In saying, "He ascended," what does it mean but that He had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things (Eph 4:9-10).
After a quick salute, Felix Baumgartner jumped from the edge of space, falling 24 miles back to earth. He became not just the farthest but the fastest falling human in history. Baumgartner hit Mach 1.25 (843.6 mph) during his 4 minute 19 second free fall. Imagine being a personal sonic boom! But that was kids' stuff compared to what Jesus did. "In saying, 'He ascended,' what does it mean but that He had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things" (v9-10). Our Savior didn't just make a mind-boggling descent from the heights of heaven, He did something Baumgartner and other space explorers could never dream to do. Without a rocket, a balloon or a starship, Jesus headed back home to heaven, riding on a cloud.
Take that, Red Bull.
Paul lets us know just how far Jesus plunged during what smart dudes in suits call the Incarnation. Before putting on an earth suit of human flesh, Christ lived in the heights of heaven with His Dad and the Holy Spirit. But God's creation was broken by our sin. It needed fixing. WE needed saving. So Jesus left the most glamorous life of paradise and descended to the third rock from the Sun. He took on a human body. God in a bod, according to Andy Stanley (so send your email complaints to him!).
While He was here, He wasn't just God pretending to be a man. he wasn't some sort of celestial Superman with His construction job as His secret identity. Nope. He was both FULLY God and FULLY Man. No 50/50 combo. How does this work? Don't ask me. But that's EXACTLY what happened. And He's still FULLY God and FULLY Man today. When Jesus made His historic jump from heaven, He was a God/Man on a mission. He lived the perfect life that we failed to live. He died the brutal death on the cross for our sin that we should have died. He rose to the glorious new life that we don't deserve. Jesus did for us what we could NEVER do for ourselves. When we place our trust in Christ, we're placing our trust in what He did for us. And after He hung around for about six weeks after walking out of the cemetery, it was time to head back home. Jesus lifted off from the launch pad on the Mount of Olives (Lk 24:50-51; Acts 1:9-12). No plane. No booster rockets. No balloon.
Take that, Red Bull.
Paul is reminding his friends back in Ephesus just who Jesus is, what He did and where He's gone. Most translations have v9-10 in parentheses. That just means that the apostle is taking a step back to explain what he meant when he mention "He ascended" in the previous verse. He then looks back on the first part on Jesus' mission, His jump from heaven. "He had also descended" (v9). It's impossible for us to comprehend just how far Jesus plunged when He left the fabulous glory of heaven to descend into the sinful, steaming pile of humanity. It's the ultimate demonstration of divine dumpster diving. He had it all in heaven. The best friendship and fellowship the universe has ever known of the Trinity. He was the object of worship by angelic beings. This was a GREAT gig! But because our first parents jacked up God's creation, someone had to fix it. Someone had to save it. Someone had to redeem it. That Someone is Jesus. So the sinless Son of God did His supernatural swan dive into sin-filled cesspool of humanity to make things right (Jn 1:14; Phil 2:7-8). All Felix Baumgartner did was fall out of the sky a few miles high back to his home planet. That's nothing compared to the distance Jesus covered.
Paul is one of several biblical writers who talk about Jesus' coming down and going up. We get a glimpse of it back in Genesis while Jacob snoozes on a rock in the desert. Jake has a dream and sees "a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it!" (Gen 28:12). Later Jesus tells Nathanael that He was that very same ladder. "You will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man" (Jn 1:51). What's the point? Jesus is THE ONLY bridge between heaven and earth. He's the One who makes it possible for us to travel there. Felix Baumgartner traveled alone.
Take that, Red Bull.
One of the writers of Proverbs asked the question: "Who has ascended to heaven and come down?" (Prov 30:4). With the perspective of living on this side of the cross, we know the answer to the question is..drum roll...Jesus! And the radical Rabbi/Carpenter confirms that during his late night meeting with Nicodemus. "No one has ascended into heaven except He who descended from heaven, the Son of Man" (Jn 3:13). Jesus is our one and only connection between humanity and heaven. Period. He is "the Way" (Jn 14:6).
Paul lets his readers know that Christ didn't just accidentally stumble out of paradise and scramble back home. Once He went headed back to heaven, His job was to "fill all things" (v10). The apostle seems to be pointing back to that amazing picture of Jesus that he painted earlier in this letter (Eph 1:20-23). But Paul may be up to something else. He uses the Greek verb plero'o. You can translate it "to fill," but you can also translate it "to fulfill." A HUGE point of Jesus' plunge to earth and return to heaven was to fulfill all that God had promised about the coming of Messiah.
And here's the really cool part. Jesus isn't done. He's got a couple of more trips to make. He's headed back down to haul His church back to heaven (1Th 4:16-17). That's that whole "Left Behind" deal called the Rapture. Think that's crazy? Well, there's one more mission bigger and better than anything He's done so far. Christ is coming back one final time to set up His kingdom on earth. Basically, He's not flying solo this time. He's bringing heaven with Him.
Take that, Red Bull.
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