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Preparing yourself for the study of God’s Word
Before we begin, only if you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ (that is; you have believed [trusted] in Him for His promised gift of eternal life) John 3:16, John 6:47 as a few examples; it is very important to prepare yourself to learn God's Word so the Holy Spirit can teach you as to what your reading or hearing is true or false. To be taught by the Holy Spirit you must be filled with the Holy Spirit which means abiding in Christ. To place yourself in fellowship with God the Holy Spirit [also called abiding in the Christ], take a moment to simply name, cite or acknowledge [confess] your known unconfessed sins privately to God (i.e.; with your thoughts directed only to God the Father). Why? Because you cannot grow spiritually if you’re not abiding in Christ [in fellowship with Him] when you take in bible truth.
1 John 1:9, says: “If we confess [meaning to simply name, cite or acknowledge to God the Father] our sins [known unconfessed sins], He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins [known sins] and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness [all unknown and forgotten sins];” NKJV (New King James Version); we call this REBOUND; read the full doctrine as to “why” we need to use 1 John 1:9 to grow spiritually. Left click the following link to learn more and fully understand the doctrine of Rebound; which answers the question, why do I need to keep confessing my sins all the time? REBOUND
If you have never personally believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, that He is the Son of God, the promised Messiah, as your Savior (that is, believed in Him for eternal life), the issue for you is not to name your sins; the issue for you is to simply exercise faith alone in Jesus Christ alone eternal life; when you do, you will instantly receive Eternal Life: John 3:16, 5:24, 6:47, 20:30, 31.
John 6:47 says: "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me [Jesus Christ] has everlasting life." NKJV
Notice again what Jesus said in John 6:47: "…he who believes in Me (Jesus Christ) has everlasting life." It doesn't say, "will have"; it says, "has." Therefore, the very moment you believe in Jesus Christ for His promise of everlasting life, you have it (it's really just that simple; nothing more and nothing less), and it can never be taken away from you (John 10:28-29). Furthermore, the gift (Ephesians 2:8c) of everlasting life (also called eternal life in scripture) is available to every human being; there are absolutely no exceptions.
John 3:14-15, 16, 17, 18, says: "14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. 18 He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." NKJV
Let us now bow our hearts and take a moment to prepare for worship and learning God's Word. If there is any known sin in your life, this is the time to just cite it privately to God the Father with your thoughts directed towards Him. With your head bowed and your eyes closed, you have total privacy in your mind and soul:
Study to show yourself approved to God!
Grace Bible Church
Robert McLaughlin Bible Ministries
The Tree of Life is a weekly teaching summary:
God’s Word is taught Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday
STUDY TITLE:
Glorification of our Lord’s Humanity is the Ascension and Session!
Grace Bible Church
Robert McLaughlin Bible Ministries
The Tree of Life is a weekly teaching summary:
God’s Word is taught Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday
STUDY TITLE:
Glorification of our Lord’s Humanity is the Ascension and Session!
Ac 1:1-8, The first account I composed, Theophilus (friend of God), about all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when He was taken up, after He had by the Holy Spirit given orders to the apostles whom He had chosen. To these He also presented Himself alive, after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over {a period of} forty days, and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God. And gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, “Which,” {He said,} “you heard of or from Me; for John baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” And so when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority;
Then the challenge.
Ac 1:8, but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.
Then notice the next verse says in Ac 1:9, And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.
Notice, here is where your ascension and descension and session are about to be mentioned and supplied. Then the first step of our LORD’s descension in Christianity follows the first turn of the eye from our Lord Jesus; the Author and Finisher of faith.
Ac 1:9, And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. This lifting up is a reference to our LORD’s ascension into heaven following HIS resurrection and HIS position at the right hand of the Father for when HE arrived into Heaven HE heard those magical words: “Sit down at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”
This is quoted in PSA 110:1; it is quoted in the Gospels, Mat 22:44; Mk 12:36; Lk 20:42; It is quoted in Ac 2:34-35; Heb 10-14.
Waiting from that time onward until HIS enemies were made a footstool for HIS feet. For by one offering He has brought to completion for all time those who are sanctified.
The session is the doctrine of Christology that pertains to the glorification of our LORD’s humanity at the right hand of the Father. For when our LORD received the title that He did to sit down at right hand of GOD, HE was in ultimate glory of everything HE ever imagined.
Ac 1:10, And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was departing, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them;
They stood there with their eyes gazing intently looking into the sky as “two angels dressed in a white apparel” were joining them looking as an angelic host of armies as this beautiful sight before them.
Ac 1:11, 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.”
Notice that in this passage the Lord is identified as “this same Jesus”, Jesus is the title of HIS humanity. It was the humanity of Christ which ascended: “which is taken from you [ascension] into heaven, and also shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.” In verse 12, they were standing on the Mount of Olives looking up. Jesus will be returning to the same place Zec 14:4.
The Ascension and Session.
The Session is that doctrine of Christology pertaining to the glorification of our Lord’s humanity at the right hand of the Father. If the Lord Jesus Christ remained on earth, He would have had a limited glory. But when He went to the third Heaven He became superior to all creation, and therefore He received unlimited glory. As a result of the resurrection of our Lord’s humanity, He remained on earth for forty days before He ascended into Heaven. The ascension of Jesus Christ occurred on day forty in His resurrection body. This period of time demonstrated the capabilities of the resurrection body.
For example, in Ac 1:1-3, The first account I composed, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when He was taken up, after He had by the Holy Spirit given orders to the apostles whom He had chosen. To these He also presented Himself alive, after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over {a period of} forty days, and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God.
So, the Ascension and Session of Christ are predicated on the capabilities of the resurrection body. It can travel horizontally and vertically at unlimited speed, and is capable of unlimited space travel. Upon arrival in the third heaven, our Lord was seated at the right hand of God the Father; this is the doctrine of the Session. Then He received His third royal title “King of kings, Lord of lords, the Bright Morning Star.” It was at this time that the human race was elevated higher than the entire angelic creation. Remember, originally man was created higher than the animal creation and lower than the angels. This is why David wrote in Psa 8:1-9, O Lord, our Lord, How majestic is Thy name in all the earth, Who hast displayed Thy splendor above the heavens. From the mouth of infants and nursing babes Thou hast established strength, Because of Thine adversaries, to make the enemy and the revengeful cease.
When I consider Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers, The moon and the stars, which Thou hast ordained; What is man, that Thou dost take thought of him? And the son of man, that Thou dost care for him?
Yet Thou hast made him a little lower than [nor God, but the gods, a reference to angels], And dost crown him with glory and majesty. Thou dost make him to rule over the works of Thy hands; Thou hast put all things under his feet, All sheep and oxen, And also the beasts of the field, The birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, Whatever passes through the paths of the seas. O Lord, our Lord, How majestic is Thy name in all the earth.
When our Lord arrived in heaven in His hypostatic union, as a member of the human race, He was rewarded by God the Father for His strategic victory in the angelic conflict. And He was given a brand new title for this strategic victory. That brand title that He did not possess before He became a member of the human race is the King of kings, the Lord of lords, the bright and morning star. This was His third royal title. His first two are the Son of God and the Son of David. Now, because His third royal title had no accompanying royal family, the Church-age was inserted for the calling out [ekklesia] of a royal family.
Now look at Heb 2:7-8, “Thou hast made him for a little while lower than the angels; Thou hast crowned him with glory and honor, And hast appointed him over the works of Thy hands; Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet.”
That’s a quotation from Psa 8:5-6.
However, notice what is added in Heb 2:7, “Thou hast made him for a little while lower than the angels; Only for a little while. David never said that. Because Old Testament Saints were not elevated higher than angels. They were not in union with Christ like New Testament Saints are.
Heb 2:8-10, Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. “For in subjecting all things to him, He left nothing that is not subject to him. But now we do not yet see all things subjected to him. But we do see Him who has been made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone. For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings.
So, because of our union with Christ and because of the Ascension and Session of Jesus Christ, who is seated at the right hand of God; we are raised up with Him, and seated with Him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus (Eph 2:6). That’s why Heb 1:3-11 says, And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high; having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent title than they. For to which of the angels did He ever say, “Thou art My Son, Today I have begotten Thee”? And again, “I will be a Father to Him And He shall be a Son to Me”? And when He again brings the first born into the world, He says, “And let all the angels of God worship Him.” And of the angels He says, “Who makes His angels winds, And His ministers a flame of fire.” But of the Son He says, “Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever, And the righteous scepter is the scepter of His kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; Therefore God, Thy God, hath anointed Thee With the oil of gladness above Thy companions.” And, “Thou, Lord, in the beginning didst lay the foundation of the earth, And the heavens are the works of Thy hands; They will perish, but Thou remains; And they all will become old as a garment, And as a mantle Thou wilt roll them up; As a garment they will also be changed. But Thou art the same, And Thy years will not come to an end.” But to which of the angels has He ever said, “Sit at My right hand, Until I make Thine enemies A footstool for Thy feet”?
God the Father never said this to any angel, only to Jesus Christ. It is very significant that God the Father said this to the humanity of Christ in a resurrection body. This means that although we are now inferior to angels in our human bodies on earth, in the future in resurrection bodies we will be totally superior to angels. This was established with our Lord’s session. All of this is why this doctrine of ascension and session is the missing link between the resurrection of Christ and the Christian way of life.
So, we are now inferior to angels in our human bodies on earth, in the future in resurrection bodies we will be totally superior to angels. Something new had to be created to accompany this new third royalty of Jesus Christ, a new royal family.
2Co 5:17, Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.
The Day of Pentecost is the day the royal family began with the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the first day of the Church Age.
The Chronology of events:
1) Resurrection.
2) Forty days on the earth.
3) Ascension ten days before the Church-age began.
4) Seated at the right hand of the Father.
We know the number of days exactly, because the resurrection occurred on the Feast of the First Fruits. The Feast of Pentecost would occur fifty days later. On day forty, our Lord ascended, and He said the baptism of the Spirit and the beginning of the Church-age would occur very soon (ten days later).
So, these two doctrines of ascension and session combine to form the climax of the strategic victory of Christ in the Angelic Conflict. While the angels were still talking, our Lord was already in the third heaven. After His ascension, His session fulfilled the prophecy of Psa 110:1, “The Lord [God the Father] said to my Lord [God the Son], Sit down at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.” Jesus Christ had to be seated to resolve the Angelic Conflict. It was His humanity that was seated at the right hand of the Father. This prophecy is quoted a number of times in the New Testament, Mat 22:44; Mk 12:36; Luk 20:42-43; Ac 2:34-35; Heb 1:13, 10:13. It is quoted so often because it is very important.
Just as only the humanity of Christ could provide our salvation by receiving the judgment for our sins in His own body, so only the humanity of Christ could be resurrected, ascend, and sit at the right hand of God the Father. The humanity of Jesus Christ in Hypostatic Union is now exalted and glorified at the right hand of the Father where His posture is one of being seated.
Ac 2:32-36, “This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses. Therefore, having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear. For it was not David who ascended into heaven, but he himself says: “The Lord said to my Lord,” Sit at My right hand, Until I make Thine enemies a footstool for Thy feet. Therefore, let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ this Jesus whom you crucified.”
Phil 2:9, “Therefore also, God has highly exalted Him and given Him a title which is above every title, that at the title of Jesus every knee should bow and every tongue should confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of the Father.”
So, the ascension and session is not only related to the Hypostatic Union, but it also to the angelic conflict.
1Pe 3:22, “Who [Jesus Christ] is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven after angels and authorities and powers had been subordinated to Him.”
With the resurrection of Jesus Christ, all angelic creatures including fallen angels, are subordinated to Him in His humanity. In His deity, Jesus Christ is the creator of angels. In His humanity, He was made lower than angels, Heb 2:7. But now in His resurrection, He is higher than angels in His humanity. And some day in our resurrection body, we will share that same privilege experientially.
Being in union with Christ, we are already positionally higher than angels. But in resurrection bodies, we will be experientially and physically higher than angels. Eph 1:22, “And He [God the Father] has subordinated all [angelic creatures] under His feet. Furthermore, He appointed Him [Jesus Christ] ruler over all things to the Church.”
The following link is to a good news message describing how one can receive eternal life: Ticket to Heaven, it was written for anyone not absolutely certain about their eternal future.
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