City Church Seven Hills

There is nothing more foundational to the Christian faith than belief in Jesus. Everything we believe and live begins and ends with Christ. But it’s not enough to simply say, “We believe in Jesus.” Over the centuries, many doctrines and heresies have arisen that take the name of Jesus and use it ways that are not aligned with Scripture. At City Church Seven Hills our doctrinal statement begins with belief in the Trinitarian God. Then it focuses in on the second person of that Trinity – Jesus.

We believe that Jesus lived, died, rose again, and ascended to heaven to remove the barrier of sin between us and God.

What this statement does is put our focus on what Jesus accomplished for us through His actions. Faith in Jesus is not simply following His example – though that is very important! Faith in Jesus must be rooted in the theological reality of our redemption accomplished in and through Christ. We can never stop at mere intellectual awareness of these doctrinal concepts but we must begin there.

Each part of what Jesus did plays a role in removing the barrier of sin that separated us from God. Romans 5 lays out the truth that Adam brought sin and death into the world. Without intervention, we are destined for death and separation from God. But Romans 5 goes on to say in verse 19 that, “because one person disobeyed God, many became sinners. But because one other person obeyed God, many will be made righteous.” Our redemption begins with Jesus’ perfect life of obedience. That opened the door for the marvelous gift of God’s grace we read about in Romans 5.

But it’s not just the life of Jesus that buys our redemption.  His death and resurrection play a crucial role as well. Romans 6 teaches that we were joined with Jesus in His death and raised with Him to live entirely new lives. Verse 10 says that when Jesus died, “He died once to break the power of sin. But now that He lives, He lives for the glory of God. So you also should consider yourselves dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus.”

Jesus’ death ends the power of sin, removing the barrier that kept us from God. Then His resurrection brings us into a new life and nearness to God. As 1 Peter 1:3 puts it, “we have been born again, because God raised Jesus from the dead.” Our life is as completely new as if we were a newborn baby, all through the power of the resurrection.

This transformation is central. We don’t follow Jesus by simply trying very hard to be good. Christianity is not behavior modification. There are no steps to follow, no plan to stick to, no measurable goals on the way to an expected end. It is transformation, new life, a fresh start by the power of the resurrection working in and through us.

Yet there is still one more aspect to what Jesus has done for us. The historical account of Acts 1:9 tells us that Jesus was “taken up into a cloud while they were watching, and they could no longer see him.” In other words, Jesus ascended to heaven. Philippians 2:8-11 tells us that this exaltation and ascension to the throne of God in heaven came because of Jesus’ obedience to the point of death. His ascension is the culmination of all He did on earth.

What does that have to do with us though?

Jesus said in John 16:7 that once He went away, He would send his Spirit to us. The ascension of Jesus leads to the coming of Holy Spirit to fill us, His church and empower us to live out the new life He brought us into.

We can see how these powerful truths of redemption accomplished through Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, and ascension, reinforce the Trinitarian concept of God from the first point of our doctrinal statement. God the Son lives a life of obedience to God the Father, to the point of death. God the Father raises God the Son to life and elevates Him to the highest place. God the Son sends God the Spirit to fill His church and carry out His mission on the earth.

It’s beautiful.