On Ascension Day we proclaim that Jesus is our
Lord. That he died for our sins and is risen from the dead. He is alive forever,
and ascended into heaven, where he sits at the right hand of the Father on the
eternal throne of God and has all authority in heaven and on earth.
We have an advocate in heaven.
He hears our prayers.
He will crush all his enemies.
He will come again.
Therefore, we must go and make disciples of all
nations
and serve him with love, obedience, reverence and in
worship till our lives end
But, you may say, how can we
observe Ascension Day as a holy day when the official calendar of our country does
not recognise it as a public holiday?
People of different religions often observe their own
holy days and maintain their cultural identity in spite of the fact that these
days are not public holidays. The Jewish and Muslim faiths observe many feast
days and fast days and holy days different to ours. They make personal sacrifices
and use their own leave days to celebrate and attest to what they believe.
We should with even more passion and courage testify
to our belief, and to our faithfulness to Jesus, and the gospel truth and organise
and structure our lives, work and worship around what is important to our one
holy, universal and Christian Faith.
We observe amongst others as holy days, Ascension Day
(17 May) and Pentecost Sunday (27 May). When Ascension Day was a public holiday
in South Africa, perhaps too few of us appreciated its significance. So, now, it is to us much more than a day
that we do not have to go to work. It is
a day to celebrate our firm conviction that Christ is our King, enthroned in
heaven to rule, reign and lead his people unto eternal victory!
The Ascension of Christ proclaims his authority over
all.
1 Peter 3:22 says that Christ “has gone into heaven
and is at God’s right hand – with angels, authorities and powers in submission
to him” And Jesus said: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given
to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, teaching them to obey
everything I have commanded you”. Matthew 28:18-20.
Ascension Day proclaims the Lordship of Christ in every
area of life. Jesus has all authority. Jesus is Lord over the world of
business, sports, entertainment and government. Jesus Christ is Lord over the
Church, schools, shops, entertainment, manufacturing, public service, justice,
parliament and law enforcement. There is
no area of life that is outside of the authority of Christ. Every professional,
worker, manager, teacher, policeman, politician, business person, mother,
father, and every person in authority is individually accountable to God and
will one day give account of their lives before the almighty Christ, Lord, King
and Judge who reigns in heaven and has dominion over all.
Ascension Day is a glorious celebration of and holy
reminder and assurance that “the earth will be filled with the knowledge of
the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” Habakkuk 2:14
Ascension Day proclaims Christ’s glorious triumph and his
complete future dominion over all. It
insists that we live as people who follow the Son of God, the eternal Messiah,
and serve him only, in everything we do.
It reminds us that we profess (in
the words of the Declaration of the Faith for the Church in Southern Africa)
- that:
We
believe in Jesus Christ the Son,
who
became human and lived
and died
and rose in triumph
to
reconcile both the individual and the world to God,
to
break down every separating barrier
of
race, culture or class,
and to
unite all God's people into one body.
He is
exalted as Lord over all,
the
only Lord over every area of life.
He
summons both the individual and society,
both
the Church and the State,
to seek
justice and freedom for all
and
reconciliation and unity between all.
And in
the Holy Spirit,
the
pledge of God's coming reign,
who
gives the Church power
to
proclaim the good news to all the world,
to love
and serve all people,
to
strive for justice and peace,
to warn
both the individual and the nation of God's judgement
and to
summon them both to repent
and
trust and obey Jesus Christ as
the
King who will come in glory.
And
may his blessings surround you each day!
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