************ Sermon on Heidelberg Catechism Q & A 49 ************
Doctrine: The Apostles' Creed, "He ascended into Heaven -- the benefits"
By: Rev. Adrian Dieleman
This sermon was preached on October 8, 2000
Q & A 49
1 John 2:1; John 14:1-4; 16:5-7
"The Good of His Going"
I Going for Our Good
A For 32 years Jesus lived on this earth. Three of those years He spent with His disciples. The disciples, by and large, loved being with Jesus: how exciting it was to witness His healings and miracles; there was so much they learned from His teachings; how impressed they were with His eloquent defense against the attacks of the Pharisees; and, each and every day Jesus was a perfect example for them to imitate.
Can you imagine yourself as one of Jesus' disciples or followers during those three years? What would that be like, do you think? To be there with Jesus, to see how tenderly He treated the sick and lame, to be surrounded by His love, to experience His personal care and concern, to watch Him sit with children on His lap, to sit on the beaches of Galilee and hear Him preach – could there possibly be anything better than this?
B Then, one day, Jesus said to His disciples, "My children, I will be with you only a little longer ..." (Jn 13:33). And, in a passage I read just a few moments ago, Jesus makes a similar announcement:
(John 14:2) In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you.
The disciples are devastated by this. Jesus' words fill them with grief (Jn 16:6). They are scared they will be left as orphans (Jn 14:8). Christ's announcement brings dismay, fear, hurt, and bewilderment. Jesus is leaving them. He, Whose presence they adore and have come to depend on, is leaving. He, Who saw them safely through storms, is leaving. What are they to think of this? What can they do? Who can they turn to?
As with the disciples, so with the church – there is some sadness that Jesus is not here. And, we have our reasons to be sad. We know that if Jesus was here, if He did return in glory, all those bad and sad and terrible things of life would no longer happen. His absence is painful enough to make us pray for His coming.
C With the disciples we all know why Christ had to go to the cross and the grave; we all know "He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification" (Rom 4:25). But many of us, like the disciples, may not know why Christ also had to ascend into heaven. Like the disciples we may wonder why Jesus couldn't just stay here.
In our Bible reading Jesus tells us why He had to ascend into heaven. "It is for your good," said Jesus, "that I am going away" (Jn 16:7). And, in Q & A 46, the Catechism can say,
That Christ,
while his disciples watched,
was lifted up from the earth into heaven
and will be there for our good ...
Did you catch that? Jesus is in heaven, He has left the earth, for our good.
How is He there for our good? In what way is He there for our good?
This morning I want to look at three benefits, three goods, that arise out of the ascension of our Lord.
II First Good: Christ's Intercession
A The Catechism says that the first benefit or good we receive from Christ's ascent into heaven is His intercession on our behalf: "First, he pleads our cause in heaven in the presence of his Father."
According to the Spirit-inspired Paul, Christ's intercession or prayer for us is the climax of His work on our behalf. Says Paul,
(Rom 8:34) Christ Jesus, who died--more than that, who was raised to life--is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.
Four acts of our Mediator and Redeemer are mentioned in this verse: His death, resurrection, ascension, and intercession. Three of these are done, completed, finished. The last of these, His "interceding for us," speaks of His ongoing work on behalf of His own.
B What exactly is this work of intercession by Christ on our behalf?
The verse I read from 1 John 2 speaks of Christ's present work of intercession. According to this verse, Jesus is the One "who speaks to the Father in our defense." The RSV translation says Jesus is our "advocate with the Father."
Topic: Intercession
Subtopic: Of Christ, with the Father
Index: 1783
Date: 10/2000.101
Title: Solicitors and Advocates
In Great Britain there are two kinds of lawyers: advocates and solicitors. Solicitors draw up legal papers like wills, mortgages, contracts, and the like but are not able to defend clients in a court of law. An advocate, on the other hand, is someone who has been specially trained to defend accused people in a judicial hearing. An advocate knows all the tactics and all the historical precedents which have a bearing on the case at hand. This way the accused person is assured of a top-quality defense.
Before the Father, Jesus Christ is our Advocate, our Defender, our Intercessor. By this I do not mean that Jesus is trying to get a ruling in our favor from a reluctant Judge, God the Father. For we know that the favorable ruling in our behalf has already been given when Christ Jesus died and was raised again.
Yet, in both the Old and New Testament eras, God's people have an accuser – the Devil or Satan (cf Zech 3:1; Rev 12:10). Day and night Satan accuses us before God. As he did with Job, Satan questions before God our faith, the reality of our commitment, the sincerity of our beliefs. He delights in pointing out our sins and shortcomings. He loves to hurl before God our fights and quarrels, our disunity and disharmony, our tensions and divisions. He loves nothing better than to drive a wedge between us and God.
When Satan, the accuser, brings charges against God's elect, Christ, the advocate, meets them all by pointing to His completed work. He reminds the Lord that because of His atoning work "there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Rom 8:1). He stands before the Father and claims us as His own. In this way He intercedes for us!
C That's not all we can say about Christ's great work of intercession. As Intercessor, Christ is involved in our sanctification. He sanctifies both our prayer life and our service in the church and kingdom.
Our prayers need sanctifying because so often they are imperfect, trivial, superficial, and even insincere. It is Christ, through His Spirit, Who renders our prayers acceptable to God. Speaking of this the apostle says,
(Rom 8:26-27) In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. (27) And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.
Our service too needs sanctifying because often our service is not done from the purest of motives and is far from being perfect. It is Christ Who makes our service acceptable to God. According to the Apostle Peter, we
(1 Peter 2:5) ... are being built into a spiritual priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
In this way too Christ intercedes for us.
D Christ's ministry of intercession in heaven is also a ministry of loving care for His people. I have always loved the words of Hebrews:
(Heb 4:15-16) For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin. (16) Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
When we go to God in prayer in times of difficulties, trials, and temptations, Christ intercedes for us before the Father because He knows and understands what we are going through! And, on account of Christ, God gives us comfort and strength, mercy and grace.
E Finally, Christ's ministry of intercession in heaven also involves prayer for the people of God. We see this in Jesus' intercessory prayer of John 17. First, He prays for His disciples:
(John 17:9) I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours.
But He also prays for all other believers:
(John 17:20) My prayer is not for them (i.e., the disciples) alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message.
In the Greek language the tense of the verb "pray" indicates a continuing action: Jesus prayed and is praying and will continue to pray for all believers.
What a consoling thought – that Jesus is praying for us. He prays for us even when we are negligent in our prayer life. He is presenting to the Father those spiritual needs which we may not even be aware of and which we often neglect to include in our prayers. He prays for our protection against the dangers of which we are not even conscious, and against the enemies which threaten us though we do not notice them. He is praying that our faith will remain strong and that we may emerge victorious at the end.
"I tell you the truth: it is for your good that I am going away," said Jesus. He is in heaven and there He pleads our cause in the presence of His Father.
III Second Good: Guarantee of Heaven
A There is also a second benefit or good of Christ's ascension into heaven. Jesus states this second benefit or good of His ascension in John 14:
(Jn 14:2-3) In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. (3) And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.
The Catechism states the second benefit of Christ's ascension this way: "we have our own flesh in heaven – a guarantee that Christ our head will take us, his members, to himself in heaven."
B One Christmas my parents gave me a book on the Dutch immigration to Canada after World War II. What interesting reading. I learned it was not uncommon for a father and son to come to Canada to prepare the way for the rest of the family. They would get a job, work hard, make a down-payment on a house or farm, and then they would write the long-awaited letter to the family in the Netherlands: "We are ready for you so it is time for you to come." They were forerunners and trailblazers to the new country. Maybe some of you can remember something similar happening during the immigrant years to the U.S.
Jesus is our trailblazer and forerunner. He goes to prepare a place for us and someday will take us to be with Himself in heaven.
C The Catechism uses the word "guarantee" here. In this instance, a "guarantee" serves as an assurance for some future event. For instance, dark clouds are generally a guarantee of rain. Wonderful smells from the kitchen are a guarantee of a good supper. Christ's body in heaven is a guarantee that someday our own glorified body will also be there.
"I tell you the truth: it is for your good that I am going away," said Jesus. He is in heaven and there He is preparing a place for us. His bodily presence there is a guarantee that someday He will take us to be with Himself in heaven.
IV Third Good: The Descent of the Spirit
A The descent of the Spirit is the third great benefit or good of Christ's ascension into heaven.
The Catechism points out to us the connection between the going of Jesus and the coming of the Spirit. In His farewell speeches as recorded in John's Gospel, Jesus says His going to heaven is the necessary precondition for the Spirit's coming:
(Jn 16:7) Unless I go away the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. (cf John 15:26)
Because an ascended Jesus sends us the Spirit we are better off with Jesus in heaven than on earth. Jesus teaches that His comfort, His word, and His power are more richly present in His followers now than before His ascension. You see, the coming of the Spirit enables the disciples to know the truth (Jn 15:26; 16:13), to know the words of Jesus (Jn 14:26; 15:26), and to do the works of Jesus (Jn 14:12).
Along this line, the Catechism says that it is only by the operation of the Spirit within us that we are able to live for and with Jesus. It is by the Spirit's power that
we make the goal of our lives,
not earthly things,
but the things above where Christ is,
sitting at God's right hand.
"Things above" are the kingship and treasures of Christ (Col 3:1). It is only by the Spirit's power that we "put to death" all actions and desires that God hates (Col 3:5-10), and "as God's chosen people" (Col 3:12) clothe ourselves with the virtues of Christ (Col 3:12-17).
"I tell you the truth: it is for your good that I am going away," said Jesus. Because He is in heaven He has sent us the life-giving Spirit Who renews and remakes us in His image.
B Finally, the presence of Christ in heaven and the presence of the Spirit on earth form a "further guarantee." Remember, a human Christ in heaven is "a guarantee that Christ our head will take us, his members, to himself." Now, we are told He "sends his Spirit to us on earth as a further guarantee" of our reunion.
When the Bible uses the word "guarantee" it means the Spirit Who is given as a down payment or assurance that all God's promises will be fulfilled: God "put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come" says the Spirit-inspired Apostle Paul (2 Cor 1:22; cf 5:5). And, he says in another place,
(Eph 1:13-14) Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, (14) who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance ...
You put down a deposit when you buy a house or a car or rent an apartment. This is a guarantee that more money will follow. The Spirit is the first deposit or down-payment on eternal life.
We cannot help but note that Christ's function in heaven is very similar to the Spirit's function on earth. The Spirit is the Intercessor on earth (Rom 8:27; Rev 22:17); Christ is the Intercessor in heaven (Rom 8:34; I Jn 2:1). Christ claims us as His own before the Father in heaven; the Spirit testifies with our spirits that we are children of God, right here and now. "They are mine," claims our Advocate in heaven; "you are His," assures our Counselor on earth.
"I tell you the truth: it is for your good that I am going away," said Jesus. Jesus is in heaven and has sent us His Spirit on earth as a further guarantee.
Conclusion
Reformed Christians have often given the impression that the work accomplished by the Savior on earth is far more important that the services which He now renders in heaven. Anyone reading Q & A 49 cannot help but think otherwise; it becomes clear there are two stages to the ministry of Christ: an earthly ministry and a heavenly ministry. Both are important in God's plan for our salvation.