Ascending

Blog from Gerrit Scott Dawson, excerpt:

...read John 3:13: “No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.”

"There’s only one guy who goes up. The guy who first came down. The man whose origin is not earth but heaven itself. That’s Jesus, the eternal Son of God, who alone among men is a native of God’s realm. In the fullness of time, he became the Son of Man in Mary’s womb. Then after his sinless, faithful life and atoning death, Jesus rose and ascended — in the same body in which he was crucified! The Redeemer returned to his Father, yet he remained one of us as he took our humanity with him."

"Only Jesus could ascend. So our future, embodied life in the presence of God, along with all the saints, depends, so to speak, on our hitching a ride with him. For us to go up to heaven, Jesus had to make a way. He had to reconnect heaven and earth. And we have to be passengers in Christ. We have to be made one with him by the Holy Spirit. We have to be united to Jesus as members of his body. Because only one guy goes up. I have to be included in that man if I want to go. I’m ever only a passenger. Christ is the vessel which alone can make the passage from earth to heaven."