He ascended into heaven.

Each Sunday we recite either the Apostles' Creed or the Nicene Creed. Both of these creeds declare that Christ "ascended into heaven." This morning is Ascension Sunday in commemoration of this event. .

What are the circumstances of the event itself? It was 40 days since the resurrection when Jesus had risen from the dead. During this forty days, Jesus continued to teach them and had promised that the Holy Spirit would be sent when He returned to the Father.

For the disciples this meant that Jesus would no longer be present with them physically. Instead, they begin to do the work of spreading the Gospel and building up the Church. They would now carry out His work, but in the power of the Holy Spirit.

If is important that they were all together in one place when Jesus was taken up before their eyes until he disappeared in the clouds. Unless we believe that heaven is "up" we must understand that this was a visual demonstration by God of the meaning of Jesus' return to God the Father. To ascend is to rise, to be lifted up. But the ascension of Christ is not simply disappearing into the sky in some kind of magic trick, but is being lifted up, raised up to the eternal presence of God. The Apostles were witnesses to this extraordinary event. What was it that they had just experienced and how would it affect them? What does it mean to us?

Let us remember that Jesus also promised in St. Matthew 28:20 that he would be with them, to the end of the age. So, if this is true, if Christ "ascended" into heaven, in what sense was He still present with them? To answer that we need to consider what the ascension means. Remember that the Second Person of the Trinity is the un-begotten Son of the Father. As such, He has always been. St. John declares that He was the very agent of creation.

So to understand the Ascension, we need to understand the Incarnation. When Christ was born into the world, He took on human flesh. "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us full of grace and truth."

In so doing, he "condescended", that is to say, lowered Himself, stooped down as it were and became one of us. He did not cease to be God, but in addition to His full divinity, He also became fully man. Jesus new hunger, sickness, sadness, as well as human joy and laughter. In becoming fully human while still being fully God, He demonstrated in the flesh, the love of God and fully identified with our humanity.

At His ascension, Jesus "ascends", that is to say, goes back to heaven. Does this now mean that Jesus shed His earthly flesh, his humanity and turned back to being God alone? No, scripture tells us, and the Creeds tell us, that Jesus took his human nature with Him into heaven. Since a human being can only physically be in one place at one time, Jesus remains with us in spirit, in His divine nature, but his physical body is with God the Father.

St. Paul refers to these implications in passage. 12. 1st (Eph 1:18-23) Paul prays that they may know the hope to which they have been called. "The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the fullness of him that fills all in all.

St. John further explains the reason this is important when he writes in John 14:2-3:

"In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also."

This is the hope that is contained in the ascension of the risen Christ. His promise is that where he has gone, we all one day go also, to dwell with He and the Father eternally.

Moreover this hope is not just something we wish for as a future event, but is an objective reality in the here and now. This hope is that we will experience — eternal life, a life that lifts us from the sin and the confines of this earth and lifts us to eternity in heaven with God. Moreover, we experience the ascension of Christ now and in a spiritual sense, we already ascend with Him.

Christ is the first man to ascend into heaven - not just talking about spirit but with a resurrected body. His body is in heaven — His flesh. We, as His body, the church — you and I will ascend when Christ returns to get us.

Scripture promises we experience the riches of the glorious inheritance in the saints. That inheritance is the kingdom of God along with all its blessings. While we begin to enjoy this inheritance as we experience God's kingdom in our lives already as we know God more, we will only fully possess this inheritance in heaven.

Why did Christ ascend to heaven? It was not simply to impress the Apostles. Christ ascended into heaven to claim the authority which was His through both His Son-ship and His completed work on earth: His victory on the Cross of Calvary over sin and death.

St. Paul writes (Eph 1:21) that the Father seated Jesus at his right hand in the heavenly realms.

To be placed at one's right hand is to be placed in a position of honor. (Mat 20:20-21). In 1Kgs 2:19 we read that Solomon's mother was seated at his right hand, beside the throne.

To sit on the right hand is to have a position of influence — close to throne, to king to give advice. (Hence the term "right hand man")

To sit on the right hand is to hold a position of action. It is the hand with which we carry out most things that we do. Christ carries out the will of His Father in the fact that He rules all creation.

To sit at the right hand is to hold the Position of power. For most, the right hand is stronger than the left. It is in the right hand that the king holds his scepter.

What does Christ's sitting on God's right hand mean for us?

In both His humanity and his divinity, He exerts influence on His father. (Rom 8:34; Heb 7:25). He always lives to intercede for them.

We are told the prayer of a righteous man avails much — Christ is the only perfectly righteous man who has ever lived, and has become our Mediator and our Advocate before the Father.

In the legal profession, one must have standing to bring a case before a court. In His humanity, Christ pleads our case and invokes His righteousness for the covering of our sins..

His position in heaven also benefits us through His rule over all things. As we have seen in Ephesians, God has placed all things, all authorities under His feet. Some people struggle with this. They look at world and figure world is under control, rule of the prince of this world — Satan. Because they see evil in the world they assume that Satan rules the world until Christ returns. In truth, Satan is in rebellion and has influence in the world because this suits God's ultimate plan, but in the end even he is subject to God.

The rule of Christ should make us look at all of life differently. When things fall apart in the world, in our own lives and families, we are never abandoned. There is always the one who died for us and the one who rules over all things, who has an eternal plan for us. I do not worship the state, the government, nor the things of the world. I worship Christ, who is already reigning, already sitting at the right hand of God.

Finally, why does Christ rule? For the church.. And so the church must live for Christ and honor Christ. Many misguided people think the church should be subject to society today, but Christians believe that society is subject to God and to his eternal standards of morality..

So as we struggle with the issues of the day, in the church and in society, we do not despair for God will take care of us in the long run.

And the end of all things is judgment. Acts tells us that Christ will return the same way he ascended, in clouds of glory to judge both "the quick and the dead". Christ will be the judge. He will judge the living and the dead. (1Pet 4:5-6)

We may not always understand God's plan as it unfolds in our lives, but on that day we will all understand His ways and both His justice and His loving mercy.

Christ has ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God, enthroned in glory, where he reigns over all of creation. May He reign in our hearts now and through all eternity.

He ascended into heaven.