The document summarizes the Christian celebration of the Ascension of Jesus Christ. It describes how Christ's crucifixion was his coronation as king, his resurrection was the verification of his divine identity and power, and his ascension established his rule over all creation from heaven. It discusses how Jesus now reigns as the cosmic king with authority over all things and fills all things with his presence.

1. Prayer
Gracious God,
in the resurrection of your Son Jesus Christ,
you have given us eternal life
and glorified your name in all the world.
Refresh our souls with the living streams
of your truth, that in our unity,
your joy may be complete.
Amen.

2. The Church Calendar
May 16

3. Psa 47, 93 & Eph 1
the ASCENSION of the KING

4. the KINGDOM in the CALENDAR
Crucifixion = CORONATION
Resurrection = VERIFICATION
Ascension = INSTALLATION

5. Clap your hands, all you peoples; shout to God
with loud songs of joy. For the LORD, the Most
High, is awesome, a great king over all the earth.
He subdued peoples under us, and nations under
our feet. He chose our heritage for us, the pride
of Jacob whom he loves. Selah. God has gone up
with a shout, the LORD with the sound of a
trumpet. Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing
praises to our King, sing praises. For God is the
king of all the earth; sing praises with a psalm.
God is king over
PSALM 47:1-8

6. The LORD is king, he is robed in majesty;
the LORD is robed, he is girded with strength.
He has established the world; it shall never
be moved; your throne is established from
of old; you are from everlasting.
PSALM 93:1-2

7. KINGDOM in SCRIPTURE
a KING
who RULES
a PEOPLE
with a LAW to follow
and a LAND to live in

8. KINGDOM in OT
King = YHWH
Rules = Father/Son/Spirit
People = Israel
Law = Covenant
Land = Promised Land

9. KINGDOM in OT
King = YHWH
Rules = Father/Son/Spirit
People = Israel
Law = Covenant
Land = Promised Land
YHWH = Jesus
Rules = Father/Son/Spirit
People = + nations
Law = New Covenant
Land = The whole earth
The NT STORY is the EXTENSION of
the OT STORY, not the REPLACEMENT
KINDOM in NT

10. I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of
wisdom and revelation as you come to know
him, so that, with the eyes of your heart
enlightened, you may know what is the hope
to which
he has called you, what are the riches of
his glorious inheritance among the saints,
and what is the immeasurable greatness
of his power for us who believe, according
to the working of his great power.
EPHESIANS 1:17-19

11. God put this power to work 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 above every name that is
named, not only in this age but also in the age
to come.
And he has put all things under his feet and
has made him the head over all things for the
church,
which is his body, the fullness of him who
EPHESIANS 1:20-23

12. JESUS as ASCENDED KING
Jesus is the KING
who RULES all of creation,
including all PEOPLES,
with a LAW of love
extending to the NATIONS

13. the ASCENSION of the KING
Psa 47, 93 & Eph 1

14. “The ascension of Christ to the right
hand of God is the…promotion
of Christ to the position of all
authority in heaven and on earth.
The right hand of God is not
a cosmological location,
but a poetic way of saying that
God has now given all authority
to Christ. The ascension…
does not lead to the absence
of Christ, but to his cosmic
presence everywhere.”
BRIAN
ZAHND

15. “This is why the risen Christ says,
‘Behold, I am with you always,
even to the end of the age.’
In the Ascension Christ now
‘fills all things everywhere
with himself.’ (Ephesians 1:23)
There is now no place
where Christ is not,
and there is no domain
over which Jesus is not Lord.” BRIAN
ZAHND

16. Crucifixion = CORONATION
Resurrection = VERIFICATION
Ascension = INSTALLATION
* The Christian faith confesses
that ALL of these are done BODILY!
the KINGDOM in the CALENDAR

17. “resurrection is another word for
change, but particularly positive
change…if a video camera had
been placed in front of the tomb
of Jesus, it wouldn't have filmed
a lone man emerging from the
grave…it would've captured
something like beams of light
extending in all directions…
(Jesus was) ‘resurrected’
in the sense that all matter
is somehow eternal."
RICHARD
ROHR

18. “(we could better understand)
Jesus's resurrection as
his 'universalization.’”
RICHARD
ROHR

19. ”To put it simply, this is not
what Christians have ever meant
when confessing our belief in the
resurrection of Jesus. It would be
like saying that when something
dies, decomposes, and releases
nutrients into the soil that
contribute to new life,
it was ‘resurrected.’”
MATTHEW
VINES

20. Crucifixion = CORONATION
Resurrection = VERIFICATION
Ascension = INSTALLATION
* Resurrection ≠ RECYCLING from death.
Resurrection ≠ ATOMIZATION at death.
Jesus was BORN with a body, DIED with
a body, REIGNS with a body, and will
RETURN with a body
the KINGDOM in the CALENDAR

21. - Your FINANCES?
- Your TIME?
- Your RELATIONSHIPS?
- Your SEXUALITY?
- Your IMAGINATION?
- Your POLITICS?
- Your GOALS/ASPIRATIONS?
- Your NIEGHBORS?
WHAT does this MEAN for…

22. Benediction
Risen and ascended Christ,
you surround us with witnesses
and send us the Counselor
who opens our minds
to understand your teaching.
Bless us with such grace
that our lives may become a blessing
for the world now, and in the age to come.
Amen.