Ascension

Ascension

May 25, 2006

Acts 1:11

Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”

INTRODUCTION: 40 days after the Resurrection and 10 days before Pentecost the church gathers to celebrate one of the earliest church holidays – the Ascension of our Lord. What does the ascension mean for us today in the 21st Century - living in the year of our Lord 2006? Let’s consider the words of the angels as they spoke to the 1st century believers.

1. Jesus Has Ascended

The Jesus whom the disciples had known now had a heavenly existence (cf. the double use of the phrase "into heaven").

2. He will return

The same Jesus they had known would return also enveloped in the cloud of the divine presence and glory (cf. Matthew 24:30; 26:64; Mark 13:26; 14:62; Luke 21:27).

CONCLUSION: Even so come Lord Jesus, come even today!