Christ’s Ascension – Ten
Points of Significance
Excerpt from Discovering the Biblical Jesus by Daniel
L. Akin
What can we say about the significance of our Lord’s ascension?
1. It ended the earthly ministry of Christ. It marked the
end of the period of self-limitation during the days of His
sojourn on earth.
2. It ended the period of Christ’s humiliation. His
glory was no longer veiled following the ascension (see John
17:5; Acts 9:3,5). Christ is now exalted and enthroned in
heaven (see Phil. 2:9-11).
3. It marks the first entrance of resurrected humanity into
heaven and the beginning of a new work in heaven (see Heb.
4:14-16; 6:20). A representative of the human race in a resurrected,
glorified body is the Christian’s intercessor (see 1
Tim. 2:5; Heb. 7:25).
4. It made the descent of the Holy Spirit possible (see
John 16:7). It was necessary for Christ to ascend to heaven
in order to send the Holy Spirit.
5. It is the necessary corollary of the resurrection—the
abiding proof that Jesus’ resurrection was more than
a temporary resuscitation. To accept the bodily resurrection
but deny the ascension, someone must affirm either that Christ
is still an inhabitant of earth or that He later died again.
6. It conveyed to the disciples the realization that the
appearances, which had occurred at intervals over a period
of 40 days, were at an end. Thus, it relieved their tension
and put their minds at ease, so that, with the arrival of
each new day, they did not wonder whether their Lord would
reveal Himself.
7. It suggested that Jesus was no longer to be perceived
by physical sensation but by spiritual insight.
8. It provided the occasion for the commissioning for witness
and the promise of the Spirit (see Acts 1:1-8).
9. It provided the opportunity for our Lord to give gifted
people to His church (see Eph. 4:11).
10. It provided the occasion for the promise that Jesus would
come again
(see Acts 1:9-11).1
1 The section on the ascension was gleaned from Dr. Jerry
Vines, "Our Ascended Lord," 27 January 1976; Paul
Enns, The Moody Handbook of Theology (Chicago: Moody,
1989), 235; Curtis Vaughan, Acts (Grand Rapids: Zondervan,
1974), 15-16; and personal class notes for Christian Theology. |
