I have been a Christian for many years, and have attended hundreds of sermons, but I never really understood the significance of this event until recently.
I’m speaking of the relationship between Christ’s death and resurrection, ascension to heaven and the coming of the Holy Spirit. Not only are these the three most important events in Scripture, they are all part of one larger event: Heaven opening. Heaven hadn’t been “open” or “accessible” since Adam’s sin. God didn’t walk daily with men, and men were not permitted to enter heaven…ever. But that all changed when Jesus rose victorious over sin and death. From that moment He fulfilled his purpose of opening up heaven. Jesus points out that every thing in heaven and on earth belongs to Him in verse 15. Think of it like this: We say all the time that “Jesus died for our sins”. Okay, that’s fine….but why? It’s because we can’t get into heaven with sin on our ledger. Sinful people owe a debt, and sin debts aren’t permitted in heaven, so someone (Christ) had to pay off our debts, which He did on the cross. So when Christ rose victorious and ascended, He unlocked the gate (figuratively speaking) which allowed two way traffic. Yes, we are allowed to enter…and the Holy Spirit is allowed to come to us. Up until now, that wasn’t permitted. That part that really strikes me lately is the power and importance of the Holy Spirit. When the Spirit came to earth, all things became possible for man. Heaven is open, and we have a 5G connection! It’s something like the power company connecting your home to the power lines. It doesn’t matter how many light fixtures you had before that…you still don’t have any light. Once the power comes on, you have everything you need to run the whole house. If we only use the power to turn on a night light….that’s our mistake. We could have the whole house lit up, and appliance beside…and still not run short of power.
Such is the significance of the coming of the Spirit. The Christian life cannot be lived successfully without Him. Jesus understood this, and said that it was “for our benefit” that the Advocate came. In fact, it is Jesus who sends Him down to earth. I imagine something like a hand slap from a tag-team wrestler taking place in heaven as the Holy Spirit leaps up and charges down into the upper room.
And this really makes my jaw drop… the disciples couldn’t process the significance of what Jesus was saying because all they could hear was Him saying “I’m leaving”. They were so focused on Jesus that they missed what He said about the Spirit. And, many people today are so focused on what Christ did, forgiving our sins…that they miss the Spirit again! We celebrate Christmas and Easter…and then miss Pentecost. It’s only because of Pentecost that we have any “power” at all! Sure, Jesus is the power station…but the Holy Spirit brings that power to us.
Don’t miss His significance, because the Christian life becomes possible and powerful with Him!
Praying to be continually open to the Spirit,
PR