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“There is none holy like the Lord; there is none besides you; there is no rock like our God (1 Samuel 2:2) Rock of Ages by Augustus M. Toplady
Even when we may feel like we are all alone, remember that God is always by our side and will never abandon us. He is truly our light in the dark and our rock that we can stand upon always. What an amazing feeling to be loved by such a kind Father and to give praise to His name with the beautiful hymn ‘Rock Of Ages.’
Rock of Ages, cleft for me, Let me hide myself in Thee; Let the water and the blood, From Thy wounded side which flowed, Be of sin the double cure, Save from wrath and make me pure.
Not the labor of my hands Can fulfill Thy law’s demands; Could my zeal no respite know, Could my tears forever flow, All for sin could not atone; Thou must save, and Thou alone.
Nothing in my hand I bring, Simply to Thy cross I cling; Naked, come to Thee for dress; Helpless, look to Thee for grace; Foul, I to the fountain fly; Wash me, Savior, or I die.
While I draw this fleeting breath, When my eyes shall close in death, When I rise to worlds unknown, And behold Thee on Thy throne, Rock of Ages, cleft for me, Let me hide myself in Thee.
This week our daily devotions are from a Truth For Life article entitled “Risen and Ascended: 5 Ways Jesus Is Still Working”.
[God] raised [Christ] from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church. (Eph. 1:20–22)
It is the Lord Jesus who is the head of the church. Pastors might be tempted to think that they have some semblance of control over congregations, but when it comes right down to it, every pastor simply serves as an undershepherd in the ministry of “the chief Shepherd,” Christ (1 Peter 5:4
Adapted from “The Ascension — Part One and Part Two” by Alistair Begg
This week our daily devotions are from a Truth For Life article entitled “Risen and Ascended: 5 Ways Jesus Is Still Working”.
Now that Jesus is back in heaven, we are led to ask a very basic question: What is He doing? Though His earthly work is finished, surely He’s still doing something.
Well, He does a tremendous amount. His job description, if you like, is vast. It’s a longer list than a simple article can contain, but here are five key aspects of Christ’s present ministry.
The Lord Jesus Christ reigns sovereignly over all things. The book of Hebrews makes this plain:
He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, andhe upholds the universeby the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. (Heb. 1:3, emphasis added)
Our Lord returned to His Father in heaven, and He is quite literally running the world. That should be enough in itself, shouldn’t it? But we can and should be more precise in what Christ’s governing all things entails.
Adapted from “The Ascension — Part One and Part Two” by Alistair Begg
This week our daily devotions sill be from a Truth For Life article entitled “Risen and Ascended: 5 Ways Jesus Is Still Working”.
The Gospel story doesn’t end with a distressed Christ. It doesn’t end with a crucified Christ. Nor does it even end with a resurrected Christ. It ends with an ascended Christ, who is Lord and King, reigning on high from heaven, awaiting the appointed time for His return.
Nevertheless, the ascension of Jesus into heaven is arguably the least-considered aspect of His work. The average person in the street will probably know something about the birth of Jesus. They will probably know something about the death of Jesus. But if you were to ask them where Jesus presently is or what He is currently doing, they would probably give you a blank stare.
Still, the ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ is of paramount importance, and the Scriptures encourage us to focus on the fact that He is, indeed, an ascended Christ.
The Gospel story doesn’t end with a distressed Christ. It doesn’t end with a crucified Christ. Nor does it even end with a resurrected Christ. It ends with an ascended Christ, who is Lord and King, reigning on high from heaven, awaiting the appointed time for His return.
Nevertheless, the ascension of Jesus into heaven is arguably the least-considered aspect of His work. The average person in the street will probably know something about the birth of Jesus. They will probably know something about the death of Jesus. But if you were to ask them where Jesus presently is or what He is currently doing, they would probably give you a blank stare.
Still, the ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ is of paramount importance, and the Scriptures encourage us to focus on the fact that He is, indeed, an ascended Christ.
What Happened at the Ascension?
In order to begin to grasp the significance of Christ’s ascension, we first must understand, even very simply, what happened at this event. The Gospel of Luke offers this account:
And he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple blessing God. (Luke 24:50–53)
In a sense, the ascension marks the end of the beginning and the beginning of the end. It is, as Luke puts it in his second volume, the end of “all that Jesus began to do and teach” (Acts 1:1, emphasis added). Christ finished His earthly ministry but was only just starting His heavenly work.
J. I. Packer illustrates the ascension by saying, “It is as if, having travelled successfully in the firm’s interest, the Son was now recalled to headquarters to become managing director.”1 The Son had traveled on the Father’s business and had completed the task He’d been given; now He was going back to heaven to be the Father’s right-hand man.
Jesus departed from His disciples with His hands raised in blessing upon them. Is that the picture you have of Christ in your life: able, ready, and willing to bless?
1 J. I. Packer, Revelations of the Cross (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1998), 56.
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