The Wednesday Word ~ 08 November, 2023 A.D.
Christ Lifted Up! Part 2
by D. G. Miles McKee
“And I, If I be lifted up from the earth: I will draw all men unto Me” -John 12:32 [KJV]
“By
His knowledge shall My righteous servant justify many; for He shall bear their iniquities." Notice, He will justify MANY! The
time will come that, in spite of every difficulty and opposition, there
will be a great multitude that no man can number. People from all
nations, kindreds and tribes will be gathered unto Him. Multitudes will
confess that they have been washed in the Blood of the Lamb. Well did
Jesus prophesy that all people would be drawn unto Him if He was lifted
up? Of course. we, must
not suppose that when our Lord said He would draw all men unto Himself
that He meant all men without exception. That would be contrary to
Scripture. Plainly, the words mean that He will draw all sorts of people
unto Him. All kinds will be drawn … high and low, rich and poor, black,
white, brown, moral, immoral, bond and free. All will be drawn and all
will be gathered out of every kindred; tongue, people and nation (see
Revelation 5:9). And that’s the Gospel Truth! Unfortunately,
there are some professing Christians who have moved away from the
Gospel, denying the blood atonement and the success of Christ’s finished
work. They would try to rob us of the very truths upon which we are
resting. They would tell us that the atoning merits of the Lord Jesus
Christ are neither enough nor even necessary for our acceptance with
God. But, in spite of them, God’s redeemed ones will hold fast to the great, central truths of the Gospel. True
believers continually state that the Lord Jesus died, the Just for the
unjust. They boldly declare that He paid the penalty for their sins.
They continually assert that He became their Substitute. They affirm
that He, the innocent One, was treated as the guilty one. They hold fast
to the truth that Christ died, not only for the unjust but also for the
ungodly (Romans 5:6). Gospel believers continue to believe that it is
by the imputation of Christ’s righteousness that we are justified
before God. May we fully believe in the doctrine which is expressed in
that beautiful hymn, “My hope is built on nothing less, Than Jesus: blood and righteousness.” His
death upon the cross is the great central truth of the Gospel. Unless
He had been lifted up to the cross, no sinner could ever have been saved
and heaven, so far as humans are concerned, would be a vacant lot.
Therefore, may we hold fast to what has sneeringly been referred to as
“The Blood Theology.” The
truth is, however, that we do hold to the Blood Theology for without
shedding of blood there is no remission of sin (Hebrews 9:22). Not only so,
but God justifies us freely by His grace through the redemption that is
in Christ Jesus, Whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through
faith in His blood (Romans 3:24-25). Hallelujah for the blood! By
the way, if we want to know whether or not we have saving faith the
great thing for us to ask ourselves is where does our faith rest? What
does it rest upon? Does it rest on ourselves? Does it rest on our own merits? Does it rest on our good deeds? Does it rest on our feelings? Or
is the object of our faith, Christ and His atoning sacrifice? Does our
faith connect us with Christ, and does it lead us to lean on Him as the
One Who died in our place?' Finally,
we are taught by the words of our text that the drawing of men to
Christ Jesus would be a sure result of His death. I sometimes hear
people say that there is a probability of our Lord being a disappointed
Saviour. But surely anyone studying the Word of God can never come to
such a conclusion. On three occasions Jesus Himself said that, because
of the cross, He would draw all men unto Himself. There
is no doubt here. There is no hesitation in the language. Since He has
been lifted up to die, people will be saved and when all the elect are
gathered in He shall see the travail of His soul and be satisfied
(Isaiah 53:11). Would Jesus be satisfied with just a few? Hardly!
And just so there should be no misunderstanding Isaiah continues,
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