STANDING in the very shadow of the cross upon which he was to be uplifted, Christ said, “Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all unto me.” The people who heard him said, “We have heard out of the law that Christ abideth forever: and how sayest thou, The Son of man must be lifted up? who is this Son of man?” Speaking to Nicodemus in the earlier part of his ministry, Jesus said, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” And although the people had heard his words, had shared in the benefits of his ministry, had seen his works for more than three years, yet when at the close he told them that the Son of man must be lifted up, they, remembering the teaching of the prophets that the Christ was to abide forever, said, “We have heard out of the law that Christ abideth forever: and how sayest thou, The Son of man must be lifted up? who is this Son of man?” The very people in whose hands was the Word of God in which this question was answered over and over again, when the Son of man was revealed, even4though his works and his ministry bore witness to his character, yet with minds blinded, they said, “Who is this Son of man?” Who is this Son of man?—Ask Adam, and he will tell you that he is the seed of the woman, which was to bruise the serpent’s head. Ask Moses, and he will tell you that he is the prophet to be raised up like unto himself from among the brethren. Ask Joshua, and he will tell you that he is captain of the Lord’s host. Ask David, he will tell you that he is the priest after the order of Melchizedek. Ask Isaiah, and he will tell you that his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Ask Jeremiah, and he will tell you that he is the Lord our righteousness. Ask Daniel, and he will tell you that he is the Messiah, the Prince. Ask Micah, and he will tell you that it is he whose goings forth are from old, from the days of eternity. Ask Zechariah, and he will tell you: “Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord: even he shall build the temple of the Lord; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.” Ask Malachi, and he will tell you that he is the Messenger of the covenant. Ask John the Baptist, and he will tell you: “Behold, the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world.” And yet with all that testimony from the Word, reaching from Adam to the living prophet in their time, when he who was the Son of man stood before them to set before them his death and its meaning, they said, “Who is this Son of man?” In replying he did not declare himself by name to them, but when they said, “Who is this Son of man?” he said, “Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. While ye have that light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light.” And the answer meant to them that they did not need further teaching, but they needed to walk in the rays of light which had already been given unto them; and if they had walked in the light, they would not have been found asking, “Who is this Son of man?” He had already told them of the very heart of the gospel which he had come to bring them, when he said to them previously, “If ye believe not that I am he [or that I am], ye shall die in your sins.” And he repeated it again when he said, “When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself.” That is, he had declared himself to be the “I AM.” When Moses was commissioned to go to the children of Israel in bondage to bring them deliverance out of Egypt, he asked, “Who shall I say sent me?” And the answer came, “I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you . . . this is my name forever.” Jesus in the flesh, instead of now being in the burning bush, declared himself to the people of that time, and to the people of all time, to be the “I AM.” He had done this in his works, he had done this in his words, he had said, “I am the bread of life,” “I am the light of the world,” “I am the true vine,” “I am the door,” “I am the way, the truth, and the life,” “I am the resurrection.” And when he met his disciples that stormy night on the sea, and they were so frightened, they heard him saying, “I AM, Be not afraid.” Just as the assurance “I AM,” given from the throne, was a pledge of divine power for the deliverance of the children of Israel, so the pledge of Jesus, “I AM,” is an assurance both to them and to us of divine power for deliverance from sin, for lifting up above the power of sin, for lifting up into heaven to sit in heavenly places with Christ Jesus,—I AM, the union of the divine and the human,—I AM, brought into the flesh,—I AM, revealed as a living Saviour,—I AM, the Saviour of the world. Jesus in his ministry had revealed himself both as Son of God and as Son of man, and he had brought to the flesh in himself the power that is necessary to triumph over sin; now the time has come when he is to be offered as a sacrifice, and he said, “I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all unto me.” The Son of man must be lifted up. Why?—Because God is just, as well as a justifier, and he does not merely pass over sin, but in the person of his own Son he gave himself for sin. The death on the cross, the death which he died for us, was necessary in order that the penalty for sin might be paid, that the triumph might be gained over sin. Let us gather about the cross, and let us behold the Son of man lifted up, and let us see what it means to us in our relation to this experience. The picture ought to be very familiar to our minds, so that we need not enlarge upon it. There he was, Son of God, Son of man, lifted up on the cross between two malefactors. In order that they might show the greatest contempt for him, they crucified him between two thieves, the just man in the midst, as if they would show that of the three he was the worst criminal, yet in that very experience we behold the Saviour in his divine character. One on the one side complained and cursed, the other on the other side, when the rulers mocked the Saviour, and the soldiers mocked him, and the priests mocked him, and the multitude mocked him, looked to him for salvation that day, confessed his sin, and believed for salvation. “Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.” “Thou shalt be with me in paradise,” the Saviour replied. That day he was still the Saviour of man. Even that day when the powers of darkness seemed to triumph, the love of God was triumphing. Behold in this experience a picture of to-day. Behold in this experience a difference between being crucified with Christ, and being crucified at the same time with Christ. The unrepentant thief died. He was crucified at the same time with Christ, but he was not crucified with Christ. The other was crucified, but he was crucified with Christ, and he expected that day to be with Christ in paradise. So crucified between the two sinners, we see how the Son of man is received to-day, some refusing his death and his salvation, and others believing on him for salvation. Said Paul, “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I that live, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith which is in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself up for me.” It is personal salvation, and it is in laying hold upon the death of Christ, that we are also raised up together with him and live with him, and can share in the glorious ministry of his life. “Dying with Jesus by death reckoned mine,
Living with Jesus a new life divine,
Looking to Jesus till glory doth shine;
Moment by moment, O Lord, thou art mine.
“Moment by moment I’m kept in his love,
Moment by moment I’ve life from above,
Looking to Jesus till glory doth shine,
Moment by moment, O Lord, I am thine.” I have been crucified with Christ that I might live with Christ. This Son of man who had committed no sin, laid down his life of himself, for he says, “I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.” And after he had shown himself alive by many proofs, he ascended into a cloud, and was received out of their sight. He came to the world as a conqueror, he lived as a conqueror, he died as a conqueror, and he ascended on high as a conqueror, and took with him his trophies of victory. So he, the Son of God, the Son of man, one who had walked and talked with them, whose words they had heard, and whose works they had seen, and whose ministry they had shared,—Son of man, in whose hands was seen the prints of the nails,5who had proved himself to be the same Jesus,—was received up into heaven, taking with him his trophies of victory, and he was met by the angelic host. The Son of man leads the way, attended by a company of angels and by these trophies of victory. As they come up to the gates of the city, the angels within, waiting for them, listening for their call, hear this song from the attending company: “Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.” And those within with glad welcome inquire in song, “Who is this King of glory?” And then the attending angels again take up the song, and answer, saying, “The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle.” And then the angels within the gates sing again, “Who is this King of glory?” and the answer comes back from the attending company, “The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory,” and they go in through the gates into the city. Who is this Son of man?—He is the King of glory. In his suffering that day on the cross when he bore your sin, my sin, the Son of man earned the right to stand before the Father as our advocate for sin. “In all things it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.” He “made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” And when he paid the penalty for sin, when he laid down his life that he might take it again, he earned the right to stand in the presence of the Father as our advocate for sin. So when he ascended on high, it was not to forget those whom he had left behind. He said on the cross, “It is finished,” yet not his work in ministry. But the sacrifice for sin was made, the all-sufficient, all-inclusive, all-atoning sacrifice for sin was made. Now welcomed to heaven as he is by songs of attending angels, and by songs of receiving angels, yet he has not gone there to share the glories of heaven merely for himself—he has gone there as the Son of man, and “there is one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus.” In the person of his Son, God has adopted human nature, and carried it up into the highest heaven, and humanity dwells in heaven to-day. Who is this Son of man?—He is our elder brother. Who is this Son of man?—He is our complete Saviour. Who is this Son of man?—He is the King of glory, he who sits with the Father on the throne of glory as priest, and the counsel of peace shall be between them both. Who is this Son of man?—He is the “priest forever after the order of Melchizedek,” “able to save to the uttermost them that draw near unto God through him.” Now in our personal experience the thing which we are to lay hold upon, which is the very center and heart of our experience, is this: we must believe that that Jesus who was here in the flesh as the Son of man is also the Son of the living God. Our faith must lay hold very definitely upon the fact that we individually have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and we must accept his experience as our experience. We must be ready to die with him that we may live with him. We must meet him where he met us, and that is at the very lowest point. We must lay hold upon his merits where he has brought them, and our faith must not be an indefinite faith, not an indefinite hope that in some way it will be all right, and we shall be saved, but we must identify ourselves with this Son of man in the heavenly sanctuary above, that what he does there he shall do for us, and that he shall not be merely a general representative of humanity, but he shall there be my representative, that he shall there be your representative, so that when the Father shall say to the Son, standing in the presence of his glory, as he said to him in his humiliation, “Thou art my beloved Son, in thee I am well pleased,” we by our faith being there in him, can be also assured that that word is spoken unto us; and therefore we can have boldness in the day of judgment, because “as he is, so are we in this world.” And faith lays hold upon the living Saviour as a personal representative, offering to us personally the benefit of his mediation. And while he is the minister of the heavenly sanctuary, that true sanctuary which the Lord pitched and not man, while he as the Son of man in glorified flesh stands before the Father to plead his own merits and righteousness in our behalf, he is also the minister of his church on the earth, and in the person of the Holy Spirit he is still the power for salvation in the flesh, just as he was in his own experience when he was here and walked the earth.