The Ascension of Jesus Christ (7)

“Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, whom we acknowledge as our apostle and high priest. He was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in all God’s house. Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself. For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything. “Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s house,” bearing witness to what would be spoken by God in the future. But Christ is faithful as the Son over God’s house. And we are his house, if indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory.” (Heb 3:1-6)
 
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We are currently sharing about the Ascension of Jesus Christ.
 
The Significance of the Ascension of Jesus Christ
1. The Enthronement as the Ruler of All Creation
The first truth we learn through the ascension of Jesus Christ is that He is the true King of the entire universe. When Jesus Christ first came to this earth, He came in the form of a servant and died on the cross. However, God, by His power, raised Him from the dead, exalted Him to heaven, and seated Him at His right hand. God gave Him the name that is above every name, and all authority to rule and judge the entire world.
 
2. Christ Becoming the Eternal High Priest
The ascension of Jesus Christ also marked the beginning of His ministry as our eternal High Priest. Through His ascension, Jesus entered the true, heavenly sanctuary ahead of us. Over the past three sermons, we have looked at the ministries He performs as our High Priest.
 
The Ministry of Christ as High Priest
1. Christ the Reconciler
First, as our High Priest, Jesus reconciled us with God. In the Old Testament era, the most important role of the high priest was to enter the Most Holy Place once a year on the Day of Atonement, carrying the blood of a goat, to atone for the sins of all the people of Israel.
However, atonement through the blood and death of animals was imperfect. Therefore, the Day of Atonement had to be repeated every year, and the way into the Most Holy Place remained blocked by the veil.
But as our eternal High Priest, the atonement Jesus Christ accomplished once and for all on the cross was perfect and eternal. This is because the sacrifice He offered for atonement was not an animal, but Himself.
Because He is inherently God and is the Word of God through whom all things were made, the atonement He completed through His blood and death on the cross was more than enough to forgive the sins of all people in all generations.
This is exactly what it meant when the veil of the temple was torn from top to bottom at the moment Jesus died on the cross. It signifies that the atonement of Jesus Christ was perfect, and because of it, we have now been made fully righteous.
We can now go beyond the veil, directly into the presence of God—before His throne. That throne is not in an earthly sanctuary built by human hands, but in the heavenly sanctuary built by God Himself.
 
Hebrews 10:19–22 says,
"Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water." (Hebrews 10:19–22)
 
2. Christ the Intercessor
The second ministry Jesus performs as our High Priest is interceding for us. Although Jesus is not physically here on earth with us, He is still constantly praying for us at the right hand of the throne of God.
Hebrews 7:24–25 says,
"But because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them." (Hebrews 7:24–25)
One of the vital duties of the Old Testament high priests was to pray for the people of Israel. However, none of them could carry out that duty forever, because death prevented them from continuing their ministry.
But Jesus Christ is different. He tasted death, but He conquered it, and He is alive forevermore. Jesus Christ’s ministry of intercession for us is never interrupted. Even at those moments when we are too busy with various circumstances, or when we lose even the strength to pray—crushed by the worries of the world and the burden of our sins—and even when we feel completely alone, Jesus is still there, praying for us.
 
3. Christ, Who Helps Us in Our Weakness
In the last session, we looked at the third ministry of Jesus Christ as our Great High Priest. Jesus is helping us from the right hand of the throne of God. This is from Hebrews 4:14–16:
"Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." (Hebrews 4:14–16)
Jesus Christ is more than sufficient to help us. This is because He fully understands us and possesses the absolute power to help us.
By nature, Jesus is equal to God. However, He limited all His heavenly glory and privileges, emptied Himself, and came to this earth clothed in a human body just like ours. Jesus, who is fully God, became fully man. The virgin birth of Jesus Christ clearly demonstrates this. Just as His conception by the Holy Spirit reveals His perfect divinity, His birth as a fragile, helpless baby demonstrates His perfect humanity.
It is profoundly important that Jesus possesses both perfect divinity and perfect humanity. Because He is fully God, He is without sin. Therefore, the atonement He accomplished through His own blood and death—by offering His body as a sacrifice on the cross—is perfect, and its effect is eternal.
Furthermore, because He was fully human, He can completely understand us, including our weaknesses, and He is able to help us.
Jesus faced the exact same temptations that we encounter. Before officially beginning His ministry, Jesus fasted for 40 days in the wilderness and was tempted three times by Satan; all of these temptations were directly related to our basic human needs and desires.
While Jesus stayed in the wilderness and fasted for 40 days, His physiological needs, safety needs, and need for belonging were put to the test. However, Jesus rebuffed Satan’s temptation to "turn stones into bread" by relying on the Word of God.
Satan’s second and third temptations were related to our needs for 'esteem' and 'self-actualization.' Yet, Jesus had absolutely no interest in receiving esteem from anyone or fulfilling His own self. This was because He was already fully esteemed within His relationship with the Heavenly Father, and He was overflowing with the ultimate joy and satisfaction that came from His sonship.
In this way, under the extreme conditions of the wilderness, Jesus faced every temptation related to basic human desires. However, He did not yield to human wants; instead, He chose the Word of God and His divine will, successfully passing through every single test.
As such, Jesus knows exactly what desires we have and how vulnerable we are to them. Even now, He prays for us and helps us from the right hand of God's throne so that we do not stumble into our fleshly and sinful desires. He grants us the strength to overcome all those temptations and win the victory, filling us completely with the joy and satisfaction that only He can provide.
This is precisely why, especially when we are weak, we must draw even closer before Christ—our Eternal High Priest—and before His throne of grace. For it is only there that we can obtain the grace of Jesus Christ, who helps us in all our circumstances and in our every time of need.
 
 
4. Christ, Who Builds the House
Today, we will look at the final ministry that Jesus performs for us as our Eternal High Priest: building the house.
Let us read Hebrews 3:1–6 together:
"Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession, who was faithful to him who appointed him, just as Moses also was faithful in all God's house. For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses—as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself. (For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.) Now Moses was faithful in all God's house as a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later, but Christ is faithful over God's house as a son. And we are his house, if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope." (Hebrews 3:1–6) 
 
Christ, Superior to Moses
In this passage, the author turns the readers' attention to Jesus Christ as our High Priest, emphasizing and explaining His superiority through a comparison with Moses.
While Jewish history features many great figures, Moses is one who is never left out. Through Moses, God delivered the Israelites from Pharaoh's oppression. Through Moses, God gave His Law and the Ten Commandments to the people of Israel. The Pentateuch—comprising Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy—is collectively called the 'Torah' and is regarded as the most crucial part of the Old Testament.
Even after the Israelites left Egypt, Moses faithfully led them through the wilderness for forty years. He constantly prayed to God on behalf of a people who repeatedly rebelled, complained, grumbled, and even tried to stone him to death. He faithfully guided them to the very end.
 
Yet, what the author of Hebrews points out is that even this great figure, Moses, cannot be compared to Jesus Christ.
 
The House of God
Let's read Hebrews 3:2–4:
"He was faithful to him who appointed him, just as Moses also was faithful in all God's house. For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses—as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself. (For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.)" (Hebrews 3:2–4) 
Moses was faithful in all of God's house. Here, "God's house" refers to God's people. But, why are God's people described as a house? There are two main reasons.
First, the Greek word translated as house here is 'Oikos', which referred not only to a physical building but also to the family living inside it. Therefore, when God calls His people His "house," it means He has adopted us into His own family.
Second, God’s people are described as a house because each believer becomes a dwelling place where God’s presence resides. In the Old Testament, God dwelt in the Tabernacle, but that temporary arrangement was due to human sin. God's ultimate purpose is for each of us to become a holy temple fit for His habitation. This is the true blueprint of the house God desires to build, and Jesus Christ came to this earth as a faithful High Priest to finish this house.
The Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 3:16–17:
"Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple." (1 Corinthians 3:16–17)
On what grounds can Paul declare that Christians have become God’s temple? In the temple, the most crucial area was the Most Holy Place, because that was where God's direct presence manifested.
Inside the Most Holy Place stood what was considered God's throne—the space above the Ark of the Covenant, known as the 'Mercy Seat.' And inside this Ark were the tablets of the Covenant, the words of the agreement God made with Israel.
However, this physical Ark of the Covenant has disappeared. Where, then, does God dwell today? The answer is that God sits upon the throne inside the heart of every believer. The author of Hebrews urges us to draw near boldly to the throne of grace to find help in our time of need. But if the Ark is gone, how can we find that throne, and how can we approach it?
 
The New Covenant
The answer to this question lies in the 'New Covenant.' When the Kingdom of Judah was on the brink of destruction by Babylon, God spoke to the prophet Jeremiah:
"Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people." (Jeremiah 31:31–33)
This is the essence of the New Covenant. The core distinction of this New Covenant is where the Word of God is written. Under the Old Covenant, God's Word was carved onto stone tablets and kept inside the Ark. Wherever that Ark rested, God’s throne was established. But that was a holy place, entirely inaccessible to sinners.
Under the New Covenant, however, God's covenant word is no longer written on a stone. It is inscribed upon each of our hearts. What does this mean? It means that every single one of us becomes a dwelling place for God. A throne for God is established right inside our hearts. This is precisely why the author of Hebrews tells us that we can boldly approach His throne at any given moment.
Yet, for God's law to be directly engraved onto our hearts, one prerequisite was absolutely vital: the perfect forgiveness of sins, which is atonement because sin is the greatest barrier preventing us from having a direct relationship with God.
To solve this very problem—to establish us as God's complete house and a temple of His presence, to reconcile us to God, and to make us members of His family and His children—Jesus Christ came to this earth.
In the Old Testament, when God made a covenant with the Israelites through Moses at Mount Sinai, the instruments used were the word of the covenant and the blood of the covenant. Likewise, in the New Testament, when sinners enter into a covenant with God, this covenant blood is still required. The critical difference is that in the New Testament era, we no longer seal our covenant with God through the blood of animals; instead, we enter a covenant relationship through the blood of His Son, Jesus Christ.
During the Last Supper, as Jesus broke the bread and passed the cup to His disciples, He said:
"For this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins." (Matthew 26:28)
Notice that Jesus did not merely call the blood He would spill on the cross the 'blood of forgiveness,' but rather the 'blood of the covenant.' This reveals the ultimate purpose of His crucifixion. It was to make us God's covenant people. Forgiveness of sins was the necessary condition to achieve that end.
By bleeding and dying on the cross, Jesus tore down the wall of sin that blocked our way to God, reconciling us to Him. Through Jesus Christ, we gained access to God and welcomed Him into our hearts. And now, God writes His covenant words upon our hearts. He places His throne within our hearts and takes His seat there. He claims us as His dwelling place and His temple, abiding within us forever.
So we no longer need to search for a physical Ark of the Covenant to approach God’s throne. That throne is already inside our hearts, where God’s covenant word has been written by the covenant blood of Christ.
This is why the author of Hebrews calls Jesus the 'mediator of a new covenant.' As Hebrews 9:15 states:
"Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant." (Hebrews 9:15)
For Jesus Christ to be the mediator of the New Covenant means that through Him, the promise God made to the prophet Jeremiah has been perfectly fulfilled.
For this reason, Jesus Christ is far superior to Moses. Moses was the mediator of the Old Covenant between God and Israel, which relied on the blood of animals. God intended to build the Israelites into His house through that Old Covenant, but its limitations were stark.
Although Moses was a faithful servant in all of God's house, the relationship between the Israelites and God kept fracturing. Furthermore, Moses fundamentally differed from Jesus because Moses himself was merely a part of God's house, whereas Jesus Christ is the builder of that house.
These are the core arguments the author of Hebrews uses to prove Jesus' superiority over Moses. Moses was a servant of God who existed for a brief moment in Israel's history, but Jesus is the eternal Son of God. Moses was a part of the house, but Jesus is the builder of the house. Moses was faithful in God’s house as a servant, but Jesus was faithful over God’s house as its Master and the Son of God. Moses merely delivered God’s message to the house, but Jesus was the very revelation of God Himself.
 
Additionally, although the author speaks highly of how faithfully Moses carried out his divine mission to serve God's house, we know he was not perfect. When God first called him, Moses repeatedly tried to refuse the calling. Later, when God commanded him to speak to the rock to bring forth water, Moses struck the rock twice with his staff in anger. This was a failure to uphold God’s holiness and honor Him in the sight of the Israelites.
In stark contrast, Jesus never rejected God's calling, even though it meant enduring intense suffering and laying down His life. When He was falsely accused, mocked, spit upon, and struck, He chose silence over self-defense because revealing God’s holiness and righteousness was His absolute priority. Moses stumbled, but Jesus never failed to obey the will of God. Even at his most faithful, Moses’ faithfulness cannot dare to compare with the faithfulness of Jesus.
 
Hebrews 3:5–6 states: "Now Moses was faithful in all God's house as a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later, but Christ is faithful over God's house as a son. And we are his house, if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope." (Hebrews 3:5–6) 
As the Son of God, Jesus Christ is wholly devoted to the house God is building. He is not only its builder but also its faithful, ongoing caretaker.
This is where our assurance rests. When we look at our own weaknesses and sinful tendencies, doubts can rush in, causing us to wonder: "Am I truly saved? Am I really a temple of God?"
But in those moments, we must remember that the one shaping us into God's house—a temple worthy of His dwelling—is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Therefore, we must turn back to Him, our ever-faithful High Priest. We must surrender the throne and ownership of our hearts back to Him, humbly acknowledging His sovereignty.
If we hold fast to our hope and confidence in Jesus Christ to the very end, we remain His house. Our High Priest will never give up on us.
The Apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 1:6:
"And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ." (Philippians 1:6)
The Book of Hebrews continuously reassures us that Jesus, as our Eternal High Priest, is fully capable of saving us, sympathizing with our weaknesses, and helping us. This truth must be the bedrock of our faith.
Therefore, as Christians, we do not place our hope in ourselves, but in Jesus, our High Priest. We do not place our hope in what we have achieved, but in what He has done and will continue to do for us. He, who promised to help and protect us, will never let us down, and He remains eternally faithful to the house of God.
Even now, Jesus, our High Priest, is faithfully building us up into God's house. He is wiping away the dust of our sins, repairing the broken walls of our emotions, and molding us into a holy temple where God can dwell.
I pray that all of us here today will experience His immense love, protection, and guidance, placing our hope solely in Jesus, as we are built up together into God’s holy temple, Church, and house.
 
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the word proclaimed today. We confess that Jesus Christ, who died on the cross, has been exalted to Your right hand as the supreme Ruler of all creation and our eternal High Priest.
Jesus Christ,  we thank You and praise You for opening a new and living way into the throne of grace through Your own precious blood.
Thank You for being the mediator of the New Covenant, inscribing Your law upon our hearts and making us Your dwelling place. Whenever we doubt due to our shortcomings, let us remember that You are the one faithfully building us up. We trust that You who began a good work in us will bring it to completion.
Help us not to place our hope in ourselves, but to fix our eyes solely on Jesus Christ. May we hold fast our confidence to the very end, being built up together as Your holy temple and house.
In the powerful name of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.
 
[Reflection Questions]
1. Who is currently the builder of your life’s house? Is it yourself, or is it Jesus? In what ways do you believe Jesus wants to build or remodel you right now? What do you think is the most important choice you can make today to allow Him to build you into that kind of house?
 
2. What kind of hope and assurance does it give you to know that Jesus is the ultimate Builder of your life and the faithful High Priest who continually establishes this house? What are the spiritual obstacles or distractions that try to shake that assurance and prevent you from fully trusting Him?
 
3. The Bible declares that the body of every believer is a temple where God dwells. How are you currently cultivating and caring for your body and heart to be a holy dwelling place worthy of God's presence?