A sermon preached at Covenant Presbyterian Church of Fort Smith, Arkansas on Ascension Sunday, May 17, 2026.
But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore it says,
“When he ascended on high he led a host of captives,
and he gave gifts to men.”
(In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things) (Ephesians 4:7–10).[1]
Among the great events of redemption, the ascension of Jesus Christ is often overlooked. We rightly glory in the incarnation, marvel at the cross, and rejoice in the resurrection. But the ascension can seem merely transitional, like a quiet epilogue, as though Jesus simply went away. Yet the New Testament presents the ascension not as Christ’s disappearance but as his coronation. The ascension is the public enthronement of the crucified and risen Son of God. It is the declaration that Jesus Christ reigns.
The apostles understood this clearly. Peter preached it at Pentecost. Paul expounded it in his epistles. The author of Hebrews built his argument upon it. And, in the first chapter of Acts, Luke records it with solemn majesty: “he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight” (Acts 1:9).
Therefore, the ascension testified that the One who humbled Himself to the point of death on a cross[2] has now been exalted above all things. And we hear this emphasis in our passage today, where the apostle moves from the unity of the church to the diversity of grace within the church. And he roots all of it in the triumph of the ascended Christ. For, Paul understands that Christ ascended as the covenant head of a redeemed people. The One who reigns in heaven now reigns there on behalf of his church. And therefore, the grace he gives, the victory he secured, and the exalted authority he now exercises is for the salvation and good of his people.
In these four verses then, I want to draw your attention to three themes: The grace given by the ascended Christ, the victory secured by the ascended Christ, and, the exaltation of the ascended Christ, forever.
Grace Given
Having just emphasized the unity of the church, one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all” (Eph. 4:3-6), Paul shifts from unity in the church to diversity: “But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.” (4:7).There is unity in the one body of Christ, but unity does not mean uniformity. The body of Christ is gloriously diverse.And so, Paul now turns from the “all” to the “each one of us.” And what have each one of us received? Grace.
But what does Paul mean here by “grace”? In general, grace is the unmerited favor of God toward undeserving sinners. But as the word is used throughout Scripture, we find that the context of its use defines it particularly. One commentator helpfully distinguishes three dimensions of grace as God’s electing grace, his equipping grace, and his enabling grace. Before the foundation of the world, God graciously chose a people for himself in Christ. This is God’s electing grace. Having saved His people, Christ also distributes gifts, abilities, opportunities, and ministries throughout His body. This is God’s equipping grace. And Christ not only gives gifts, he empowers their use. This is God’s enabling grace. And it is in the sense of these last two, equipping and enabling grace, that Paul uses the word here.
Paul emphasizes that this grace is given “according to the measure of Christ’s gift.” Christ himself sovereignly apportions grace according to His own wisdom and purpose. And because each gift is sovereignly given, several practical implications follow. First, no gift should be sought selfishly. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 12 that the Spirit distributes gifts “as He wills.” We are not to grasp after prominence or envy another believer’s gifting.
Second, no gift should be unused. God has arranged the members of the body precisely as he intended. Some gifts are public. Others are hidden. But all are essential. The unnoticed servant in the church nursery may be as vital to the body as the preacher in the pulpit.
Third, no gift should be exalted. Because every gift comes from Christ, boasting is excluded. The preacher cannot boast in preaching. The teacher cannot boast in teaching. The musician cannot boast in ability. The servant cannot boast in sacrifice. Everything is grace. The proper response then to spiritual gifting is not pride, but stewardship. “As each has received a gift,” Peter says, “use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace” (1 Pet. 4:10).
But Paul does not teach us this gracious truth in isolation but connects it to Christ’s ascension. Paul’s point is that the ascended Christ is actively giving grace to his church even now. The ascension did not end Christ’s ministry. It expanded it. From heaven, he now supplies his church with everything necessary for its growth, holiness, endurance, and witness. And the basis of this grace-giving ministry is Christ’s victory.
Victory Secured
To make this point, Paul draws from the sixty-eighth psalm: “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men” (Eph. 4:8). The sixty-eighth psalm is a triumph psalm, which originally celebrated the Lord’s triumphal march to Zion after defeating the enemies of his covenant people. But like so many of the royal psalms, it ultimately pointed beyond David’s kingdom to the greater Davidic King, the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul’s use of this psalm points us to Christ’s role as the true covenant King. What David foreshadowed in part, Christ accomplished in full, as David’s greater son, who through his death, resurrection, and ascension secured redemption for his people.
Therefore, Paul adds, “In saying, ‘He ascended,’ what does it mean but that he had also descended…?” (Eph. 4:9). Christ’s ascension presupposes a descent, which was his incarnation. In his descent, the eternal Son took on human flesh. the Creator entered creation. The Lord of glory entered human weakness. The One who ascended is the very One who descended into suffering, into rejection, into sorrow, into death.
There is no ascension without incarnation, no exaltation without humiliation. And yet his descent was not defeat but mission. He came down as the representative and covenant head of his people in order to bring them up with him. The resurrection and ascension of Jesus were the final triumph of Christ the King. Christ entered this fallen world in order to confront sin, death, and the evil one. And through his cross and resurrection, he conquered them all.
In doing so, “he led a host of captives,” meaning Christ conquered the powers that once held His people captive. Death has been defeated. Sin’s dominion has been broken. Satan’s accusations have been silenced. Christ has triumphed. While the cross looked like defeat, in reality it was victory. The resurrection declared openly what the cross had accomplished decisively. And the ascension was the enthronement of the Victor. It is precisely what David foresaw in Psalm 110, “The LORD says to my Lord: ‘Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool’” (Ps. 110:1). The ascension is Christ taking his seat at the Father’s right hand as the reigning Messianic King.
Acts 1 is therefore not merely a farewell scene. It is a coronation scene. The disciples stand gazing upward because the victorious Christ is entering heavenly glory. And he ascends there on behalf of his redeemed people. Our humanity is now enthroned in heaven in the person of Jesus Christ. The Son of God did not discard our humanity after accomplishing redemption. He carried it into heaven itself.
Exaltation Forever
Paul now reaches the climax of this short passage: “He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things” (Eph. 4:10).Christ has ascended “far above all the heavens.” This language speaks of absolute supremacy.There is no realm above him, no authority beyond him, no power equal to him.The ascended Christ reigns over nations, rulers, history, angels and demons, even death itself.
He is the exalted, enthroned authority seated at the right hand of God. And his exaltation is not a theological novelty but a Christian reality. Our Larger Catechism helpfully reminds us that Christ is exalted in the gathering and defending of his church, in subduing their enemies, in furnishing his ministers and people with gifts and graces, and making intercession for them.[3] The ascended Christ now rules his church, supplies his church, protects his church, and advances his church. And Paul says that he does all this “that he might fill all things.”
Christ fills “all things” with His sovereign rule, presence, and power. He fills all things by his authority. He made this quite clear in commissioning his church, saying, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matt. 28:18). History is not chaotic, whatever it may appear to us at times. Christ reigns presently and victoriously over the nations, over rulers, over the rise and fall of kingdoms, and over every circumstance concerning his church.
Christ also fills all things by his presence. Though ascended bodily into heaven, Christ is spiritually present with his people. “I am with you always,” he promised (Matt. 28:20). The ascension did not create distance between Christ and his church. It established his abiding presence with her through his Spirit, as he continues to minister to his church through the ordinary means he has appointed: the preached Word, the sacraments, and prayer. The Christ who ascended into heaven has not ceased shepherding his people; he now does so from heaven by his Spirit through these ordinary means of grace.
And Christ fills all things by his saving power. He fills his church with grace, truth, holiness, strength, and spiritual life. Everything the church needs flows from the ascended Christ. Which means the church is never abandoned, and Christian, neither are you!
Perhaps today you feel weak, discouraged, insignificant, worn down by temptation or suffering. Remember where Christ is. He is not merely a figure of the past or a memory preserved by the church: He is enthroned. And the enthroned Christ rules for His people. The One who conquered death now governs every circumstance of your life. The One who ascended now intercedes for you. The One who fills all things will sustain you to the end.
Ascension Sunday reminds us that Jesus Christ is not absent. He reigns. The descended Christ became incarnate for our salvation. The crucified Christ bore our judgment. The risen Christ conquered our enemies. And the ascended Christ now reigns forever. Therefore, the Christian lives and serves not in the uncertainty of defeat but in the confidence of Christ’s victory. Because Christ reigns, sin no longer has dominion, death no longer has the final word, and Satan’s accusations no longer stand against the people of God. Christ has led captivity captive. And because he reigns, his church will endure.
So lift your eyes heavenward, not in uncertainty but in confidence. Your Savior reigns. Your King intercedes. Your gifts have purpose. Your labor is not in vain. And one day the ascended Christ will return in glory. Until then, the church lives, serves, worships, and witnesses with confidence. For the ascended Christ, who reigns for his church now, will surely return for his church then. Amen.
[1] Unless referenced otherwise, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version
(Wheaton: Crossway Bibles, 2001).
[2] Phil. 2:11
[3] Westminster Larger Catechism 54, https://opc.org/lc.html.
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