We have a question that has tripped us up in our study this morning.

We completely understand how Christ is in us and we are in him in a spiritual meaning. We also understand that we still are trapped in our carnal flesh.

The reality of our position will be realized completely at the destruction of our flesh at the second coming.

The verse we have a question on:

Joh 3:13 No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.

We also understand that Christ in God and God is in Christ, so how can Christ say he had ascended, leavening his physical flesh at this point in his ministry?

Does the word “ascension” here have the same meaning as the ascension after his crucifixion? What are we missing?

In Christ,

C____

Hello C____,

I think you know that we are called to such trials because:

Mat 10:22 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

Act 14:22 Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.

So just “count it all joy” (Jas 1:2-3), and we will rejoice with you that the Lord has preserved you until this very day.

Here is the verse of which you inquire:

Joh 3:13 No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.

Once you see the scriptures explaining what Christ means by His words, you will have a much greater appreciation of where you are with Christ at this very moment.

I do not know what translation you are using, but this translation does not give you the complete statement which Christ made to Nicodemus. Here is the whole verse in the KJV:

Joh 3:13 And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.

What Christ is revealing to us here is that ‘heaven’, the dwelling place of God, is not a geographical location, but rather it is a spiritual realm into which we can and do enter when we are in Christ.

Here are Christ’s own words on this very subject:

Joh 14:20 At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.

“That day” is the day of our conversion when the holy spirit is given to us, and we begin to be judged in this age. This fact is made clear in the preceding verses:

Joh 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.
Joh 14:16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
Joh 14:17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he [Christ Himself] dwelleth with you, and [through His Father’s spirit He] shall be in you.
Joh 14:18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.

So there it is! Christ is in us and we are in Him and He and we are in His “Father which [is] in heaven”, all by and through His Father’s spirit within us.

Paul realized all of this and tells us where we are at this very moment in Christ:

Eph 2:6 So that we came back from death with him, and are seated with him in the heavens, in Christ Jesus; (BBE)

We “are [at this very moment] seated with [Christ] in the heavens, in Christ Jesus”.

Hebrews tells us the very same thing:

Heb 12:22 But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,
Heb 12:23 To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
Heb 12:24 And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.

That is who we are, and that is where we are.

I will conclude with this one basic Truth contained in this verse:

1Jn 4:17 Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.

It will take some time for the depth of that Truth to sink in, but you and I are at this very moment “ascended into heaven… at the right hand of God… in Christ” (Eph 2:6).

I hope this helps you to better understand what Christ told Nicodemus in John 3:13:

Joh 3:13 And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.

Your brother who sits with you at the Lord’s right hand “in the heavens”. Mike