Backward to Forward, Down to Up: Even Jesus Descended to Ascend

 

Our Christian life is not static, but marked by ups and downs, often seeming like three steps backward for every two steps forward. But God allows and uses these setbacks for our instruction, growth, and ultimate spiritual victory.

In the Psalms, David not only thanked God for lifting him from the deep pit of his sin and despair (Psalm 9:15; 28:1; 30:3; 40:2), but further prophesied that even Jesus Himself would descend to the depths of hell, where God the Father would not allow Him to be corrupted (Psalms 16:10). Several of the ages, dispensations or pivot points of Biblical history are marked by the movement of Jesus downward to once again ascend upward.

In contrast, the path of Satan is always relentlessly downward. God created him as Lucifer, the most beautiful, wise and talented angel of light, the covering angel protecting God’s throne. But he fell to the sin of pride, wanting to exalt himself above God’s throne and Name, so God cast him out of His third Heaven to the skies and earth below, from there to be brought down to hell (Isaiah 14:12-17; Ezekiel 28:13-19).

Lucifer thus became Satan, prince of the power of the air (Ephesians 2:2) and temporary ruler of this world (Ephesians 6:12; 1 John 4:4). After the revelation and second coming of Jesus Christ, Satan will be defeated at the battle of Armageddon and chained in the bottomless pit, under the earth, for one thousand years. Although he will be let loose briefly at the conclusion of the Millennial Kingdom, his ultimate destiny is the even lower depths of the lake of fire (Revelation 19:11-21; 20:1-3,10).

Satan, as a created being, must answer to God despite his rebellion, whereas Jesus is Himself God and Creator. Christ willingly left His heavenly throne to descend to earth in human form (John 1:1,14), born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14) in the lowliest of circumstances (Luke 2:7), born to die as the perfect sacrifice to reconcile sinful man to Holy God (Hebrews 10:1-14), and to rise again so that all who trust Him will have eternal life (1 Corinthians 15:20-22).

Once Jesus had given up the ghost on Calvary’s cross, Jesus fulfilled the prophecy recorded by David in the Psalms by descending into the heart of the earth (Matthew 12:40), or Hades, which at that time was divided into two compartments separated by an impenetrable barrier (Luke 16:19-31). Hell was the compartment designed for the devil and his angels, and the place of eternal torment for those who were doomed because they did not believe and trust God.

The other compartment, known as Paradise (Luke 16:19-31), which means garden of God, or Abraham’s bosom, was a place of peace, joy and comfort for those who were saved by faith. The thief on the cross who called Jesus Lord and asked Him to remember him when He came into His kingdom thus proved his submission to Christ and His faith that He was indeed the promised Messiah. Jesus answered him, “Today shalt thou be with me in Paradise” (Luke 23:42-43).

After the death of their bodies, the soul and spirit of Jesus and of that thief then descended into Paradise. There Jesus gathered all the saved souls and elevated them with Him to the third heaven (Ephesians 4:8-10), which is now the abode of Paradise and of the souls of those who go home to be with the Lord (2 Corinthians 12:2-4).

On the third day after His physical death, Jesus descended from Heaven to earth, then in His glorified body of flesh and bone (Luke 24:39), that had a visible (John 20:14), tangible, recognizable form; that could eat; and that could pass through walls (Luke 24:36-43).

Forty days later, after numerous appearances to His disciples and to other witnesses (Acts 1:3), He rose upward into Heaven, where He is now at the right hand of God the Father (Mark 16:19-20; Acts 2:33-34; 7:55; Ephesians 1:20; Colossians 3:1; Hebrews 1:3; 8:1; etc.). There He acts as our intercessor in prayer to the Father (Romans 8:34) and our advocate defending us from Satan’s accusations (1 John 2:1; Revelation 12:10).

Praise God, one day Jesus Christ will descend part of the way to earth, at the same time catching up all those who died in Him and all those believers who still remain alive, to meet with Him in the air! We will then all be in our glorified bodies and live with Him forever! (1 Corinthians 15:51-57; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17).

After the Judgment Seat of Christ (Romans 14:10; 2 Corinthians 5:10) and the Marriage Supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:9) in Heaven, we will descend to earth as His armies, when He appears in the clouds in power and glory and descends to conquer death, sin and Satan (1 Corinthians 15: 24-28) with the Word of His mouth!

After renovation of the heavens and earth by fire (2 Peter 3:10), the heavenly city, New Jerusalem, will descend from Heaven like a radiant bride prepared for her Husband (Revelation 3:12; 21:2), Jesus Christ the Bridegroom, where we will rule and reign forever with Him!  

© 2017 Laurie Collett

Reposted from the archives

Everybody’s Looking for Something

 

In this dream I have a behind-the-scenes look at an elaborate stage production. The Mistress of Ceremonies wants the costume designer to make her an “original” gown, but she wants him to copy a fashion she saw on Project Runway. It is an Erte style, Art Deco black dress, with a bandeau bra top, straps leading to a halter neck and choker, long crepe skirt, bare midriff with fabric strips connecting the top and skirt, and long black gloves with vertical slits allowing the skin to show through.

The final result is chic and dramatic, but she doesn’t want the audience to know she has stolen someone else’s design. She asks me to find her makeup tray, so I look inside a 1920’s style vanity, but it is filled only with cassette tapes and a recorder. I accidentally start the recorder playing and can’t shut it off. The song is a 1920’s tune that apparently accompanied the model on Project Runway when she showed the original design. The MC is furious because she thinks the audience will make the connection to her gown’s true origins.  

The dream then fast forwards to the final scene of the play, which is set like the Victorian drawing room in the Nutcracker ballet, ready for a lavish Christmas celebration. After the characters parade around and exchange not-so-pleasantries, the MC announces that the world is about to end, and this is their last chance to hold onto what is most important to them.

The final tableau shows each character worshipping their god, pledging their allegiance to what they hold most dear. A middle-aged woman who has parlayed her physical charms into a wealthy but loveless marriage and equally empty affairs draws close to her reflection in a full-length mirror. Her husband reaches lustfully for the young maid, who has her hands in the silver drawer.

The learned professor gets on one knee in a courtly pose and extends his arms to the bookshelf, as if he could encompass all the science, poetry, and philosophy contained in its volumes. While the athlete contorts his muscular frame into a manly expression of physical prowess, the obese glutton stuffs his face at the buffet, and the addict snorts his stash of cocaine. The children grab as many presents as they can, shoving each other aside, and run to the fireplace, peering up into the chimney and hoping they can get more from Santa.

A priest, who was invited to pray before the meal, piously holds his rosary in one hand and his censer in the other, looking upward to heaven yet hoping a crowd will kneel at his feet. Meanwhile, a beggar out in the cold, nearing the threshold in hopes of a few scraps discarded from the sumptuous dinner, flings himself prostrate on the ground and begs God for mercy and forgiveness.

I awoke with the realization that only the beggar, who realized he was a sinner in need of a Savior, would spend eternity in Heaven with Jesus Christ, and that the idol worshippers would all be cast into the lake of fire (Ephesians 5:5; Revelation 20:15;21:8)..

The pattern of the black dress reminded me of a “map” Todd Friel drew on an episode of the Wretched TV show, with the skirt representing the lake of fire, the top representing the “Devil’s Pond,” and the slits on the gloves, straps, and fabric pieces representing the tributaries feeding into the pond and ultimately into the lake of fire. He explained that Satan lures souls to follow the current into these various tributaries and rivers of worldly thought leading to destruction, including sexual immorality, substance abuse, humanism, atheism, pagan worship, and works-based religions.

In the dream, the dress design was stolen but masqueraded as an original creation. Satan is the great deceiver and the father of all lies (John 8:44), and in his desire to be God he imitates Him, from the unholy trinity to his distortion of God’s Word, seen first in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:1-5) and not ending permanently until he is cast into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:10) . But all evil deeds are recorded and made known (Mark 4:22; Luke 8:17; (Ephesians 5:11-13), and those who rejected God and His Son will answer to Christ when He reads their sins from the books He keeps (Revelation 20:12).

Except for the beggar, all of the characters in this dream staked their eternal destiny on something other than faith in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ as the only way to Heaven (1 Corinthians 15:1-4; John 14:6). The “Christmas” celebration failed to honor Christ, Who came in the flesh (John 1:14) to reconcile sinful man to Holy God (2 Corinthians 5:18-19; Hebrews 2:17). Instead, it glorified the false gods of this world as the celebrants stumbled into Satan’s traps of the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life (1 John 2:16).

Falling prey to the lust of the flesh were the drug abuser and the glutton. The middle-aged beauty succumbed to the lust of the eyes as well as the lust of the flesh, worshipping her own image while seeking confirmation of her desirability in meaningless sexual encounters. Her husband, who should have been the spiritual leader of the household (Ephesians 5:23-26), was no better. Small wonder that they had neglected their parental responsibilities of spiritual guidance, and that their greedy children were following in their parents’ footsteps !

Also attempting to satisfy the lust of the eyes and the pride of life was the maid, as those who crave wealth do so for the lovely things it buys as well as for the power linked to prestige and worldly success (1 Timothy 6:10). And the athlete placed his faith in his physical strength and accomplishments to win the respect of others (1 Corinthians 9:25). But we are saved by God’s grace alone, and not by our own works, no matter how impressive (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Thinking himself to be wise by embracing all the world’s writings, the professor proved himself to be a fool, as the world’s “wisdom” is no match for God’s Word. Trusting in evolution and humanism as absolute truth deceives men from realizing their own sinful nature and leads them to deny God’s very existence (Romans 1:21-25; Psalm 14:1; 53:1).

One would hope that the priest would be a better role model than the other characters in this morality play, but he too counted on his own works and self-righteousness (Luke 18:10-14) Vain repetitions in prayer, without speaking to God as a child approaches their Father (Matthew 6:7-9) for wisdom, advice, and loving guidance and provision, are meaningless works. Even worse, he pretended to be worshipping God while seeking only admiration and reverence from others (Matthew 6:1-5), which made him a false prophet and teacher whose only god was himself ((Matthew 7:15;:2 Peter 2:1).

Far outnumbered by those who tried to enter eternity by the broad gate leading to destruction was the beggar. Sadly, those who have been born again (John 3:3-8) and accept Jesus Christ as the only Way, Truth and Life (John 14:6) are in the minority, and even Jesus said that His way is narrow (Matthew 7:13-14). May we renounce our false gods, repent of our sins, and trust in Him to lead us to eternal life!

Everyone is looking for something, but even in this life, nothing satisfies other than a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Only He brings joy, peace and abundant life here and now, and unimaginable, everlasting joy and peace in His presence in Heaven. May we tell all we encounter of His goodness and of the satisfaction only He can give!

© 2013 Laurie Collett

Reposted from the archives

Backward to Forward, Down to Up: Even Jesus Descended to Ascend

As we saw last week, our Christian life is not static, but marked by ups and downs, often seeming like three steps backward for every two steps forward. But God allows and uses these setbacks for our instruction, growth, and ultimate spiritual victory.

In the Psalms, David not only thanked God for lifting him from the deep pit of his sin and despair (Psalm 9:15; 28:1; 30:3; 40:2), but further prophesied that even Jesus Himself would descend to the depths of hell, where God the Father would not allow Him to be corrupted (Psalms 16:10). Several of the ages, dispensations or pivot points of Biblical history are marked by the movement of Jesus downward to once again ascend upward.

In contrast, the path of Satan is always relentlessly downward. God created him as Lucifer, the most beautiful, wise and talented angel of light, the covering angel protecting God’s throne. But he fell to the sin of pride, wanting to exalt himself above God’s throne and Name, so God cast him out of His third Heaven to the skies and earth below, from there to be brought down to hell (Isaiah 14:12-17; Ezekiel 28:13-19).

Lucifer thus became Satan, prince of the power of the air (Ephesians 2:2) and temporary ruler of this world (Ephesians 6:12; 1 John 4:4). After the revelation and second coming of Jesus Christ, Satan will be defeated at the battle of Armageddon and chained in the bottomless pit, under the earth, for one thousand years. Although he will be let loose briefly at the conclusion of the Millennial Kingdom, his ultimate destiny is to the even lower depths of the lake of fire (Revelation 19:11-21; 20:1-3,10).

Satan, as a created being, must answer to God despite his rebellion, whereas Jesus is Himself God and Creator. Christ willingly left His heavenly throne to descend to earth in human form (John 1:1,14), born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14) in the lowliest of circumstances (Luke 2:7), born to die as the perfect sacrifice to reconcile sinful man to Holy God (Hebrews 10:1-14), and to rise again so that all who trust Him will have eternal life (1 Corinthians 15:20-22).

Once Jesus had given up the ghost on Calvary’s cross, Jesus fulfilled the prophecy recorded by David in the Psalms by descending into the heart of the earth (Matthew 12:40), or Hades, which at that time was divided into two compartments separated by an impenetrable barrier (Luke 16:19-31). Hell was the compartment designed for the devil and his angels, and the place of eternal torment for those who were doomed because they did not believe and trust God.

The other compartment, known as Paradise (Luke 16:19-31), which means garden of God, or Abraham’s bosom, was a place of peace, joy and comfort for those who were saved by faith. The thief on the cross who called Jesus Lord and asked Him to remember him when He came into His kingdom thus proved his submission to Christ and His faith that He was indeed the promised Messiah. Jesus answered him, “Today shalt thou be with me in Paradise” (Luke 23:42-43).

After the death of their bodies, the soul and spirit of Jesus and of that thief then descended into Paradise. There Jesus gathered all the saved souls and elevated them with Him to the third heaven (Ephesians 4:8-10), which is now the abode of Paradise and of the souls of those who go home to be with the Lord (2 Corinthians 12:2-4).

On the third day after His physical death, Jesus descended from Heaven to earth, then in His glorified body of flesh and bone (Luke 24:39), that had a visible (John 20:14), tangible, recognizable form; that could eat; and that could pass through walls (Luke 24:36-43).

Forty days later, after numerous appearances to His disciples and to other witnesses (Acts 1:3), He rose upward into Heaven, where He is now at the right hand of God the Father (Mark 16:19-20; Acts 2:33-34; 7:55; Ephesians 1:20; Colossians 3:1; Hebrews 1:3; 8:1; etc.). There He acts as our intercessor in prayer to the Father (Romans 8:34) and our advocate defending us from Satan’s accusations (1 John 2:1; Revelation 12:10).

Praise God, one day Jesus Christ will descend part of the way to earth, at the same time catching up all those who died in Him and all those believers who still remain alive, to meet with Him in the air! We will then all be in our glorified bodies and live with Him forever! (1 Corinthians 15:51-57; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17).

After the Judgment Seat of Christ (Romans 14:10; 2 Corinthians 5:10) and the Marriage Supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:9) in Heaven, we will descend to earth as His armies, when He appears in the clouds in power and glory and descends to conquer death, sin and Satan (1 Corinthians 15: 24-28) with the Word of His mouth!

After renovation of the heavens and earth by fire (2 Peter 3:10), the heavenly city, New Jerusalem, will descend from Heaven like a radiant bride prepared for her Husband (Revelation 3:12; 21:2), Jesus Christ the Bridegroom, where we will rule and reign forever with Him!  

© 2017 Laurie Collett