Key Biblical Passage(s):

Psalm 24; Acts 1:9-11; Dan.7:12-14; Eph.2:4-6

Tier 1:

Against a background of exile from Eden we ask the question of Ps.24: Who can ascend the hill of the Lord? Who can stand in His holy place?

For generations, that answer has been: no-one. But now there is a Man who - fresh from His battle with sin and death - who can take humanity back into the manifest presence of God. He is the King of Glory!

In this session we are also beginning to understand how to read the Old Testament in a way that is focussed on and informed by Christ.

Teir 2:

We’ve touched in previous studies on our being united with Christ and included in His ‘journey’ through life, death, resurrection and now ascension. We are already seated with Christ in the heavenly realm (Eph.2:6). Our salvation has been taken beyond the reach of any enemy. We rest secure.

Tier 3:

In His place of absolute glory, authority and power Christ is interceding for us. Amongst other things, He is praying that everything He has won for us would be brought to our experience of discipleship. That includes our experience of forgiveness from the Father, and the transforming work of the Spirit as He disentangles our sinfulness and renews us in the image of Christ.

The Ascension was from one standpoint the restoration of the glory that the Son had before the Incarnation, from another the glorifying of human nature in a way that had never happened before, and from a third the start of a reign that had not previously been exercised in this form.

J.I.Packer

Group Activity:

Having seen how Ps.24 works, do you think other Psalms work in the same way?  Have a look at e.g. Ps.15, or Ps.26.  How does it change depending on whether you think it is about Jesus or you?

Can you spot a sequence from Ps.22-26?

Main Discussion:

How does thinking about the Ascension in this way affect you?

What implications follow from the realisation that God has ‘seated us with him [i.e. the Father] in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus…’- on the throne of God?

What makes this idea difficult to believe?  How can you strengthen your faith that this is what Christ has achieved for you?

How does this shape how you would pray for other Christians?

OK – having thought how you would pray for other Christians…  do so in your groups.

Homework:

Continue to memorise the Apostles’ Creed

Over this half-term we will be working to memorise Matthew 5:11-16. You will have to keep refreshing Matt.5:1-10 whilst you do this.

(we’ll memorise the whole of the Sermon on the Mount over the next 3 years)

To Be a Christian, Q&A 71-75

Plan for Invitation week.

How is DTP going?

Reflect on last section of the Creed.  What have you learnt?  How are you thinking differently about Jesus and discipleship now?

Are you doing anything different now to what you started?  What is changing in your experience of being a Christian? 

As you were memorizing the Beatitudes, what was the Spirit teaching you?

…and don’t forget to pray for each other.