Ephesians 4.1-10 (5)
Pray Psalm 110.1, 2.
The LORD said to my Lord,
“Sit at My right hand,
Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.”
The LORD shall send the rod of Your strength out of Zion.
Rule in the midst of Your enemies!
Sing Psalm 110.1, 2.
(Aurelia: The Church’s One Foundation)
“Sit by Me at My right hand,” the LORD says to my Lord,
“until I make Your foot stand on all who hate Your Word.”
The LORD sends strength from Zion: “Rule all Your enemies.”
While those who Him rely on go forth their LORD to please.
Read Ephesians 4.1-10; meditate on verses 9, 10.
What is the ascension of our Lord? Why does it matter?
Preparation
1. What does Paul mean by “descended”? Who “descended”?
2. What did He do then?
Meditation
We hear very little about the ascension of our Lord in the New Testament. A snippet in Acts 1.9, a few mentions en passant in the book of Hebrews (cf. 4.14, 8.1, 9.24), and one more in 1 Peter 3.22. We can also see the ascension referred to in Revelation 12.5. Paul clearly has the ascension in view in our text for today, but he doesn’t elaborate on it.
Why is the ascension given so little discussion in the New Testament? Because the New Testament presupposes the Old Testament, and the Old Testament has told us everything we need to know.
Jesus ascended to heaven in a cloud. When He passed through all the heavenly places into the very Presence of God, He was greeted with a trumpet and shouting, a glorious and victorious soon-to-be-King (Ps. 47). The Father welcomed Him and invited Him to take the throne at His right hand, the seat of all authority in heaven and on earth (Ps. 110; Matt. 28.18). Once seated, the Father bestowed on Him “dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away, and His kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed” (Dan. 7.13, 14).
Then, together with the Father, Jesus bestows His Kingdom upon “the saints of the Most High” in the Person of the Holy Spirit (Dan. 7.18; Acts 2), at which a struggle for supremacy begins on earth between the saints of God and powers of men (Dan. 7.19-25). The saints, as we have seen in Ephesians 1-3, are being built into a glorious temple by our Lord Jesus, Who is busily at work upholding the cosmos (Heb. 1.3) and bringing His Kingdom work to completion (Ps. 110; Rev. 19).So when Jesus gives you the Gift of the Spirit, He gives you Himself and all the power we need to continue His ongoing work.
Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
“Who has ascended into heaven, or descended?
Who has gathered the wind in His fists?
Who has bound the waters in a garment?
Who has established all the ends of the earth?
What is His Name, and what is His Son’s Name,
if you know?” (Prov. 30.4)
We do know Who, The Triune God.
Who descended for our redemption and salvation, and
Who ascended “far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things”
and rule over His Kingdom eternally (Eph. 4.10).
Nicodemus, who came to have a clandestine chat with Jesus about Kingdom matters, got schooled a bit on the ascension. Jesus was teaching him about being born again, that “unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God”, and added in this bit of information for good measure:
“If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?” Get ready Nicodemus, because here it comes!
“No one has ascended to heaven but He Who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man Who is in heaven” (Jn. 3.1-13).
Jesus’ kindness and careful teaching about salvation and eternity lodged deeply in Nicodemus’ heart, as later he defended Jesus with the Pharisees (Jn. 7.50-52); and then, along with Joseph of Arimathea, courageously came to claim the body of Jesus for His burial (Jn. 19.38-42).
Jesus spoke of His life, death, resurrection, and ascension with Mary Magdalene in the garden. First, He sweetly called her name, to calm her and assure her that He was indeed the risen Jesus, then He said to her: “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I AM ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God’” (Jn. 20.15-17).
Jesus, The God/Man, descended from heaven to earth, descended further to hell, ascended back to earth, and finally ascended back to heaven. All this to please the Father; all this to save humanity from our ultimate descent into hell permanently.
“The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand.
He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and
he who does not believe the Son shall not see life,
but the wrath of God abides on him” (Jn. 3.35, 36).
Jesus descended to live, die, and descend to hell.
Jesus rose victorious over sin and death.
Jesus promised the Gift of the Holy Spirit.
Then He joyously ascended to heaven to take His rightful place.
He left earth with words about the Holy Spirit’s arrival; and then “while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, Who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven’” (Acts 1.9-11).
“Therefore,” encourage and “comfort one another with these words” (1 Thess. 4.18).
Reflection
1. Why should the ascension of Jesus matter to you?
2. Is the ascension of Jesus part of the Gospel? Explain.
3. Whom will you encourage today by reminding them that Jesus has ascended to the Father’s right hand?
If ever there was a time when, after appearing to lay aside the brightness of his power, God ascended gloriously, it was when Christ was raised from our lowest condition on earth, and received into heavenly glory. John Calvin (1509-1564), Commentary on Ephesians 4.9
Pray Psalm 110.3-7.
Jesus, ascended in glory, rules all things at God’s right hand. Spread your day before Him and ask Him for grace, strength, and wisdom to serve the purposes of His Kingdom.
Sing Psalm 110.3-7.
(Aurelia: The Church’s One Foundation)
Your people in Your power, arrayed in holiness,
like dew of morning’s hour shall serve like youth refreshed.
The LORD has sworn and never will He His promise check:
“You are a priest forever after Melchizedek.”
The Lord is at Your right hand to execute His wrath,
and judge all kings and all lands—doomed sinners in His path.
Then, all His foes defeated, He takes His hard-won rest,
in glorious triumph seated with us, redeemed and blessed.
T. M. and Susie Moore
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment to give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
Other columns of interest this week: In our ReVision series on “The Kingdom Economy” we begin to look at what the Scriptures say about justice. This week in our Read Moore podcast we wrap up our readings from the book, To Know Jesus. Our Crosfigell teaching letter continues our study of the life of Brigit, a contemporary of Brendan. Click here to see all the other columns and writers available to you.
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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter.
