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"And no one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven, even the Son of Man."

1 Tim. 3:16 

And by common confession great is the mystery of godliness: He who was revealed in the flesh, Was vindicated in the Spirit, Beheld by angels, Proclaimed among the nations, Believed on in the world, Taken up in glory.

In the ancient Hymn we've used as our series text, (I Timothy 3:16) the Church sang of three acts of God and three responses of his creation. Notice the three responses: The angels beheld Him, (Beheld by angels) the believers proclaimed Him (Proclaimed among the nations) and the hearers believed on Him (Believed on in the world). These responses are made possible because of three acts of God. The Incarnation (He who was revealed in the flesh), the Resurrection, (was vindicated in the Spirit) and the Ascension (Taken up in glory.) Each of the actions of God focus on times of transition in Jesus' life.

The miracle of the incarnation is that the "eternal logos" became a man. It was a transition from eternity into time. 

During the advent and Christmas seasons, Christians celebrate his incarnation. He lived, suffered, and died, as all men do, but he did not remain dead. The second transition was from death to life. He rose again on the third day. We celebrate resurrection power at Easter, and for that matter, every week when we worship on Sunday instead of Saturday. 

But when do we celebrate the Ascension? The ascension is the third transition, from earth to heaven. Is it a lesser event than the other two, or have we lost a significant opportunity for celebration?

Dr. Luke begins his second treatise to Theophilus the same way he ended his first one, with a detailed account of Jesus' ascension into heaven. "And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight." (Acts 1:9) This event was significant enough in Luke's eyes to occupy the most important positions in a writer's work-the beginning and the end. I fear that beside such events as His birth and His resurrection, we underestimate the importance of the ascension, nevertheless, it occupies an important part of our rich theology. This morning, let's explore the significance of this great act of God:

• •In the ascension, Jesus Closed the Books. He accomplished the fulfillment of the Sacrificial system

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