Let’s read Ephesians 4:7-10: “But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore He says: ‘When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men.’ (Now this, ‘He ascended—what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.)”

In this passage the Apostle Paul is teaching us how Christ has given a spiritual gift to each member of the body of Christ and that He did this AFTER He “physically ASCENDED to heaven.” He had to take His place in heaven as a glorified Man and as the Head of the church (i.e. the Body of Christ) before the church could be formed and spiritual gifts could be given to those who comprise the church. We know from other scriptures that after Christ’s ascension to heaven the Holy Spirit came down to indwell believers, to form the church, and to distribute those gifts to each member (see Acts 2:1-4 with 1 Corinthians 12:4-14). In John 7:38-39 Jesus made it very clear that the Spirit could not come until He was glorified in heaven: “’He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart flow rivers of living water.’ But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus WAS NOT YET GLORIFIED.” This truth goes along with verses 7-8.

In verses 9-10 we learn another truth. We learn that before Jesus ASCENDED to heaven He had to first DESCEND to earth. What does that mean? It simply means that for Him to be a glorified Man in heaven, it was first necessary for Him TO BECOME A MAN! In other words, He, the eternal Word and eternal Son of God, had to come to this earth to be born a true human being. We see this truth in John 1:1 & 14, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…And the Word BECAME FLESH and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” We speak of this truth as the INCARNATION OF THE SON OF GOD. Think of His “condescending grace” in coming from the “highest place in heaven” to this speck in the universe that we call “earth.” But to understand the words “descended into the lower parts of the earth” we must also think of His “DEATH and BURIAL.” In Psalm 22 (which speaks of His death on the cross) we read of words of Jesus to His Father, “You have brought Me to the DUST OF DEATH” (verse 15). The Father had commanded Him to lay down His life on the cross to pay for our sins so sinners could have eternal life (John 10:11-18). After He died, He was BURIED in Joseph’s tomb (John 19:30-41). In His burial we could say He “descended into the lower parts of the earth.” In fact, Jesus referred to this very thing in Matthew 12:20, “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in THE HEART OF THE EARTH.” Jonah’s 3 days and 3 nights in the belly of the fish was a picture of Christ’s burial. After 3 days we read in Jonah 2:10 that “The LORD spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah unto dry land.” This is a picture of Christ’s RESURRECTION after being BURIED for 3 days. We see this in 1 Corinthians 15:3-4, “Christ DIED for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was BURIED, and that He ROSE AGAIN THE THIRD DAY according to the Scriptures.

I should add, in closing, that some teach that Christ’s SPIRIT “descended into HELL” while His body lay in Joseph’s tomb and that this is the meaning of the words “descended into the lower parts of the earth,” but there is no scriptural authority for that teaching. We have seen that “descension” has to do with HIS BODY, not His SPIRIT (which went to be with the Father the moment He died…see Luke 23:46).  (DO)  (661.3)