Ephesians 4:9-10 (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?… The ascension of Christ (His resurrection completed) sums up, according to Paul, the whole gospel, and stamps it with the seal of heaven. Aristotle tells us of Plato's dialogues that they were but beautiful dreams without rational foundation or conclusion, ingenious stories to embody his spiritual instincts rather than to furnish a rational ground capable of sustaining the sublime hopes they seek to embody. How different this from the gospel which furnishes us with facts that are not only capable of sustaining the hopes of the world, but of inspiring hopes which infinitely transcend the highest imaginations of man's unaided powers to conceive, and which daily in our midst prove their Divine source by quickening dead souls, cleansing polluted hearts, and breaking the chains of evil habits! I. THE ASCENSION OF CHRIST LOOKED AT IN THE LIGHT OF ITS PREVIOUS AND PREPARATORY HISTORY. That the Son of Man ascended from the deepest depth of human history and experience, from the lower parts of the earth, up above all heavens, presupposes His descent. "That He ascended, what does it imply but that He descended," and that His original home was above the heavens? He ascends to no height from which He did not descend. In short, to use his own words, that "He came out from God and came into the world" before He could again leave the world and enter upon His inheritance of the Father's glory. "He who was rich became poor, that we, through His poverty, might be rich." II. WE HAVE NOW TO LOOK AT THIS FACT OF OUR LORD'S ASCENSION IN THE LIGHT OF ITS DECLARED PURPOSE — "That He might fill all things," which will reveal its connection with the vaster and ever-enlarging history of the world subsequent to His leaving the earth and His being carried up above all heavens. Let us, however, briefly consider it, first of all with respect to the new heavens and the new earth; then with respect to our nature and history; and lastly, with respect to the providence and government of God — as parts of the great whole to be filled from the fulness of the ascended Son of Man. 1. With respect to the new heavens and the new earth, what may we not infer, from the ascension of Christ in the full integrity of His nature, as to the conversion, transformation, and ennobling of the material of our earthly sphere? The nature and history of His person clearly reveal the relations between heaven and earth, the material and the spiritual, God and man. We cannot for a moment look upon the transformation and exaltation of Christ's nature as an isolated fact, or as dissociated from "the restitution of all things." The gospel, therefore, contains a gospel for nature as well as for man, the prediction of the day when the strife of elements shall cease, when the powers of darkness shall be swallowed up of light, when the lion shall lie down with the lamb, when the tares shall no longer grow with the wheat, when creation, now so weary, shall lift up her head and rejoice in the redemption for which she groans and travails. 2. Having seen what we are taught by the ascension of Christ with respect to the new heavens and the new earth, let us now consider what we should learn from it with respect to man. For if we cannot dissociate the history of Jesus from the history of the earth, much less are we able to do so from the history of mankind. He almost always speaks of Himself as "the Son of Man." In Jesus Christ the headship of mankind is at the right hand of God with full powers of deliverance and exaltation for all men. By His ascension our nature is endowed with an exalted fulness, and clothed with a glory becoming the Son of God. In Jesus our nature is filled with all the fulness and clothed with all the glory of the Father. And, as such, He is exalted above the heavens on our behalf, as the centre of a new kingdom — a human kingdom — "the kingdom of God and of His Christ." It is reserved for human nature to constitute the home kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is to be set up in our nature, and to unite the innermost powers of humanity with the innermost powers of Deity. But this kingdom of God is also to be the temple of God, not merely a Divine dominion lying round about and without the immediate presence of the King, and only indirectly and mediately associated with Him, but the sphere of His household presence — His home — the very life of which will be the enjoyment and worship of Himself. 3. Having considered the ascension of Christ in its relation to the new heavens and the new earth, and also with respect to the nature and history of man, let us now look at it, briefly, in its relation to the government and providence of God. If nature is gathered up and crowned in man, and mankind are gathered tip and represented in the Son of Man, who is exalted to the throne of universal dominion, then it is clear that all things are governed and caused to work together in the interests of His kingdom, which centres in His body the Church, which is His Bride; that all things are bent to one purpose, the end to which the whole creation moves. The history of the world and man, of nature, providence, and grace, is thus seen to be one whole of many parts, in which there has been nothing parenthetic or episodical — nothing in vain, but which has been working together for the one foreseen and pre-determined end. Tempest and storm have combined with sunshine and zephyr; anarchy and rebellion have wrought with submission and order; war and peace, slavery and liberty, sickness and health, death and life have all been made to cooperate in bringing about the condition and prospects of the present hour which carries the necessary preparations, and is charged with the necessary powers for the grand consummation of the Divine purpose. The leaven works through all elements; the tree grows through all seasons; the kingdom advances with every age. III. In the last place, we can but very briefly glance at THE METHOD AND MEANS BY WHICH THIS PURPOSE, FOR WHICH THE SON OF MAN; IS EXALTED ABOVE ALL THE HEAVENS, IS TO BE CARRIED OUT. It is being fulfilled in many ways; all means are subordinate to this one end. That He might fill all things is the one purpose — "The one far off Divine event to which the whole creation moves." For this the heavens watch the earth labours, the elements work, and the undesigned strife of human history is carried on. Two things are ours — preaching and prayer, alike our duty and our privilege. By these the Church of 120 very soon over ran the nations, and "turned the world upside down." By these now will the triumphs of the Church be carried on to her final conquests. (W. Pulsford, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? |
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