Happy Independence Day!

HEAD(hed), (n.) 1. the top part of the human body or the front part of an animal where the eyes, nose, east and mouth are. "Your brain is in your head."
DIBS(dibz), (n.) 2. a thick, sweet syrup made in countries of the East, especially the Middle East, from grape juice or dates. [Arabic "debs"]--World Book Dictionary, 1976.
Another aspect of our common confession is that “[He was] seen by angels.” Which angels: Fallen or unfallen? I would say both. As Jesus existed eternally with the Father, He was seen by angels from eternity past. As Jesus was active through the Spirit in creation, the Bible says that angels looked on and witnessed the event. At His birth, there was suddenly with the angel a multitude of heavenly hosts, praising God and “saying.” As Jesus made His way through His earthly ministry on earth, he cast out demons and His resurrection was made possible with the help of and declared by angels. After Jesus ascended back into heaven, two angels asked the disciples, “wassup?”
The disciples immediately carried out Jesus’ instructions, that brings us to the next part of our common confession, that “[He was] proclaimed among the nations.” One thing we did not indicate earlier concerns our very starting point here: the book of Acts is a record of the beginning of that proclamation and it is said that the book of Acts is the only book of the Bible without an ending (think about it for a minute). But what is it a record of, actually? It is not about the disciples or apostles. The book is a record of how the Holy Spirit continues His work of pointing people to Christ and how that message spread from Jerusalem into Judea and Samaria and to the remotest part of the earth!
“With the New Testament in our hands it may be surprising to say that we know comparatively little about the beginnings of Christianity.”[iv] I’ll bet that if you followed the footnote to the bottom of the page, 2/3 of my readers would say they’ve never heard of the book from which the quote comes or know what it’s about. With that in mind, think about this: If Jesus was a personification of philosophy or concepts “he” would have died out by now. Which is more lasting? Which has endured? The Bible is just chock full of passages about the message that reaches the nations! “Shout joyfully to God, all the earth.” (Psalm 66:1). And I would follow that with a ridiculous plethora of exclamation points.
“[He was] believed on in the world.” God Himself does Missions. That is why He Himself asks us to be co-laborers with Him. John Piper put it succinctly, “Missions exists where worship does not.” When people believe God, He is worshipped!
I like that statement, “believed on.” Many people believe “in” but the numbers who believe “on” are much smaller. I was talking with a guy not too long ago who made it clear he was saved from sin, had assurance of salvation and all that, but he stymied me when he looked right at me and said, “I sure wish I could do what you are doing, going out telling people about Jesus.” I told him I was no brave person (and I’m not) but depend on the power of God through the Holy Spirit to do it. “But I can’t,” was his reply.
“Can’t, or won’t?” I asked. He scowled, not liking my question. Further discussion revealed the latter. He failed to believe “on” God. There was no doubt he believed “in,” but would not confess his sin of disbelieving God. He told me he would probably never tell people about Jesus then and I got scared . . . for Him. All I could think of was Rev. 3:16-17.
God must be believed in the world. Turn that though over in your mind. The world is the place in which we live. No-brainer. Gotta exist somewhere, right? Look at it another way. The world is the enemy of God, so there is no way this should happen. Now consider 1 John 2:15-17:
“Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.”
We have no choice but to start from where we are. 2 Corinthians 5:17ff tells us that God, through Christ Jesus reconciles the believer to Himself and peace is made. Through Christ Jesus, we are given the ministry of reconciliation becoming His ambassadors. In effect, we take His name on ourselves by believing Him. When we take His name, we represent Him. Would we dare take His name in vain? God must be believed. This is what the discussion is all about. He is the source of the godliness and He is the source of our understanding of it.
“Taken up in glory.” There are so many ideas and heresies out there that are at odds with this confession. Another aspect so many have difficulty with is the agreement of scripture, to allow scripture to interpret itself. I’ve already discussed a few blogs back the approach of the Jehovah’s Witnesses and their doctrine of interpretation (it is a sin to read the Bible as an individual). For one to do this would be detrimental to their doctrine, for they do not believe that Jesus rose from the dead, much less “taken up in glory.” We have no common confession with them. There is no fellowship. A similar thing could be said of the Mormons, who profess to be Christian. How can the Christian if they deny the first tenant of this common confession?
Interestingly, as crucial as this statement is, little is actually said about it in scripture. Mark 16:19, Acts 1:9 and this passage are all that is recorded about the ascension, yet it is vital component of the basis of our unity and helps explain the mystery of godliness. I think one implication for it’s importance is found in John 14, where Jesus says,
“I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. After a little while the world will no longer see Me, but you will see Me; because I live, you will live also. In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.”
If Jesus did not go back to the Father, the Holy Spirit would not come. If the Holy Spirit would not come, then the mystery of godliness remains intangible and impossible. “He who was revealed in the flesh, was vindicated in the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory." The work of salvation was complete on the cross, in the resurrection and ascension. But salvation is more than deliverance from hell. It is deliverance from the power of sin. The day will come when we will be delivered from the presence of sin. The one who became flesh vindicates, or justifies the believer by the same Spirit. The angels not only attest to the work they have already experienced and/or seen Him do, but concerning salvation, look on with wonder (see Hebrews and 1 Peter). The work of sanctification is that work of the Spirit that not only sets us apart from the world from which God is believed, but creates the godliness that about which such mysteries entail. The day will come when we, like Christ, are taken up in a glorious fashion to the praise of His glory!
[i]Merriam-Webster, Inc. Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary. Includes index. 10th ed. Springfield, Mass., U.S.A.: Merriam-Webster, 1996, c1993.
[ii]MacArthur, John Jr. The MacArthur Study Bible. electronic ed., 1 Ti 3:16. Nashville: Word Pub., 1997, c1997.
[iii] Stanley, Andy. Since Nobody’s Perfect . . . How Good is Good Enough? Sisters: Multnomah, 2003.
[iv] Schonfield, Hugh. The Passover Plot. Toronto: Bantam. 1965.