Christ rises above all things. We see Him in the very act of ascending, as we do not in the actual resurrection. With hands and lips engaged in blessing, He gently parts from His disciples. So simply, so unostentatiously, He has brought heaven near to our common life.
We, too, must ascend, even here. If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above (Colossians 3:1). We must learn to live on the heavenly side and look at things from above.
To contemplate all things as God sees them, as Christ beholds them, overcomes sin, defies Satan, dissolves perplexities, lifts us above trials, separates us from the world and conquers fear of death. Such a perspective enables us to view them as we shall one day look back upon them from His glory, and as if we were now really seated with Him, as indeed we are, in heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6).
Let us arise with His resurrection and, in fellowship with His glorious ascension, learn to live above.
[A.B. Simpson]
Ephesians 1:20-21 ... Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:
John 17:2 ... As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.
John 3:31 ... He that cometh from above is above all: he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth: he that cometh from heaven is above all.
Colossians 1:16 ... For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
Ephesians 4:6 ... One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.❤
