[AI translation] This verse is one of the most difficult parts of the whole Bible to understand, because it reveals one of the greatest mysteries of the Holy Spirit of God. But perhaps it is on this day, the day of our Lord's ascension, that we will understand much of the blessed mystery of this word. It is with this hope that I would now like to proclaim God's word.I have not read the whole passage, but immediately before these sentences, the apostle Paul almost speaks of hell, and here of heaven. He is contrasting heaven with hell, as it were. He says such things in the previous section, 'you are dead in your sins', and then he says, 'we have been walking in the lusts of our flesh, doing the will of the flesh and of the mind'. He says, "we were sons of wrath; we were dead in our trespasses".
Is this not familiar to all of us, Brothers and Sisters? For every man who tries even a little to walk in the way of Christ, and tries to rise above, every man sooner or later understands the bondage of all passions. Every man knows what it is to be overcome by fleshly thoughts and desires. Every believer knows very well what it is to be bound by sin. And this is nothing less than hell itself, which is always pulling us down again with its forces. It is a terrible spiritual abyss; then sometimes, in a good moment, we make a great effort to get out of this spiritual abyss, but then we find ourselves sinking under it again, without saving ourselves. Are we children of God?! Is this what the children of God look like, as we are in our everyday lives?! Tell me honestly! Very little of this is seen, and very rarely is even that little seen. Rather, we could be children of Satan in our practical lives, and thus the expectant children of hell.
That is why this word of the apostle Paul is a great triumphant exultation when he says: "But God..."! So he does not say "but I"! I will try, I will try my best. But I'll summon up my strength and I'll get something done... No, he's not saying, he's saying: but God...! Well, what can I do, what can you do, against the pulling power of hell? We only feel our helplessness! All our good intentions fail again and again, we fail in the struggle. But God! "But God, being rich in mercy, loves us..." But God loves! I can do nothing, you can do nothing for yourself. But God: He can do something! And He did something, and He did something very big!
"We who were dead in trespasses have been made alive together with Christ, ...and have been raised together and seated together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." So we who fall again and again are lifted up out of this abyss by the death and resurrection of Christ. And as it were raised us from the dead and transferred us to a higher form of life. This is the Apostle's way of saying to heaven. So, from a lower form of life of mere material and sensual life, God has lifted us up into a purer, higher form of life, where we are surrounded by the splendour and serenity of heaven. It is something of a mystery. But words cannot express it! Rather, I am simply referring to what the Apostle Paul said about being raised together and seated together in heaven in Christ Jesus.
And if this is so, dear Brothers and Sisters - and it is undoubtedly so, the Apostle Paul says from his own experience and many believers have had and have had this experience - then let me say that whenever our life begins to turn towards hell, whenever life begins to become empty, empty of content for you, then always think of it: for God has transcended you into a higher spiritual world, into a purer sphere; - and whenever hellish emotions rage within you and whenever you are surrounded by hellish influences, you can always say: You know, it is in such a way that our whole life on earth is like a terrible arena where invisible powers, the powers of heaven and hell, are fighting for us. Once hell pulls you down and drags you down, but God comes again and lifts you up and lifts you up to heaven. Brethren, I have in my Bible these three words: But God - I have underlined them very strongly, and whenever I begin to despair or despondency, whenever I feel my own helplessness and nothingness in the face of the powers of hell, I always cling to this: But God...!
But what is this heaven of which we are speaking, and especially what use is it to me of this heaven which beckons so far away and so very uncertainly from somewhere? What have I, a man struggling on earth, to do with heaven at all? After death...! Of course, then I will. But here and now? Is there something visible and tangible here and now from heaven? Where, where, how? Is it not only some vain consolation, and not only a vain deception of ourselves, when we speak of heaven? What does heaven mean to the young man who, in the face of the hard realities of life, is now trying to make a chance at life; or what does heaven mean to the overburdened mother who is expecting a child again, or to the sorrowful widow who is all alone because she has just seen off her partner, the other half of her life? Or what does heaven mean to the man in his prime, who is never out of work from morning till night, burdened with worries, troubles, family problems, difficulties? What can heaven mean? Some vague hope of an afterlife? But it is only like the mirage that shines there at the bottom of the horizon, but still the wasteland is wasteland and the sand is sand. What use is heaven to us at all? After death...! But until then?
Well, this heaven of which the apostle Paul speaks is, of course, little like the one people used to say in their happy moments of earthly life, "I feel like I'm in heaven! These are very rare moments in a person's life, and most of the time they are like soap bubbles anyway, and have nothing to do with the harsh realities of life. So we are not talking here about the kind of heaven that lovers dream of, for example, or the kind of heaven that poets fantasise about, but the real and actual heaven that God has given as a gift in Christ to those who truly love him. So it is a real, true and complete heaven. And here on earth! For what this passage means is that "together with Christ he has raised us up and seated us together in heaven in Christ Jesus".
Of course, of this particular heaven, we have only the beginning of it now, this heaven has only just begun for us. We are now only on the so-called ground floor of this eternal heaven of God. And let us take this literally, ground level, because it means one level with earthly existence. So, right now, we are only living on the lowest level of that heaven. Later on, after death, we will have the higher floors. And who knows how many higher floors! Of which Paul says in one place that what eye has not seen, ear has not heard, God has prepared for those who love him. This earth also belongs to that heaven.
And that is what the word of God assures us on this feast of the Ascension, that no matter how majestic and glorious the other floors will be, this floor of the earth, while we are here - it too belongs to that glorious heaven. For as far as one is in Christ, so far is the earth a piece of this heaven for him. So we are already in heaven, we have already moved into our heavenly dwelling. Heaven has begun for us. And not only legally, but also in fact, in reality, heaven has begun. This is what the apostle says: God has separated us with Christ and has planted us in heaven in Christ. Never think of it as first the time, the 40, 60, 80 years that an average person lives on this earth, and then eternity in heaven. No, it is not so. It is that heaven has begun for us here and now in Christ Jesus.
It is a frequent statement of the apostle Paul that in Christ. It is something like being involved in Christ ourselves. As if we ourselves were in Christ. To be in Christ is to be in the person of Christ. So much so that all the movements that Jesus made, we make with him. Such are the things the apostle says, that we are buried with him in death. So this means that we will no longer be submerged in the depths of death. For we are already buried with Christ in death. We have already walked in death. And it says something like this, that he raised us from the dead with him. So it is true what Jesus says, "He who believes in me shall never die." Because we were raised from the dead with him. And so is His ascension. When Christ ascended from the sensual world into the spiritual world of God, the same happens to us. From the lower sphere of a merely material and sensual existence we are lifted up into the purer and more beautiful spiritual world of the higher world of God, into the peace and joy of the higher world. Even if only to the ground level. But still to the ground floor of God's heaven!
So do you understand what the scripture says, that heaven has begun for us? That means that it can be lived here and now, on this earth. In fact, that's the emphasis. So, it is to live it, first of all, by taking note of where our place is, where we live! We live in heaven! Whoever believes in Christ is already living in heaven. But not as I once saw in a small village in Baranya, where it is customary for even the poorest man to have two rooms: one is the so-called clean room, decorated with rich and expensive furniture, carpets and curtains; everyone arranges it tastefully and comfortably, but does not live in it, never enters it. But there is another small room, dirty, dark, untidy, used as a kitchen - that's where he lives his life. And he only goes into that other room when he dies. That's where they bury his body.
Many believers do the same with heaven. They think they only enter when they die. Heaven, with all its beauty and grandeur, is for him only the certain clean room that awaits his soul after he is released from his corpse. But he does not live in it. Well, then, it is precisely a question of living in heaven now! In the happy knowledge that heaven has begun for you. So breathe in the atmosphere of heaven, its serenity, its purity and its peace! And breathe it on other people around you with your movements, your words, your whole being! Create something with the people around you from the atmosphere of the heavenly world you already live in! And then it will happen to you what a dear old acquaintance of mine said to me just the other day. And I know your job; it's safe to say you have a hell of a job. Yet you say you have complete peace of mind. He has transcended from a material, sensual way of life to a higher way of life. Or as another believing brother said, it's like people around me have changed! People who I used to see as enemies and feel were my enemies, I always had to fight them, and I had to fight and defend myself against them a lot, and it was very difficult to put up with them - as if people had changed. They haven't changed, it's just their role that's changed. Because now you don't see them in the role of the enemy, but in the role of a person who is ready to help, and who needs to be loved even more.
Indeed, Brother, you will see for yourself that this whole world, where you have seen so much of almost hell, seems to have changed around you. But the world has not changed. The world around you has remained as it was. Your attitude has changed. For you now relate to the same world from the spiritual heights of heaven's shelter and peace. You have become more understanding, kinder, more patient, more helpful, more loving. And it is natural that you see it as if the people around you have changed.
John Calvin had this motto: Sub specie aeternitatis. What it means is that seen from the perspective of eternity, in the light of eternity. And that is how he lived, indeed that is how he lived his whole life, and that is how he did all his work. Like in the light of eternity. That is what the word means, that together with Christ he has made us to be placed in heaven, in the light of eternity. It means that our whole life here on earth can be the meaning of eternity and the value of eternity. And so then heaven will not be for us a certain clean room, but a study where we live our daily lives. And where the Master, when He comes, will find His servant at work. So that together they may go on from heaven to heaven: from heaven-beginning to heaven-fulfillment. From the ground floor to higher regions, to higher floors.
This is the essence of the Feast of the Ascension: to be in Christ. And to be permanently and truly, deeply in Christ. Then you will see what will happen. Then you will see that heaven has really begun for you too!
"My soul, full salvation is yours,
Leave the evil and the trouble behind;
Be merry, if you feel it:
There is still work to be done and endured.
Think: who lives by his Spirit,
What a Father's smile
Your Savior died for you:
Why should you grieve, heavenly son?"
(Canto 426, verse 3)
Date: 19 May 1966, Holy Thursday