First in the Ascension Series
Hallelujah! Christ is risen!— and by that we mean, he is alive; he arose from death.
We do not mean that he ascended. The ascension is a separate event from the resurrection.
The resurrection has to do with conquering death; it assures us that life is eternal; that the extinguished and disintegrated body will be reintegrated with its soul and spirit and revitalized.
The ascension is less of a world-shaking event. Or is it?
What occurred when the Lord was taken up to heaven as we read in the first chapter of Acts and in the gospels?
He did not ‘soar to worlds unknown’* as we will but returned to his heavenly home.
Now, he would sit, and now sits, at the right hand of the Father, but where had he sat before? What is the meaning? What had changed?
A key comfort is that he will return just as the disciples saw him leave. (Acts 1:11)
Today is Ascension Day 2022. Here begins a study about this event that occurred in the spring of 33 or thereabouts, a little less than 2000 years ago.
* Rock of Ages hymn lyric: When I soar to worlds unknown, See Thee on Thy judgment throne…