If I Be Lifted Up

"...Nothing is certain except death and taxes" Benjamin Franklin. Taxes we can live with, but death--that is a different story!

Many people are afraid of death, and why not? It is the end of life as we know it. It is the doorway from the familiar to the unfamiliar. Many have passed from this side of that doorway to the next, but only ONE has passed from the next side unto this side. And it is the One who has passed from the next side back to this side, in whom we put our trust for what life is like on the other side.

Of course, that One I am talking about is the Lord Jesus Christ! It is Jesus who conquered sin and death, and taken away it's sting. 1 Cor. 15:55-57 " O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."

Every Christian can attest to the reassurance they have when they know in themselves that they are in right standing with God, but even many Christians are not sure about their right standing with God, and are even fearful of their own death as fearing that they don't qualify for a life filled with the joy of all that the heaven they have been taught is available to them.

It is that sense of fear of disqualification that I would like to put at ease in many of these blog posts that I write, including this one. The verse I would like to start with is the very familiar verse found in John 12:32 "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me."

This verse is so familiar because it is sang in church as a praise song to "Lift Jesus Higher" but the truth of the matter is that to be "lifted up from the earth" is a euphemism for the crucifixion! Rather than saying a person was about to be crucified, they might say he is to be lifted up, to ease the terrible thought of this Roman form of torture reserved for the worst of criminals, that the Romans wanted to make a visual point of cruel torture to make it known what happens to those who threaten Rome. In fact the bible tells us what Jesus meant by what He said in John 12:32 by what He said in the next verse: John 12:33 "This he said, signifying what death he should die."

I am not sure how I think about singing that verse after knowing what I just wrote, but perhaps as it is in our minds as a praise song to His Lordship, and as a form of exaltation, then indeed there is no harm. What I would like to point out in this post is what Jesus said would be the result of His being lifted up. "I will draw all men unto me." which on the surface sounds all nice and gentle and inviting, but I want to focus your attention on a couple words of that verse. The first word is, what is translated as "draw". It is from the Greek word helkō which means: to draw, drag off metaph., to draw by inward power, lead, impel. It is the same word used to draw in a net full of fish. In fact just as ALL the fish in a net are impelled to be dragged into the boat, so also are the ALL for whom Jesus is dying on the cross. 

It is the other word in verse 32 I want to also bring your attention to consider, and that is the word ALL. Someone once said about this word, "What don't you understand about the word all: the A or the two L's?" What needs to be understood is the fact that the death of Jesus on the cross and subsequent resurrection was a WORLD CHANGING event! Jesus put to death ALL of those who were born a descendant of the first Adam and began a second creation race a descendant of Himself making all creation past present and future heirs and joint heirs with Christ. And Romans 5:12: "just as by one man sin entered into the world and death through sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:" ...5:17 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.... 5:21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord." So that you do not confuse the word all for the word many, take note is is the same "many" (all) who were made sinners, that is the many (all) made righteous.

There is no getting away with thinking or believing that some qualify and some do not qualify for a life eternal beyond the mortal door of death, and into that life of God offered to ALL creation right from the very beginning! There is no denying the Lord Jesus Christ any one of the ALL that He died on the cross to save! It is the greatest lie ever to be perpetrated against mankind to say anyone born into God's good creation will ever be separated from Him! Rom. 8:38-39 "For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Well, you might say, if that is the case, then why not just live in sin, since all will be saved by the death of Jesus on the cross? Funny you should say that, since Paul anticipated that his very argument based on what I just quoted would lead you to that conclusion. Romans 6:1-2 "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? 2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein" And also in 2 Cor. 5:14 "For the love of Christ constrains us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead:
15 And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again."

The difference between us who have become believers, and those who have not is simply that WE know now, and THEY do not! So, it is up to us who know to tell them who do not that God is not mad at them, and has forgiven them and is not holding their sins against them! They are NOT going to be sent to an endless torture chamber and last day bar-b-que, but rather they too can experience His forgiveness now, and a promised abundant life now. THAT IS THE GOSPEL! That Jesus said He would drag ALL men unto himself : If I Be Lifted Up.