The New Testament Witness to Christ and His Kingdom, Mentor's Guide, MG13

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T H E N E W T E S T A M E N T W I T N E S S T O C H R I S T A N D H I S K I N G D O M

judgment, focusing instead on the comfort and salvation of the Servant Song of Isaiah 61. Jesus emphasized in this age the blessing and power of the Spirit; Jesus himself was filled with the Spirit without measure (John 3.36), and now baptizes with the Spirit, and at the Second Coming, with fire. This clearly is the emphasis of John the Baptist when he questions whether Jesus is indeed the Messiah, the one who was to come (Luke 7.18-23). In this age, Jesus baptizes with the Holy Spirit, and at his coming, the judgment of the nations and the earth, he will baptize with fire (cf. Luke 3.15ff.). Jesus’ promise of the coming Holy Spirit was a focus on the salvation promise of the Messiah associated with God’s in-breaking Kingdom, and as such, concentrated upon the positive, saving aspect of the New Age, an age known for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon all who believe (Acts 1.5; 11.16). The crucial place of the ascension in theology is shown by its prominent place in theology in the Gospels and Epistles. In John, the ascension is alluded to on at least three occasions (John 3.13; 6.62; 20.17). Paul relates that the ascension of Jesus resulted in his exaltation far above all the heavens in order that he might fill the entire heavens with his glory (Eph. 4.10). Much of the Apostles’ writings include key phrases such as “received up in glory” (1 Tim. 3.16), “gone into the heavens” (1 Pet. 3.22), and “passed through the heavens” (Heb. 4.14), all of which point to this same event. Our very spirituality is anchored in the Pauline assertion that the believers are to “. . . seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God” (Col. 3.1b). Many citations in the New Testament refer to the work that Jesus is doing on behalf of the redeemed as a result of his ascension in glory to the Father’s right hand. The teaching of the ascension is linked inseparably to the Apostles’ teaching about the resurrection. For instance, in Ephesians 1.15-23 the Apostle Paul links his teaching regarding the resurrection directly to the exaltation of Jesus to the place of supreme authority and headship over the Church. Texts such as Romans 8.34 and Colossians 3.1 also link the resurrection and ascension, as a single movement of God’s verification of Jesus’ Messiahship (resurrection), and the corresponding exaltation to the place of glory and authority (ascension). What is key to emphasize in your lesson instruction here is that the same Lord whose Messiahship was

8 Page 138 Outline Point IV