Forty days after Easter, Jesus ascended into heaven. What this biblical truth means is that Jesus removed His visible presence from us. There are some who incorrectly believe that since Jesus is “physically” in heaven, He’s “trapped” there and cannot be “present” on earth. But Scripture clearly teaches that our Savior, who is both God and man in one person, can be physically present in more than one place at a time (Matthew 28:20). For example, Jesus gives us His very body and blood, His “real presence,” when Christians—even at differing locations—celebrate the Lord’s Supper.
In a somewhat similar fashion, Jesus also spoke of the “kingdom of God.” Often, people think of such a kingdom in an earthly, physical manner, such as an empire on earth. Even Jesus’ disciples at times misunderstood, thinking that His kingdom would be a visible kingdom on earth (Acts 1:6).
But Jesus reminds all that His kingdom is “not of this world” (John 18:36). Rather, the “kingdom of God” is a spiritual kingdom; it’s Jesus’ ruling activity in the hearts and lives of His believers. That’s an important truth to remember as we carry out our Savior’s Great Commission—where He emphasized to His disciples right before ascending into heaven— “Therefore go and gather disciples from all nations” (Matthew 28:19; Acts 1:8).
Our readings for Pentecost 4 stress faithfulness to using God’s word to grow His kingdom and to “walk by faith and not by sight,” especially when we may not always “see” the kingdom of God growing as we believe it should. What may be “invisible” to us, however, is clearly visible to God (1 Samuel 16:7).
Click here to listen to the radio broadcast of the June 20th Sermon on 99.9FM