Happy Ascension Day!!
Colossians 3:1-2 -
"Since, then, you have been raised with Christ,
set your hearts on things above,
where Christ is,
seated at the right hand of God.
Set your minds on things above,
not on earthly things."
While on earth Jesus warned us that the seed of the Word would be choked out by the cares and concerns of this passing world.
What do we set our hearts and minds on?
What occupies our thoughts?
What is our focus of attention?
This day we stop and turn our attention to the great fact of the LORD Jesus Christ who, as one of us, as the true human being, ascended up to the highest place - the engine room of reality.
One of US - a human being, a citizen of planet earth, is the Divine Emperor ruling over all things.
When we call out to Him, He knows what it is like to live our human life and feel our human problems: He is moved by our troubles and will give us the help that we most need.
One of US - is seated at the right hand of the Father, granting free access to the Father by the power of the Spirit.
At any time, "Let us approach God’s throne of free, practical help with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find His practical friendship to help us in our time of need." (Hebrews 4:16)
One of US - a human who has died our God-forsaken death and risen into immortal righteous human life, represents us at the centre of reality.
We do not need to keep on living in slavery to deceitful desires and selfish sins, but as we trust Jesus, we think of ourselves as dead to that old life and ALIVE to a new kind of life that is free to do what is best, what is right.
We can shake off the old and put on the new.
One of US is SEATED in heaven - because all His work is done. He declared "it is finished" as He died and we can rest in the wonder of that. We do not need to keep on working towards salvation as if it was a work yet to be finished, but rather we can look back with Him to a full, perfect and sufficient satisfaction made for all our sins.
We don't punish ourselves or carry our own guilt & shame - we look to Jesus who has made an end of it all.
This day, of all days, let us cry freedom and set our hearts & minds on the LORD Jesus Christ who has ASCENDED to the highest heaven.
Whatever we are caught up in today, let us frequently remind ourselves where reality is, where our future lies, where our treasure is - what we truly value.
Possessions break down and get taken away.
Pleasures quickly fade.
Politics is momentary.
Even the worst torments of this passing age will be considered light and momentary when compared to the future that we have in Jesus.
We may be hungry for physical food;
We may be poverty stricken in the currencies of this present darkness;
We may be worn down by a tidal wave of things and thoughts;
We may be suffering our final illness...
SO, more than ever, we set our minds on what lasts forever,
what cannot be taken from us,
what makes us rich beyond all measure
- the LORD Jesus who has ascended to the right hand of the Father, sharing His Spirit with us.
Today, if we crave life, then let us look to our Great High Priest and know that the oil poured onto Him, pours down onto His Body.
Jesus, the King of Glory, has entered into the Most Holy Place – not in an earthly model built by human hands, but into the true cosmic temple, the throne room of the universe.
He has taken His own sacrificial blood into the centre of all reality so that everything can be united together in one harmonious, eternal whole with no death, evil, pain, selfishness or sin.
We are now waiting for the Cosmic High Priest to come back through the curtain to bring this age to an end.
We are waiting for Him to apply His great at-one-ment to the whole universe, including our own physical bodies.