You want to turn in your Bibles
to the book of John chapter 3, please? We're going to look at
John 3 and verse 13 today. I cannot overemphasize the importance
of any of Scripture, really, but this particular place in
John chapter 3 has captured my attention and my delight for
a number of years, I guess. And so I'm very happy to talk
with you today about John chapter 3 and verse 13. And I admit that
this particular verse has been a puzzle to me, and maybe that's
why I've spent more time on it than a lot of other verses. But I pray that God would give
us grace today, both you and me, as we look at this verse
together. Let's pray. Gracious Heavenly
Father, we pray that You would reveal Yourself to us today in
the Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son and our Savior, and that You
would reveal Yourself to us in a way that is saving, and that
would draw us to Yourself, and that this would be made known
to us what Christ has done, who He is, so that we would trust
Him and we would gladly give our all to Him and we would look
for no other and desire none but Him. Thank you for your mercy,
dear Lord. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.
I want to read a few scriptures to you and with you so that we
have them in our mind when we begin to expound this particular
verse of scripture. I've entitled this message, The
Son of Man. And we need to understand this
Son of Man because it's mentioned in John chapter 3 and verse 13. And Jesus says it this way in
John 3 and verse 13. And no man hath ascended up to
heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of
Man which is in heaven. And I've said this before, but
I have to repeat it because it's so essential, that if you read
this verse just by itself, you see the panoramic, comprehensive
view of salvation in God's eternal purpose in the Lord Jesus Christ. You see His ascension, and you
see His descent, and you see His exaltation. And so, what
He was before, before he descended is included here. What he was
in his descent, in his humility, laying aside his glory and his
reputation as God, and coming as a man, that's here in this
verse too. And then you see his success
because he ascended back to heaven. And there you see his eternal
rule as the Son of God and the Son of Man, because he says,
the Son of Man which is in heaven. In John chapter 1 and 51, if
you remember, Nathanael came to Jesus, Philip brought him,
and Jesus spoke to Nathanael in verse 51, and He said to him,
Verily, verily, I say to you, Hereafter you shall see heaven
opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon
the Son of Man. The Son of Man is a term used
in the New Testament. In the New Testament, that term
is used 85 times. That's a lot. And here's the
important thing. Every time, without exception,
every time that phrase, Son of Man, is used in the New Testament,
it refers only to the Lord Jesus Christ. And so we can be absolutely
confident that God intends for us to understand this phrase,
the Son of Man, because it refers to the Lord Jesus Christ. And
we want to understand how it does. Here Jesus said to Nathanael,
you'll see the angels of God ascending and descending on the
Son of Man. And so we'll see in this phrase, the Son of Man,
with John 3.13, that the Lord Jesus Christ is in His nature,
He's both God and man. Now I want you to also turn to
the book of Romans, in chapter, actually turn to the book of
Ephesians in chapter 4. of Ephesians, because this helps
us to understand John 3 and verse 13. Ephesians chapter 4, it's
speaking of the church of God. I'll read from verse 1. Paul
says, I therefore the prisoner of the Lord beseech you that
you walk worthy of the vocation wherewith you are called. The
vocation is our call by God the Holy Spirit to Christ, to faith
in Christ, called to be saints. Verse 2, in verse 1 he says,
I beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation wherewith you
are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering,
forbearing one another in love. because Christ forbear us in
love. 3. Endeavoring to keep the unity
of the Spirit in the bond of peace, because we are made one
by the work of Christ and by the giving of His Spirit to us
in the new birth. Verse 4, There is one body and
one spirit, even as you are called in one hope of your calling,
one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who
is above all and through all and in you all. There's no exceptions
here. There's only one body of Christ.
It's the Church of God. There is no difference between
those believers in the Old Testament and the believers in the New
Testament. They're all part of one body. No difference between
Jews and Gentiles, no difference between male and female, between
bond and free, rich and poor. No matter where you are on the
earth, all believers in Christ are part of this body. They're
made so by the redeeming work of Christ, and by, actually by
the electing love of God the Father, by the redeeming work
of Christ, and by the indwelling Spirit of God. But verse 7 is
where I want to get to. He says, But unto every one of
us Every one of us in the body of Christ is given grace according
to the measure of the gift of Christ. In other words, the Lord
Jesus Christ has a gift or gifts that he gives. And we're going
to see that he's given those gifts because he sits on heaven's
throne. Because he has been given all
things by God the Father for his church, the people of God.
those He redeemed by His precious blood, those to whom He sent
His Spirit to give them life and faith in Him. And so He's
going to give them a gift. Each one of them is given grace.
That's the first part of it. The graces of the Spirit of God.
And each one is given this grace according to the measure of the
gift of Christ for a purpose. Verse 8. Wherefore, when He saith,
when He ascended on high, When He ascended up on high, He, Christ,
led captivity captive. He defeated our enemies, and
He led them captive, and He gave gifts unto men. These gifts were
the reward of his obedience as the son of man, and now exalted
on heaven's throne, and he gives these gifts. The king on the
throne, possessing everything in heaven and earth, with all
power and authority, bestowed upon him by God the Father, having
accomplished our redemption, is given this authority to give
gifts to men out of God's grace. He says now, verse 9, now that
he ascended Ascending. What does it mean to ascend?
Well, it doesn't mean just to go up. It doesn't mean just or
merely to rise from the dead. It means that God has exalted
him and bestowed the highest honor and glory upon him. So
to ascend to heaven is something unique to Christ alone. No one
but Him was worthy to ascend to heaven, to be given all power
and glory. Now that He ascended, it says,
what is it but that He also descended first into the lower parts of
the earth? The Lord Jesus Christ, as we
read in Revelation 5 last week, He's exalted to heaven's throne
because as the Lamb of God, he redeemed the people of God by
his own precious blood. First he descended, then he ascended. And that's the important sequence
here. And his gifts are from his throne in glory to the church
and for the church. But those gifts are given by
him because he sits as king, and he sits as king because he
did the will of God in his descent. Verse 10, he that descended is
the same also that ascended up far above all heavens. In other
words, not just the physical, we think of heaven as a physical
place. Heaven really refers to the authority and power of God,
the presence of God. And God is a spirit. It's heaven
because God is there. We can't pinpoint that in a locale,
but it's where Christ sits as King. He ascended up far above
all heavens, above all principalities and powers, as it says in Ephesians
1, verses 20-21, that He might fill all things, the Lord Jesus
Christ. And he gave some, and here's
the list of his gifts, apostles, some prophets, some evangelists,
and some pastors and teachers, for this purpose, for the perfecting
of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying
of the body of Christ, till we all come in the unity of the
faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect
man. So here we see the purpose of
the Lord Jesus Christ as He sits on heaven's throne as the Son
of God and Son of Man. It's to build His church. And now look with me again to
refresh your memory at Matthew chapter 16 and verse 13. In Matthew 16 and verse 13, Jesus
asks His disciples It says, when Jesus came to the coast of Caesarea
Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, Whom do men say that
I, the Son of Man, am? So here we see the Lord Jesus
talking about Himself and identifying Himself as the Son of Man. There's
no question who He's talking about. He's asking them, Who
do men say that I, the Son of Man, am? Who is the Son of Man? The people understood the Son
of Man to refer to Christ. And I will show you that in a
minute. But he's asking them, who do men say that I, the son
of man, am? Because they thought Christ was
merely a man. And they said, the disciples
said, in answer, some say that thou art John the Baptist, some
Elijah, and some Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. He said
to them, but whom say ye that I am? He wants them to tell what
God has revealed to them to show that it was God's work to make
it known and to show the truth of what He had taught them. And
Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son
of the Living God. That's an amazing thing. You
are the Christ, the anointed of God, appointed from eternity,
anointed in time, coming in time to be the prophet, the high priest,
and the king of your people. And you're also the Son of the
Living God, both God and man. Jesus answered and said to him,
Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood hath not
revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And
here in verse 18 he says, And I say unto thee that thou art
Peter, and upon this rock will I build my church. and the gates
of hell shall not prevail against it upon himself." He's the foundation.
And upon this truth of who he is, Christ as man, and the Son
of God as in his divine nature, he's going to build his church
like we just read in Ephesians chapter 4. And how did he do
that? Well, he was in heaven. He descended, he accomplished
the will of God, and then he ascended with power and great
glory, and in heaven on his throne, the throne with his father, he
reigns over all things as the king. And so that's what John
chapter 3 is speaking of. I want you to also turn to Acts
chapter 2. Actually, turn to Luke chapter
24 on your way to Acts, the book of Acts. Look at Luke chapter
24, and Jesus is telling his disciples before he leaves them
and goes and returns to heaven, ascending to heaven. He has already
descended, he's accomplished the work of redemption, and now
he's speaking to them in verse 45. It says, I'll read in verse
44. He said to them, These are the
words which I have spoken to you while I was yet with you,
that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law
of Moses, and in the Prophets, and in the Psalms concerning
me. So the Prophets, the Psalms, and the Law of Moses were written
concerning Christ. Very important. It's all about
Him. It's a hymn book. Then He opened
their understanding that they might understand the Scriptures.
And He said to them, By the way, we can't understand the Scriptures
until He opens our understanding. In verse 46, He said to them,
Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer
and to rise from the dead the third day. So here we see again,
it was imperative, it was necessary for Christ to suffer, rise again
the third day, and, after His resurrection, that repentance
and remission of sin should be preached in His name among all
nations, beginning in Jerusalem. And those that were preaching
it were them. He said, you are witnesses of these things. And
behold, notice, from his exalted throne in glory, what does he
send? Gifts. And what is the main gift? How
does he send these gifts? He said, I send the promise of
my father upon you. But tarry in the city of Jerusalem
until you be endued with power from on high. Now look at the
book of Acts, chapter 2. The Lord Jesus Christ, the Son
of God, was in heaven before. He was ordained by God the Father
to be Christ from eternity. That means he had to become man.
Acts chapter 2 and verse 23, it says, Him, speaking of Christ,
being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God, you have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain,
whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because
it was not possible that he should be holden of it. For David speaks
concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for
he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved." Now,
he's using David for a very important reason. Because he's going to
bring all of the Old Testament scriptures concerning David and
apply them to the Lord Jesus Christ to show that that it was
not David that God was speaking of. First of all, it was his
son, who would be the son of David and David's Lord, the root
of David, the one from whom David sprang, and the offspring of
David, the one out of David Christ came as a son of man. He's the
son of God in his divine nature. He's the son of man in his human
nature. He's the son of David according
to God's promise. So what God said concerning David
was about him in prophecy. Verse 26 of Acts 2. David goes
on in the prophecy and he's speaking in verse 25 as a prophet. Again,
I'll read it. This is God's word spoken by
David the prophet, but it's spoken concerning Christ. And in these
words, he's using here, he's using these words as spoken by
the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, I foresaw the Lord always
before my face. He is on my right hand that I
should not be moved. Therefore did my heart rejoice
and my tongue was glad. Moreover, also my flesh shall
rest in hope. because thou wilt not leave my
soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see
corruption." Jesus Christ is God's Holy One. He did not see
corruption because He's holy. But He died for the sins of His
people, therefore He did die and was buried, but because He
accomplished our redemption in that death, and fully satisfied
God's justice and fulfilled His law, He is the Holy One of God,
as the Son of God and the Son of Man, and He accomplished all
righteousness in His death, and therefore He saw no corruption.
Verse 28, Thou hast made known to me the ways of life. Thou
shalt make me full of joy with Thy countenance. The Lord Jesus
Christ is speaking of God's favor given to Him because of the work
that He did, and that makes Him exceedingly joyful. And we'll
see in a minute that that makes us exceedingly joyful, too, for
the same reason, because of Christ's work. Verse 29, Peter is preaching
to these men. from every nation, really, under
heaven. If you go back over in the first verses of chapter 2,
you can read the list. I think there's some 20-plus
nations mentioned there. He says, "...men and brethren,
let me freely speak to you of the patriarch David, that he
is both dead and buried, and his sepulcher is with us unto
this day." When Peter was preaching, David was in the tomb. His body
was in the tomb. And Peter mentions that to prove
that God's prophecy concerning which David spoke was concerning
Christ. Because David was not the one
who was speaking in the prophecy. It was Christ the Lord, he says
in verse 30. Now here's the fulfillment. Therefore,
being a prophet and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to
him, God the Father had spoken to David and sworn by an oath
through the prophet Nathan in 2 Samuel 7 that of the fruit
of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ
to sit on his throne, God's throne. and David's throne, because it
would be over his people as a shepherd king. Verse 31, He, David, seeing
this before, spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was
not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. This
Jesus Peter is explaining this. These people are hearing this
for the very first time, that Jesus fulfills this prophecy
that David spoke in the Psalms, Psalm 16. And Peter says, This
Jesus, who was, you know, a man, hath God raised up, whereof we
all are witnesses, therefore being by the right hand of God
exalted, That's the ascension. And having received of the Father
the promise of the Holy Ghost, Christ as King was given this
gift to give to his people as the Son of God and Son of Man
on heaven's throne. He was given all things, but
primarily this gift, the Holy Spirit, to give to his people.
He has shed forth this which you now see and hear. For David
is not ascended unto the heavens, But he saith himself, the Lord,
Jehovah God, hath said to my Lord, who is Lord of me, who
is Christ, sit thou in my right hand. So he's saying here that
the Lord, God, the Father, and God, the Holy Spirit, and the
Son of God, one Jehovah, one God, Jehovah God, has said to
my Lord, Christ, the Son of man, sit thou in my right hand until
I make thy foes thy footstool. Therefore, Peter draws the conclusion,
therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God
has made that same Jesus whom you have crucified, both Lord
and Christ. Can you imagine what they felt
at that point? They had crucified the one God made, Lord and Christ. Wouldn't that cause them to tremble?
That would cause me to tremble. I had crucified the one God had
chosen and exalted as the Lord over all. He stands as my judge
and he's also God's Christ, the only Savior of his people, the
promised one. Verse 37, Now when they heard
this, they were pricked in their hearts and said unto Peter and
to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall
we do? And Peter said to them, Repent, and be baptized every
one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins,
and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise
is unto you and to your children, and listen carefully, and to
all that are far off, not just Jews but Gentiles, even as many
as the Lord our God shall call. Jesus Christ will build his church
and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And he builds
that church through the preaching of the gospel. He told Peter,
he told them that this rock, the confession that Peter made,
would be the message that would be sent forth the truth of which
would come to men, and by the power of the Spirit of God would
give them life, and turn them from their sins, so that they
would believe the gospel and enter into this kingdom." Look
at Psalms chapter 80. In Psalms chapter 80, I'm just
going to read a few verses here. Not all of the Psalm, but I encourage
you to read it for yourself. Listen to Psalm 80 verse 1. This
is a prayer. It's a prayer of God's people.
throughout all time, who are afflicted because of their own
stupidity and their sins and their transgressions. And they're
suffering for it. And so they speak this way in
Psalm 80 verse 1, Who's being addressed here? The shepherd
of Israel. And who is the shepherd of Israel? Well, it's the Lord Jesus Christ,
isn't it? The Lord is my shepherd, is Jehovah
God. But it's not just God as God,
it's God as God and man, the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus said,
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his life
for the sheep. Hebrews 13.20 says, he is the
great shepherd, the great shepherd of the sheep, whose blood made
the everlasting covenant. And throughout scripture, he's
called the shepherd of the sheep. This is a very common title given
to the Lord Jesus Christ. But notice, he says, thou that
dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth. What are cherubims? This is a mystery, and I just
have to throw this in here as I'm reading this. The cherubims
have always been a mystery to me, but as I was studying this,
I realized what I think the cherubims are, not just on my own, but
by reading several things in scripture and getting this from
others. Notice, I want you to remember
where the cherubims were introduced. In Exodus chapter 25, God says
the cherubims were both made as these golden creatures, and
their wings spread out and touched one another, and their faces
looked down on the mercy seat, the Ark of the Covenant, that
lid on which the blood was sprinkled. Remember? The cherubims were
looking down where the blood was sprinkled. And that blood
of the mercy seat covered the offenses that the law of God
called out, because the law was in that ark. It was a testimony
of God's justice and His law. which Christ would fulfill, which
is why it was in the Ark, because that Ark represents Christ. And
the cherubims would look at that blood covering the offenses of
the people, and they would see that blood, and when God sees
the blood, you know what? He's entirely satisfied. When
I see the blood, Exodus 12, 13, I will pass over you. And Christ
is himself the propitiation for our sins. He's the offering God
required, the sacrifice God required, which Christ himself offered
himself to God in blood. And in that sacrifice of himself
offered to God for the sins of his people, he made satisfaction
to God in his justice and fulfilled all righteousness. And that sacrifice
offered to God, by that God put away his own wrath in truth and
righteousness and peace was established between God and his people. He
is our propitiation. And the cherubim are those creatures
that look upon the blood. Because that's where God looks.
And in Revelation, if you go to Revelation chapter 5, hold
your place in Psalm 80. This is a little bit of a diversion.
But in Revelation chapter 5, we can understand who these cherubim
are. Because as we read there last week, and I didn't point
this out then, because I hadn't seen it then. He says in Revelation
chapter 5, and verse 6, I beheld and lo in the midst of the throne,
And of the four beasts, and it's those four beasts that if you
go back to Ezekiel chapter 10 and Revelation chapter 4, you'll
see that these are the cherubim. And in the midst of the elders
stood a lamb, as it had been slain, having seven horns and
seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent forth into
all the earth. And he came and took the book
out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne. This
is the Lord Jesus Christ as God and man, taking the book out
of the hand of his father, the scroll that spoke of him. The
volume of the book, in verse 8. When he had taken the book,
the four beasts and four and twenty elders... Notice, not
just the four and twenty elders, but the four beasts. What did
they do? They fell down before the Lamb,
having every one of them harps and golden vials full of odors,
which are the prayers of the saints. These are the saints. Verse 9, And they sung a new
song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open
the seals thereof. They're singing to the Lord Jesus
Christ, aren't they? For thou wast slain, and hast
redeemed us. to God by thy blood out of every
kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation, and hast made us
unto our God kings and priests, and we shall reign on the earth.
And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about
the throne, and the beasts, and the elders, and the number of
them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands.
So, not only the 24 elders, but also these cherubim, these four
beasts, as is described in Ezekiel 10 and Revelation 4, and as we
mention here in Psalm 80 verse 1, these cherubims represent
those who look upon the blood of Christ. and seeing that blood,
as God sees it, they find in Christ cause for great worship,
cause for great rejoicing, and they only look to the Lord Jesus
Christ. And so back in Psalm 80, this
is the prayer. Give ear, O shepherd of Israel,
thou that leadest Joseph like a flock, thou that dwellest between
the cherubim, shine forth. In particular, As John Gill and
others have pointed out, these cherubim not only represent the
saints, but particularly they represent those who carry the
gospel as the ministers of the gospel and tell the church to
look to Christ only. And in looking to Him, they find
that God is satisfied with them and peace with God is made for
them. But I'm going to go down further
in Psalm 80, and read this recurring prayer that's made. It starts
in verse 3. He says, Turn us again, O God,
and cause thy face to shine, and we shall be saved. So in
this prayer, there's something that's asked for. Lord, Great
Shepherd of Israel, turn us again. We're prone to wander, and don't
you know you feel it? We're prone to go out of the
way. And even the first time we're turned, we have to have
this same deliverance from the Lord. He says, turn us again.
The people who are saved by the Lord know their need. It's a
continuous need. They need to be turned over and
over again. So they come over and over again,
and they say, Turn us again, O God, and cause Thy face to
shine. Make Yourself known to us in
Your grace and favor, in Your saving power, and we shall be
saved. And then if you go on down to
verse 14, or verse 7, he says this again. Turn us again, O
God of hosts. Now it's not just God, but God
of the armies of heaven. And cause thy face to shine,
and we shall be saved. There's one thing God's people
desire, is to know God in Jesus Christ and to hold communion
with Him, the most intimate communion with God Himself in the person
of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is Himself God and
man. And the result of that is that
we shall be saved. And then in verse 14 he says
this, "...return, we beseech thee, O God of hosts, look down
from heaven, and behold and visit this vine," that's a reference
to the church, "...and the vineyard which thy right hand hath planted,
and the branch." that thou madest strong for thyself." That branch
is a reference to the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, the Son of God
and Son of Man, the Christ of God. And you know that because
in Jeremiah 23, 5 and 6, He's called the branch, the righteousness
of God, our righteousness. And verse 16, it is burned with
fire, it is cut down, they perish at the rebuke of thy countenance.
So God has brought the trouble into our lives because of our
sin. And he brings it especially to
bear upon our conscience. And verse 17, here's the prayer
I wanted to get to. Notice what he prays. This is
the prayer God has given by the Spirit of God in advance of this
trouble that comes upon the people of God in our own experience.
God has given us this prayer before it came, just like Jesus
prayed for Peter before Satan desired to have him, Christ entered
his counter-plea in heaven as our advocate and intercessor.
And so he gives us this prayer, and he says, This is what the
people of God desire and pray for. Let thy hand, God's hand,
be upon the man of thy right hand, upon the Son of Man, whom
thou madest strong for thyself. Don't bring upon us what our
sins deserve. Instead, Let your wrath be poured
out in justice on the sin-bearing, curse-bearing substitute, the
Son of Man that you made strong by your right hand in that everlasting
covenant of grace." Where God chose His Son to be the Son of
Man and appointed Him to that, and He agreed to it voluntarily
and with great joy, the Lord Jesus Christ became our surety
in that covenant of grace. And so the prayer of God's people
is, if you put your hand upon the Son of Man and make Him strong
for us, then we'll be saved. Then we'll be turned from our
sins and our iniquities. Now look at Acts chapter 5 and
verse 31. And here we see the fulfillment
of this. Acts chapter 5 verse 31. He says Peter and the apostles
are preaching to the men who had held them in prison and told
them not to preach. In verse 29, Peter and the other
apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than
men. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you slew and hanged
on a tree. In verse 31, listen, Him hath
God exalted with His right hand. Remember Psalm 80 verse 17, let
your hand be upon the man of your right hand. Him hath God
exalted with his right hand to be a prince. and a Savior, not
just a King, but a King who saves, our Mediator, for to give repentance
to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are His witnesses
of these things, and so also is the Holy Ghost, whom God hath
given to them that obey Him in this gift of faith. We obey Him. We look to Christ alone. As God
sees His Son for His people, He gives His Spirit to us so
that we see Him alone as our Savior and our only Lord. Now, I want you to go back in
your Bible to Romans chapter 10, because Jesus told Nicodemus,
He said, No man has ascended up to heaven. No man. This ascension
to heaven, this exaltation to the highest place, this exalted
glory and honor given to this one of whom Christ spoke, is
reserved for only one. That's what the ascension means.
It says, no man has ascended up to heaven. No angel, the angels
are ministering spirits sent forth to minister for them who
shall be heirs of salvation. And they're commanded to worship
Christ. In Hebrews chapter 1 and verse 6. And no man. Not Adam. He fell. Not Noah. He perished. He was
drunken after the flood. Not Abraham. He found that salvation
was not by his flesh and he rejoiced to see Christ's day. Not Moses. He wrote of Christ. He pointed
the children of Israel bitten in the wilderness to Christ on
the cross. And not David. He said, my house is not so with
God. So none of these men, not Elijah,
not Elisha, not Isaiah, none of them. No man has ascended
up to heaven except one, the one who came down from heaven,
even the Son of Man, which is in heaven. And so I want to bring
this out in Romans chapter 10, in verse 1 of Romans 10. If you're
looking there, he says, Paul is speaking here to those who
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. He says, brethren, My heart's
desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be
saved. This is Paul's one desire, is that God's elect out of the
nation of Israel would be saved. For I bear them record, the nation
of Israel, after the flesh, those who are the unbelieving in Israel. Naturally, this is what all Israel
in that nation believes. He says, for I bear them record
that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.
It's not according to the knowledge of the truth. Verse 3, For they,
being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish
their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto
the righteousness of God. And what is that? Verse 4, For
Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one
that believeth. Since we're speaking about Christ
as the King and the Kingdom of God, remember Matthew 6.33? What
does it say? It says, Seek ye first, Jesus
said. Seek ye first what? The Kingdom
of God and His righteousness. And here we find out what that
righteousness is. It's Christ and Him crucified that fulfilled
the law. Verse 5. I wanted to get to this. For Moses describeth the righteousness
which is of the law, Here's the righteousness that the law describes,
that the man which doeth those things shall live by them. If
you keep the law, then you're righteous before God. Of course, no man keeps the law,
so there is none righteous. But in verse 6, "...but the righteousness
which is of faith..." Ah, here's a different righteousness. It's
not the righteousness described by the law. This is the righteousness
of faith. And faith looks to Christ. Faith
is that virtue, that grace that God gives to us that looks away
from ourselves and sees all of our righteousness in Christ.
That's how the righteousness of God is ours. It's given to
us and we receive it through this faith that God gives. But
in verse 6, the righteousness which is of faith is going to
be described. He says, but the righteousness which is of faith
speaketh on this wise. Now he's going to quote from
Deuteronomy chapter 30 and verses 11 through 14. But Paul, the
apostle, by the Spirit of God is going to reveal to us what
Moses wrote in Deuteronomy 30 and verses 11 through 14. He's
going to quote it and then explain it. He says, now remember, what
Paul is describing here by the Spirit of God is the righteousness
which is of faith. It's not the righteousness which
is of the law. So the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on
this wise. And then he first describes it
by saying what it isn't. Say, not in thine heart who shall
ascend into heaven. Remember, that's to exalt the
Lord Jesus Christ on heaven's throne because of his saving
work as our mediator. So don't say, who shall ascend
into heaven. Well, why would the Israelites
say that? Well, because Moses was the mediator of the law. Remember, he's the one that went
up Mount Sinai to get the law from God and bring it down to
men so that they could see it and do it. And he's telling them,
don't say that in your heart. Don't think that some man on
earth is going to, as Nicodemus thought Jesus was, a man sent
from God. Have you ascended to heaven to
get God's word like Moses and come down to reveal it to us?
No. No. It's not like that at all. There's only one worthy to sit
on heaven's throne, and he was in heaven before, and came down
from heaven. He is the Son of Man. So he says,
don't say in your heart, who shall ascend into heaven, because
to do so requires that Christ come down. He says that is to
bring Christ down from above. Because Christ is the one who
is alone, ascended to glory, and in order for Christ to ascend,
he had to first descend. But He couldn't come from earth,
He had to descend from heaven because He's the Son of God.
He had to take our nature as the Son of Man. And then in verse
7, Paul goes on. Again, he's quoting from Moses
in Deuteronomy 30. He says, or, don't say this,
who shall descend into the deep? Don't think of someone on earth,
some man, redeeming his brother by he himself paying the debt
that that sinner owes God. It's an infinite debt, and no
man on earth can redeem his brother or give to God a ransom for him.
Only Christ could do that. And what did that ransom require?
It required the Son of God to be made lower than the angels
and taste death in Himself for every son. Hebrews chapter 2
verse 9. And therefore God has highly
exalted Him. So he says in verse 7, don't ask this, who on earth
shall descend into the deep? Because, he puts in parentheses,
that is to bring up Christ again from the dead. Only Christ could
do that. Only he could descend into the
deep and suffer the judgment of God's wrath, and in so doing,
he would rise again from the dead, and therefore he would
be exalted to heaven. But what saith it? Verse 8. But
what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in
thy mouth and in thy heart. That is, the word of faith which
we preach. And what is the word of faith?
Well, he said it in verse 4, Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness. Faith only has one word for sinners.
look to Christ. See in that propitiating sacrifice
to God He made of Himself, see God satisfied, and see His righteousness
exalted in the fulfillment of His law, and all of this done
by the Son of God in our nature as Son of Man, and therefore
establishing for us an everlasting righteousness in fulfilling God's
law to God's great honor and our salvation. And so he goes
on in verse 8, that is, the word of faith which we preach, we're
preaching Christ and Him crucified, verse 9, that if thou shalt confess
with thy mouth, like the thief on the cross, and like Thomas,
we read that last week, the Lord Jesus. This confession is not
a confession of constraint, a confession of, oh, I don't want to say this,
but I have to say it, otherwise I'm damned. No, this is a confession
of the greatest admiration and delight and joy, because we see
that our Savior The Son of God stooped as Son of Man to redeem
us. And God had eternally appointed
Him to this as our Mediator. And as our Mediator, He took
our place before God and offered Himself as our surety and stands
as our Advocate. And He tells us, when He stands
there, He says, You confess your sins. Don't try to hide it. You confess your sins, and yet
he argues his own offering, his own answer to God in justice
of himself, offered in sacrifice. And in that answer to God of
himself in sacrifice, he justifies the ungodly. And that's what
he tells us. So back in John chapter 3, Jesus
is given the all-comprehensive view of God's eternal plan and
purpose and promises, not only to his Son, but to his people
in his Son, throughout time and for eternity. This is amazing,
what the Lord Jesus condenses in this one verse of scripture.
No man has ascended up to heaven. Again, to ascend doesn't mean
just to go up. It means to be exalted and given
glory, as we read in Daniel 7, 13, and 14 last week. It's to
be given dominion over all things, and honor, and blessing, and
glory, and power, as we read in Revelation 5, verses 9-13. No man has ascended up to heaven
except one, but He that came down. First, He had to come down.
He had to descend. He had to be made a man. And
as our surety, He had to bear our obligations to God and bear
our iniquities in Himself and fulfill all that God required
for us. That's what a mediator does.
He gives to God all that God requires of me. And he brings
from God all God's blessings that he has for his people. And
he not only brings from God, and gives to God in this way,
but he also brings all the blessings that God promised in his everlasting
covenant. Because he made that covenant
sure to us in his own blood. So he says, No man has ascended
up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son
of Man which is in heaven. Having completed the work of
our redemption, where did the Lord Jesus Christ go? Well, according
to God's purpose, he was going to be exalted to heaven's throne.
And that's where he was. As son of God, he was always
there. As son of man, he came and he had to suffer. And he
was made lower than the angels. He says that he was made a worm
and no man in order that he might accomplish the will of God. Think
of this. He came from heaven. as the Son
of God, equal with God the Father, to do the lowest service possible
as the Son of Man, and in that service to accomplish the greatest
work ever to be done in heaven or in earth for all eternity. Now, this sounds like too grand
a claim. How could anyone say that Jesus'
life and death on this earth as Son of Man, in fulfilling
the will of God for His people, in His own death, in offering
to God, in obtaining their eternal redemption for them, is the greatest
work that God has ever done or ever will do in all of time and
eternity? How could we make that claim?
Well, because God the Son became forever man in nature. God the Son retains His divinity
and yet forever is the Son of Man seated on Heaven's throne.
There's a man in glory. And this man accomplished this
work by giving himself in total There was nothing held back.
And He did it not only voluntarily, but with great joy to save His
people from their sins. This is the Lord Jesus Christ,
our Mediator. One more verse. I want to give
this to you before we close. And we could go on and on. This
is really the subject of all of Scripture. You know that it
is as you read through Scripture. It's all about the Son of Man
descending. ascending in great glory and
seated in all of His glory to fulfill God's eternal purpose
for His church. In Hebrews chapter 9, It says
in verse 11, but Christ being come, and high priest of good
things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle,
not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building,
the Lord Jesus Christ didn't come to perform the office of
priest in a tabernacle made with man's hands, but in the tabernacle
of his own body, as son of man. He says, neither, verse 12 of
Hebrews chapter 9, neither by the blood of goats and calves,
no animal sacrifices could do this, but by his own blood he
entered in once into the holy place, the presence of God himself,
having obtained eternal redemption for us. That's the work of Christ. It was a successful work. That's
why He was exalted. That's why He ascended. That's
why He's seated. When He had by Himself purged our sins, He
sat down on the right hand of the Majesty in Heaven. He says
in verse 13, "...for if the blood of bulls and of goats and the
ashes of an heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifyeth to the
purifying of the flesh, Because those animal sacrifices made
the men who offered them capable of offering those in their bodies,
and so that they were not rejected by God in offering those physical,
typical sacrifices. But in verse 14 he says, How
much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal
Spirit, his own Spirit as the Son of God, offered himself without
spot in his human nature, without spot, how shall he much more
purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? The result of Christ's offering
is sending his Spirit, and in his Spirit he not only offered
himself to God, but he presents himself to us in the Gospel and
gives us this life in faith so that in our own conscience we're
satisfied with all that Christ did and we have confidence in
Him and come to God by the blood of Jesus Christ. And our conscience
is clear because God has accepted His Son. He required from His
Son and has accepted our surety. And we stand justified in our
surety. And so he says in verse 15, and
for this cause, because He did all of this, He is the mediator
of the New Testament, that by means of death, his own death,
for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the First Testament,
the law of God, they which are called by the Spirit of God,
by God's eternal election, and by the irresistible call of the
Spirit of God, they might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. So a testament was made, a will,
a last will and testament. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
mediator of that testament. How did that testament get made?
He agreed with his father to fulfill all of the conditions
of God's everlasting covenant and those conditions were fulfilled
when he shed his blood. Hebrews 13.20, through the blood
of the everlasting covenant. And in Matthew 26-28, this cup,
he says to his disciples as he gives them the cup that represented
his blood, this cup is the New Testament in my blood. And here
he says, the eternal inheritance God promised in Christ to his
people is made theirs because Christ as the mediator, the one
who made the last will and testament, died. And he put it into force
by his blood. And as the New Testament mediator,
He rose from the dead and sat down on the right hand of God
and there dispenses and administers all the blessings of that New
Testament for His people. The first of which is the promise
of His Father sent to them to birth them and create them as
new creatures in Christ and join them to Christ as one body. and
the people in which God dwells by His Spirit, even the Lord
Jesus Christ, dwelling with His people, made one with them as
their husband and as their covenant head, their Redeemer. It's fantastic. No one has ascended up to heaven
in exaltation and honor except the Lord Jesus Christ who came
in humility and in humiliation and dishonor as the Son of Man
that He might take away our reproach before God by taking away our
sins according to the righteous justice of God in all of His
holiness so that God in the perfections of His nature not only receives
us to His great joy and glory But He sends His Spirit to us
so that we might know it and trust Him and trust Christ alone.
Aren't you thankful? And this is what the Lord Jesus
Christ told Nicodemus. He preached the gospel of His
grace and His saving work to Nicodemus. And by the Spirit
of God, God himself gave that life to Nicodemus so that he
might see and be birthed into this kingdom as a spiritual child
of God, created in Christ Jesus according to God's work, he himself
being the work of God. Isn't that wonderful? And he
says to him, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,
even so the Son of Man must be lifted up. That's where he descended
to do that, and he glorified his father in doing that. how
thankful I am for the Lord Jesus Christ. Like the psalmist says,
we rejoice in our king, don't we? The king's daughters, the
queen, stands in the gold of Ophir because the king stooped
to this low place to make his people to purify them before
God. I'll just close with this one
last thought. In Matthew 25 and 34, the Lord Jesus sits as judge
and he separates the sheep from the goats. And he tells the sheep
on his right hand, he says, Enter thou into the kingdom prepared
for you by my Father from the foundation of the world. God
the Father prepared this kingdom for his people. And how did he
do that? He prepared it by giving His
only begotten Son. And Christ prepared us. That's
the way he prepared us for this kingdom. He himself offered himself
to God and sanctified us. He purified us with his own blood.
And then he sent his spirit into our hearts so that we might know
what he did for us. And thereby, he gave us a clean
conscience in the sight of God. We look to Christ as God himself
looks. And we agree with him that this
is the most wonderful thing God has ever done and shall ever
do. And it will be the subject of our praise and worship throughout
eternity. And in this we will see throughout
everlasting ages the riches of God's grace to us in Christ.
Let's pray. Thank you, dear Lord, our God
and Father, for sending your Son and preparing a kingdom for
us in Him, and preparing us in Him for that kingdom, and sending
your Spirit that we might be able to know these things in
our heart, and be convinced and persuaded of them, and find it
our gladdest joy to know that Christ is our King, because He
became our Savior, and saved us from our sins, and defeated
every enemy, and subdues them now under our feet. And He shall
surely bring us to God, without fault, in the presence of God,
to His exceeding great joy, saving us to the uttermost by His intercession
and advocacy, and His substitutionary offering of Himself. Lord, help
us to worship our King, and so glorify You throughout eternal
ages. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.