Absentee Advantage
Theme of the Week: Raised with Christ
Saturday, April 26, 2003
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Q. How could it possibly be better for the church to experience an absentee Lord?
A. It was 3 A.M. in 1965. I couldn't sleep. I'd spent that day studying the ascension of Christ. And one statement of Jesus to His disciples in the Upper Room gripped my mind in a vise. He said, "It is actually best for you that I go away" (John 16:7). I paced the floor of our Amsterdam apartment, mulling over this astonishing statement.
Parting with loved ones is not a "sweet sorrow." You would think that to part with the incarnate Jesus would be an utterly bitter sorrow. Yet Jesus spoke of a certain "advantage" to His departure from earth. That advantage is found partially in answer to Peter's earlier question: "Lord, where are you going?" (John 13:36). We might say that the entire farewell discourse of was given to answer that question.
When Jesus left this world, to ascend didn't mean merely "to go up." His ascension was to a certain place for a particular reason. He was being elevated to His seat at the right hand of the Father, the royal throne of cosmic authority, as the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.
Jesus answered Peter by telling him not only where He was going, but also why. He said, "Because if I don't, the Counselor won't come. If I do go away, he will come because I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convince the world of its sin, and of God's righteousness, and of the coming of judgment" The Holy Spirit, the Helper promised by Jesus, stands ready to assist you today.
R. C. Sproul is a theologian and author. His books include In the Presence of God.
Adapted fromIn the Presence of God (W. Publishing Group, 1999) by permission.
Copyright © 2003 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine.
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Lord God, I praise You for Your incredible power that raised Your Son from the dead—and will also raise me.
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