40 DAYS OF ASCENSION DEVOTIONSINTRODUCTION Have you marked your calendar for Ascension Day on May 9th? How many of us have even heard of Ascension Day? Or perhaps just a sermon about Jesus' ascension into heaven? I know it is impossible to overstate the importance of Good Friday, when Jesus died for our sins, and Easter Sunday, when he was raised from the dead - but Jesus' earthly ministry did not stop there. After the resurrection, Jesus taught his disciples about God's kingdom for forty days (Acts 1:3), and then He was "taken up" to heaven (Acts 1:2,11). We all know that the cross and empty tomb are at the very heart of the gospel. However, for many Christians and churches, Jesus' ascension is simply an afterthought to Easter and Good Friday. For the next six weeks, I want us as a church family to celebrate Jesus' ascension. It will bring us closer to the walk of our ministry as a church and to your purpose to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. During these six weeks, we have the Lord's Supper each Sunday. I am also asking that you pray and perhaps even fast in any fashion you can, whether it is giving up an item or a once a week fast for our church. I believe that this will significantly bless our church. WEEK ONE - March 31st Jesus continues to work after the ascension. In Acts 1:1-2 we read, "In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when He was taken up..." The small but important word began signals that Jesus' ascension does not mark the end of His work on earth but the continuation of his work. That's what the book of Acts is all about, "Acts of the risen Lord Jesus," in which he works from heaven, through His people by the Holy Spirit for the accomplishment of God's purposes. This week, pray that God will use you to be a witness for the Lord Jesus Christ and for our church to reach the Lost. WEEK TWO - April 7th The movie The Lion King tells the story of a king's ascent. From the moment the movie begins, Simba is branded as the heir to the throne. The story describes Simba's exile and his homecoming to Pride Rock. When Simba returns to Pride Rock, he must battle for the throne, which has been seized by his uncle Scar. Simba conquers Scar and the hyenas, but even though he has been designated, appointed, and even conquered, the forces of darkness, his work remains incomplete. At the end of the movie, immediately after the battle, an important scene occurs that is sometimes overlooked. The camera suddenly shifts to Rafiki, bringing the story full circle. Rafiki takes his staff and points Simba to Pride Rock. Simba dramatically ascends the rock and roars. When he does, the other lions acknowledge his victory, dominion, and authority. Though Simba has been designated as the king from the start of the movie, though he has conquered in battle, he still is not installed as king until he ascends Pride Rock. In a better way, Jesus is designated as king and Lord from the beginning of the Gospels and from all creation really. But Jesus had to be installed as king; he had to be enthroned; he had to be recognized as king; he had to ascend to the right hand of the father, sit on the throne, and receive from God the Father all dominion and authority. The Ascension is about the triumph of Jesus Christ. In this second week of ascension, we focus on the promise of the Holy Spirit. After Jesus’ resurrection, He told his followers, “I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high” (Luke 24:49). In his Pentecost sermon Peter explains, “Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing” (Acts 2:33). God promised in Joel 2:28, “I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh,” and this promise is fulfilled by the exalted heavenly Lord Jesus. The ascended Lord sent the Spirit to be present with his people (John 14:16), to empower them for worldwide mission (Acts 1:8; 4:31), and to transform believers to live new lives reflecting their king (Romans 8:9–11; 2 Corinthians 3:18.) Focus this week on the Holy Spirit and pray for God to fill you with His Power from above. WEEK THREE - April 14th I remember when I would come home from college, which wasn’t as often as I would like, my mom would treat me like a king. And when I got ready to leave, my mother always cried. I never really understood why she cried until I got older and had kids of my own. When my children went off to college, we’d go down to see them, or they would come home. Usually when they left or we left, Beth would cry. I never really understood...could be a mother thing, until one day I realized things were changing. It was like I was losing them. But I wasn’t losing them - their location was changing. Saying goodbye can be hard. In fact, grieving loss is one of the hardest things we must do in life. Jesus’ disciples surely felt grief and sorrow as they watched him being taken up to heaven. When Jesus ascended to heaven, forty days after his resurrection, (Acts 1:1-11), The disciples thought Jesus had abandoned them. No, Jesus went to heaven for them and for us. While the Bible isn’t very clear about where heaven is or what it looks like, it plainly teaches that heaven means being in the presence of God. In God’s presence, Jesus serves as our advocate, continuously interceding with God the Father for our every need (Romans 8:34; 1 John 2:1-2). Jesus’ presence with God also assures us that one day we will be with him in God’s presence as well (John 14:1-3). And from heaven, Jesus sends his Holy Spirit as a guarantee and a reminder that he is always with us (Matthew 28:20). Knowing that Jesus is in heaven for us now gives us tremendous comfort and strength as we wait for his promised return. In the meantime, as he lives in our hearts through his Spirit, Jesus calls us to share his love with a world full of sorrow and grief. WEEK Four - April 21st After His death on the cross, Jesus arose, and the Bible says that He walked the earth for forty days before he returned to His Father. In John 16:28, Jesus says, "I came from the Father and have come into the world, and now I am leaving the world and going to the Father". Jesus said to Mary, "Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father, but go to my brothers and say to them, 'I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God' (John 20:17). There has been no greater reunion in the history of the world than Jesus' return to His Father! Perhaps the closest analogy is when a courageous, wounded soldier who has been held as a prisoner of war for many years returns to his loved ones. Jesus fully accomplished His mission and glorified the Father on earth, and at Jesus' ascension the Father glorifies the Son in heaven (John 17:4-5). Take heart that Jesus' homecoming to His Father prepares the way for our homecoming to be with Jesus forever (John 14:2-4). There is coming a day when no heartaches shall come No more clouds in the sky, No more tears to dim the eye All is peace forevermore on that happy golden shore What a day, glorious day that will be There'll be no sorrow there, No more burdens to bear No more sickness, no pain, No more parting over there And forever I will be with the One who died for me What a day, glorious day that will be What a day that will be when my Jesus I shall see And I look upon His face; the one who saved me by His grace When He takes me by the hand and leads me through the promised land What a day, glorious day that will be WEEK Five - April 28th This is the fifth week of the Ascension of Jesus Christ. We are reminded this week that Jesus Christ is our ascended mediator, making atonement for our sins. I remember earlier in the ministry serving as a mediator for a couple that was having trouble in their marriage. I found that it was a very difficult job to remain objective, guiding both parties through the resolution process and helping them to navigate the difficult emotional terrain that so frequently brings conflict in marriages. That’s when I realized how important it is to be open and honest in my marriage. Jesus Christ is our mediator who sits at the right hand of the Father in the heavenly sanctuary as High Priest and Mediator between God and man. In both aspects of His ministry, Christ is engaged in the work of reconciliation or atonement. Jonathan Edwards said this in one of his sermons titled A Closer Walk. "That the redeemed are dependent on God for all. All that we have; wisdom, the pardon of sin, deliverance, acceptance in God's favor, grace, holiness, true comfort and happiness, eternal life and glory; we have from God by a Mediator; and this Mediator is God. God not only gives us the Mediator, and accepts His mediation, and of His power and grace bestows the things purchased by the Mediator, but He is the Mediator. Our blessings are what we have by purchase; and the purchase is made of God; the blessings are purchased of Him; and not only so, but God is the purchaser. Yes, God is both the purchaser and the price; for Christ, who is God, purchased these blessings by offering Himself as the price of our salvation." WEEK Six - May 5th This Thursday, May 9th, marks the ascension of Jesus Christ into Heaven after is resurrection. The sixth Sunday of ascension gives us hope in a glorious future. The ascended Lord will return as judge and king. He will abolish injustice, end suffering, destroy death and set up his kingdom of truth, righteousness and love. Best of all, we will be with our king forever. To sum it all up, Martin Luther describes this in a sermon he preached on the ascension in 1523: What good will it do you if you merely preach that he ascended up to heaven and sits there with folded hands? … For this purpose did he ascend up thither, that he might be down here, that he might fill all things and be everywhere present; which thing he could not do had he remained on earth. The ascension, in other words, takes Jesus away from us, but only so that he can be present with us in a new way – filling all things and being everywhere present, in a way that he could not do had he remained on earth. And yes: This, too, is difficult to comprehend. But I believe it. I accept it on faith. And I rejoice that wherever I find myself, Jesus is with me; that he will never leave me. That is his promise to you and to me. |