"The Heavenly Exaltation"

 "Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things." (John 8:28 KJV)

  ""But you are my witnesses, O Israel!" says the LORD. "You are my servant. You have been chosen to know me, believe in me, and understand that I alone am God. There is no other God - there never has been, and there never will be. I, yes I, am the LORD, and there is no other Savior. First I predicted your rescue, then I saved you and proclaimed you to the world. No foreign god has ever done this. You are witnesses that I am the only God," says the LORD. "From eternity to eternity I am God. No one can snatch anyone out of my hand. No one can undo what I have done."" (Isaiah 43:10-13 NLT) 

 Before you think that there is some sort of mistake, think about who Israel represents, who Moses was representing, and what it was that lifted Jesus up upon that cross. I know that I might be off my rocker, from time to time; to be perfectly honest, I myself wonder how it is that I have any functional ability at all, given all the stuff I have been through. But this is rather simple to understand, so more than likely I will not mess it up, to much. 

 Point number one is that Israel represents you and I, the chosen people of God! We are chosen to be His servants, just as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were chosen, we too are God's, to be witnesses of His amazing mercy and grace. I might be a knucklehead, but I am His knucklehead! He loves me, He cares for me, and He is not letting go of me, ever! 

 Number two, Moses represented the law; which was that thing that shows us how broken we are, and how unable we are to please God by following His instructions, no matter how hard we try! Just as it was in the wilderness, as Moses lifted up that serpent; there is only one way that we can be saved, and the way is above the law!

 Thirdly: which is causing me to barely see my screen! What lifted Jesus up upon that cross was Love! You might have thought Jesus was speaking about those Jews, as, in a slightly different way it was, but it is because of them, as well as us, that He was lifted up! We might as well have pounded the nails in His hands and feet, because we were just as guilty as those that actually did.   

 I was reminded, by a dear departed brother, yesterday of something that I already knew, but have been neglecting to protect myself from forgetting: God has me in the firm grip of His hand, and He is not letting go! As Chuck said, "If it is up to me to abide in Christ, then I am a lost cause!" Adding to that, saying, "If I can lose my salvation, then I have a new name for God: Butterfingers!" 

 Actually, it gets even better! The problem for us, is that we must try very hard not to cause others to stumble or give them a reason to lose heart. We are going to be fine, as far as our place is secure in Christ; we might have a terrible time here, in whatever category you wish to place terrible; but the place in which we are secured is in Heaven, far away from any possible damage that we might cause down here.

 Again, there are some that will say, "That's not fair! How can you be a screw-up and still be assured that you have a place in Heaven?" I ask myself that all the time...

"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." (Ephesians 2:8-10 KJV)