

Hebrews and 1 John describe Christ’s heavenly ministry using concepts drawn from Old Testament sacrifices and priestly ministry. There, continuously interceding for us, Jesus maintains the New Covenant better ( permanently better) than the Old Testament sacrifices and priests maintained the old. Salvation isn’t accomplished just because Jesus died but because he was also raised and ascended into heaven. To reduce Jesus’ saving work merely to his dying ignores this important aspect of Jesus’ present ministry for his people. Hebrews identifies Jesus’ ongoing intercession as key for Jesus “to save completely those who come to God through him” (Heb. We need Jesus’ ongoing ministry of intercession for our salvation. As important as Jesus’ death is, Christ’s saving work involves more. If all we had were the Cross, then we’d have no salvation. The single event of the Cross is not sufficient- only the person of Jesus is sufficient. In 1 John 2:1–2, Jesus serves as an advocate before the Father.īut why do God’s people need an advocate? Is the Crucifixion not enough for our salvation? I would answer no. Romans 8:34 and Hebrews 7:25 identify Jesus’ present activity as intercession. Romans, Hebrews, and 1 John all describe the ascended Jesus actively working for his people in God’s heavenly presence. According to the New Testament, God raised Jesus from the dead, and then, 40 days later, took him up into heaven (Acts 1:9–11). The answer is partly found in an oft overlooked aspect of Christian belief-Jesus’ ascension. Catholics are the latter, Protestants are the former.Fellow church members occasionally ask: “If all our sin was dealt with when Jesus died on the cross, why must we still confess it?”

If a couple has intimacy, but refuses to have a close friendship. Marriage Analogy: If a couple has a great friendship, but refuses intimacy. John 15:15 – “No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.” Pope Benedict XVI, May 2004 – “Many people perceive Christianity as something institutional - rather than as an encounter with Christ - which explains why they don’t see it as a source of joy.” Pope Benedict, Deus Caritas Est 1 – “Being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction.” Only from a personal relationship with Jesus can an effective evangelization develop.”
#Does st john ascension habe a relationship with u of m full#
4, 1992 – “It is necessary to awaken again in believers a full relationship with Christ, mankind’s only Savior. John Paul II, speech to bishops of Southern Germany, Dec. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.” Galatians 2:20 – “I have been crucified with Christ it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”Ģ Timothy 4:7-8 – “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. John Paul II – “Conversion means accepting, by a personal decision, the saving sovereignty of Christ and becoming his disciple.” Theresa of Avila – “Mental prayer in my opinion is nothing else than an intimate sharing between friends it means taking time frequently to be alone with Him who we know loves us.” On Spiritual Perfection – The measure of a man’s love for God depends upon how deeply aware he is of God’s love for him. When Jesus, in this manner, becomes my light, my ideal, my counsel, my support, my refuge, my strength, my healer, my consolation, my joy, my love, in a word, my life, I shall acquire all the virtues. THE SOUL OF THE APOSTOLATE – If I do not believe the active presence of Jesus is within me, and if I did not try to make this presence within me a vital reality, I would be depriving my interior life of Jesus. This mystery, then, requires that the faithful believe in it, that they celebrate it, and that they live from it in a vital and personal relationship with the living and true God.

Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2558 – “Great is the mystery of the faith!” The Church professes this mystery in the Apostles’ Creed ( Part One) and celebrates it in the sacramental liturgy ( Part Two), so that the life of the faithful may be conformed to Christ in the Holy Spirit to the glory of God the Father ( Part Three).
