Meditation 3*

Who Has Ascended into Heaven

Therefore, since we have a great high priest
who has ascended into heaven,
Jesus the Son of God
let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.
Hebrew 4:14

Jesus has ascended into Heaven. It was not like us children of God, who die on earth only to wake up in Heaven immediately after our death. No, He rose from death already here on earth and from here ascended on high. His Ascension was such that He left us and our world and ascended alone to enter that Heaven that is stretched out endlessly above our firmament.

To put it succinctly, the Lord, our Saviour, departed from here in order to arrive there. He not only passed through the clouds and the atmosphere, but, when He arrived in Heaven, He did not tarry in the frontal regions, but traveled on till He finally arrived in that region where the central focus of God’s full revelation is located, the very throne of God.

He did not ascend to Heaven or travel through those Heavens as a vague shadow or spirit, nor as a disembodied soul, but as a human being in His full humanity, in both soul and body. If you had been able to follow Him in your gaze as He ascended, you would also have been able to distinguish the different parts of His body and the expressions on His face. Even now, once you die and immediately enter Heaven with a glorified body, you will find there in the very centre of the highest Heaven your Jesus, your Surety, your Mediator. Oh, to be sure, you will see Him dressed in dazzling glory, but even so you will be able to distinguish His facial features like eyes and mouth.

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God did not create one world but two. That is, this world in which we live and that heavenly world where we are headed. Those two worlds are studies in contrast, with our world here below a vaguely lit cellar, and the Heavens above us a brilliantly lit “great room” where all jubilate and shout with joy.

That world above us is a real world. True, the Lord God is omnipresent, but this earth is nothing but His footstool, while the throne on which He sits, governs and glitters in His divine glory, is not here but in the highest Heaven. When we approach an earthly ruler to speak to him, we do not focus our eyes on his feet but look up to him on his throne. Similarly, God’s children do not seek their faithful and compassionate Father by focusing on His footstool, but they seek Him in Heaven, where He sits on His throne. That’s the only place where you will find Him.

It is not all that different among us. We have our ankles and our toes that give us great pain when someone kicks or steps on them. Nevertheless, when we meet we do not stare at each other’s feet, but at our faces, through which the soul expresses itself. Again, true, God is omnipresent, but our eyes seek Him only in His glorified Place, where His divine face radiates above all His elect. Our God is in the highest of Heavens.

And so our life’s issues must be tried and solved not on earth but in Heaven above. Down here, appearances can deceive, but up there in the highest Heaven we face reality as it is.

Oh, who will pass through those high Heavens before us and on our behalf in order to obtain for us pardon and our inheritance from the very throne of God? That is the question to which the Ascension of our Jesus provides the answer. He has done that. He is the one who ascended to that height. He passed through those heavens and arrived in the centre of God’s glory that Scripture refers to as “the right hand of God.” It is there in that court most holy that He advocates for us.

You cannot reach those heavens by yourselves. Your sad complaint about who will ascend to heaven for us has no purpose, for not one single person or creature on earth can do that. But Jesus could and did precisely that. He ascended on your behalf and once He arrived there, He did not relinquish the earth, thinking, “Now that I’m back in Heaven, I’ll just give up on that world that offered me nothing but a cross. From now on, I’m just going to enjoy myself in Heaven.” No, Jesus remained that tender lover of and advocate for this terribly godless world and of his forgetful and ungrateful people.

Thatis the meaning of Scripture: He entered into the highest Heavens as High Priest, not in order to forget about us, but to carry us in His heart; not in order to condemn us for our lack of love, but to pray for our salvation. Even up there in Heaven, Jesus is working on our behalf. His work as Mediator is not completed by a long shot. Yes, all necessary sacrifice has been fulfilled, but much more must still happen. He is now preparing a place for us!

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The above great reality shifts the spiritual domicile of each child of God. In some nations, all residents are registered in their local government. For example, a father with small children plans to move from Siberia to Moscow. He goes ahead and prepares a place, while his family is still in Siberia. He finds a place and then registers his family with the authorities. Thus the children are already registered citizens of Moscow, even though they are still in Siberia. By law, the father’s address is also the children’s. That is their official domicile, their real home.

So it is with God’s children. At one time, Jesus was with them on earth—their Siberia--, but then He moved His domicile to a completely other location in the universe—their Moscow. He now lives above and because He lives there, that has also become the real home of His redeemed people. They are now registered together with Him. Even though they did not accompany Him originally, and stayed on earth, their citizenship is no longer here below, but in the city that has its foundation in Heaven.

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We do not finish our journey until our death. But as children who follow their father later but are already considered “living” in the new place, so are the thoughts of the redeemed focused on that new Jerusalem that awaits them.

They question other pilgrims about it. They study the map of that country and the layout of the Holy City and all of its delights as they are revealed to them in the Scriptures. In the meantime, they value with great joy in their souls each blessing and gift that their Redeemer sends them as a foretaste and proof. And so they already now walk in the Heavens and already now enjoy the inheritance that is promised them.

But let’s be honest. That’s how it should be and so it is in our momentary ideal faith visions, but not quite during our normal daily walk on earth—and that is precisely our sin: We look up to and anticipate Heaven, but still continue to regard the world and its treasures as the real thing.

Oh, compassionate Christ, pull us up to You above through Your Ascension. Don’t forsake Your redeemed!