begun. And then will be brought to climax at his return.

Now, how is all of that significant for us? Well, at least this. I said this is just a massive mountain peak in the history of redemption. You can see that by all of the references to it. Luke records it for us from Luke 24. It’s the perspective throughout the book of Acts. And then the New Testament writers keep referring to it and pulling from other Old Testament. Well, this is just a huge passage, huge event. What’s the significance of it?

In short, these passages direct us to see that behind all of the political and governmental maneuvering, all of the changing political alliances, behind every missionary movement, behind every local church ministry, behind every evangelistic exercise, behind every gospel work and everything that happens in the world that affects it—behind it and above it all is the enthroned Lord Jesus directing all things to the consummation of his kingdom. Behind and above it all is this exalted Christ who has finished the work of salvation. God has raised him from the dead and he has vindicated him in it. He’s ascended to the throne. And ascending to the throne, the Father gives him the kingdom. And the Son says to the Father, “You promised me the nations.” The Father gives him the kingdom. And he begins to exercise the rights of his lordship in exercising salvation and judgment throughout the earth, one by one rescuing men and women out of the kingdom of Satan and bringing them into the kingdom of God, until finally he returns and the kingdom of this world will become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ. And he will reign forever and ever.

That’s the big perspective of it all. Don’t think for a minute that things are out of hand. In all of our current cultural upheavals, in all of the political unrest, national, international unrest and conflict, above it all is King Jesus directing all things to the consummation of his kingdom. Political liberties or not, King Jesus is working out his plan for the grand goal of the consummation of his kingdom.

Now if that’s the big perspective, look again now finally at Luke chapter 24. Luke 24, verses 51 and following: “While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshipped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy and were continually in the temple blessing God.” You don’t have to read between the lines here to see the excitement. Evidently, they grasped the significance of Jesus’ ascension. Christ was enthroned. He really is the promised King. And so we come then to Acts chapter one. And the angel assures them, “This same Jesus that you’ve seen going up into heaven, you’ll see him coming back just like you saw him go.” In the meantime, he’ll give you power. And your mission is to take the message of this ascended King from Jerusalem to Judea, to Samaria, to the ends of the world. That’s the story of this age.

And so they carry out the commission. And what the apostles did not say, what they did not say in their preaching was, “Make Jesus Lord.” Too late for that. What they had to say was that Jesus is Lord. God has exalted him as King. And He has offered terms of peace even to rebel sinners. And you may come to Him and bow before Him willingly and be saved. And if you do not, and tomorrow, you will be compelled to bow before Him, and it will be too late. Jesus is King. And as King, He is working out His kingdom. Don’t think for a minute things are out of hand. Don’t think for a minute your salvation was an accident. That was King Jesus working out his kingdom. And that is the story of this age. And we will see that next time with regard to the pouring out of his spirit from the throne. Let’s bow for prayer.