The Ascension and the Pledge
Filed Under (Sharon Nichols, book excerpts) by Sharon Nichols on 15-07-2012
Tagged Under : Authors-Gerritt Scott Dawson, Christology-Ascension, Christology-Body of Flesh, Christology-Continued Incarnation, Christology-Incarnation, Christology-Last Adam, Christology-Mediator, Church History-Chrysostom, Church History-Tertullian, Verses-1 Peter 1:4-5, Verses-Acts 2:32
Below is an except from the book “Jesus Ascended: The Meaning of Christ’s Continuing Incarnation” by Author Gerritt Scott Dawson. I found this to be quite edifying and thought provoking.
“One nuance from the church fathers on the ascension and the person of Christ deserves attention. The passage quoted in Chapter 2 from Tertullian’s “On the Resurrection of the Flesh” continues:
the last Adam, yet the primary Word – flesh and blood, yet purer than ours -… ‘shall descend in like matter as He ascended into heaven’ the same both in substance and form, as the angels affirmed, so as even to be recognized by those who pierced Him. Designated, as He is, ‘the Mediator between God and man,’ He keeps in His own self the deposit of flesh which has been committed to Him by both parties – the pledge and security of its entire perfection. For as ‘He has given to us the earnest of the Spirit,’ so has He received from us the earnest of the flesh, and has carried it with Him into heaven as a pledge of that complete entirety which is one day to be restored to it. Be not disquieted, O flesh and blood, with any care; in Christ you have acquired both heaven and the kingdom of God.
