3/24 The Book of John

John 3

“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:” (v.14)

There are several ways to “lift up” Jesus, the “Son of Man.” One is, of course referring to Calvary, when He was lifted up on the cross, and hung between Heaven and earth. Here is where v. 15 comes into play, when we put our trust in Christ and accept His sacrifice for us, we obtain eternal life. This is the Gospel which we preach, even Jesus.

There is another way to “lift Him up” and that is to exalt His name before men in witnessing for Him. When we praise the Lord, we also lift Him up, and exalt Him to the highest of heavenly places. These two are closely related, so I mention them together. We must lift His name on high before our fellow man. If we do, John 3:15 comes into play again, and people get saved, and receive the gift of eternal life. It is our duty, and our joy to do so. Every time we praise Him, we exalt His name, and there is “lifting up”, but we must not stop there. We must tell others of His wondrous grace and share the Gospel story with them. Even so, let us spend our entire day praising His glorious name.

One can hardly write about such grace without mentioning another “lifting up” that being the lifting up from the dead, the resurrection of Christ. Without this lifting up, the Gospel would not, and could not be complete. It is the completion of the Gospel. Yes, the final “lifting up” of the body of Christ, the Living, Loving Savior of mankind. Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, and men looked on it and were healed, so do men look to Jesus today for their healing—the healing from their sin. Jesus paid our debt, and we ought to uplift Him in praise because of it; we ought to uplift Him to others, and tell of His greatness, and His sacrifice on Calvary, so that others might have greater reason to praise Him; and we ought to dwell on the resurrection, the final step of our redemption, along with the shed blood of the Savior. These things we ought to meditate on daily, and uplift Him with all our hearts for His grace bestowed upon us.

There is a lifting up in the Lord too, which encourages us onward, and animates our spirit unto life and zeal for the Lord. The Lord will lift us up when we are “down” and soon we are soaring among the clouds of glory on the wings of the Spirit of God. What joy there is in this “lifting up”, but the joy is all ours. When we “shine” with the exuberance that the Lord allows us, we discover a whole new realm of life, and bask in the glory of His presence, and we are satisfied at last.