Running To Win 15 Minute Version

Guest (Male): Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. We who run the race of the Christian life know that Jesus is sitting even now at God's right hand. His ascension into heaven opened its gates for us.

Why is the ascension important? Surprisingly, it was the key to founding the church, the body of Christ. Stay with us. From the Moody Church in Chicago. This is Running to Win with Dr. Erwin Lutzer, whose clear teaching helps us make it across the finish line. We're in a series on Christ Among Other Gods, showing why Christ is supreme. Today, Pastor Lutzer begins a message on Christ's extraordinary ascension into heaven.

Dr. Erwin Lutzer: During the past several weeks, I have been speaking on the topic, Christ Among Other Gods. Science, as we know, has made many strides in the last decades. We have explored outer space, we have even explored inner space. We know lots about the human body. But there is one area in which science, of course, by definition, cannot do much research, and that is on the topic of what happens after death.

Oh, I know that there is such a thing as near-death experiences, but being near Chicago might not be the same as being in Chicago. Near-death experiences are subject to different kinds of interpretation, and we should not build a theory of life after death upon those fleeting moments.

Perhaps it is because death closes us off, and we walk behind that curtain, where no one can peer or look. Perhaps it is because of that, that in all the other religions of the world, very little, if anything, is said about where the founders of those religions now are or what they are doing.

I don't think that any Muslim would necessarily claim to know what Muhammad was doing. Or what Buddha was doing if you're a Buddhist, or what Zoroaster was doing, or is doing today. And yet in the case of Christianity, it is very different because if you were here last week, you know, we spoke about the resurrection of Jesus Christ and gave strong evidence that indeed he was raised.

In previous messages, we stressed the deity of Jesus Christ, and so it should not come as a surprise that the Bible tells us where Jesus Christ went after he was raised from the dead and where he is today. And we'll see that the implications of the ascension for you and for me are absolutely awesome.

We'll take your Bibles and turn to Acts chapter 1. Acts chapter 1 where we have an account of the ascension, we have several of those in the New Testament. But we look at Acts chapter 1 where Jesus Christ led the disciples to the Mount of Olives and there he was taken up into heaven in their presence.

Chapter 1, verse 9. And after he had said these things, he was lifted up, and while they were looking on, a cloud received him out of their sight. And as they were gazing intently into the sky, while he was departing, behold two men in white clothing stood beside them, and they also said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky?" "This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will come in just the same way as you have watched him go into heaven."

And that, by the way, is going to be the topic for next week's message. The return of Jesus Christ. But I want you to notice that there are two things that happened. First of all, there was physical movement on the part of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ's body was being lifted into the sky, and the Bible says that he was received by the clouds. And he disappeared.

Scientists have sometimes objected to this account, saying that it was based on a pre-Copernican understanding of the universe. Where you have heaven above, and then you have the earth, and then you have the hell beneath. And they've pointed out that if you're in Australia, going up might mean to someone in the Middle East, going down. And that when Jesus was raised into heaven, that is an entirely different direction that heaven would be if you were on the other side of the earth. But of course, that's not really the point, is it?

Heaven is a place. It is the place where God dwells, where he is localized, even though we know that God fills the whole universe. Still there is a place where his glory resides in a particular way. But it is not only a place, it is also a state. It is a different kind of relationship, a different kind of reality. We don't know where it is.

Who knows? Maybe after Jesus Christ left the Mount of Olives, he may not have continued on on that same path, he may have gone off in a different direction. We do not know. But the bottom line is that Jesus Christ was changing the nature of reality for himself. He was moving from the visible to the invisible, from the material to the immaterial, and from the finite to the eternal.

Now I want you to know today that the ascension of Jesus Christ into heaven permanently changed the character of heaven forever. It's absolutely unbelievable. You see, Jesus Christ, so far as we know, is the first man who ever entered into heaven with a resurrected human body. The first man.

Oh, you say, well, what about the saints in the Old Testament? Well, when they died, their body was taken and put into the grave. And then their spirit went to Sheol, possibly their spirit went to heaven as well, but their bodies are still in the grave. They have not yet been resurrected. The resurrection is still future.

I know that there is the story of Enoch and also Elijah, and we don't know what happened to their body, those could be exceptions. But one thing we do know is that the arrival of Jesus Christ in heaven certainly is the first time that Jesus arrived in heaven as the God-man. That we know.

He was in heaven before as God because he was indeed filling the universe with his glory. But this is the first time that the angels observed directly in heaven deity and humanity joined together in one person forever. They must have been absolutely astounded when they saw Christ arrive.

And to think that he is going to be a man forever, having assumed a human nature in Bethlehem, which continues throughout all the generations, surely must have evoked their wonder and their worship.

Well, what I'd like to do today is to give you three different rights that the ascension of Jesus Christ proved for the Lord. What are those? First of all, the ascension proved his right of ownership. His right of ownership. Actually, I need to tell you, he owns heaven.

When Christ ascended into heaven, there was no mediator there to open the door for him. When Christ ascended into heaven, it was not because he was granted special mercy that he might be able to enter. When Jesus ascended into heaven, he was coming home because he had come from heaven, and he said, "O Father, glorify thou me with the glory which I had with thee before the world was." This was the entrance of a man who came to the heaven that he had created, of all things.

As it says in the book of Colossians 4, "For by him were all things created, both which are in heaven and which are on earth." The Creator was coming back to a place which he had created. Scientists tell us that the universe is infinite. I can't argue with them. I don't know whether it is or not, but this much I do know is that Jesus is more infinite than the universe. If you can think of it that way, because I don't believe that God would have ever created a universe that was as great as he himself is.

And here he is now localized in a body, coming back to his creation, to that special place where the glory of God shines more brightly. He was coming back as Creator, but he was also coming back now as Savior.

You see, he had finished the work which the Father had given him to do. And it says in the book of Hebrews, "Having purged our sins, he sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high." His work on earth was done. And the scripture tells us that we should look to Jesus, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is now sat down on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty on high.

He had a right to enter into heaven as Creator, as God. Now he enters into heaven also as Savior. He had a natural right because of his deity, but now he has an earned right because of his humanity and the fulfillment of the will of God for his life. No wonder, no wonder the angels must have been astounded as they saw him come in. And they must have fallen on their face and said, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, for the whole earth is filled with his glory."

He ascended into heaven because he owns heaven and owns the universe. It was a mark of ownership. Secondly, the ascension also was a mark of headship, a mark of headship. You see, when Jesus ascended into heaven, he became the head of his church. Turn to the book of Ephesians chapter 1, where we can see this most clearly.

Ephesians chapter 1, where Paul is speaking about Christ at the right hand of God the Father, and he says in verse 20: Talking about the strength which we have, he says, "which he brought about in Christ when he raised him 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 every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come." Paul did not want to leave any stone unturned. He didn't want to leave out any possibility that this could be misinterpreted.

That he has dominion over every name, and not only in this world, but also in the one to come, and he has put all things in subjection under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church. Isn't this exciting?

Guest (Male): This is Pastor Lutzer, and I want to take a moment to thank all those of you who pray for us. Many of you support us financially, but there are also those who uphold us in prayer. It's because of you that this ministry continues to grow. And if you've been listening for any length of time, you know that our emphasis always is on Jesus Christ, eternal life, and that gift being given to all who believe.

So from my heart to yours today, thank you so much for being partners in this ministry, Running to Win. Let's be faithful all the way to the finish line. Erwin Lutzer, introducing An Extraordinary Ascension, the seventh message in a series on Christ Among Other Gods. Next time on Running to Win, more on why the ascension was crucial to the founding of the church.

Karl Marx and D.L. Moody, the contrast between these men could not be greater. This is a book by Erwin Lutzer and Greg Quiggle, and it clarifies the contrast between darkness and light. It's our gift to you when you give a gift of any amount to support Running to Win. For full information, call us at 1-800-215-5001. That's 1-800-215-5001. Online, go to offerrtw.com. That's offerrtw.com. Or write to us at Running to Win, Moody Church, 1635 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60614. This is Dave McAllister. Running to Win comes to you as a ministry of the Moody Church.