Alive Today

While it is important for every Christian to live in the joy of the finished work of our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, it is important for us to understand that He is still involved in the world that He created (John 1: 1-3) In fact, Christ’s works can be divided into three broad phases: past, present and future. Christ’s present works are vitally important for us and are the foundation for His future works, which included our final destination. (John 14: 1-3) The joy of the future blessings enable us to overcome the torments of today.

This passage describes the Lord Jesus Christ’s last day on earth. The fact that He was on earth, restricted in time and space for a season is very important for us. John told us “No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.” (John 1: 18) and Paul confirmed this fact by telling us that no one was good enough to go up to heaven to bring Christ down and no one was good enough to go down to hell to bring Him back from the grave (Rom 10: 6-9) This means that we don’t have to do anything great ourselves because He has already done all the great things. This allows us to have everlasting life with just a childlike faith (Luke 18: 17)

The disciples were free to talk to the Lord Jesus Christ and, even though they didn’t really understand the situation at that time, He gave them an honest answer. This is the same today, we are free to pray from the deep feelings of our heart and He will hear us and answer our prayers according to what is good for us.

The Lord Jesus Christ gave His disciples the Great Commission at that stage. He had already given them two other versions of the Great Commission but this doesn’t invalidate the current version of the Great Commission. The Lord Jesus Christ promised His disciples that they would receive power when the Holy Ghost had come upon them. It is impossible for any person to carry out the Great Commission without this power (compare 1 Cor 12: 3)

Before the Lord Jesus Christ went to the cross, He taught His disciples about the work of the Holy Ghost. One of the roles of the Holy Ghost is to bring information about the Lord Jesus Christ to our minds so that we can remember what He has done for us (John 14: 26) this is why it is impossible for us to carry out the Great Commission without the work of the Holy Ghost in our lives.

While the disciples were looking at the Lord Jesus Christ, He went into heaven in bodily form until a cloud hid him. Even though the Lord Jesus Christ was resurrected and glorified, He was still a man and He spent time with the disciples before He went back to heaven. When He returned to heaven, He was and still is, a resurrected and glorified man. There is a man in heaven today, He is like every other person on the earth today (see Heb 4: 15). He was just like us in so many ways but He was completely unlike us in many other ways because He was always completely free from sin.

Every benefit that the Lord Jesus Christ’s disciples were able to derive from the fact that He was with them as a man are still available to the Christian today with one extra condition. “Nevertheless I tell you the truth, “It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.” (John 16: 7)

There were times when the Lord Jesus Christ actually left the disciples by themselves while He was involved in other tasks. After He fed the five thousand by the side of the Lake, He went up to a mountain by Himself to pray (John 6: 15-20). The disciples found themselves in trouble and needed His comforting presence. On the day that the Lord Jesus Christ rose from the dead none of His disciples saw Him until He appeared to Mary while she wept outside the tomb. When she saw Him she was at peace (John 20: 11-17). He didn’t actually come to His disciples till the evening of that same day and they were glad when they saw Him, at last they understood that He really was alive (John 20: 19, 20)

The Lord Jesus Christ said that He would have to return to heaven before the Holy Ghost came to live within them we have already noted this before but He did say that He would ask the Father to give them another Comforter (John 14: 16). The ongoing presence of the Holy Ghost is vital and indispensable in the life of every Christian. We saw that there were times when the Lord Jesus Christ was not with His disciples for various reasons but the Holy Ghost did come and dwell within each Christian (Rom 8: 10, 11). This means that every Christian had unlimited and unrestricted access to this other Comforter, Who is like the Lord Jesus Christ in every spiritual way.

The next thing that we notice is that two angels, in the sense that they were God’s messengers, gave them a very specific message. They promised the disciples, and every Christian, that the Lord Jesus Christ would return in the same way as they had seen Him go. That is, the Lord Jesus Christ is going to appear in the sky in bodily form. This is the purifying hope that every Christian can take comfort from every day. (Compare 1 John 2: 28 and 3: 1-3)

This adds an extra dimension to our understanding of our future eternal state. We read “So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.” (1 Cor 15: 42-45). The disciples saw the risen, glorified Lord Jesus Christ and they saw him return to heaven so they had a good idea as to how He looked at that time. We don’t know exactly how He looked at that time do we don’t really know what it is like to be sinless and incorruptible but we do know that we will be like that when we go to be with Him forever.

Every problem we face personally and corporately, as members of the sinful fallen race, will be completely removed when the Lord Jesus Christ return to take us to be with Him forever. God will establish the new heavens and the new earth when this old, sin marred, is finally done away with and there will be no more tears, sorrow or death in that place (See Rev 21: 4)

The Lord Jesus Christ is alive today and lives in His perfect, sinless body in heaven. The fact that He is there right now is the basis of every promise that He has made for the future. Without the resurrected, glorified, ascended Lord Jesus Christ in heaven today we would not have the security of the Holy Ghost and we would not have guaranteed access to all the promises He made concerning everlasting life. If a person is alive it is possible to talk to them, as the disciples talked to the Lord Jesus Christ before He returned to heaven and find out the correct answers to all our questions.

God is completely faithful and He will not say one thing today and another thing tomorrow (Heb 13: 8) Whatever He has said in His word is the absolute truth and we can believe He means exactly the same today.