Until
recently I do not think that I really understood, nor did I appreciate the
importance of the ascension (Acts 1:9), Jesus finally ascending to the Father
after 40 days of post resurrection appearances.
It is the ascension that formed the earliest creed of the Christian
Church, “Jesus is Lord” (Romans 10:9 and elsewhere).
This meant that Jesus was Lord over, in charge of, the earth and
everything and everyone in it. They
early Christians had come to believe that neither Caesar, nor disease, nor any
enemy, nor any circumstance, nor any sort of evil, nor death itself had any
power over them except insofar as Jesus would allow them to have power.
This knowledge gave them courage. It
made them fearless. It changed
them.
In
what way does knowing that Jesus is ruler of this world alter your life?
Psalm
47 hints at Jesus’ Ascension and Lordship.
It also provides a door through which we can enter and taste the kind of
approach to life a person can have who believes that Jesus is ruler of all.
Come,
everyone! Clap your hands!
Shout to God with joyful praise!
For the LORD Most High is awesome.
He is the great King of all the earth.
He subdues the nations before us,
putting our enemies beneath our feet.
He chose the Promised Land as our inheritance,
the proud possession of Jacob’s descendants, whom he
loves.
Interlude
God has ascended with a mighty shout.
The LORD has ascended with trumpets blaring.
Sing praises to God, sing praises;
sing praises to our King, sing praises!
For God is the King over all the earth.
Praise him with a psalm!
God reigns above the nations,
sitting on his holy throne.
The rulers of the world have gathered together
with the people of the God of Abraham.
For all the kings of the earth belong to God.
He is highly honored everywhere. Psalm 47:1-9 (NLT)
Shout to God with joyful praise!
For the LORD Most High is awesome.
He is the great King of all the earth.
He subdues the nations before us,
putting our enemies beneath our feet.
He chose the Promised Land as our inheritance,
the proud possession of Jacob’s descendants, whom he
loves.
Interlude
God has ascended with a mighty shout.
The LORD has ascended with trumpets blaring.
Sing praises to God, sing praises;
sing praises to our King, sing praises!
For God is the King over all the earth.
Praise him with a psalm!
God reigns above the nations,
sitting on his holy throne.
The rulers of the world have gathered together
with the people of the God of Abraham.
For all the kings of the earth belong to God.
He is highly honored everywhere. Psalm 47:1-9 (NLT)
“Jesus,
You are Lord! Though believing
leaves me with a thousand questions I cannot answer as a frail and often fearful
person living in a lethal and painful world,
I nevertheless proclaim it to You just as your first followers did
millennia ago, You, Jesus are Lord
of all. Amen”
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more:
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