He Ascended

Before Paul speaks of the height to which Christ ascended, he shows us the depth to which Christ descended. His descending to hell preceded His ascending to heaven! For He, who as well as the Father has heaven for His throne and the earth for His footstool, freely left the place of His glory to sojourn on this earth. How low He stooped, for He was laid on a handful of straw in a manger. That was not the whole of it, for His entire sojourn here on earth was one long descent, sinking lower and lower. He was despised, abused, reviled, and disdained as a glutton and a winebibber! He descended even deeper, for see how He crept as a worm in the dust of Gethsemane with strong crying and tears to His Father, while the earth was soaked with blood that in the anguish of His soul was forced out of His pores.

Then He was apprehended, led before the judge, cast out of the camp, and nailed to the cursed cross. He was numbered with the transgressors, and, worse still, He descended to hell when He, cast into outer darkness, cried out, “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” He descended into hell, yes, into the lowest parts of the earth, for He was laid in the grave.

What shall we say more? Who can fathom the depth of His descent? Who can understand that He entered into the fire of God's wrath that burned against the sin of all mankind in order that a people who were guilty of death, who deserved to sink away eternally under the full wrath, might be plucked as a brand out of the fire? What a sweet gospel that becomes for people whom the Holy Spirit has taught that they are lying in the midst of death and that they can never climb up to God out of the depth of their misery!

Oh, what a sweet secret it is when it is explained in their hearts that Christ was willing to descend into the deepest depth of their misery to lift them up and to reinstate them into fellowship with God! For He who had descended into the lowest part of the death did not remain there. He has ascended far above all heavens. If He had remained in that depth, there would have been no hope of deliverance. Then we would all sink away into the eternal night of death. But He that descended is the same also that ascended.

After having finished all that was necessary to save a generation that had fallen into death, He ascended; after having quenched for His people the fire of God's wrath, He was exalted in glory. As the mighty God of Jacob, He arose out of the depth of death, rending the jaws of death apart, having destroyed him that had the power of death. When He had risen from the dead and had appeared to His own, He immediately spoke of His ascension. “I ascend unto My Father, and your Father; and to My God, and your God.” He has ascended! He who shed His blood in the court as the true High Priest, entered with His blood through the rent veil into the Holy of Holies, into the heaven of glory, to appear in the presence of God for us!

Indeed, the same that descended also ascended. No, the ascension is no cunningly devised fable. The disciples saw it with their own eyes. In spite of all the theories of unbelief that do not want to know of a physical ascension, as if that would be impossible, Scripture tells us that Christ rose higher and higher, through the heaven of clouds, through the heaven of stars, and far above the heavens to the heaven of glory, there to be seated at the right hand of the Father, to be clothed with the glory His Father had promised Him. By His ascension, He has not only brought our soul and body into heaven, but He also opened heaven, which we by our sins had closed. Out of this opened heaven, God's loving favor descends into the hearts of His children. In Him, those who are guilty of death can partake again of fellowship with God!

Oh, come then, guilty ones, you who are standing afar off while your hearts pant after God as the hart pants after the water brooks, behold this Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, but now is crowned with glory and honor. Is He not fairer than the children of men? Grace is poured into His lips. To Him is also given all power in heaven and in earth. All things are put under His feet. Indeed, Ascension Day is the coronation day of Christ. As He was anointed by His Father to be King upon God's holy hill of Zion, so now He ascended His throne.

What joy there must have been among the angels and the saints in heaven when Christ made His entrance into the courts of heaven! As the angels sang when the foundations of the earth were laid, and as they sang when Christ was born in Bethlehem's manger, so they also must have sung, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” More than otherwise, heaven must have resounded with “Alleluia.” What must it have been for the glorified saints when they saw the triumphant Immanuel enter, who before had descended for them into the lowest parts of the earth! They must have sung, “Thou, O Lamb of God, hast redeemed us to God by Thy blood, and therefore Thou art worthy to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing!”

Yes, everyone who may enter heaven and see the Lord crowned with glory shall fill heaven with the sound of rejoicing! Even on earth God's children may taste the First fruits of that eternal joy when by faith they may behold their Lord and King. Though they can see Him only from far, it causes God's people to fall at His feet to worship Him. So overpowering is that vision that there is, as it were, no spirit left in them! But how great shall their worship and joy be when they shall see Him as He is, face to face!

But for what purpose has Christ ascended? It is that He might fill all things. He has gone to fulfill His promise. Did He not say, “It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send Him unto you”? What a great value the ascension of Christ then has, for if the Holy Spirit were not there, the work of Christ would be in vain. It is the Spirit that quickens dead sinners. He stops them and drives them to their knees, so that they cry out, “God be merciful to me a sinner.” It is the Holy Spirit who opens the eyes for Him who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. He makes Him more and more precious, lovely, and necessary, so that they cry, “Hear my never-ceasing cry; give me Christ, or else I die.”

Christ may no longer be with them bodily, but with respect to His Godhead, majesty, grace, and Spirit, He is at no time absent from us.

It is the Holy Spirit who makes the totally lost sinner a partaker of Christ, so that as an enemy he is reconciled with God by the blood of the Lamb. It is also that Spirit who testifies with our spirit that we are the children of God. He causes them to stand fast in the glorious liberty of the children of God, and causes them to seek those things which are above, where Christ is. Is the ascension of Christ then not a great blessing? It certainly is! Christ may no longer be with them bodily, but with respect to His Godhead, majesty, grace, and Spirit, He is at no time absent from us.

Indeed, Christ in heaven is the fulfiller of all things, for in Him is an inexhaustible fullness, and from that fullness God's children are supplied so that they receive grace for grace! Thus He fulfills all their needs for body and soul. When they think they shall perish, He fills them with strength and might. When they are envious at the foolish, seeing the prosperity of the wicked, He leads them into the sanctuary and gives them patience to run with patience the race that is set before them.

No, the children of God cannot complain about His ministry. He remembers them for good before the throne. He exercises His threefold office for their salvation. As prophet, He shows them the path of life and gives them sweet introductions into the truth. As priest, He intercedes continually for them that their faith fail not. As king, He governs them by His Spirit and Word, protecting them from all the enemies that seek their destruction. Thus He fulfills His Word, “I will guide thee with Mine eye.”

Yes, He is with all His children unto the end of the world. Oh, what a glorious King the church has in heaven, a King who will not rest until the last of the elect has been brought in. For also this word He shall fulfill, “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.” One day the entire church of God shall be delivered from all their warfare and all their sin, and they shall be where He is.

Soon, people of God, when you have served the will of God, you shall hear, “Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” Then they shall always be with the Lord. Then He shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and He shall lead them to the living fountain of waters. Be not discouraged, distressed people; He shall fulfill all things. With Him you will never be disappointed. He shall guide you with His counsel and afterward receive you to glory. Then, yes, then He shall truly fulfill all things, for then He shall be all in all.

— Rev. J. van Haaren (1933-1983)

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