“The Ascension of Christ” Mark 16:19 – Acts 1:1-11

TRANSCRIPT

Date: April 23, 2023 Author: Wayne J. Edwards

Without controversy, Christians believe Jesus lived a perfect life, died an atoning death, and rose from the grave to prove His death was sufficient to pay the wages for our sin. However, had Jesus not ascended back into the heavens, from which He had been sent by God the Father, His perfect life, His atoning death, and even His physical resurrection from the grave would not have been sufficient to obtain our eternal salvation. However, because He fulfilled His mission to redeem us from our sin, after His resurrection, as the Apostle Peter said in Acts 2:14-36, “Jesus was exalted at the right hand of God.” Having finished the work the Father had sent Him to do, the Father highly exalted Him, and now the one and only true “God-Man” reigns in heaven as Lord of all. We will explain this further in our next sermon from the gospel of Mark: “ The Ascension of Christ.”

Without controversy, Christians believe Jesus lived a perfect life, died an atoning death, and rose from the grave to prove His death was sufficient to pay the wages for our sin. However, had Jesus not ascended back into the heavens, from which He had been sent by God the Father, His perfect life, His atoning death, and even His physical resurrection from the grave would not have been sufficient to obtain our eternal salvation.

However, because He fulfilled His mission to redeem us from our sin, after His resurrection, as the Apostle Peter said in Acts 2:14-36, “Jesus was exalted at the right hand of God.” Having finished the work the Father had sent Him to do, the Father highly exalted Him, and now the one and only true “God-Man” reigns in heaven as Lord of all.

We will explain this further in our next sermon from the gospel of Mark: “ The Ascension of Christ.”

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Old Testament Reading –– Psalm 68:1-19 New Testament Reading – Ephesians 4:1-16

In John 16:28, Jesus told His disciples, “I came forth from the Father and have come into the world. Again, I leave the world and go to the Father.”

However, 30 years after Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection, the ascension of Christ became one of the central tenets of the doctrine of salvation. In 1 Timothy 3:16, the Apostle Paul wrote:

Jesus delayed His ascension for 40 days:

Two statements we must understand in order to comprehend the eternal value of His ascension:

Two men who saw the resurrected and ascended Lord:

Two angels told the disciples that Jesus would return to the earth in like manner.

The ascension of Jesus Christ was essential to the first confession of faith.

The ascension of the Lord Jesus was the conclusion of His earthly ministry. But as He ascended into the heavens, He passed the torch of evangelism to His followers.  This led to the following:

Our concept of Christ is crucial to our comprehension of our eternal salvation.

Regardless of what is happening in the world, whether Christians are being applauded or persecuted, respected or disregarded, honored or despised, loved or hated, as those who have been set free from the burden of our sins, we each have our assignments and we have His promise!

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