Class Notes: 5/31/2009

Church age believers are to live in the power of TLJC who is seated at the right hand of the father


We are continuing in our study where we are discussing the relationship between the Jewish Feasts and the events of the First Advent of TLJC.

We have seen that the Jewish Feasts that relate to the events of the First Advent of TLJC are:

Passover, Unleavened Bread: First Fruits and Pentecost that occurs this year on Sunday May 31, 2009 and is the day that The Holy Spirit was sent to indwell and fill believers providing the power for unique spiritual life for believers in the church age.

We have seen that the model and precedence for this unique spiritual life was established by TLJC during his life on this earth in unglorified humanity at the beginning of the hypostatic union. Heb 10:5; Heb 12:2a;

At this point in our study we are looking at the results of the fulfillment of these days in the crucifixion, resurrection, ascension and session of TLJC that provides for a new unique relationship with God and Divine Power being provided to church age believers from his position at the right hand of the Father.

At his ascension he gave spiritual gifts for the purpose of building his church. Eph 4:7-13;

His ascension affirms His promise to prepare a home for the church as his bride. John 14:2-3;

When someone we love dies, and we know that they are a believer in TLJC, one of the great comforts is the fact that our loved one has actually gone home to be with the Lord and that we will someday be joining them. John 4:4;

His ascension provides the church with the commission to represent him on the earth. Matt 28:19f; Luke 24:44f; John 12:32; John 14:12; John 17:11-23; Mark 16:19-20;

It affirms our need to celebrate and respond to him in love and worship. 1John 4:19;

Remember, in the Church age, worship is not just something that is done in some special location at some prescribed time as it was in Old Testament times. John 4:23-24;

True worship is not something that just occurs once or twice a week or on certain holy days, it is a lifestyle that includes confessing known sins, learning God's Word, prayer, praise, and singing. Luke 24:51-53; Col 3:1; and a moment to moment faith rest life. Heb 4:9-10;

In the Church age every believer is a priest with equal privilege and opportunity to represent themselves and others before God. 1Pet 2:9-10;

True worship means we think, respond and live in the reality of the fact that our Lord has ascended and now sits at the right hand of the Father. Our capacity to do this with obedience, commitment, and availability comes from our identification with our own personal sense of destiny in his plan.

The ascension provides every reason why we should endure and be courageous in our service for the Lord knowing that our labor in the Lord is always productive. Heb 12:1,2;

The ascension and session affirm His Inauguration as King, it anticipates the establishment of His kingdom and the fact that we will have the privilege of reigning with Him in the millennium and in the eternal state of the new heaven and earth. Heb 1:13; Rev 5:10-11;

The reality of the ascension demands a response from us regarding the person and work of Christ. John 6:62;

The words "What then if you see the Son of Man ascending to where He was before?" requires us to learn about what TLJC has done for us by making the PMA of Bible Doctrine our highest priority in life.

The ascension of Jesus Christ is significant for at least four reasons:
It was the end of the "kenosis" or period of His self-limitation that was the protocol for His life on earth,
It was the occasion for his exaltation and glorification,
It was the first time that resurrected humanity entered heaven, and
It was the beginning of His present work in heaven.

The ascension was the transition from his ministry under the self imposed limitation of the kenosis that Christ endured on earth in his unglorified humanity to the unlimited glory of his resurrected humanity in heaven.

While the resurrection was probably more significant in that it was the first step in the exaltation of Christ which freed Him from humiliation, weakness, and the limitations of his unglorified humanity, in the ascension, Christ returned to His infinite glory that was veiled not only during His lifetime but to some extent during the forty days of His post resurrection ministry.

Not only did the ascension mark the end of the period of Christ's function in unglorified humanity but also was the end of the important ministries that he completed while on earth.

His sacrificial work on the cross in which He provided a propitiation for our sins was now completed John 19:30; and God was now reconciled with man. Col 1:19-22;

God's justice was satisfied and he was now free to extend infinite grace and mercy toward mankind.

His prophetic work was ended until his second advent. There is no prophecy to be fulfilled during the church age so it is a period of unlimited potential and opportunity.

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