GOSPEL LIGHT #716

Salvation By Works Requires Some Literal Flying To Accomplish 

The ascension of the Lord Jesus to heaven is not a convenient, cop-out explanation as to why the Lord Jesus is not here on earth if He resurrected. 

One of the reasons for His ascension is this --- Just as the priests in the Old Testament went inside the Tabernacle or the Temple to the Most Holy Place to present the sacrifice for sin so the Lord Jesus had to go to God's presence in heaven to present Himself there as the satisfaction for man's sin. It's the offender who must go to the offended and make amends. The Lord Jesus as the sinner's representative had to go to God. The sacrifice at the cross was the first phase. The ascension and presentation of Himself to God in heaven is the completion phase of the work He started here on earth.

If you want to be saved by your own efforts, you must realize that after your endeavors here on earth, there remains the impossibly daunting task of ascending to heaven and presenting what you did to God. 

If you can't ascend to God then forget it! Why not take the simplest and only way available? Why not simply place your trust in Christ who died on the cross and then ascended to heaven?