"The Lord said to Moses,
“Speak
to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you enter the land I am going
to give you and you reap its harvest, bring to the priest a sheaf of the
first grain you harvest. He is to wave the sheaf before the Lord so it will be accepted on your behalf; the priest is to wave it on the day after the Sabbath. On the day you wave the sheaf, you must sacrifice as a burnt offering to the Lord a lamb a year old without defect, together with its grain offering of two-tenths of an ephah
of the finest flour mixed with olive oil—a food offering presented to the Lord, a pleasing aroma—and its drink offering of a quarter of a hin
of wine.You
must not eat any bread, or roasted or new grain, until the very day you
bring this offering to your God. This is to be a lasting ordinance for
the generations to come, wherever you live".Leviticus:23:9-14
This offering was preformed each year at the beginning of the barley harvest , harvesters would cut and gather some barley and bring a sheaf, called the first fruits to the priest, who would then present it before the God of Israel as the First Fruits, before the general harvest began.
Ascension of Our Lord
That
is ,this Old Covenant ordinenice looked ahead to Jesus in His glorified resurrected humanity, being presented before the Throne of God after His resurrection as the First Fruits of the harvest.
"Jesus said to her, "do not touch me ; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brothers, and say to them, I ascend to my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God."John:20:17
And then after forty days of expounding the Scriptures regarding Himself and the Kingdom of God Jesus was taken up or Ascended into Heaven . His Ascension was and is a pivotal moment for all humanity.
"Jesus said to her, "do not touch me ; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brothers, and say to them, I ascend to my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God."John:20:17
And then after forty days of expounding the Scriptures regarding Himself and the Kingdom of God Jesus was taken up or Ascended into Heaven . His Ascension was and is a pivotal moment for all humanity.
"When they therefore were come together, they asked of
him, saying, Lord, will you at this time restore again the kingdom to
Israel?And he said to them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father has put in his own power.
But
you will receive power, after that the Holy Spirit is come on you: and
you will be witnesses to me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and
in Samaria, and to the uttermost part of the earth. And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; Which
also said, You men of Galilee, why stand you gazing up into heaven?
this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, will come
in like manner as you have seen him go into heaven. Jesus taken up"- .Acts:1:4-12
At The Throne of God
Jesus is Ascended and is now there at the throne of God as our Great High Priest on our behalf, but with Him, our Lord Jesus has ascended humanity within Himself; in His Glorified Resurrected state, that is , in Him we now are raised up and ascended along with Him.
"But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love with which he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, has quickened us together with Christ, (by grace you are saved;) And has raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to good works, which God has before ordained that we should walk in them." Ephesians:2:4-10
The Great God, through the glorified humanity of His Son Jesus Christ, reckons each of us to be with Him in His Jesus' glorified person. This was made possible by The eternal Son of God taking on our humanity in the Incarnation. Understand, Jesus is not the Son of God because He was sent but rather He was sent because He is the Son of God.
The Incarnation, that is Jesus' humanty , God in the flesh , makes the cross and His death and resurrection possible. By being one of us, that is being fully human, Jesus could die for all of us and being fully God His life is worth more than the sum total of all humanity , this is why His blood has a greater value than any others. The value of the blood is found in the value of the life its sustains, the blood of Jesus sustained the life of God in the flesh therefore is of infinitely greater value.
When Jesus was resurrected He did not leave His humanity in the tomb, but rather it was glorified and Jesus is, even now still both fully God and full human. Humanity and deity have been brought together in Him.
It is in Him being "one of us" He can be our perfect representative for all who will but freely receive it, so that when God looks upon us ,He sees Jesus and when He looks upon Jesus He sees us. This is partly what the ancient church called "the vicarious humanity of Jesus" That is Jesus provides us with the perfect human response to God and accomplish our salvation, we can enter this salvation by simply receiving it freely.
Just as Jesus is "God with us" through the presences of God the Holy Spirit, He is "us with God" in His glorified humanity. This is how we are even now with Him in the Heavens this is what the Apostle Paul was speaking of in Ephesians, that we share in Jesus' Son-ship even now
" Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as he has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us to the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he has made us accepted in the beloved. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; "Ephesians:1:3-7 .
When we enter eternity it only shows us what is already true for us in Jesus.
Gifts for us
When Jesus ascended He bestowed upon us "gitfs" through the Holy Spirit that we may use to live out His ministry upon the Earth, we , the Church, Christians ,do collectively what Jesus did personally .
But to every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.
Why he said, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men.
(Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)
And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till
we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son
of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness
of Christ":Ephesians:4:1-13
Preparing A Place
Our Lord is even now working with and for us as He oversees our salvation. Jesus is preparing us for eternity and eternity for us. That place is under preparation and will be fully ours when we enter Eternity, but it is our's
even now in and with Him.
Let not your heart be troubled: you believe in God, believe also in me. 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 to myself; that where I am, there you may be also"John:14:1-3
Let not your heart be troubled: you believe in God, believe also in me. 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 to myself; that where I am, there you may be also"John:14:1-3
Jesus is there as us, that is humanity through Him is with God , Jesus is there to be for
us everything we need Him to be, we shear in His ascension in His humanity's He is there for each of us if we will freely receive it.
There
Being our Priest
He has Passed
into the Heavens and is therefor us that we can approach our God in times of our need, Jesus acts on our behalf.Jesus has walked this Earth and understands our life for He has lived it, not just witnessed it from afar, Jesus knows what the human condition is our Lord has faced life's challenges He knows what we all go through from first hand experiences . Therefore we can be assured of divine assistance when we are need.
"Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need"Hebrews:4:14-16
"Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need"Hebrews:4:14-16
The
lifting up of Jesus into the Heavens is not just about His Ascension, Jesus has not left us behind to spiritually "fend for our selves", but rather in Him we have ascended with Him even now, and when we enter eternity, this only shows us what is already true in Christ.
Jesus' ascension is guarantees, that ultimately our place in eternity will be there, of which He is now in preparing for us.
We will join Him in glory ,fully experiencing the Ascension that we have in Him . The Ascension of Jesus not only grants us a future confidence but even now here in this life Knowing that Jesus is there standing for and with us and being "Us with God". ......His Ascension is Our's.......Amen.
Jesus' ascension is guarantees, that ultimately our place in eternity will be there, of which He is now in preparing for us.
We will join Him in glory ,fully experiencing the Ascension that we have in Him . The Ascension of Jesus not only grants us a future confidence but even now here in this life Knowing that Jesus is there standing for and with us and being "Us with God". ......His Ascension is Our's.......Amen.
Rev.Todd Crouch, Pastor
The Fountain of Life Church a Congregation of Grace Communion
Washington, Pennsylvania. http://www.youtube.com/user/IfItIsNotAboutJesus www.gcfountainoflife.org
The Fountain of Life Broadcast heard on the RKP
Radio Network 1710 & 1670 AM in Washington and North Franklin, Pennsylvania. and on 1710 AM in Bentleyville , Monongahela
Pennsylvania. And online around the world at www.rkpradio.com
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