EPHESIANS 4:7\u201313<\/b><\/p>\n
This is why it says, \u201cWhen He ascended on high, He led captives in His train and gave gifts to men\u201d.<\/i><\/p>\n
(Ephesians 4:8)<\/i><\/p>\n
We don\u2019t pay enough attention to the doctrine of the ascension of Christ. Most of us think of it only as Jesus\u2019 going up into heaven after He was finished with His work. There is a lot more to it than that.<\/p>\n
In the Old Testament, the tabernacle was routinely put on a hill, so that people went up to it. The temple was built on a mountain inside Jerusalem, and the Psalms of Ascent record the people\u2019s ascension to the temple at the festivals (Psalms 120\u2013134). This was the \u201chill of the Lord,\u201d the true \u201chigh place.\u201d Also, the sacrifice called the Whole Burnt Offering is literally in Hebrew the Ascension Offering; the animal, representing the sinner, ascended in smoke on the altar into God\u2019s presence.<\/p>\n
The ascension of the King was his enthronement as he went up into the city of David. Similarly, after any battle, the spoils were brought up to God\u2019s house, and the captives led up into Jerusalem. Thus, the idea of ascending is associated with victory and enthronement as well as with entering God\u2019s presence.<\/p>\n
Ephesians 4:8 draws from the Old Testament to say that when Jesus ascended to His throne He brought captives with Him. Those captives are the ones He has defeated, in the sense of destroying their sin and setting them free. In short, the captives He presents to the Father are His people.<\/p>\n
But Jesus\u2019 ascension was unique beyond all the preliminary ascensions of the Old Testament. This is because before He ascended to heaven, He first descended \u201cto the depths of the earth\u201d (v. 9). This does not refer to His death and burial, but to His incarnation. Remember that man is made of earth, and so taking on human flesh is a descent to the earth. Because of sin, man\u2019s earthiness is corrupt, and Jesus, while He did not have a sin nature, still took upon Himself a body liable to corruption and death. This was His descent into the depths of earthiness.<\/p>\n
Now, however, He has ascended high above all other things. God has given the universe into His charge, and His first act, at Pentecost, was to send the gift of the Spirit to create and empower the new community of the church.<\/p>\n
CORAM DEO<\/b><\/p>\n
Joshua 13\u201315<\/p>\n
As Paul discusses the unity of the church, he does not want us to lose our focus on Jesus Christ. All that we are given is due to His work, and all is a gift given by Him. As you bow before Him now, reflect upon His ascension and His gracious rule over your life and over all the universe.<\/p>\n
For further study: Ps. 68:11\u201320 \u2022 Col. 2:13\u201315 \u2022 Heb. 7:22\u201328<\/i><\/p>\n
friday<\/p>\n
march<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
EPHESIANS 4:7\u201313 This is why it says, \u201cWhen He ascended on high, He led captives in His train and gave gifts to men\u201d. (Ephesians 4:8) We don\u2019t pay enough attention to the doctrine of the ascension of Christ. Most of us think of it only as Jesus\u2019 going up into heaven after He was finished … Continue reading “THE GIVER OF GIFTS”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11930","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11930","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11930"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11930\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11930"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11930"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11930"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}