Welcome to Breakpoint, a daily look at an ever-changing culture through the lens of unchanging truth for the Colson Center. I'm John Stone Street.
Well, today's Ascension Day, the day set aside in the church calendar to remember when Christ returned to the Father's right hand in glory. 40 days after his resurrection. Ascension Day is still a public holiday in many European nations, and it marks the end of the Easter season. Of course, most American Christians, Think of Easter only as a single day, and of Ascension Day as barely a blip on the calendar.
However, in different times and places, Christians put a high priority on the Ascension. In the first few centuries of the church, for example, it was celebrated along with Pentecost as part of the Easter season. By the late 4th century, some believers observed the day on its own with celebrations that included prayer and processions as well as visual representations of the Ascension and reenactments. But even more importantly than what we can learn from church history, Ascension Day is a pivotal event in the biblical story. It was foretold throughout scripture.
At the Ascension, Christ completed his work, the work begun at the Incarnation. And the work promised long before to Adam, Abraham, David, and Isaiah, among others. The ascension wasn't merely about Jesus leaving the earth, it was the God-man taking authority and power on his eternal throne. The ascension is the coronation of Christ as King of heaven and earth. The ascension also fulfilled biblical prophecy, including Psalm 2 and Psalm 110.
where the anointed one of God, David's greatest son, puts his enemies under his feet. In the Apostle Peter's Pentecost Sermon recorded in Acts 2, the ascension is ultimate proof of Christ's superiority. In Ephesians 4, the Apostle Paul described the ascension as when Jesus equipped his people for their work. All of this makes the ascension critical to the biblical narrative of how God redeems the world that he created. The focus of Genesis 1 through 11 is the creation, fall, flood, and division of this world.
But Genesis 12 turns the attention of Scripture to one nation, but it's through that nation through whom the redemption is to come. Jesus Christ is sent to that nation, and his ministry offers glimpses of his redemption going outside of Israel, for example, to the Syrophoenician woman, the Samaritans, and the Roman centurion. Just before he ascended to heaven, Jesus then turned the attention of his apostles and the entire biblical narrative back to the whole world when he said this, quote, You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth. The book of Acts basically follows that outline. And in the very next chapter of Acts, chapter 2, in the Pentecost sermon, Peter describes the ascension as proof of Christ's reign and the source of his blessing.
Ascension Day is a wonderful time to remember these essential aspects of Christ's work, essential aspects that are far too often neglected. Yes, Jesus did come to save people from their sin, and we should never allow the reality of that to be lost in church teaching or practice. But we also need to remember that Christ's work is cosmic in scope, with public implications, implications that extend beyond just the personal and private. In other words, the Christian life is not some kind of extended waiting room for the real action of the end times. As theologian N.T.
Wright has put it, quote, the mission of the church is not about preparing for Jesus to become king. It's implementing the fact that he has become king. even if that new kingship doesn't look like the sort of thing people had been expecting. Why the disciples, faced with Jesus going away, are not sorrowful, they're joyful. Jesus is now Lord of the world, He's in charge.
That's the good news. The one whose resurrection has launched the new creation following his defeat of evil on the cross is now ruling the world. Whatever specifics the end times entail, there is an alreadyness to Jesus' rule, even as we wait for what is still yet to come. We're not waiting for his kingdom to begin. It's begun.
He is the king. His rule is in place. He's making all things new. and that's why the ascension matters. For the Colson Center, I'm John Stone Street with Breakpoint.
Today's Breakpoint was co-authored by Dr. Timothy Padgett. If you're a fan of Breakpoint, leave us a review wherever you download your podcast. And you can always find more resources as well as a printable and shareable version of this commentary at breakpoint.org. Hi, John Stone Street here from the Colson Center.
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