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THE GLORIFICATION AND ASCENSION

According to the Bible, the body of Christ was transformed into a new creature (or “creation”.) The Book of Hebrews teaches that this “new creation” is similar to, yet greater than, the angels of God:

“God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.” (Hebrews 1:1-4)

After the resurrection God made the body of the Son of Man “better than the angels.” The word “made” in the Greek means, “to become.” Thus Hebrews does not teach that Jesus was a created angel (the heresy of the Jehovah’s Witnesses,) but that the fleshly Son of Man—God incarnate in human flesh—was transformed.

 According to the Bible, the saints of God will be transformed as the angels of God:

 

“Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven. (Matthew 22:29-30) 

However, the Bible also teaches that we will have the same type of body as Christ:

“For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.” (Philippians 3:20-21)  

GOD IN THE SON OF MAN CONTINUED TO EXIST IN A LESSER FORM THAN THE OMNIPOTENT, OMNISCIENT SPIRIT OF GOD

From the Book: The Timeless Age of God

“Many believe that the glorification allowed God in the Son of Man to become omniscient within His glorified body. The Bible however, demonstrates that even after the resurrection the Messiah did not have all of the knowledge of God present or contained within His glorified, human brain. However, He does have access to all knowledge because of the oneness with God He attained after the ascension. When the glorification occurred, the human “thought process” of the Son of Man was transformed. Christ became a being greater than an angel. Nevertheless, God as a glorified man continued to be a much lesser being than the omnipotent, omniscient Spirit of the Almighty God.

Compare the knowledge of angels to the Almighty God. As angels are lesser creatures, God dwelling in a similar body does not have knowledge equivalent to God’s omniscient essence. As the knowledge God possesses is billions of times greater than the angels, the same disparity exists between the omnipotent God and God in the glorified Christ. The New Testament proves this assertion. Several passages teach that even the risen Christ does not have omniscient knowledge. For instance, in the book of Revelation, John wrote that God gave the glorified Christ the revelation of His Second Coming:

 

“The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John: Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.” (Revelation 1:1-2)

 

Remember, God in Christ did not know the day of His return. After the resurrection, the same was true. If the Deity of Christ is timeless, immutable, and omniscient, how could God give the Apocalypse to Jesus after the resurrection?

Obviously, the glorified man received this knowledge, because in the Deity of Christ apart from the incarnation knows all things. We also discover that after the glorification and ascension, Peter preached that God would send Jesus Christ:

 

“Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.” (Acts 3:19-21)

 

How could Jesus Christ be “sent” if He became omniscient after the glorification? And omniscient being knows the end from the beginning. Therefore, as God apart from the incarnation, Jesus knows the exact date of His return, and every future event foretold in the book of Revelation.

However, if God in the glorified Son of Man had a consciousness and thought process similar to the angels of heaven, Peter’s words make sense. The apostle also preached that heaven must receive Jesus until the “restitution of all things.”…” (From the book: The Timeless Age of God)

The fact that God in the Son of Man does not possess omniscience within his transformed human body does not mean that does not know all things, because Jesus said that the Father has taught Him all things:

“Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth: and he will shew him greater works than these, that ye may marvel.” (John 5:19-20)

  While Christ was on the earth, He taught that the Father HAD (past tense) taught Him all things. Yet, He also said that the Son did not know the day of His coming:

“But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.” (Mark 13:32)

These two passages can be reconciled by the fact that Jesus believed in the “timeless age of God.” The Son was taught all things after the ascension, when He (as a glorified man) become “one” with the eternal Spirit of the Almighty God.

THE ASCENSION OF CHRIST

According to the apostle Paul, Jesus ascended “beyond all heavens”:

“But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. (Ephesians 4:7-8) 

When the Bible teaches that Christ ascended “beyond all heavens” it means that He ascended beyond the “heaven” of the earth’s atmosphere, and the “heaven” of the universe—outside of creation.

Ancient Jews and Christians believed that the “Olam Habba” or the “Aperion” existed outside of creation. These were terms for heaven, which was known as the “timeless aeon of God.” This place is God’s immutable Spiritual essence, the beginning and ending of all things.

For this reason, the Bible teaches that both the Lamb and the saints dwell “before the foundation of the world” and after the “end of the ages,” because God is the immutable beginning and ending of all things.

For more on this subject, read "The Timeless Age of God"

 

 

 

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