{"id":1988,"date":"2023-09-22T18:10:11","date_gmt":"2023-09-22T18:10:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cccfornews.com\/index.php\/2023\/09\/22\/6-reasons-why-jesus-ascended-to-heaven-according-to-john-piper\/"},"modified":"2023-09-22T18:10:11","modified_gmt":"2023-09-22T18:10:11","slug":"6-reasons-why-jesus-ascended-to-heaven-according-to-john-piper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cccfornews.com\/index.php\/2023\/09\/22\/6-reasons-why-jesus-ascended-to-heaven-according-to-john-piper\/","title":{"rendered":"6 Reasons Why Jesus Ascended to Heaven According to John Piper"},"content":{"rendered":"


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John Piper speaks at the Cross for the Nations Conference on Dec. 29, 2020.<\/span> | Cross for the Nations 2020<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Responding to a question from a listener, noted theologian and author John Piper recently offered reasons why Jesus Christ ascended into Heaven rather than permanently staying on Earth after His resurrection.<\/p>\n

In an episode of \u201cAsk Pastor John<\/a>\u201d posted to the website Desiring God on Thursday, a listener asked Piper, the chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary in Minneapolis, about the purpose of the ascension.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy did Jesus leave Earth after his resurrection?\u201d the listener named Dalton asked. \u201cI understand that Jesus left to leave us the Holy Spirit, but couldn\u2019t He have just stayed and continued His ministry as the risen Christ in tandem with the Spirit? Wouldn\u2019t that have been more effective? Why did Christ leave the Earth?\u201d<\/p>\n

The 77-year-old Baptist said that one of the reasons Jesus left the Earth is that He \u201cwould be spatially bound\u201d and \u201ccould not be in one place and another place and another place at the same time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHis presence would introduce a serious confusion for how Christians are to relate to Him,\u201d Piper contends. \u201cSome would be trying to relate to him by the Spirit, but put off-balance \u2014 knowing that he\u2019s 100 or 10,000 miles away on Earth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Piper also said that the ascension demonstrated Jesus\u2019 authority, noting that \u201cChrist\u2019s post-resurrection role as the God-man ruling the cosmos is better signified if He\u2019s sitting at the right hand of God than walking on the Earth.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis exalted role \u2014 as above all rule and authority in the universe and as the head of the universal church \u2014 would be obscured, wouldn\u2019t it? It would be obscured if Jesus were still walking among us,\u201d Piper said.<\/p>\n

A third reason, Piper said, is that the ascension was \u201cthe fitting coronation for His triumphant work on the cross and His new incarnate superiority over angels,\u201d adding that if Jesus \u201chad not taken this seat, the greatness of his achievement on the cross and the greatness of His new incarnate superiority would be obscured.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jesus\u2019 intercessory role for those who believe in Him is better achieved with Jesus being in Heaven than if He had remained on Earth, Piper argued.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe present intercession of Christ at God\u2019s right hand would not be rightly exercised or exhibited if Christ were still here among us after the resurrection,\u201d the theologian noted.<\/p>\n

Piper cited Romans 8:33-34<\/a>: \u201cWho will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died \u2014 more than that, who was raised to life \u2014 is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Piper also stressed that sending the Holy Spirit to believers \u201ccould not come until Christ [was] completely glorified \u2014 which included his ascension to the Father.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe glorification of Jesus at the right hand of God was essential because the Spirit who would be sent by Jesus and the Father is the Spirit of the glorified Christ,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

The final reason Piper gave was that the ascension was \u201cGod\u2019s way of glorifying His Son,\u201d as seen with the eventual Second Coming of Jesus during the End Times.<\/p>\n

\u201cGod\u2019s plan is that the risen Christ would get great glory at the end of this age, not by itinerating on the earth for 2,000 years, but by descending from Heaven in power and great glory, and defeating the man of lawlessness, and being marveled at by all His people,\u201d Piper said.<\/p>\n

The apologetics website Got Questions<\/a> also addressed the significance of the ascension.<\/p>\n

The ministry contends that the ascension signaled the end of Jesus\u2019 ministry in the world and signified \u201csuccess in His earthly work.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGod the Father had lovingly sent His Son into the world at Bethlehem, and now the Son was returning to the Father. The period of human limitation was at an end,\u201d noted the apologetics site.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt marked the return of His heavenly glory. Jesus\u2019 glory had been veiled during His sojourn on earth, with one brief exception at the Transfiguration.\u201d<\/p>\n

Got Questions also stated that the ascension \u201cset the pattern for His return,\u201d noting that once \u201cJesus comes to set up the Kingdom, He will return just as He left-literally, bodily, and visibly in the clouds.\u201d<\/p>\n

Follow Michael Gryboski on Twitter <\/a> or Facebook<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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