If Jesus is ascended into heaven, how is he also “in my heart?”
In Ephesians 3:16b-17a, Paul prays that “out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.” Here, we see him clearly speaking of Christ dwelling in our hearts. We sing this same language: “You ask me how I know he lives? He lives within my heart” (Psalter Hymnal 405).
But we also read in Scripture that Christ bodily ascended (Acts 1:6-11) and is seated at the “right hand of God” (Acts 7:55-56, Rom. 8:34, Eph. 1:20, Col 3:1, Heb. 1:3, 1 Pet. 3:22). We might be left with a question: do these two claims contradict each other? How can Christ be truly in our hearts and at the right hand of the Father?
For this question, the extra-Calvinisticum is very helpful. While the name suggests that it originated with Calvin, the concept had been around long before him. And what it teaches is simply this: Christ’s divine nature as the God-man was fully united to his human nature. In other words, he is really God and really human. But, because he is really God, Christ’s divine nature can never be fully contained within his human nature. The theological way of saying this is that the finite cannot contain the infinite. In other words, divinity is bigger, greater than humanity, so cannot be wholly contained within a finite human body.
The Heidelberg Catechism sums up this extra-Calvinisticum in Q&A 47-48:
Q: But isn’t Christ with us until the end of the world as he promised us?
A. Christ is true human and true God. In his human nature Christ is not now on earth; but in his divinity, majesty, grace, and Spirit he is never absent from us.
Q. If his humanity is not present wherever his divinity is, then aren’t the two natures of Christ
separated from each other?
A. Certainly not. Since divinity is not limited and is present everywhere, it is evident that Christ’s divinity is surely beyond the bounds of the humanity that has been taken on, but at the same time his divinity is in and remains personally united to his humanity.
This has striking implications. Our Lord, who took on our own flesh and is physically ascended to heaven is also with us, personally, in our hearts through the Spirit. He is really, truly with us “until the end of the age,” as he promised. What a good, true, and comforting word!
About the Author
Jessica Joustra (Ph.D., Fuller Theological Seminary, Vrije Universiteit) is an assistant professor of religion and theology at Redeemer University. She serves as the chair of the board of trustees of the Center for Public Justice.