JESUS WENT: To Heaven

Hi, this is Bernie Dake. Welcome to the Salvation Army's Words of Life. Welcome to Words of Life, and happy Resurrection Day.

I'm Cheryl Gillum, and I'm with my cohost for the series, Tim Gillum. Welcome. It's great to be here on Resurrection Sunday. Yeah, very exciting day in the life of a Christian.

I would say it's the most important day in our history, and personally, it's the most important day in each one of our lives. This is our final episode with Major Melendez, and we just want to thank him again for sharing his heart with us and with each one of you. Yes, what a blessing it's been. Now, next week, we're launching a new 11-week series called Skeptics Welcome. In this series, we're going to discuss questions a lot of unbelievers and believers have about God, creation, the Bible, you name it. I'm looking forward to checking this series out because I think we grow when we ask honest questions, and I think sometimes we become a little too sanitized, a little too reserved, and I think that no subject should be off the table when we talk about a relationship with our Heavenly Father. So I look forward to this series.

That's an excellent point, excellent point. So we hope you join us for that series, and we hope you enjoy listening to our last episode with Major Luis. To learn more about this upcoming series, please visit Salvation Army Soundcast.org.

To learn more about this upcoming series, please visit Salvation Army Soundcast.org. Our Savior, Redeemer, King to take away our sin Oh Jesus, Son of God With dinner I am only Our Savior, Redeemer, King to take away our sin Son of God, Son of Man And Jesus The Gospel of John 13.1 reads, Before the feast of Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to pass from this world to the Father. Having loved his own in the world, he loved them to the end. The best known and most memorized part of any holy text in the Bible that has also been called a gospel in a nutshell because it is considered a summary of the central theme of traditional Christianity is John 3.16 For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish but have everlasting life. The foundational doctrines upon which our eternal salvation rests can be explained in one verse as well.

1 Timothy 3.16 Beyond all question, the mystery of godliness is great. He appeared in the flesh, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, and was believed throughout the world, and was taken up in glory. It is in the gospels that we have the recollection of the last days of Jesus here on earth. He died on a cross for our sins, but he didn't stay dead.

He rose from the grave three days later. Hallelujah! Glory to God! Jesus our Lord is alive!

Happy Easter everyone! The book of Acts states he appeared to his disciples and later to over 500 people and then 40 days and Jesus rose up and ascended to heaven right before his disciples eyes. Mark's gospel tells us so then the Lord Jesus after he spoke to them was taken up into heaven and took his seat at the right hand of God. John 16.28 Jesus said, I came from the Father and entered the world.

Now I am having to leave the world and go back to the Father. Why would Jesus go to heaven to the Father but first to fulfill the Old Testament prophecies of his lordship as King Messiah over Israel and to the whole wide world? Ephesians 1 20 21 speaks of the power of God exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms far above all rule and authority power and dominion and every name that is invoked not only in the present age but also in the one to come.

Second, to give us direct access to the throne of God. The writer of Hebrew tells us after he had provided purification for sins he sat down at the right hand of the majesty in 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. We have a perfect sacrifice and priest in Jesus, the source of our eternal salvation.

Praise be to God for our Lord Jesus Christ. Third, Jesus went to heaven to prepare a place for us in heaven while giving us the Holy Spirit here on earth to help us make it to heaven. In John 14, Jesus says, In my Father's house there are many dwelling places. If this were not so, I would have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself so that where I am, you also may be. In that same chapter 14, it says, The night before he was crucified, Jesus promised his disciples that he would ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever, the Spirit of truth.

Later, he returns to the same theme. But very truly, I tell you, it is good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the advocate will not come to you.

But if I go, I will send them to you. And the fourth reason is that one day, Jesus is going to return from heaven for everyone who believes in him. Acts chapter one records that after Jesus ascended to heaven, two angels appeared to his disciples and said, Men of Galilee, why do you stand here looking at the sky? Jesus has been taken away from you into heaven, but he will come back in the same way you saw him go. This is called the rapture. It's the time when Jesus will bring everyone who believes in him to heaven, whether dead or alive.

We don't know exactly when it will happen, but all Christians look forward to this wonderful day. Saint Thomas Aquinas once said that Jesus prepared the way for ascent into heaven. Here's another strong reason why Jesus went to heaven, because the incarnation was so that God could come to earth and so that man might go to heaven.

Jesus didn't come to earth on a sightseeing trip to review his creation. He came on a rescue mission to save the world from sin. He did this by becoming flesh, living among us, dying on the cross. He raised from the dead on the third day, ascended to heaven and sits on the throne with the Father and the Holy Spirit as our redeeming God. Jesus said of himself, when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men to myself. This meaning his death on the cross, but also his ascending to heaven where humanity and divinity are united in Christ. Those of us who are one with Christ will share in that glory with him for all eternity. Jesus does not restore us to the paradise that Adam and Eve lost in the Garden of Eden in Genesis.

He gives mankind a place in a glorious new heaven higher than the angels. This is the glory that the resurrection and ascension of Christ offers us. We can't ascend or go to heaven on our own. The scripture says no one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. Only Christ ascends into heaven, and the only way for us to ascend with him is as members of his body, as the church. We can be confident that we will go where he, the head, has preceded us. The head leads and the body follows.

Let's recap our Easter series. Jesus went. Went is the past tense of the verb to go.

That makes it an action word, signifying travel or motion that took place. In Christianity, the Great Commission is the instruction of the resurrected Christ to his disciple to spread the gospel to all the nations of the world. Jesus gave us this commission to go, to go to all.

Want to celebrate Easter? Go where Jesus went. The promise of Jesus himself is encouraging.

And surely I am with you always to the very end of time. Jesus went to all the towns and villages. Jesus went to the homes of those in need. Jesus went to pray. Jesus went to Jerusalem and Jesus went to heaven.

I pray the Salvation Army can keep marching forward with the good news of Jesus to all parts of the world, entering the homes and hearts of many with the message of salvation and meeting people with their needs in obedience and praying for God's will to be done. Go and teach. Go and preach. Go and witness. Go and make disciples. Go and heal.

But go to all. Go where Jesus went. May we show the way to the lost so many can experience salvation in heaven. I'm reminded of this chorus of when we all get to heaven, what a day of rejoicing that will be. When we all see Jesus, we'll sing and shout the victory.

He's alive. Go where Jesus went and share the gospel. God bless you. The Salvation Army's mission, Doing the Most Good, means helping people with material and spiritual needs. You become a part of this mission every time you give to the Salvation Army. Visit salvationarmyusa.org to offer your support, and we'd love to hear from you. Email us at radioatuss.salvationarmy.org. Call 1-800-229-9965 or write us at P.O.

Box 29972, Atlanta, Georgia, 30359. Tell us how we can help. Share prayer requests or share your testimony. We would love to use your story on the air. You can also subscribe to our show on iTunes or your favorite podcast store and be sure to give us a rating. Just search for the Salvation Army's Words of Life. Follow us on social media for the latest episodes, extended interviews and more. And if you don't have a church home, we invite you to visit your local Salvation Army worship center. They'll be glad to see you. This is Bernie Dake inviting you to join us next time for the Salvation Army's Words of Life. you