Ascension of Christ

Forty days after Jesus rose from the dead, he physically ascended to heaven. The Ascension is so important that all the major creeds of the Christian community affirm it. Christ's bodily ascension points to our own entry into heaven with glorified bodies: 'Beloved, we are children of God already; but it has not yet been revealed what we shall be. We know that when it is revealed we shall be like it; for we shall see him as he is» (1. John 3,2).

Jesus not only redeemed us from sin, but also made us righteous in his own righteousness. Not only did he forgive us our sins, but he set us with himself at the right hand of the Father. The apostle Paul wrote in the letter to the Colossians: “If you have been raised with Christ, seek things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Seek what is above, not what is on earth. For you are dead, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. But when Christ, who is your life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory" (Colossians 3,1-4).v
We do not yet see and experience the full glory of our resurrection and ascension with Christ, but Paul tells us it is no less real. The day is coming, he says, the day when Christ will appear so that we may experience him in all his fullness. What will our new body look like? Paul gives us an idea in the letter to the Corinthians: «So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown perishable and is raised imperishable. It is sown in lowliness and is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness and is raised in power. A natural body is sown and a spiritual body is raised. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. And as we have borne the image of the earthly, so shall we also bear the image of the heavenly. But when this perishable puts on the incorruptible, and this mortal puts on immortality, then the word that is written will be fulfilled: Death is swallowed up in victory" (1. Corinthians 15,42-44, 49, 54).

Paul emphasizes the overwhelming mercy and love of God as shown in his willingness to raise those who have been spiritually dead in their sins back to life: "But God, being rich in mercies, in his great love, with which he loved us, even us who were dead in sins, made alive with Christ - by grace you are saved -; and he raised us up with him, and instituted us with him in heaven in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2,4-6).
This is the foundation of our faith and our hope. This spiritual rebirth occurs through Jesus Christ and is the basis of salvation. It is by the grace of God, not by human merit, that this salvation is possible. Furthermore, according to Paul, God not only brought believers back to life, but also established them in a spiritual position with Christ in the heavenly realms.

God has made us one with Christ so that in him we may partake of the love relationship he has with the Father and the Spirit. In Christ you are the beloved child of the Father, in you he is well pleased!

by Joseph Tkach

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