Why Was The Ascension Of Jesus Important?

Why is Jesus Ascension important to us? What does it mean for believers and unbelievers?

Ascension in the Old Testament

The Ascension of Christ is extremely important to Christians because it shows the divinity of Christ. The psalmist knew that only God can ascend up to heaven, “You ascended on high, leading a host of captives in your train and receiving gifts among men, even among the rebellious, that the Lord God may dwell there” (Psalm 66:18). Agar wisely asks the rhetorical question in Proverbs 30:4, “Who has ascended to heaven and come down? Who has gathered the wind in his fists? Who has wrapped up 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? Surely you know!” Obviously, only God can descend from heaven and ascend back to heaven.

Ascension in the New Testament

One of the Pharisees named Nicodemus came to meet Jesus late one night and told Him that it was obviously that He was sent from God (John 3:1-2) but Jesus told the man that he needed to be born again or he could not enter the kingdom and if fact, he couldn’t even see it (John 3:3, 7). Nicodemus was right…Jesus was from God but more than that, He was and is God, thus Jesus never corrected Nicodemus in saying that He was from God and went on to say that “No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man” (John 3:13). That’s part of the reason the ascension is so important to believers; it validates that Jesus is God and that He, being sinless, can move from heaven to earth and then back to heaven again since nothing unclean can ever enter heaven (Rev 21:27).

The Second Advent

Christians and non-Christians around the world celebrate Christmas and it’s sometimes referred to as the Advent or the first coming of Jesus Christ to earth as He was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, and made Himself the perfect once-and-for-all supreme sacrifice for all who repent and trust in Him. The First Advent revolved around Jesus becoming flesh (John 1:1, 14) and dwelling with us as Immanuel was prophesied to do (Isaiah 7:14). The angel told Joseph that Mary would be “the virgin [who] shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel (which means, God with us)” (Matt 1:23). This is the first Advent; the first coming of Christ. After Jesus went to the cross and died there for our sins, “he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them” (Luke 24:50) 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. And 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’” (Acts 1:9-11).

Setting the Captives Free

Paul wrote of Jesus as “He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things” (Eph 4:10). Paul even quotes the psalmist where he wrote “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men” (Eph 4:8) which was from Psalm 68:18 which says “You ascended on high, leading a host of captives in your train and receiving gifts among men, even among the rebellious, that the LORD God may dwell there.” How did Jesus lead a host of captives free? It was by dying that He set us free from the penalty of ours sins (Rom 6:23) since “when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness” (Rom 6:20) and “now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life” (Rom 6:22) by Jesus’ having “disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him” (Col 2:15).

The Second Coming

Jesus is coming back again but this time not as the babe in a manger or as Jesus meek and mild but as the Lion of the Tribe of Judah as the Apostle John writes “Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen” (Rev 1:7) but the sobering fact is of “that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only” (Matt 24:36). It could be years from now or it could be today! This won’t be done in secret but suddenly “will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory” (Matt 24:30). The reason they mourn when they see Jesus Christ is because they’ve suppressed the gospel and have never truly repented and trusted in Christ and the Father will only accept the perfect righteousness of Christ in a person (2nd Cor 5:21) so for all who’ve refused to humble themselves and repent and believe (Mark 1:15) because they did not “know on what day [our] Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect” (Matt 24:42b-44). Just as in “the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man” (Matt 24:37) and just like them, they “were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man” (Matt 24:39).

Conclusion

There is still time to repent today (2nd Cor 6:2) because as long as a person is drawing breath, God makes His grace available (Eph 2:8-9)a but after death there is a judgment that comes (Heb 9:27). Everyone must chose; either they will believe and have eternal life and the removal of the wrath of God (John 3:36a) or they will have the wrath of God upon them for all time (John 3:36b). What is your choice my dear reader? I pray for you who read this that it is the right one (Acts 4:12). The window of time between the Ascension and the Second Advent is a window of opportunity for many to be saved. That’s why the Ascension is so important to us today.

Article by Jack Wellman

Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren Church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book Teaching Children the Gospel available on Amazon.