Okay, let's turn back in our
Bibles to John chapter 3. I want us to see what the Scriptures again and again
and again say is the focus of all of salvation is the Lord
Jesus Christ and Him crucified. You notice I said earlier that
there is a link in all of these things. To have eternal life
is to believe in the One lifted up. And to believe in the One
lifted up is to believe in the One lifted up as Moses lifted
up the serpent on the cross. on that pole in the desert. The
Lord Jesus Christ must be lifted up. The Son of Man must be lifted
up. And the result of the lifting
up is the whosoever believeth should not perish but have eternal
life. And the simple thing I want us to look at again this morning
is what it is for the Lord Jesus Christ to be lifted up. You see,
this universe exists today because of the Lord Jesus Christ and
him crucified. This universe was brought into
existence so that the Lord Jesus Christ could be lifted up on
Calvary's tree. And the only reason this universe
still exists is because of what John 3.15 says, that whosoever
believeth in him Why is this universe still rolling? Why is
this sun still shining? Because there are some whosoever's
out there. And when the last of the whosoever's
is finished and saved and brought to a saving knowledge of the
Lord Jesus Christ, there is no reason for this any longer. There's no reason. So we have brought before us. The Lord Jesus Christ brings
this before Nicodemus. He brings himself and him crucified
to Nicodemus. And there is this one scene,
isn't there? And at one time in history, and
at one place in all this world, in that one event come together
all the promises of God. prophecies of redemption. Paul
was fearful for his friends that he loved in Corinth, that they
would be, as Eve was deceived by the serpent, they would be
taken away subtly from the simplicity that's in Christ, the singleness,
the oneness, I fear, lest by any means as the serpent beguile
Eve through his subtlety, so your mind should be corrupted
from the simplicity that's in Christ. And here we have Christ
preaching Christ, and he's preaching it with the most extraordinary
simplicity, isn't he? It's here, it's here that all
the beams of God's radiance shine upon his Son in the most remarkable
way. And it's here at this scene that
dispels the serpent's deceit. And it's in this scene that all
the glorious attributes of God shine with the spiritual light
of heaven to those who are given eyes to see. Sin to shine, to expose us and to
expose him. They shine to reveal Him. They shine to enlighten our hearts. We see Him through spiritual
eyes, high and lifted up. Regeneration, being born again,
is the igniting, a friend of mine said, of the flaming Almighty in our hearts and it
burns indelibly. There is an impression left by
God. There is a new creation, a new
creature. Though all this is covered by
a flesh and entangled in this world, they remain God's He says, doesn't he, Jeremiah
31.3, I've loved you with an everlasting love. It means that
I've loved you everlastingly. Therefore, with loving kindness,
have I drawn you to myself. To know that what happened as
the Son of Man was lifted up is absolutely essential for eternal
life, according to these very simple words that are before
us. As Moses lifted up, even so must the Son of Man be lifted
up. That, the result of it is, the result of Him lifting up,
all is focused on this one person and this one event. If you want
to have a discussion about Christianity with someone, there and as well as all being
focused on that one event ultimately it's focused on one word it's
focused on one word and the words in Psalm 22 of us the words of
the Savior in Psalm 22 the word is why Why was he there? That's his
question, isn't it? He's not asking questions to
get information. Our Saviour doesn't need that. He's asking
this question so that we would get information, isn't he? My
God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou so far from
helping me and from the words of my roaring? Oh my God! I cry in the daytime, but thou
hearest not, and in the night season, and am not silent. He cries. This is the God-man
crying. This is the Word who was with
God and was God. This is the Word made flesh who's
making this cry. It is Him And the answer, the answer to
the lifting up of the Son of God is in verse 3 of Psalm 22. I picture Nicodemus being there.
I'm sure given what happened after the death of the Lord Jesus
Christ and after what happened in John chapter 7, I'm sure that
Nicodemus went there with a very different attitude to Caiaphas
and all of the others. But imagine Nicodemus being led
into this psalm and knowing what he knew of the Son of God. You
see, there is an answer, isn't there? There is an answer to
the why. And it goes to the very heart
of salvation. It goes to the very heart of
everlasting life. Verse three, but thou art holy. Thou art holy. And listen to
what it goes on to say. O thou that inhabiteth the praises
of Israel. Thou art holy. The cry from the
cross of our Lord Jesus Christ echoes down through time at all
to echo in our ears again and again and again. It was a holy
God putting to death a holy Son. The great transaction of eternal
life is all about the lifting up of the Son of Man, and it
refers to His cross. In John 8, 28, He says, When you've lifted him up, you'll
know that I am God, is what he's saying. When you've lifted me
up, and that I do nothing of myself, but as the Father has
taught me, so I speak these things. He that sent me is with me. The
Father has not left me alone, for I always do those things
which please him. What a remarkable statement. In John chapter 12, this word
lifted up is used again. The Lord. has come to that place. All through
his gospel he says, my hour is not yet, my hour hasn't come
yet. And then these verses, this verse that we have on our pulpit,
they came and said, sir, we would see Jesus, we would see Jesus. And he, in verse 27 of John 12
says, now my soul is troubled. And what shall I say? Father
save me from this hour, but for this cause came I to this hour. In the midst of his agonies he
contemplated the cross. He has one place of satisfaction. And there came a voice from heaven
saying, I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.
The people therefore that stood by heard it and said that it
thundered. Others said an angel spoke to
him. Jesus answered and said, this voice came not because of
me, but for your sakes. Now the thing that's remarkable
about that is that God the Father spoke to his son. And it's only
God the Son that can bring the words of God the Father to these
people. I love that. We do rely. so much on our glorious mediator
now is the judgment of this world now shall the prince of this
world be cast out and if i if i be lifted up from the earth
will draw all men to me." And I love our translation. The men
is in italics. It wasn't there in the original.
The translators put it in to make the sentence have more meaning.
Almost invariably, the italicized words can be removed, and you'll
have a better meaning of the scriptures. You'll have a clearer
meaning of the scriptures. He's not drawing all men to himself.
Very evidently, he didn't draw all men to himself. This he said,
this he said signifying What death he should die, he
should die. We won't. And we pray, and I
trust you pray with me, that we will have the grace gift of
God to lift up the Son of Man, the Son of God. Lift Him up high,
like that serpent on the pole. Lift Him up high so no matter
what you feel, no matter how far away you seem to be, He's
high enough for you to see Him. Lift it up so we can all see
Him clearly. We don't want to cover anything
about his glorious character. He was there hung between heaven
and earth and naked before men. He's not ashamed of any of his
characteristics. Lift him up high so he can be
seen clearly. We want to lift him up high so
he receives the glory due his being. You've got to lift him
up high to see his deity. We lift him up high to see all
of the attributes of God revealed. If you want to know the glory
and the wonder of any attribute of God, you take it to the cross.
You take it to the cross and you will see all of the attributes
of God on display in the most extraordinary way. Lift him up
high. that bled and died on that cross. You lift him up high to see the
reason he's there. And the reason he's there is
because of his union with his bride. The reason he's there
is because he was made sin. The reason he was there, that
he was made a curse. all for his people. You lift
him up high to see that the greatest transaction of your salvation
and mine, brothers and sisters, is a transaction between God
and God, recorded by God. And I love the fact that that's
what it is. It's not a transaction that relies
on my doing. It's a transaction that relies
on Him. Just as a serpent in the wilderness,
all you have to do is look. It doesn't take a whole lot of
energy to look. God will give you eyes to see.
Look and be saved. Lift Him up high. that we might
see the sinfulness of sin. There's a lovely word that the
Lord Jesus Christ uses there, isn't it? There is a must. There is a must about all of
God's activities. There is a must. Our God must
be just. Our God must fulfil all of his
purposes. His must, it's inherent to His
very being. His justice and His holiness
and His sovereignty flow over all of the events of the cross.
He's just in all He does, our God. He's just in the punishment
of His holy law. He's just in the crushing, the
bruising of his son, as Isaiah says. He's just in the sword
of his justice being plunged into his son's heart. Zechariah,
that's a remarkable verse, isn't it? I still remember the time
years ago when I looked at that and looked at it and looked at
it and couldn't take my eyes off it and get it out of my head
for a week, I think it was. What does God say? Awake? O sword,
the sword of God's justice. Zechariah 13, 7. Against my shepherd,
against the man that is my fellow, says the Lord of hosts, smite
the shepherd and the sheep shall be scattered and I will turn
my hand upon little ones. I'll turn my hand of love upon
all little ones. The great answer to the why of the must. The great answer
to the why of the lifted up is the fact that the Lord Jesus
Christ was given a cup. He was given a cup in eternity. And he spoke of that cup in Matthew's
gospel and Luke's gospel and John's gospel. It's the cup the
Father gave him. That's why he was lifted up.
What was in the cup? I want us to be reminded the
eternal life is linked to knowing this one who is lifted up. What
was in the cup? People say the wrath of God was
in the cup and there's absolutely no question about that but the
wrath of God is not some nebulous thing that doesn't settle on
something that's real and just God will have wrath because there
are real sins. What was in the cup that he must
drink? The cup his father gave him was
all the sins of all of God's people. That was in the cup. And if he drank the cup as he
said he did, where are those sins? They're in him. And if they're
in him, they can't be on us. And they're in him. when he was
lifted up, and God the Father poured out the fury of his wrath
upon him. You know those verses, as John
3.14 is a glorious description of the Gospel, so is 2 Corinthians
5.21, isn't it? It's the words of an ambassador,
if you look at the context of it. It's the words of an ambassador. As though God did beseech you
by us, we pray you in Christ's name be reconciled to God for
the reason you can be reconciled to God. The reason for the ambassador's
words, 2 Corinthians 5.21, for he hath made him to be sin. In fact, the words to be are
in italics. He's made him sin for us who
knew no sin. that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. Who was made sin? The Son of
God. The Son of Man. God the Son was
made sin. Don't you love thinking and saying
Jesus Christ is God? God The son was made sin. Who made him sin? God the Father
made him sin. When did he make him sin? When
did God the Father make his son sin? Revelation 13 and 8 says
the land was slain from the foundation of the world. When were all of
the elect of God put in the Lord Jesus Christ in that unbreakable
eternal union? Before the foundation of the
world. See, to lift him up is to lift
up all of his character, isn't it? We're not ashamed of his
electing love and predestinating activity. We're not ashamed of
his justice and his holiness. We're not ashamed of anything.
We're not ashamed of the gospel. It's the power of God unto salvation
to all who believe. God the Father made him sin. when the Lord Jesus Christ became
the surety for his people, according to Hebrews 7.22. And at that
point, before the foundation of the world, the Lord Jesus
Christ took on the full responsibility for all of the sins of all of
his people. All of them. All of them. And what was done to the Lord
Jesus Christ when he was made sin? He was put to death by a holy
and just and righteous God. He was made sin for us. I love the little words in the
Bible, for. For means one who hovers over
to cover. That's exactly what the Lord
Jesus Christ was doing when he was lifted up. He's a just God
and He's a holy God. He's just and holy in all He
does. It was an act of justice. The
Lord Jesus Christ was put to death because He bore the sins,
because He was guilty of them. Such is the wonder of what the
scriptures promise about he who is lifted up. See, without a biblical understanding
of the lifted up, then the claims of having eternal life are based
on something that's not true. It's based on someone that's
not true. He owned the sins of all of his people as his own
sins. I love what he says in Psalm
18, verse 23. He says, I was also upright before
him. Who has been upright before him?
He's the only one that's ever been upright before him. And
then he says, I have kept myself from mine iniquity. What a glorious picture. of the
substitutionary work of the Lord Jesus Christ. He was bearing
sins on the cross. He says in Psalm 40, innumerable
evils have come past me about, mine iniquities have taken hold
upon me, so that I am not able to look up, they are more than
the hairs of mine head, therefore my heart fails me. This is the psalm that speaks
of the agonies of Gethsemane, a broken hearted saviour, because
they were his sins. In Psalm 69 he says, in Psalm
69 verse 5, He says, O God, thou knowest
my foolishness, and my sins are not healed for thee. There is
only one reason that he was there, wasn't it? And dying on that
cross. He was dying on that cross because he was made a curse and
he was made sin. And God, in his holiness and
in his justice, must punish sin to be a righteous God. He can't
just overlook sin. And why did he die? The Lord
Jesus Christ died that day on Calvary Street and he died for
sin. I want us to note in our verse,
what did he accomplish? People want to say that he tried.
People want to say that he tried and he made salvation possible. That's not what John 3.15 says. He says that whosoever believeth
in him shall not perish but have everlasting life. The believing
and the not perishing and the having eternal life are the result
of what he did on the cross of Calvary. He shall not fail. You see, one of the mistakes
that people make, isn't it? They think that the Lord Jesus
Christ was making an offering to all this world. The offering
he made was an offering to God. That's what he says, isn't it?
He offered himself without spot to God, Hebrews 9.14. It was an offering to God. Our eternal everlasting life is all
wrapped up in this one glorious event. On that cross we see the
evil of sin. The evil of sin that we are. The evil of sin that we do if
we are there. And on that cross we see the
only remedy to the Lord Jesus Christ. He kept the law of God with his
heart and his soul and his mind and his strength. You hold him
up, lift him up high, and you see that he loved his neighbour
as himself. He loved God with every thought.
He loved God with every deed, with every motive. And he did
it all. He did it all for us. His death
was a death as a substitute on behalf of his people. You don't
see him lifted up clearly, you can't see what his resolution
is about. He was put to death because of our sins and he was
raised because of our justification. What is it to be justified? Justification
and everlasting life are all linked together. According to
God, to be justified is to have no sin. To have no sin, because
all of the sins of all of God's people, all of my sins were put
on the Lord Jesus Christ. And he willingly owned them. In love for his bride, he owned
them as his. And he took them to the cross
at Calvary. See the look at him lifted up. say the gospel. To say the simplicity
and singleness of the gospel. The gospel is a person. The gospel is a person who is
God. We lift him up. We say this It was wicked men who did the
deed, but if you read what Peter said in that first sermon that
was preached to the crowd that put him to death, he was there
because of the determinate counsel and full knowledge of God. He was there in the purpose of
God. He was there to provide the fulfilment
of all of God's sovereign purposes in salvation. What a saviour! Why would you want to cover him
up in any way at all? Why would you want to distort
his character? The more you look at it, the
more beautiful he becomes, the more radiant he becomes. And remarkably, in the words
of 2 Corinthians 3, the more you look at him, lift it up,
the more you become like him. Talk about growing in the grace
and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. But we all, with open face beholding
as in a glass the glory of the Lord. Where do you see the glory
of the Lord? Glorify your name, he says, glorify my name. Are
chained into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the
Spirit of the Lord. May we be whosoevers who simply
believe. simply look and live.