“The Head that Once was Crowned”
By Thomas Kelly, 1820
The head that once was crowned with thorns
Is crowned with glory now;
A royal diadem adorns
The mighty victor’s brow.
The highest place that Heav’n affords
Belongs to Him by right;
The King of kings and Lord of lords,
And Heaven’s eternal Light.
The joy of all who dwell above,
The joy of all below,
To [...]
Entries Tagged as ‘Ascension’
May 10, 2009
Lord’s Day Hymn – “His people’s hope, His people’s wealth”
May 10, 2009
“This One has gone up” by William Willimon
“The cosmology of the ascension bemuses because the puny ‘modern mind’ no longer asks questions for which cosmic, universal answers are needed. The doctrine of the ascension is not for sunny, calm, ordered days in May. Its force is not that of escapist nostalgia but of defiant, clenched-fist apocalypticism. It’s a faith for the last [...]
April 30, 2009
“The Son’s Ascension” by John Donne
“Salute the last and everlasting day,
Joy at th’ uprising of this Sun, and Son,
Ye whose true tears, or tribulation
Have purely wash’d, or burnt your drossy clay.
Behold, the Highest, parting hence away,
Lightens the dark clouds, which He treads upon;
Nor doth He by ascending show alone,
But first He, and He first enters the way.
O strong Ram, which [...]
December 31, 2008
“That wondrous storehouse” by Horatius Bonar
“This Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down at the right hand of God. When He had by Himself purged our sins, He sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high. The standing posture of the ancient priests showed that their work was an unfinished one. The [...]
October 23, 2007
“The church has a better story to tell” by Gerrit Scott Dawson
“The location of her Lord draws the church to lift her gaze up from the lure and press of the world. Here a thousand thousand completing stories urge humanity to look for the meaning of life in this world, in autonomy and self-interested pursuits. Men and women walk about with the eyes of their minds [...]
October 23, 2007
“A face like ours will greet us in love” by Gerrit Scott Dawson
“We eschew the error of worldliness now because glorying in the shame to titillate the appetites of the sinful flesh seems ludicrous in comparison to the true glory that is our inheritance. Why would we spend our energy in macabre play with dead things when real life in communion with the Triune God is available?
This [...]
October 23, 2007
“Our home is in heaven; our work is in the world” by Gerrit Scott Dawson
“A robust doctrine of the ascension in the flesh can influence, and even transform, the life of the present-day church in the west. The very nature of the church is determined by the condition and location of her Lord, the head of His body. Jesus is in heaven, yet we, His people, are here on [...]
October 23, 2007
“Our prayers, first, middle and last, are all in Christ” by Gerrit Scott Dawson
“Because we are united to our ascended head, we participate in His oneness and communion with His Father. So we have a triple relation to Jesus in prayer. First, as God the Son, He is prayed to by us; Jesus is the object of our prayer. But second, Jesus also prays for us as our, [...]
October 23, 2007
“He has pioneered the path in His own flesh” by Gerrit Scott Dawson
“The glorified, ascended, still incarnate Jesus is in the Holy Place, within the true tabernacle (Hebrews 8:2) of which every earthly house of worship is at best a shadow. Yet in the Holy Spirit He is not removed from us. The Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus, and brings His presence to us in worship, [...]
October 23, 2007
“A gem of inestimable value” by Gerrit Scott Dawson
“The greatness of a king has always been known through the generosity of the gifts he bestows on his people. One of the first acts of the enthroned Jesus was to open the treasure trove of His love and bring forth a gem of inestimable value. In his bountiful rule, the King of kings showers [...]
October 23, 2007
“The ascended Jesus is the reigning Jesus” by Gerrit Scott Dawson
“The ascended Jesus is the reigning Jesus. Of all the meanings of the ascension, this one is pre-eminent: Jesus has gone up to the right hand of God the Father, exalted above every name and power. He reigns. Jesus is Lord and there is no other. This is the earliest Christian confession, made right in [...]
October 23, 2007
“Jesus wears the flesh which is our inheritance” by Gerrit Scott Dawson
“The Lord Jesus Christ ascended into heaven in the selfsame body in which He lived, died and rose in our midst. Glorified now, Jesus wears the flesh which is our inheritance. Though fully human still, and thus embodied, Jesus is yet fully God and able to communicate Himself to the members of His body across [...]
October 23, 2007
“Though He is in heaven, He remains one of us” by Gerrit Scott Dawson
“The Godhead is not stripped of humanity, but adorned with it. The incarnation was not a lightning strike that is brilliant one moment but gone the next. No – though He is in heaven, He remains one of us, wearing the clothes of flesh He acquired on earth, even unto eternity.”
–Gerrit Scott Dawson, Jesus Ascended: [...]
October 23, 2007
“We belong to Jesus Christ who is in heaven” by Gerrit Scott Dawson
“The doctrine of the ascension dynamically draws our attention to the full range of the present work of Christ. It lifts our eyes and hearts to watch for His promised return. So the ascension changes the way we understand our place in this world. We belong to Jesus Christ who is in heaven. Our true [...]
October 21, 2007
Lord’s Day Hymn – “O Christ, Thou Hast Ascended”
O Christ, Thou Hast Ascended”
By Edward Bickersteth, Jr., 1872
O Christ, Thou hast ascended,
Triumphantly on high!
By cherub guards attended
And armies of the sky:
Let earth tell forth the story—
Our very flesh and bone,
Immanuel, in glory,
Ascends His Father’s throne.
Heaven’s gates unfold above Thee:
But canst Thou, Lord, forget
The little band who love Thee
And gaze from Olivet?
Nay, on Thy breast [...]
