Jesus Has a Gift for You!

A third implication of Jesus' ascension is that because of it we can experience the Holy Spirit and his gifts. Acts 2:33 has this to say about Jesus:

Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear.

Then, in Ephesians 4:7-12, we read:

But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. This is why it says:

"When he ascended on high,

he led captives in his train

and gave gifts to men."

(What does "he ascended" mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up...

If Jesus had not ascended to heaven then his ministry would have remained localised. However, because he has ascended, he can live and work through you an me by the power of the Holy Spirit. Everyone who is a believer in Jesus has the Holy Spirit living in them and also is gifted by Jesus and the Spirit for service in the kingdom. The question is: are we experiencing the power of the Holy Spirit, discovering and using the gifts he has given us?

Think of it this way: when I was young, my father travelled a lot. However, when he came home he always had a gift for me. That made his homecomings extra special. I have carried on the tradition with my children. When I go away on a trip, I try to find gifts to bring home to them. Even though my children are grown up now, they look forward to those gifts and would never think of not unwrapping them and putting them to use.

Jesus has gone away on a very important trip to heaven. Granted, he has not yet returned. However, while away on his trip he has gotten us some very valuable gifts, and he has sent those gifts to us through the Spirit. How can we not want to discover, unwrap and use those gifts to his glory?

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Will Vaus

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