Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Numbers 21:4-9 | Psalm 102 | John 8:21-30
LIFT
“When you lift up the Son of Man, you will come to realize
that I AM.” - John 8:28
The Holy Spirit inspires us to see that the lifting up of
Jesus on the cross, (and also in the resurrection, and ascension) was
foreshadowed when God told Moses to mount a bronze serpent on a pole (Numbers
21:8; John 3:14). As those who looked at the bronze serpent were saved from
death, so those who believe in the lifted-up Jesus are saved from the second
death (see Revelation 2:11), everlasting damnation (see John 3:18).
The lifted-up - crucified, risen, and glorified - Jesus
draws all people to Himself (John 12:32). Human beings are mysteriously drawn
to that Man nailed to a cross. If we yield to the draw of God’s grace, we will
come to believe in Jesus as our Savior, Lord, and God. When we lift up Jesus,
we “will come to realize that’ He is the I AM, that is, God (John 8:28). Then
we will not die in our sins, but repent and receive everlasting life (see John
8:24).
In two and a half weeks, on Good Friday, we will remember
the cross. We will see Jesus lifted up. Let’s pray in these days to see the
lifted-up Jesus in a new way, in His way. May we celebrate the risen and
glorified Christ as never before, and may we celebrate Him forever.
Prayer: Lifted-up Jesus, lift me out of sin, darkness, and
death. Lift me from the earth into heaven with You.
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