The Ascension of Jesus Christ has changed everything. Not just something. Not just a detail in our creed. Everything. The truth about God. The truth about ourselves. The truth about what it means to live as Christians. None of it begins inside us—in our shifting moods, our spiritual stamina, or our best efforts. It is grounded outside us, forever, in the living Jesus Christ, and by the Spirit His life is made ours.
In the Ascension, the Son of God carried the humanity He had taken from us—our flesh-and-blood humanity—into the Father’s blazing presence. We are not outsiders, not orphans, not beggars at the door. In Christ, humanity has been welcomed, healed, and given a home in the love of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Our humanity is not alien to God; our future and our belonging are secured in Christ.
The Jesus who stands for us now is still truly human. He is our ascended High Priest. He knows our weakness. He intercedes for us. Our acceptance is anchored in His own faithfulness, not in the strength or constancy of ours.
From the right hand of the Father, Jesus pours out the Holy Spirit—not merely to give us spiritual help or make us better versions of ourselves, but to bring us Christ Himself. By the Spirit, the risen and ascended Jesus makes His life present to us, unites us to Himself, and draws us into His communion with the Father, His mission, and His love for the world.
So we can stop the anxious self-surveillance. Is my faith strong enough? Are my prayers sincere enough? Is my worship pure enough? We can lay down the exhausting project of self-measurement. Instead, we are set free to live outwardly: to repent, to believe, to love, to forgive, to serve, to work, to suffer, to age, to care for the world God loves. We do all this in hope, because the glorified humanity of Jesus—right now on the throne—shows us what God intends for human life.
The Ascension does not call us to escape the earth. We are not meant to stand gazing into the sky as though waiting for Christ meant withdrawing from the world. The Ascension gives us this time—time to repent, believe, bear witness, love our neighbors, and participate in Christ’s mission while we await His appearing. Christ reigns. His Spirit lives in us. And with that, He sends us deeper into the grit and glory of ordinary human life. And as the Spirit frees us from self-obsession, we become more truly human, enjoying what we’ve been made for: communion with God and one another.
So we worship1—not to climb our way to God, but because in Jesus Christ, God has come to us. And He has brought our humanity home in Himself. And now, by the Spirit, He gathers our unfinished lives into the Son’s perfect communion with the Father.
Themes
The ascended Christ • Vicarious humanity of Christ • High priestly intercession • Acceptance in Christ • Freedom from self-measurement • Participation in His ministry • The Christ of Scripture • Embodied life matters • The future promised to us • Truly human • Participation in worship • Ordinary work • Christ’s return
There is now permanent room for us with God.
Scripture reading
Acts 1:9–11 Hebrews 4:14–16 Colossians 3:1–4 Acts 2:32–33
The historian Luke records this story: After Jesus had spoken these things, He was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid Him from their sight. As they were looking intently into the sky, two men stood beside them and said, “Why do you stand looking into heaven? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come again.” The writer of Hebrews wrote: Since we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to our faith. We do not have a High Priest who is unable to understand our weakness. So let us come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Paul wrote: Since you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. And when Peter preached his first post-Ascension sermon to the crowds, he exclaimed: God raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it. Exalted to the right hand of God, Jesus has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear.
Prayer
Father, we worship You because Jesus Christ is risen, is ascended, and is reigning. Your Son who came down to us has taken our humanity — our humanness; all of it — with Him into Your very presence and into communion with You. He didn’t leave any of it behind. He remains truly human. He is not ashamed to call us His brothers and sisters. The one who is seated at Your right hand is still our Brother— the Jesus who knew hunger and weariness, friendship and sorrow, suffering and death. The One who now stands for us in Your very presence is the One who has fully joined Himself to us. And because our humanity is all right there in Him in Your presence, right now, we know that we are not shut out from You. There is now permanent room for us with You. In Christ, we are not strangers standing outside Your life; we have been brought near and we have been welcomed into Your very life and love of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Our life is hidden with Christ in You. So free us, Father, from constantly looking inward to decide whether we belong. Keep us from measuring our standing with You by how strong our faith feels, or how sincere our repentance seems, or how focused our prayers are, or how well we think we’ve obeyed. Our acceptance doesn’t rest inside us. Our acceptance rests in Your Son, Jesus Christ. He is faithful when we are weak. He prays for us when our prayers falter. He stands before You for us. So turn our eyes away from ourselves and turn them toward our ascended High Priest. And Father, keep us from standing still and looking toward heaven. You have given us this day, this life, these neighbors, these relationships, and this world in which to follow Jesus. Give us grace to repent. Give us courage to believe. Give us eyes to see where Christ is at work. Give us strength to participate in His ministry that’s already unfolding all around us. Teach us to love, to forgive, to serve, to speak the truth, to care for the lonely, and do the ordinary work You have placed before us. And because Jesus has ascended, He has poured out His Spirit on us So Holy Spirit, we know that You do not merely dispense spiritual help. You bring us Christ himself. Make the living Jesus known among us. Keep us from inventing a Jesus out of our own wishes or imagination. Lead us again and again to the Jesus given to us in Holy Scripture— the Jesus who lived among us, died for us, rose bodily from the grave, ascended bodily to the Father, and reigns even now. And because Jesus ascended and took his physical life with Him, teach us not to despise our physical lives. Our bodies matter to You. Our physical work matters. Our meals matter. Our homes matter. Our sickness matters. Our aging matters. The humanness of Jesus has been raised and glorified, and in Him we see the future You have promised to us. So even when our bodies weaken and our lives feel unfinished, give us hope. What You have begun in Jesus You will bring to completion. And as we do share in the life of Your Son, make us more and more truly human. Make us less afraid. Less turned in on ourselves. More free to love. More ready to forgive. More willing to serve. More able to rejoice. More alive to You and to one another. And now, as we worship, lift our hearts to Christ. Take our distracted thoughts, our weak prayers, our tired hearts, and our unfinished faith, and gather them all up into the perfect worship of Jesus before You. For Jesus Christ is risen. Jesus Christ has ascended. Jesus Christ reigns. Jesus Christ intercedes for us. Jesus Christ has poured out the Holy Spirit. And Jesus Christ will come again. Father, through the Son and in the Holy Spirit, receive our worship. Amen.
A call to worship given to the small assembly of Christians who gathered at Pathway Church, Beaverdam, Michigan, on Sunday, September 27, 2026.