In 1970, Warner Brothers sold over two million records of the catchy tune, ‘Spirit in the Sky.’ A one-hit wonder, Norman Greenbaum’s song proved to be a classic. Though it was birthed in the hippie generation, you’re still bound to hear it everywhere you go. It was featured in movies such as Apollo 13 and has set the beat to Law & Order episodes and Nike commercials. The song starts with one of the most groovy guitar riffs in music history’even my Baptist brothers and sisters can’t resist making their way to the dance floor. But what many may not realize is that this chic tune has something to say about Jesus and life after death.
Note some of the lyrics:
When I die and they lay me to rest
Gonna go to the place that’s the best
When I lay me down to die
Goin’ up to the spirit in the sky’¦
Prepare yourself you know it’s a must
Gotta have a friend in Jesus
So you know that when you die
He’s gonna recommend you
To the spirit in the sky’¦
Never been a sinner I never sinned
I got a friend in Jesus
So you know that when I die
He’s gonna set me up with
The spirit in the sky’¦
Now here is a song full of theology!
Apparently, there is some abstract, divine, cosmic spirit who can be found up in the sky. When you die, that’s where you go: up, up, up to the spirit in the sky. How do you know you’ll get there? If you’ve ‘got a friend in Jesus,’ he’s ‘gonna recommend you to the spirit in the sky.’ And this whole thing about the sky and Jesus doesn’t have anything to do with sin. ‘Never been a sinner,’ he says with confidence. ‘I never sinned.’ All that matters is that ‘I got a friend in Jesus’ and ‘he’s gonna set me up with the spirit in the sky.’ So, it’s all good.
Greenbaum’s catchy lyrics still describe popular belief today. In fact, all too often they sum up what many think Christianity is all about. Christianity is not about being a sinner and awful stuff like that. Christianity is just about Jesus being your buddy, so that he sets you up with the ethereal spirit in the sky. Jesus hooks you up, like any good friend would, so that you get to go to the best place. This is what the Bible’s all about, isn’t it? This is what life after death is all about, right?
Never Been a Sinner?
I’m not sure if Greenbaum ever read the Bible, but he might be interested to know that the Bible actually has a lot to say about Jesus and the ‘spirit in the sky.’ The last thing we read in Luke’s Gospel, and one of the first things we read in his sequel (the book of Acts), is that Jesus ascended into the sky after appearing to his disciples in his resurrected body. What may be a surprise, however, is that this whole ‘spirit in the sky’ business has everything to do with you and me being sinners. Oh sure, we have a friend in Jesus, and Jesus does indeed hook us up’just not in the way Greenbaum ever could have imagined.
To see why, we need to go all the way back to Psalm 24, written by King David. He opens it with two frightening questions: ‘Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place?’ (v. 3). The answer is discouraging: ‘He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully. He will receive blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation’ (v. 4). It may sound simple enough, but there is no one who fits these qualifications.
The whole story of the Bible is the story of humans rebelling against a holy God, sinners who fall short of his glory and law-breakers who deserve nothing but eternal condemnation. In other words, no one can be found to ascend the hill of the Lord and take hold of salvation because no one is righteous (Rom. 3:10’18). Ever since Adam and Eve sinned and were cast out of the garden’out of the presence of a holy God’no one can stand in God’s ‘holy place’ (Ps. 24:3), at least not without a bloody sacrifice to atone for his sin and appease divine justice. If he tries, God will destroy him (e.g., Lev. 10:1’3).
The prophet Isaiah painfully learned that when we stand in the presence of a holy God, we come to the devastating realization that we are utterly condemned (Isa. 6:5). The only solution is to somehow have our guilt taken away and our sin atoned for (Isa. 6:7). Someone who does have clean hands and a pure heart must be found to ascend the hill of the Lord and stand in God’s holy place, mediating on our behalf. Only then will we receive the blessing and righteousness from the God of our salvation that Psalm 24:5 talks about.
Just when it seemed that there was no hope, King Jesus burst through those ancient doors into the heavenly court. As our perfect high priest and spotless lamb, Jesus (and Jesus alone) was capable of ascending the hill of the Lord in order to stand in God’s holy place. In the second half of Psalm 24, David rejoices because the ‘king of glory’ returns from the battle victorious (24:7’8). Jerusalem is to open its gates in celebration because the Lord of hosts has returned with his captives in his train (Ps. 68). As those who enjoy all the blessings of the new covenant, we know that Jesus Christ has done exactly that through his death and resurrection.
Though we are unrighteous, condemned before a holy God, the Son of God became incarnate. He lived a perfect life of obedience, so that his righteousness could be imputed to our account. But that’s not all. Not only did he live for us, but he died for us, too. To quote Isaiah, he was ‘pierced for our transgressions’ and ‘crushed for our iniquities’ (53:5). He took the wrath of God that was ours, for God put him ‘forward as a propitiation by his blood’ (Rom. 3:25; Heb. 2:17; 1 John 2:2). While we were God-haters, God ‘loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins’ (1 John 4:10). As Paul says, ‘For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God’ (2 Cor. 5:21).
The Father then raised Jesus from the dead (Luke 24:1’12), placing his stamp of approval upon the cross-work of his Son, publicly declaring to the world that Christ’s work was effective for accomplishing redemption. Having satisfied the wrath of God against sin (Satan’s weapon against us) and broken death’s grip (1 Cor. 15:54’55), our Savior could not be held in the tomb by the evil one. Therefore, it is Christ’s bodily resurrection that grounds our regeneration (1 Pet. 1:3; Eph. 2:5’6; Col. 3:1), justification (Rom. 4:23’25; 1 Cor. 15:17), sanctification (Rom. 6:3’12; Col. 3:1’4), and future resurrection (1 Cor. 15:1’57).
Jesus in the Sky
But is that the end of the story? Not at all. Christ also ascended into heaven, an event we too often overlook, thinking it has little significance. Jesus not only rose from the dead and appeared to his disciples, but before their very eyes he also ascended into heaven. As Luke records, Jesus led his disciples as far as Bethany, lifted up his hands to bless them, and while doing so ‘parted from them and was carried up into heaven’ (Luke 24:51). In response, the disciples ‘worshipped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy’ (24:52). In Acts, Luke adds that Jesus promised his disciples that they would receive ‘power when the Holy Spirit’ comes upon them, enabling them to be his witnesses to the end of the earth (1:8). ‘And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight’ (1:9). As they gazed up into heaven, two men suddenly appeared in white robes, asking, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven’ (1:11). Our temptation is to think that the ascension is merely a bonus, something to be tacked on at the end of the cross and the resurrection. But nothing could be further from the truth. The ascension is the key to the salvation narrative.
Why the Ascension Matters
Christ’s Ascension Turns His Humiliation into Exaltation
Let’s return to Luke 24. Prior to Jesus’ ascension in front of his disciples, he appeared to two of his followers on the road to Emmaus. Believing that he was the one to redeem Israel, they were perplexed as to why Jesus could suffer defeat on a cross. Their confusion only grew when they heard the tomb was empty. Rebuking these two men for their ignorance, Jesus responded, ‘Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?’ (Luke 24:26). Jesus then took them back to the Old Testament Scriptures and showed them how the entire Old Testament pointed forward to this climactic moment in redemptive history.
Peter makes a similar point in Acts 3:19’21. He tells his listeners to repent, not only so that their sins might be blotted out, but also that God might ‘send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago.’
Both of these passages declare that the ascension was anticipated in the Old Testament as the very means by which the crucified Christ transitioned from his state of humiliation to his state of exaltation. The ascension, in other words, is the mechanism by which Christ is fittingly lifted up as the victorious king. As a result of this ascension, Christ now sits at the right hand of the Father, ruling and reigning over all (Eph. 1:20’21; Heb. 10:12; Mark 16:19; Acts 2:33).
The Puritan Thomas Watson drives this point home in his book A Body of Divinity. While on earth, Jesus lay in a manger, but now he sits on his throne. On earth, men mocked him, but now angels adore him. On earth, his name was reproached, but now God has given him the name above every name (Phil. 2:9). On earth, he was in the form of a servant (John 13:4’5), but now he is dressed in the robe of a prince and kings cast their crowns before his throne. On earth, he was the man of sorrows (Isa. 53), but now he is anointed with the oil of gladness. On earth, he was crucified, but now he is crowned. On earth, he was forsaken by God (Matt. 27:46), but now he sits at God’s right hand. On earth, he had no physical beauty (Isa. 53:2), but now he is the radiance of the glory of God (Heb. 1:3). Watson exclaims, ‘Oh what a change is here! ‘Him hath God highly exalted.” Without the ascension, there can be no exaltation of our crucified and risen Lord. Without the ascension, the king returns victorious from battle, but no ancient doors open to receive him into glory.
Christ’s Ascension Assures Us of Our Past, Present, and Future Redemption
Not only is the ascension the indispensable means by which Christ is exalted as Lord and king, but it also demonstrates that his priestly work of redemption is secure. We tend to think of Christ’s priestly work on our behalf as limited to the cross. However, Scripture says his priestly work as mediator continues in heaven (Rom. 8:33’34; 1 Cor. 15; Eph. 4; 1 John 2:1).
In his exalted state, Christ not only is our prophet and king, but he also continues to be our priest. As Hebrews 4:4 says, we have a ‘great high priest who has passed through the heavens.’ As high priest, Jesus doesn’t minister in an earthly tabernacle or temple like the priests of old, having to enter with the blood of an animal sacrifice. He enters into the sanctuary of heaven by means of his own blood (Heb. 7:27). As the priest who never dies but holds his priesthood permanently, he is ‘able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them’ (Heb. 7:24’25).
What great news this is for those united to Christ by faith. Though our future glorification awaits us, already God has ‘raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus’ (Eph. 2:6’7). What a comfort this is to the believer who struggles in the fight of sanctification. As John reminds us, should we sin (and we will!), we ‘have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous’ (1 John 2:1). Since our advocate is the ‘propitiation for our sins’ (1 John 2:2), no one can condemn us (Rom. 8:1). Paul reminds us that ‘Christ Jesus is the one who died’more than that, who was raised’who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us’ (Rom. 8:34). Therefore, nothing can separate us from the love of Christ (Rom. 8:35). Certainly without the ascension, we have no priest at God’s right hand, making intercession for us.
The ascension is also proof that one day we will be exalted to that place of glory where Christ sits enthroned. As a result of his ascension, Christ, through the Spirit, has poured out gifts on his bride until he returns (Eph. 4:7’14; Ps. 68:18; cf. Acts 2:33). But the day will come when, as Revelation 3:21 promises, God will grant to all those who have conquered the privilege of sitting with him on his throne. The glory God has given to Christ, Christ has given to us, God’s children (John 17:22). In the time between our justification and final glorification, we long for that day when we enter into the house of our Father, a house Jesus is even now preparing for us (John 14:2). Christ’s exaltation most definitely is our exaltation.
The Ascension Introduces a New Era in Redemptive History and Inaugurates a New State of Affairs
Writing on the ascension presents the potential danger of collapsing the ascension into the resurrection. We don’t want to turn the ascension into a mere exclamation point at the end of the resurrection; it’s important in its own right and should not be eclipsed. It introduces a new era in redemptive history and inaugurates a new state of affairs, one in which King Jesus reigns from his heavenly throne. While the final consummation may await us, the start of this consummation has already been inaugurated in the ascension of our king. His exaltation is the firstfruits of the great harvest to come in the new heavens and earth (2 Pet. 3:11’13).
In that light, we must keep history and eschatology (last things) in their proper balance. If we emphasize only history, then we are left with merely one more historical event among a plethora of others of equal significance. Likewise, we don’t want to disregard history for the sake of eschatology. There are those who don’t care whether Jesus physically rose from the dead and physically ascended into heaven’all that matters is what existential impact this myth might have for the future. However, in this view the ascension may inspire change in behavior, but it cannot effect real change in this world, either now or in the future. We are left with a Docetic (nonphysical) view of Christ and his ascension. But a Docetic ascension can only result in a Docetic consummation’ it’s the ‘spirit in the sky’ mentality that pervades our popular culture as well as our churches.
As Christians, we must affirm not only a physical, historical, incarnate Christ, but also a physical, historical, ascended Lord. Only then can eschatology take full effect and break into the present age. Christ’s physical absence does not leave us spiritually homeless. Though he has ascended into heaven to prepare a place for us, he remains present through word and sacrament. In the meantime, his bodily absence makes us long for his bodily return, when he will restore all things and establish his new creation (Acts 3:19’21).
‘I Have a Friend in Jesus’
In the end, Greenbaum was half right. We are ‘goin’ up to the spirit in the sky,’ and Jesus does ‘set us up’ to go to the place ‘that’s the best.’ But there’s just one (big!) problem: It will not happen the way Greenbaum thinks it will, nor is the ‘spirit in the sky’ what he thinks it is. The ascension is not a pantheistic permeation of the divine with the natural, as if the spirit in the sky is some impersonal, eerie mist that is one with the universe. Rather, he is the Triune God, the Creator and Ruler of the universe. Yes, those who die outside of Christ are ‘goin’ up,’ but it is before a holy judge, and the verdict they will hear is, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness’ (Matt. 7:23). They are ‘goin’ up,’ but are then goin’ down ‘into the eternal fire’ (Matt. 25:41).
Not so for those united to Christ. Yes, it is true, ‘I got a friend in Jesus’ and when I die ‘He’s gonna set me up with the spirit in the sky.’ But it’s not because ‘I never sinned’ or because Jesus is my buddy. Quite the opposite. It’s because Jesus has never sinned, and his righteousness has been credited to me as a gift. We only have a ‘friend in Jesus’ because as our priest he has made peace by his own blood, the blood of the new covenant (Matt. 26:28).
How do I know this for sure? Because not only has Jesus died, but he has also risen in the sky, and continually intercedes for me at the Father’s side.’
