If someone you love greatly is away from you and you want to remember them, there are two ways. You can take an old photo taken many years ago and look at it to remember that person. This is how many people come to Communion—as if they are looking at a faded photograph of a Jesus who lived and died many years ago. The Lord’s Supper becomes a dead ritual because there is no live connection.
But now, imagine instead of seeing an old photo, you make a live video call with that same person. You see their face moving, they can see you, you hear their voice responding to your current tears, and you see the expression in their eyes as they speak directly to your situation now. You aren’t “remembering” a person; you are experiencing a person. A live call doesn’t just remind you that they once loved you; it proves they love you right at this second.
When our Lord instituted communion, He said, “Do this in remembrance of me.” He wasn’t asking us to just look at a black-and-white photo of a dead Savior. He was inviting us to a “Live Connection.” When we take the bread and the cup, it is meant to be the moment the “video call” connects. We not only remember how much He loved us on the Cross, but we also experience how much He loves us right now, sitting on the Throne of heaven.
With that objective, we started a series called “The Unchanging Love of Christ.” The prayer and goal of this series is to make us experience the unchanging love of Christ now, even as He sits in heaven at this time. We looked at the first message: the unchanging love of Christ before He died. Then we saw the unchanging love of Christ after the resurrection—Christ in our “3 S’s”—in our Sorrows, Sins, and Stress.
Does Glory Change His Heart?
Maybe many of you still don’t fully believe in Christ’s unchanging love. Maybe you say, “Christ may have loved us when He was still on earth, but after He ascended and left all human weaknesses behind, being exalted at the Father’s right hand above every name and given all authority and power, this transformation into glory could have changed His heart.” You might think that sitting in the highest position, clothed in such immense, wonderful glory, and leaving all human bodily weakness far from us while we are still struggling on earth, He may not feel the same compassion towards us. You fear His greatness would have caused Him to forget us, or that He may no longer be able to pity us as gently as He did when He dwelt among us. We are so weak, sinful, and guilty that we fear He may be angry with us now in heaven.
Today, let us see if that is the case. We will look at Christ’s unchanging love after His ascension in three ways: His actions, His words, and His heart. When we assess ourselves personally, we always start with the heart, then words, and then actions. However, when we assess another person’s love, we don’t directly see their heart. We first notice their actions, then their words, and finally their heart. That is the order we will follow: first actions and words, which are external, and then the heart, which is internal. Think of it as AWH: the Actions, Words, and Heart of the ascended Lord.
First: His Actions
We see two primary actions: the Ascension Posture and the Ascension Gift.
1. The Posture of Ascension When He ascended, Luke tells us the posture with which He left. This was the last picture imprinted in the disciples’ minds and hearts before He disappeared from earth. Luke 24:50b states, “He lifted up his hands and blessed them.” To emphasize it and ensure we note its great significance, Luke 24:51 adds, “While he blessed them, he was parted from them and carried up into heaven.”
Christ reserved this benediction as His final act. It isn’t just a wave goodbye; it is a physical act with deep layers of meaning. It is a profound bridge between His earthly ministry and His heavenly one. This posture explains why He is going to heaven and what He will do there for us. This is the High Priest’s posture of blessing His people in the Old Testament. As our Great High Priest, He has completed His earthly ministry of giving Himself as the ultimate sacrifice. Now, though He goes to heaven, He begins His heavenly ministry.
His ascension is the exaltation of His enthronement to the highest position in the universe. Aren’t you happy that the One who is so exalted and enthroned went up blessing us? His posture even now is nothing but blessing us. This was the last picture in the minds of the apostles, and it should always be in our minds when we think of Christ in heaven. He didn’t go away with a warning finger in anger for their unbelief, nor did He leave in judgment; He left in grace, blessing us.
The Greek grammar Luke uses indicates that the blessing is a continued act. This implies that His blessing never ended. In the Levitical priesthood, the priest would eventually lower his hands, but Christ ascended while His hands were raised. His last physical act on earth became His permanent spiritual posture in heaven. This signifies that the Church lives under a perpetual canopy of blessing and grace.
What is the external evidence of this blessing on us? Peter interpreted this mystery in Acts 3:26 when he said, “To you first, God, having raised up His Servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways,” and thus forgiving them. For “blessed is the one whose sin is forgiven.” This is the greatest evidence today that He is blessing you from heaven: He has forgiven and cleansed you, saved you, and added you to His church. The Church exists today because of the continuous blessing that flows from Christ in heaven.
2. The Gift of Ascension Generally, people in a humble state may promise many things, but once they are lifted up, they forget. We see this with politicians who promise “good days” but forget them once they have power. Jesus promised wonderful things in His humble state, and how abundantly He fulfilled them!
Do you know what the crowning blessing of Christ’s work is? The purpose of His perfect life, death, resurrection, and ascension was so that He could receive the crowning gift of His enthronement: the Holy Spirit. In the Covenant of Grace, the Father promised the Son the gift of the Holy Spirit upon the completion of His earthly ministry. Lord Jesus said that unless He went to heaven, the Holy Spirit could not come (John 16:7).
As soon as He was exalted, Peter says in Acts 2:33 that having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out what we now see and hear. His first action of enthronement was to immediately and abundantly pour out His Spirit. We don’t always realize what a marvelous gift the Holy Spirit is. He is the package of all heavenly blessings and the fulfillment of all Christ’s promises, sent to apply everything Christ purchased to our experience.
Haven’t you felt this unchangeable love in your own life? When we were dead in our sins, slaves to lust, and under wrath, it was the unchangeable love of Christ that lifted us up. He didn’t go to heaven and forget you. Even 2000 years later, He sent His most precious gift to raise you from the dead. This gift regenerated us by convicting us, calling us, working faith and repentance in us, and uniting us to Christ. He continues by teaching, leading, and assuring us, giving us protection in a world filled with devils until we reach heaven.
If a king gives a palace to his queen, it shows love. But if he writes the whole kingdom in her name, it shows his love will never change. That is what Christ did by pouring out the Holy Spirit. Romans 5:5 says God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit. It isn’t a trickle; it is a flood. Without the Spirit, the love of Christ is a dead story from 2,000 years ago. With the Spirit, that old photo becomes a live video call.
He is the Spirit of all gifts; He will enlighten you, sanctify you, and bring you safely to heaven. The Holy Spirit is Christ’s greatest legacy and living proof that His heart did not change when He ascended.
External Proofs: The Gifts of the Church
The Bible also speaks of external gifts. Ephesians 4:8-11 says He ascended on high and gave gifts to men—apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers—so that we would no longer be like children tossed to and fro by the trickery and craftiness of men. These gifts are given so we can be built up in truth and grow into the fullness of Christ.
Today, if you have a church and pastors who feed you His word, that is undeniable proof of Christ’s unchanging love. They are His love gifts to you. When a sinful man stands and talks about Christ’s love again and again, it is a pledge of the continuity of Christ’s love in heaven. When you hear a preacher and feel your heart moved, it is the glorified Lord speaking from heaven through His Spirit.
What moves men to serve with such sacrifice? Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:14, “For Christ’s love compels us.” It is the divine love of Christ in heaven being poured into these men. In Philippians 1:8, Paul speaks of longing for the people with the “affection of Jesus Christ.” Some translations use the word “bowels,” a Hebrew metaphor for tender, motherly mercies. Paul was once a cruel, furious lion destroying the church, causing great havoc. How did he develop such tender affection? It was the unchanging love of Christ infused into a hard man.
If Christ could put such love into a violent man like Paul, how much more affection must abound in Christ’s own heart for you? Paul’s affection is but a faint echo of the infinite ocean of emotion in Christ’s heart in heaven. When we take part in communion and break the bread, He raises His hands from heaven and blessings flow. As we drink the cup, it is as if we see His smiling face through the wine. We depart rejoicing that we truly saw our risen Savior today.
Second: His Words
Not only does He reveal His love by actions, but also by His words. The preaching of the apostles and the New Testament records are the words of His love. Christ could have spoken only to the first-century people, but He inspired the apostles to write the New Testament decades after He ascended. He preserved it uncorrupted for 2000 years and translated it into our languages. Why?
Because the very act of a written covenant shows unchangeable love. A written form transcends time and cannot be changed. The Bible is a legal, timeless testament—a love letter from heaven. It is the transcribed heartbeat of the Ascended Lord. Everything you find in it can be relied upon as coming directly from His heart. Through it, you see what He did on earth and what He is doing in heaven now.
The New Testament is the biography of an unchanging heart. The Gospels tell how Love descended; Acts shows how Love expanded; the Epistles explain Love’s depth; and Revelation shows Love’s final triumph. It is not a dead book; it is living and active. As Spurgeon said, it is the only text where you feel the presence of the author while you read it.
The Final Text Message
What are the last words of His love letter? Sixty years after His ascension, Christ appeared to John in Revelation. He was filled with glory, and John fell at His feet as if dead. But Christ laid His right hand on him and said, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen.”
Even in His glory, where is Christ’s presence on earth? He is in the midst of the seven lampstands—His church. His love is so intense that He is hurt when He sees the church in Ephesus has lost its “first love.”
Let us look at Christ’s very final words in this book—the last words He utters until the Day of Judgment. Imagine a man and woman deeply in love. The young man has to travel across the ocean to build a home and a future before coming back for his bride. Once he boards the plane, he must use “Airplane Mode” for a long time. The departure is heart-wrenching. They hold hands at the gate, crying. Finally, he boards, and she stands at the glass window watching him.
Just as the plane pulls away—at the very last second before he swipes his phone into silence—he sends one final text. Her phone vibrates, and she sees his name. He didn’t text about his luggage or the weather. He sent a single message: “I’m already counting the seconds until I land back here to get you. I’m coming home soon. Just wait for me.” For the rest of that long, silent flight, she doesn’t stare at the empty sky with fear. She stares at that last message. That text is the proof of his unchanging heart while he is in the sky.
In the same way, the Bride in Revelation says, “Come.” And Jesus’s response in verse 20 is: “Surely I am coming soon.”
In any relationship, the last thing someone says before a long silence carries the most weight. Before the “Great Silence” until the Day of Judgment, He selected these words. Let them forever remain with you. It reveals the ache from His side and the hope for the waiting church. He says, “My heart yearns a thousand times more to come to you as I promised. I am preparing everything.” He views the “delay” not as indifference, but as patient love.
All of these words assure us that this is truly His heart, and we will find Him with the same unchangeable love at His second coming. These are the last words of Christ, and nothing more can be added to them.
The Heart of the Ascended Christ
We have seen the unchanging love of Christ in His actions and His words; finally, let us look into His heart. We see Christ’s unchanging love in His heart as it is at present in heaven. A great text that deeply reveals His heart is Hebrews 4:15: “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.”
No matter how many times we read this, it is not enough. Memorize this verse. If you always want to feel the love of Christ, the secret is this verse. It is so palpable that it feels as if it guides our hands and lets our heads rest upon Christ’s chest, allowing us to feel the beat of His heart and the compassion He has for us, even now that He is in glory.
See verse 14: “Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.” When we hear that He has gone to the highest glory of heaven, we might shrink back, thinking He is no longer the old, loving Jesus. We fear His greatness may cause Him to forget us or hinder His ability to feel compassion. We might feel that His glory is so great that He cannot be affected by the “silly” sorrows and weaknesses of His people, like Mary Magdalene’s grief or Peter’s guilt. We feel like running away.
But the writer says, “No, no!” His heart is not changed. In fact, all that glory has only increased His capacity to love us. Let me allow you to sleep on His chest and hear His heartbeat. See what He feels and how He feels for you through His sympathizing ministry.
His Sympathizing Ministry
One translation says He is “touched with our weakness.” He does not say He merely sympathizes with the trials that providence brings, but with our weaknesses. In this context, “weakness” refers to everything that discourages and weakens our faith. This includes external trials and internal struggles with the flesh. It includes our personal sins, because the verse says He was “tempted as we are, yet without sin.”
On the outside, we may pose as strong, but we are weak people. Our lives are full of weakness—weak faith, weak obedience, and weakness in fighting sin. We struggle every hour. These weaknesses make our faith falter, but the writer says, “Let us hold fast our confession.” How? By seeking mercy and grace at the throne of grace.
While mercy addresses the guilt of past sin, grace helps us overcome the power of sin in the future. Mercy relieves your present misery, and “helping grace” makes you strong enough to manage your exact situation. But the problem is that our weaknesses and sins are the greatest obstacles to our faith; they discourage us from even approaching the throne. We think, “How can I come to the throne of grace with so much weakness?”
The author uses the unchanging heart of Christ as the great argument for us to come. Notice the double emphasis in Hebrews 4:15: “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot…” This double negation affirms even more strongly that He can and does sympathize. Whatever changes heaven may have made to His condition, His heart toward us never changed. Every time we face a trial or a sin, He is touched in a vulnerable place in His heart. He feels that pain deeply. The word “sympathetic” or “touched” implies His “bowels rolled and melted together.” He suffers with you because of His great compassion; just as parents suffer more than their children, He suffers more than you.
Worldly people may think this vulnerability in an exalted state is a weakness. But the Apostle points out that this perfect love is part of His glory. This is His glorious ability to embrace our miseries within His glorified heart. This is His current, continual ministry: He suffers with us until we find relief. This unchanging love is what motivates Him to provide mercy and helping grace. Just as a man will do everything to remove his own physical pain, Christ will do everything to relieve our suffering, because our suffering affects Him too.
The Preparation for His Ministry
Glory has given Him a greater capacity for love. As His knowledge expanded upon entering glory, His human affections of love and compassion also expanded in strength and intensity.
Hebrews 2:18 says, “For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.” To become such a sympathetic High Priest, He took on our weak human nature. He allowed Himself to be tempted in all ways, enduring every affliction we encounter. He allowed Satan to conduct all sorts of “experiments” on Him. His torture of temptation was more powerful than ours because we break at a certain point, but He went to the utmost limit and never gave in.
Though He felt no personal guilt, He felt the horrible guilt of sin through its imputation in Gethsemane and Golgotha. He experienced extreme sorrow and extreme bodily pain to the fullest intensity. He was a “man of sorrows” more than any other person ever will be. He endured this not only to atone for our sins, but to shape His heart so that, in glory, He would possess “melting affections” to feel our pains and guilt. This experience enables Him to intimately understand our hearts. It is not mere knowledge; it is a personal, experiential recollection of similar afflictions within Himself.
When He writes to the seven churches in Revelation, His first words are often, “I know.” He knows sincerely and experientially how it is with us. Because of the mysterious union between Christ and His believers—He is the Head and we are the Body—He feels everything most sensitively. Until He has glorified us and freed us from all misery, He remains, in a sense, in a state of incompletion. Therefore, He is rich in mercy when we come to the throne of grace.
Applications: Comfort and Encouragement
As we conclude this series, let this grasp of Christ’s unchanging love make us love Him more.
1. Comfort in Trials and Struggles This truth should provide the strongest comfort against any trials or sins. It assures us He is eager to give us mercy. What a comforting revelation this is against the lies of the devil—that for His children, our very sins move Him to pity more than to anger.
When you struggle as a believer, crying out, “O wretched man that I am!”, Christ stands by your side. Instead of being provoked against you, He feels infinite pity. His anger is directed toward your sin to destroy it, but His compassion toward you increases. It is like the heart of a father toward a child with a loathsome disease; He does not hate the child, but He despises the disease, which provokes even more pity for the child. Do not fear, for nothing shall separate us from the love of Christ.
2. Encouragement to Overcome Sin This is the secret to overcoming sin. If I have a sympathetic High Priest who understands my struggles and is ready to help, I can overcome habits of 20 or 30 years and live in victory. Christ Himself suffers when we do, so He will undoubtedly remove the sin for the sake of His own peace. His “motherly heart” would not be at peace seeing us struggle.
This love also melts our hard, deceptive hearts. It gives us the greatest motivation to kill sin. If my Beloved loves me so much, I will genuinely try to please Him. If my sins afflict the loving Christ even in His glorious state, I should not grieve Him with intentional sins. Let His pity be your motivation for sincere obedience.
3. Encouragement in Trials Regardless of the trials we face, we have two great comforts:
First: Remember that Christ was once in your exact situation. You are following His footsteps. He has walked this path earlier; He knows what you are going through. He has allowed this in your life so that you may become more like Him. This is your path to heaven.
Second: You have a sympathizing friend in heaven who will not just pity you, but will give you mercy and grace. Even if close relatives stop pitying your suffering, His compassion never ends. Go and pour out your sorrows to Him. Approach Him boldly and lay bare your complaints.