ascension day

wow
Ascension Day
40 days after the resurrection. (Acts 1:3)
It's this Thursday!
anyone have good celebration ideas? :)

has anyone else thought of this before? Ascension Day?
i sure haven't

but why not?!
in fact, if i only got to choose one "holy-day"
i'd take this.
forget Christmas and Easter.

that God would become a man
is an astonishing miracle.

that God would die to give me (us) life,
that God would, on top of that, defeat death,
is twice as absurd. and twice the miracle.

that God would ascend to heaven after these things,
that is, God would sit down on his rightful throne
as King
is...

logical?
not so unexpected perhaps?
it really isn't a miracle.
He's freaking God!
of course he would do that.

well,
i suppose it's this... expectation of ours
which causes us to downplay things.

because while it may not be so absurd,
i think it's safe to say that this is the
BIGGEST
thing he could ever do.

it's the most important.
it's the whole point, you know?



okay, this may sound a little funny,
but sometimes i start thinking...
even if God never came to earth,
even if he never died for us,
even if he never rose from the dead,
he still deserves our praise
our worship
our lives.

why?

for one,
he made us.

on top of that,
he is just plain worthy of it
-for who he IS
and for the things he has DONE.

methinks there's a lot of complicated theology in all this,
but don't worry about it.
the point of what i'm saying
is that
God is GOD.

as one of his disciples,
i don't love and serve and follow him
just because
he loved me first.
i do those things because he is God.
this is why you serve a King.

if he is a King as loving as God, then that's incredible!
if he rules such a wonderful Kingdom, that's great!

now, if the Rightful King
is a bad king,
perhaps you would choose to rebel.

BUT
it does not change the fact that
he
IS the Rightful King.
And as such, he is the rightful recipient
of your service, your loyalty, your life.

dear reader, this is how a monarchy works.
do you understand?
because this is how things are.
to quote the great theologian, Bob Dylan: you gotta serve somebody.

you are part of some kingdom. and kingdoms have kings.
and YOU are subject to one.

in this world, you can practically break everything down into just two kingdoms.
YOU get to decide (for now) which one you will subject yourself to.

first is what we'll call "the kingdom of darkness"
and generally we name Satan as the king of this.
second is "the kingdom of heaven"
it is the kingdom of God.
(Colossians 1:13 is a quick picture of this)

God created the world. it is his kingdom.
but we committed treason in subjecting ourselves to the kingdom of darkness and its ruler.

nevertheless,
God is the original, true, Rightful King.
(the ENTIRE reason that Jesus came was to usher [back] in his kingdom, and to let as many people know about it as possible so that they could join him. Matthew 4:17)

it's pivotal that you understand this before we move on...



so
why Ascension Day?

read Luke 24:50-52 real quick...
"When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy."
(there, now you have no excuse not to)

why are they happy?
when Jesus was around they were pretty content.
then he died. and things got pretty depressing.
then he's back alive! with them again!
and now...
he's leaving?
after just 40 days
but there's not a single tear shed
in fact, it seems like they're happier than ever.
why?

now look at Daniel 7:9-14
(i'll summarize the first bit)
first we get a picture of God's throne. (it's pretty cool :))
next we see a beast, Satan, slain and destroyed.
then in verses 13 and 14...

"In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed."

so there's this "son of man."
a man.
he approaches God. comes into God's presence.

do you see what he is given? (sound anything like Matthew 28:18?)
Authority
Glory
Sovereign Power
Everlasting Dominion
a Kingdom
people worship him

it's Jesus!

at first glance, it sounds like something from end times.
but this is where Jesus is brought TO God.
this is a picture of what is happening AFTER that bit from Luke 24.

THIS
is what happens when Jesus ascends to heaven.

now whether or not it has "already" happened i don't quite understand.
it's not important.
God exists outside of time, so it probably doesn't work that way anyways. :)
so yes, it's already happened. it's happening right now too. and it's going to happen tomorrow.


THE POINT
is that Jesus
is now the King.
Jesus is Lord.

this is HUGE
this is EVERYTHING

Can you think of the last time God ruled as king of the earth?
Eden.
Is there anything to make us think his kingdom will be any different now?

he descended to earth
-giving us a picture of the King and his kingdom!
"Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father." (John 14:9)

he died for us and defeated death
-giving us access to the King and his kingdom!
"For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves." Colossians 1:13

and now...
Jesus has ascended to heaven.
the Rightful King has returned to power.

Happy Ascension Day