KEY SCRIPTURE: JOHN 12:32″And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.”

The Lord Jesus said to his audience that if he be lifted up from the ground or earth, He will draw all men unto himself. The Lord was referring to how he would be killed, which was by crucifixion. This he said was God’s way of saving all men. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life”

God’s means of giving Him to humanity was by the cross.

In Numbers 21, when the children of Israel murmured against God, and Moses, the Lord allowed venomous snakes to come among them and bit them. They began to die and so cried unto Moses to plead with God for them.

The Lord asked Moses to mold a serpent with bronze and hang it on a pole. Anyone bitten and dying who looked at that brazen serpent was healed.  This was a type of the death of Jesus. Jesus said as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so would He be lifted up.

John 3:14″ And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:”

How does His lifting on the cross save us? Jesus on the cross was standing in our place. It was a punishment for our sins. The scripture said He who knew no sin was made sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. 2nd Corinth 5:21. On the cross, he took our place. John 1:29 says, “behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” This was done or achieved by hanging on the cross.

The Lord said that when I am lifted up, I will draw all men unto myself. Jesus was saying, as I die on the cross, I will be representing all men. I will make a way for all men to be saved.

Jesus’s death on the cross did not only   take away our sins , but a number of redemptive acts for men.

These are as follows:

1. On the cross, he took away our sins. John 1:29, 2nd Corinth. 5:21

2. On the cross, he redeemed us from the curse of the law. Gal. 3:13

3. On the cross, he became poor, so we might be rich. 2nd Corinth. 8:9

4. On the cross, he took away our sicknesses. Isaiah 53:4-5, 1st Peter 2:24

5. On the cross, the body of sin in us was taken off us. Romans. 6:6

6. He abolished spiritual death, and brought life and immortality to pass, 2 Tim 1:9,10

If you would believe on Him ,every one of these  redemptive acts can be yours.

CONFESSION

Lord Jesus, I thank you for dying for me. I put my total confidence in you because through your redemption on the cross, I am made complete.

FURTHER STUDIES

Col 2:14 KJV “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;”

Gal. 1:4″ Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father:”