What is the significance, meaning, and message of Jesus's Ascension to Heaven? Other religions
have their own stories of Ascension. In Greek mythology, after killing his wife and kids in a
fit of madness, Hercules was burned alive on his funeral pyre, turned into a God, and ascended to
Heaven. These legends, myths, and stories normally refer to ascending Spirits, not to actual bodily
ascensions; they didn't envision bodily ascensions because they did not envision bodily resurrection,
but it was different with Christ, forty days after His resurrection, Jesus in a bodily form ascended
into Heaven, it signaled the end and success of his Earthly Ministry, it also marked the Return
To His glory, it symbolized the exaltation by His heavenly Father. In the Old Testament,
there's a story of a famous prophet named Elijah who ascended to Heaven. He had a servant or a
disciple who followed him named Elisha. When Elisha followed Elijah when he saw him Ascent
to Heaven, he received a double portion of his spirit, and that's kind of what happened with
Jesus's Ascension. As Jesus ascended to Heaven, He received the promise of the Holy Spirit and
poured out the Holy Spirit. The church Jesus's disciples received a portion of The Same Spirit
that raised Christ from the dead and now came to live, dwell, and Empower Believers. When it
comes to the Ascension of Jesus Christ, we must understand that the Old Testament foretold the
Ascension of the Messiah in Psalm 68, verse 18, which was later quoted in Ephesians chapter 4,
verse 8; it says, 'You have ascended on high, You have led captivity captive;
you have received gifts among men, even from the rebellious that the Lord God might dwell
there.' And the apostle Paul in Ephesians refers to Jesus ascending on high, giving gifts to the
church as well as in Psalm 110: 1, which is later gets quoted in Acts chapter 2, verses 34 to 35,
refers to Jesus ascending to Heaven, Jesus while being on this Earth spoke of Him going
to the Father or ascending to Heaven many times, in fact when He got raised from the dead, Mary was
trying to cling to Jesus, and in John chapter 20 verse 17, Jesus says to her, 'do not cling to Me,
for I have not yet ascended to My Father, but go to my brethren and say to them I am ascending to
My Father and to your Father and to my God and your God.' However, as many theologians agree
that the verb 'I will Ascend' is most likely a futuristic present referring to the coming public
Ascension that happened in the book of Acts, chapter 1, referring to it with certainty as if
the Lord was telling Mary, hey, stop clinging to me, there is no need for this, I am not yet at the
point of permanent Ascension, you will still have time and opportunity to see Me... However there
is no question but that I will certainly Ascend to My Father so Jesus spoke of His Ascension,
we see that in the Old Testament referred to His Ascension as well, now something we need to
remember about Jesus's Ascension, it was physical and it was bodily, Acts chapter 1 verse 9 says,
'Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched He was taken up and a cloud received Him
out of their sight,' Acts chapter 1, verse 10, 'And while they looked steadfastly toward Heaven
as He went up, behold two men stood by them in white apparel,' in Acts chapter 1, verse 11,
it says these men said to the disciples, 'Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into Heaven?
This same Jesus who was taken from you into Heaven will come in like manner as you saw Him
go into Heaven.' I love this, this same Jesus, drop this in the comments, this same Jesus,
meaning in a bodily form, resurrected body will come down on the Mount of Olives, the
Bible tells us his feet will land on the Mount of Olives, people will be able to see Him physically,
see Jesus' Ascension wasn't spiritual, it was physical, He went to a place not to the state
of mind, somewhere above the Earth that we call Heaven, and this Ascension is a pattern of how
He's coming back, and how we will get ascended to meet the Lord in the air. Here are eight things
that the Ascension of Jesus Christ means for us and for the Lord. First, the Ascension of Christ
marked the end of His humiliation and His entrance into the state of exaltation; Hebrews 10:12 says,
'But this man, after He had offered one sacrifice for the sins forever, sat down at the right hand
of God.' Theologians believe that there are two parts or two states of Jesus, the humiliation of
Jesus and the exaltation of Jesus, the humiliation of Jesus involves His Incarnation, Him being born,
suffering death, and burial. Exaltation of Jesus refers to His resurrection, His Ascension, Him
sitting at the right hand of God and Him returning in the glory and power so when Jesus ascended into
Heaven, it ended that humiliation and it continued the exaltation, resurrection, Ascension sitting at
the right hand of God and one day coming back with glory and power, the second thing that Ascension
of Jesus teaches us is that Jesus is now stepping into a new work in Heaven as our high priest,
Hebrews chapter 4, verse 14, it says, 'Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed
through the heavens, Jesus the son of God let us hold fast our confession, Jesus will forever be a
member of the human race, He will forever remain the Incarnate Son of God, Jesus became Humanity's
new priest, Hebrews 7:25 he says therefore He is able to save to the uttermost, those who
come to God through Him since He always lives to make intercession for them on the Earth, He died
for us but we see in Heaven He steps into His role as our prayer warrior making intercession for us,
that means that we can come to God with boldness knowing we have an advocate with the Father, who's
sitting at the right hand of God, Jesus Christ, Our Savior. The third thing that we learn from the
Ascension of Jesus is that the Ascension of Christ brought an outpouring of the Holy Spirit; as I've
mentioned, the departure of Elijah released a double portion on his disciple Elisha; the
same thing is with Jesus's followers, disciples they received the Spirit after Jesus ascended,
in fact during the Pentecost, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, Peter rose up and told everybody
who was confused, what is happening with his disciples? were they drunk, why they're speaking
in different languages? Why is there a sound? why is there fire showing up on their heads?
and Peter said this? In Acts chapter 2 verse 33, therefore being exalted to the right hand of God
and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now
see and hear watch many one of my favorite authors mentioned this in his book because the Lord Christ
died on the cross, I have received the Forgiveness of sins because the Lord Jesus rose from the dead,
I have received new life because the Lord Jesus has been exalted to the right hand of the Father,
I have received the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Hence, Jesus is dead on the cross, I receive
forgiveness, His resurrection, I'll receive new life, and his Ascension exaltation releases brings
an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The fourth meaning of Jesus's Ascension is the Ascension of
Jesus, which means that He will come back the same way He left, as I've read earlier, Acts chapter 1,
verse 11, when these two men, Angels, told the men of Galilee. They said this same Jesus is
coming back, He left physically, He will come back in the same way He left, visibly He will come back
the same way He left from the Mount of Olives, He will come back in the same way you know when I
was in Israel, I stood on the Mount of Olives, you know not very far from Jerusalem, it's a beautiful
place. It's so so real to know that Jesus actually ascended from this physical place. It's even more
incredible to have an expectation that He is coming back to this location. His feet will land
an amount of Olives, so that's what the Ascension of Jesus means for us, it's a pattern, and it's
the way He will also come back. Now number five, the Ascension of Jesus, gives believers access to
God; Hebrews, chapter 4 verse 16, says after the fact that Jesus is our priest in Heaven, it says,
'let us, therefore, come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find Grace
to help in time of need.' Jesus's Ascension gives you boldness, gives you the courage to come to the
throne of grace, you can receive Mercy, you can find favor to receive, and help in time of need,
so having Jesus in Heaven, the Holy Spirit living inside of us, gives us an extra boost,
extra boldness to go to God in His name. Number 6, the Ascension of Christ guaranteed an enlarged
Ministry to the Believers; you're going to love this; John, Chapter 14, verse 12 says, 'Most
assuredly I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will also do and Greater Works
than these he will do, and I love this, and Jesus says, 'because I go to My Father.' In other words,
because I'm going to ascend, I'm going to to the Father, you guys, you my disciples, kind of like
we're like the Elisha, and Jesus is like our Elijah; He paved the way. He paid the price for
us, He redeemed us, but He also is giving us His Spirit, He's giving us the double portion, He's
giving us a great ministry to reclaim the Nations for Him, and Jesus says, you will do Greater Works
than the ones I did, why? because I go to the Father. Number seven, the Ascension of Christ,
foreshadows our future Ascension into Heaven. In First Thessalonians, chapter 4, verse 17, it says,
'then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the
Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord.' So that means the same way Jesus was
cut up to Heaven in the cloud, we will also be caught up together to meet the Lord in the air, in
the clouds; how incredible is that, and then we're gonna be with the Lord always. Hence, Jesus's
Ascension is hugely significant to our life and His ministry in Heaven. Still, the last thing that
I wanted to share with you, and this, I believe, is one of my favorite ones: the Ascension of Jesus
made room for me. You to be seated with Him right now; in Ephesians, chapter 2, verse 6 it says,
'And He raised us up together and made us sit together in the Heavenly places in Christ Jesus;
this is not speaking of the future, it's speaking of the past, meaning in Jesus we have been raised
from the dead, so we don't try to sit down, the Bible says that we were raised up together and
made us sit together, meaning we are already seated with Jesus, in Jesus in the Heavenly
places, see the Bible says in Romans 6:5 that we died with Him. Romans 6:3 says, 'We were buried
with Him through water baptism.' Then the Bible says in Romans 6:4 we were raised with Him because
last time I checked, when I got water Baptized, I came out of the water. I hope you did too, so not
only were we raised with Jesus, but there's one more thing we identify with Jesus. We are seated
with Jesus; we are seated in Jesus in The Heavenly places, you know what that means? That means Jesus
is your identity; Jesus is the identity of every Christian; 1 John chapter 4, verse 17, says, 'As
He was so we are in this world our identification with Jesus does not end with just the cross and
Resurrection, it continues to His exaltation.' See David, in Psalm 11, you remember that famous
verse, where it says don't sit, don't stand, and don't walk, and David tells us you don't sit over
there, don't sit with this. Still, Paul tells us in Ephesians tells us where we are already seated
in the Heavenly places, but Paul doesn't tell us where to sit. He tells us where we are seated in
Christ, Christ that means that we are already in Jesus, where we identify with His death,
we identify with His burial, we identify with His resurrection, and then we identify with His
Ascension, His exaltation, Jesus includes Us in Him even now as He sits in the Heavenly places,
you know what that means? that means you got Authority, that means not only are you equipped
to do Greater Works, but you also are above the principalities and thrones and the powers of this
world; you can withstand against the forces of darkness and stand your ground, being covered
with the armor of God, you can drive out demons, you can trample upon snakes and scorpions, you can
bring God's power and Gospel to the ends of the world, and nothing the devil can do to stop you,
no gates of hell will prevail against you, why? Because Jesus is an exalted King, because you are
in Christ and you were included in His exaltation as you were included in His humiliation as He was
dying for you, you were dying with Him, the Bible says we were buried, raised and now seated with
Jesus in the Heavenly places, I want to encourage you today as you celebrate the Ascension of Jesus
Christ, may this be a reminder daily to thank the Lord for sending His son to endure humiliation for
us, take our place on the cross but also to honor Him, worship Him for His exaltation as the King of
kings, and Lord of lords, to look with hope that he is coming back that we will Ascend to meet the
Lord in the air, if you don't know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior today is your day to come to
Jesus, right there what you are watching right now, just cry out to Him, ask Him to save you,
ask Him to forgive your sins, He loves you so much, He came on this Earth to die for you,
He's currently interceding before the Father so that you get to know the Father through the Son
Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit wants to fill you, change you and transform you, so that you will
not just live your life, waiting one day to go to Heaven, but you will live your life being
seated in the Heavenly places with Jesus, right now let me know if you need to pray that prayer
in the comments below, and we would love to pray with you, hey, thank you for watching this video,
if you found this helpful, let me know in the comments below, which part or which lesson of
the Ascension of Jesus Christ you found most interesting? or maybe perhaps you heard it
for the first time. Don't forget to hit like, subscribe, and I'll see you in the next video.