Most Christians are familiar with the core truths of our faith: Christ died for our sins and rose for our justification, as Paul declares in Romans 4:25. Yet there’s an equally important aspect of Christ’s work that often receives less attention in our teaching and preaching—what Jesus did after his resurrection.
This post-resurrection activity is vital to our Christian walk. One beloved hymn reminds us, “What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear.” While Jesus certainly bore our sins and griefs at the cross, his friendship and ministry to us continues. Scripture teaches that Jesus now serves as our high priest who “lives always to help us” (Hebrews 7:24-25). After ascending to heaven, Jesus took his seat at the right hand of God to rule and to bestow the kingdom of God upon his saints, the empire of the Holy Spirit described in Acts 2.
The Ascension and Daniel’s Vision
The key to understanding this truth lies in examining Christ’s ascension as recorded in Acts 1, where Jesus ascended up to heaven with the clouds, and the subsequent outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2, when he sent the Spirit down to us from the clouds.
This progression finds its prophetic foundation in Daniel 7, which portrays the ascension and identifies Jesus as the “Son of Man” who ascends with the clouds to assume his judgment seat over the nations. Daniel’s vision reveals that the Son of Man then receives his kingdom to give it to his people.
Unpacking Daniel 7
Daniel 7 begins with visions of four beasts: a lion, a bear, a leopard, and a terrifying fourth beast. These represent the great kingdoms of earth: Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece (with its four generals), and finally Rome. The “little horn” mentioned in Daniel 7:8 possibly refers to a future figure, sometimes called the antichrist.
Within this geopolitical framework, Daniel witnesses the ascension of the Son of Man. First, the Ancient of Days takes his throne and judges the beasts (Daniel 7:9-12). Then, Daniel introduces us to “one like a son of man” who approaches the Ancient of Days on the clouds:
“In my night visions, I saw one like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was presented before Him.” (Daniel 7:13)
The text continues: “He was granted dominion, glory, and a kingdom, so that all peoples, nations, and languages would serve him. His dominion is everlasting and will never pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.” (Daniel 7:14)
The Kingdom Transferred to the Saints
Remarkably, this same kingdom that the Son of Man receives becomes the inheritance of God’s people. Daniel 7:18 declares: “But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, forever and ever.” This transfer of kingdom authority is reiterated in verses 22 and 27.
The pattern is clear: the Ancient of Days judges the kingdoms, the Son of Man comes before the Ancient of Days to receive an eternal kingdom, and this same kingdom is then given to “the saints of the most high.”
Fulfillment in Acts: The Connection to the Ascension and Pentecost
How does this prophetic vision relate to the Ascension and Pentecost? In every possible way.
In Acts 1:9, Jesus, repeatedly identified in the Gospels as “the Son of Man,” ascends to heaven with the clouds, precisely as Daniel 7 foretold. We know he went to the right hand of the Ancient of Days in the heavenly throne room because Stephen witnesses this reality in Acts 7:55-56:
“But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. And he said, ‘Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.'”
We have the Son of Man. We have the clouds. We have the right hand of God. But where is the kingdom?
In Acts 1:6, the disciples ask Jesus when he will restore the kingdom. Jesus responds that it’s not for them to know the times, but they must wait until they receive power in Jerusalem. This promise finds fulfillment in Acts 2, when the Holy Spirit descends from heaven, from the Son of Man who bestows upon believers the Empire of the Holy Spirit.
Peter explicitly connects the outpouring of the Spirit with Jesus’s ascension in Acts 2:33: “Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.”
Jesus instructed his disciples to wait for the promised Spirit (Acts 1:4) and answered their kingdom question by directing them to await the Spirit’s power (Acts 1:8). This sequence reveals how the Son gives the kingdom to his church.
This understanding explains why Revelation 1:6 can declare that God has made us “a kingdom of priests.” It also adds substance to our prayer: “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10).
The Divine Man and His Spirit
The ascension, therefore, represents the Son of Man—the Divine Man—ascending to heaven with the clouds to ensure believers could share in his Spirit. This Spirit gives us life, unites us to the Son of Man, helps in our prayers, and serves as the guarantee of our final salvation when the kingdom arrives in its fullness.
As we reflect on the Ascension and its connection to Daniel’s prophecy, the application remains straightforward: Pray that the kingdom of God would penetrate deeply into your heart, enabling you to fulfill the will of heaven on earth. This is how we function as a kingdom of priests today, fulfilling our calling to be a light to the nations through the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
