Ascension Day
May 21, 2009
- Ascension Day marks the day when Jesus Christ ascended up into Heaven.
- It was 40 days after his resurrection from the dead.
- Forty days from Easter, April 12, 2009, is today, Thursday, May 21.
Ascension is the culmination of the incarnation.
From before creation, it was established that union with mankind would be accomplished in Christ. The ascension completed the work of our adoption. Because of the bodily ascension of Christ, we are now lifted into and included in the fellowship of the Father, Son, and Spirit.
“In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in Me, and I in you.” – John 14:20
This is truly beautiful!
May 21, 2009 at 10:18 am
Because of the bodily ascension of Christ, we are now lifted into and included in the fellowship of the Father, Son, and Spirit.
I love that statement! This idea continues to boggle my mind. It really makes you think about the nature of God. If we have been invited into fellowship with the Trinity, and have become “partakers of the divine nature”, it really makes you wonder just what Paul meant when He said that “he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.” I don’t think that I have even begun to plumb the depths of what that means. To be invited into the community of the Trinity and joined together with God as one…whew!
May 21, 2009 at 1:52 pm
Truly!
May 21, 2009 at 2:34 pm
Hmm… thanks for the post. I’ve been a Christ follower all my life, but have never learned about Assention Day. I guess it was not a big part of my tradition… not sure why.
So thanks for the short lesson here – great stuff!
May 21, 2009 at 3:39 pm
I was glad to see you post this today. The sad thing is, how many of our churches will be celebrating memorial day this sunday instead.
May 21, 2009 at 5:47 pm
i thought that would be Pentecost…?
May 22, 2009 at 8:15 am
james, Pentecost is the 50th day, Sunday, May 31, this year.
I never learned much about ascencion day either. It has only been recently in studying more about the gospel and atonement that I realized the importance of the ascencion in God’s plan for us.
Prior to that, it seems like the sum of what I heard about the ascension was that Jesus went to heaven to prepare a mansion for me and that He sits beside the Father and prays for me.
I feel a little cheated that I didn’t ever know about God’s plan to include us in His life and fellowship and the importance of Jesus’s incarnation and ascension in that plan. Really Ascension Day should be as big as Christmas and Easter if we understand what has occurred.
And as Raborn said, I can only begin to plumb the depths of what this fellowship and inclusion means.
May 22, 2009 at 3:09 pm
thanks Grace for the reminder of this day and what it represents.
May 25, 2009 at 4:52 am
Thanks Grace,
Oh no, I wasn’t disputing that, I think Ascension Thursday is overlooked all too often; it was more a question of the “completion” of God’s plan of union with mankind that I thought really came to a (the end marks thw beginning kind of) point in Pentecost.
I agree though, Ascension is all too often glossed over.
May 25, 2009 at 6:58 am
James,
I considered that was what you meant, but it is a harder question to answer, so I opted for the “which day” response.
By culmination of the incarnation, I meant that it is the fulfillment of adoption and inclusion into the fellowship of the Trinity, certainly not the end of our union, but as you said really only the beginning. Pentecost is a different aspect of incarnation as now the Spirit dwells within us and we incarnate the life of God on the earth.
I am pondering and curious about the 10 days between ascension and pentecost.
May 25, 2009 at 5:23 pm
days of preparation and meditation.
thanks for the response!
June 4, 2009 at 9:41 pm
[...] Jesus’ ascension “consummated the union of God and man.” Or, as Grace of Kingdom Grace puts it, “Because of the bodily ascension of Christ, we are now lifted into and included in [...]