ASCENDED: EXPERIENCING THE TRIUMPH OF CHRIST
CLASS ONE
PART ONE: DESCENDING
I. CHRIST FIRST DESCENDED
Ephesians 4
9 (Now this, “He ascended”—what does it mean but that He also first descended into the
lower parts of the earth? 10 He who descended is also the One who ascended far above
all the heavens, that He might fill all things.)
Philippians 2
5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6who, being in the form of God,
did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation,
taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found
in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death,
even the death of the cross. 9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him
the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should
bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the
earth,11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of
God the Father.
II. FRIDAY: ENTERED PARADISE (HADES) AFTER HIS DEATH AND BURIAL
Luke 23:43
And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”
WHAT IS AND WHERE IS PARADISE?
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Paradise-lit. Garden
Paradise after the death, resurrection, and ascension is found in Heaven(3rd Heaven)
2 Corinthians 12:2-4
2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or
whether out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a one was caught up to the
third heaven. 3 And I know such a man—whether in the body or out of the body I do
not know, God knows— 4 how he was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible
words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.
According to John 20:17, Jesus had not Ascended to Heaven until after His
Resurrection
Matthew 12:40
For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son
of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
Acts 2:31 (New King James Version)
31 he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was
not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption.
Psalm 16:10
10 For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see
corruption.
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Hades (New Testament Greek/Septuagint) and Sheol (Old Testament Hebrew) are
interchangeable descriptions of the state and place
LUKE 16
19 “There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared
sumptuously every day. 20But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores,
who was laid at his gate, 21 desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich
man’s table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 So it was that the beggar
died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was
buried. 23 And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar
off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
24 “Then he cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he
may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this
flame.’ 25 But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good
things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are
tormented. 26 And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that
those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.’
27 “Then he said, ‘I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s
house, 28 for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this
place of torment.’ 29 Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them
hear them.’ 30 And he said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead,
they will repent.’ 31 But he said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets,
neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.’”
Paradise, here Abraham's Side/Bosom, is the dwelling place of the righteous dead
prior to Christ's redemptive work
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Hades includes both the place of the righteous dead and the place if the unrighteous,
a place of torment and imprisonment until their ultimate fate in eternal hell.
Hades itself will be cast into the Lake of Fire after the Final Judgment. This is a place
referred to by Christ as Gehenna. Gehenna was prepared for the devil and his angels
and has become the fate of all the unrighteous that reject the gift of salvation
offered in Jesus Christ.
Three words translated hell in New Testament:
1. Hades
The grave; lit. "the unseen". May have dual compartments, Abraham's bosom and place of
punishment
2. Gehenna
The lake of fire, hell, place of eternal punishment following the final judgment.
3. Tartarus
Located in lower part of Hades, place of imprisonment for fallen angels from days of Noah
Psalm 49:15
But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave [Sheol/Hades],For He shall
receive me. Selah
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Hosea 13:14
“I will ransom them from the power of the grave [Sheol/Hades]; I will redeem them from
death. O Death, I will be your plagues! O Grave, I will be your destruction! Pity is hidden
from My eyes.”
Christ's redemptive work would remove Paradise and the righteous dead from Hades
upon His Resurrection and Ascension, bringing them to Heaven.
III. Jesus proclaimed His triumph to imprisoned spirits
1 Peter 3:18-20
18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring usto
God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, 19 by whom also He
went and preached to the spirits in prison, 20 who formerly were disobedient, when once
the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in
which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water.
Three common interpretations:
1. Spirits of the OT saints that Christ was to free from the grave and bring to Heaven
2. Christ's preached through Noah to the generation of the Flood, those now
imprisoned for disobedience
3. The fallen angels that commingled with women and produced the Old Testament
giants
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2 Peter 2:4-5
4 For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell (Tartarus)
and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment;5 and did not
spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of
righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly;
Jude 1:6-7
6 And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has
reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day; 7 as
Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having
given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as
an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.
Abode-oikétérion-dwelling place, habitation, abode
Oikererion used only here and in 2 Cor. 5:2 to describe a change of state from mortal
to immortal in resurrection. The usage in Jude 6 could indicate a change in the state
of the fallen angels to enable them to commit fornication with the daughters of man
(Adam)
2 Corinthians 5:2
2
For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from
heaven,
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Genesis 6
1 Now it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and
daughters were born to them, 2 that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that
they werebeautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose.
3 And the LORD said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh;
yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.” 4 There were giants on the earth in
those days (Pre-Flood), and also afterward (post-Flood giants), when the sons of God
came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty
men who were of old, men of renown.
Only usage of 'sons of God' in the Old Testament is used of angels.
Job 1:6
Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the
LORD, and Satan also came among them.
Job 2:1
Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before
the LORD, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the LORD.
Job 38
4 “ Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?
Tell Me, if you have understanding. 5 Who determined its measurements?
Surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it?
6 To what were its foundations fastened?
Or who laid its cornerstone,
7 When the morning stars sang together,
And all the sons of God shouted for joy?
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This view is held by some Early Church Fathers, Josephus, and the Book of Enoch.
The Book of Enoch, a non-canonical book, indicates that the spirits of the giants that
perished in the flood became evil spirits or demons.
Jesus proclamation of triumph to the fallen spirits in prison was a message that their
satanic plan to corrupt the human race and prevent the coming if the Redeemer had
failed.
PART TWO: RESURRECTION
IV. SUNDAY: GOD RAISES JESUS FROM THE DEAD
Christ the First Fruit
Leviticus 23:10-11
10 “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you come into the land which
I give to you, and reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your
harvest to the priest. 11He shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted on your
behalf; on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it.
1 Corinthians 15:23
23 But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at
His coming.
ASCENDED: EXPERIENCING THE TRIUMPH OF CHRIST
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In conquering death, Jesus took possession of the keys of Death and Hades
Revelation 1:18
I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have
the keys of Hades and of Death.
V. APPEARED TO MARY AND DISCIPLES
John 20:17
17 Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but
go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father,
and to My God and your God.’”
VI. OTHERS' TOMBS OPENED
Matthew 27:52-53
And the graves were opened and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were
raised and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city
and appeared to many.
VII. 40 DAYS OF RESURRECTION APPEARANCES
Acts 1
3 to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs,
being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the
kingdom of God.
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PART THREE: THE ASCENSION
VIII. THE ASCENSION BEGINS WITH BLESSING THE DISCIPLES
Luke 24:50-53
50 And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed
them. 51 Now it came to pass, while He blessed them, that He was parted from them and
carried up into heaven. 52 And they worshiped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great
joy, 53 and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God. Amen.
Parallels the Aaronic Blessing pronounced over Israel by the High Priest
IX. CHRIST ASCENDS PHYSICALLY TO HEAVEN
ACTS 1
9 Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a
cloud received Him out of their sight. 10 And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven
as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, 11 who also said, “Men
of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up
from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.”
Hebrews 4:14
"Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has PASSED THROUGH THE
HEAVENS..."
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X. LED CAPTIVE SAINTS TO HEAVEN
Ephesians 4:8
Therefore He says: “ When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, And gave gifts
to men.”
XI. DISARMED PRINCIPALITIES AND POWERS AND ENTERS HEAVEN IN
TRIUMPH
Colossians 2
15Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them,
triumphing over them in it.
XII. ENTERS HEAVEN AS HIGH PRIEST AND OPENS THE NEW AND LIVING
WAY THROUGH HIS BLOOD
Hebrews 9:11-12, 24
11
But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more
perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation.12 Not with the blood
of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all,
having obtained eternal redemption.
24 For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the
true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us;
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XIII. RECEIVES THE KINGDOM FROM THE FATHER
Daniel 7:13-14
13 “ I was watching in the night visions,
And behold, One like the Son of Man,
Coming with the clouds of heaven!
He came to the Ancient of Days,
And they brought Him near before Him.
14 Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom,
That all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion,
Which shall not pass away,
And His kingdom the one
Which shall not be destroyed.
XIV. SEATED AT THE RIGHT HAND OF THE FATHER
Mark 16:19
So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven,
and sat down at the right hand of God.
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XV. SATAN CAST DOWN FROM HIS PLACE OF SPIRITUAL AUTHORITY
Revelation 12
1 Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon
under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars. 2 Then being with child, she
cried out in labor and in pain to give birth.
3 And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven
heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. 4 His tail drew a third of the stars
of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who
was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born. 5 She bore a male
Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God
and His throne. 6 Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place
prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty
days.
7 And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the
dragon and his angels fought, 8 but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for
them in heaven any longer. 9 So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called
the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his
angels were cast out with him.
10 Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the
kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our
brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down.11 And
they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and
they did not love their lives to the death. 12 Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who
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dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come
down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.”
John 12:31
Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.
XV. BAPTIZES BELIEVERS ON PENTECOST
Ten days after His Ascension, Jesus pours out the Gift of the Holy Spirit
Acts 2:33
Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the
promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear.
Ephesians 4:8
Therefore He says: “ When He ascended on high,He led captivity captive,And gave gifts
to men.”
Mark 16:19-20
19 So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat
down at the right hand of God.20 And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord
working with themand confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen.
ASCENDED: EXPERIENCING THE TRIUMPH OF CHRIST
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XVI. MAKES INTERCESSION FOR THE SAINTS
Romans 8:34
Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even
at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.
Hebrews 7:25
Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him,
since He always lives to make intercession for them.
XVII. AWAITS RESTORATION OF ALL THINGS AND EVERY ENEMY MADE
HIS FOOTSTOOL
Acts 3:20-21
20 and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, 21whom heaven
must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the
mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.
Acts 2
34 “For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself:
‘ The LORD said to my Lord,
“ Sit at My right hand,
35 Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.”’