Christ -Lifted Up

Introduction

Story

Text:

John 12:20-36 “Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”

Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. And Jesus answered them,

“The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.

Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.

“Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.”

Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.”

30 Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not mine. 31 Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out.

32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” 33 He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die.

34 So the crowd answered him, “We have heard from the Law that the Christ remains forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?”

35 So Jesus said to them, “The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you.

The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.”

Background (vs20-23

Triumphal entry-

There were Greeks-who where non jewish men in Jerusalem to celebrate the Jewish Passover feast- and when they heard that Jesus was at the temple teaching, they wanted to meet him so they went to meet Jesus..

and Jesus uses this time to proclaim tot he crowd that the time has now come for the Son of Man to be glorified.

Jesus is saying to the crowd the time has finally arrived for me to fulfill my purpose in coming to earth.

and now over the next 12 verse Jesus is going to explain why He must do what he has come to do.

But before we move ahead, I believe we need to remember who we are without Jesus in our lives so that we can truly understand the magnitude of what Jesus has done for us.

The Bible is very clear when it describes mankind without Jesus

Mankind on his own is total lost in their sins

Romans 3:10-12 “as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.””

If you are wondering if you were included in that description of mankind listen to what Paul says in verse 23

Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”

Because we are totally consumed with Sin the only thing we can do is sin

Mark 7:21-23 - “For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

Psalm 5:9 - For there is no truth in their mouth; their inmost self is destruction; their throat is an open grave; they flatter with their tongue.

Isaiah 64:6 “We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.”

Church we need to remember who we are without Jesus in our lives, so that we can look back and rejoice in what he did for us in coming to our rescue.

let’s move on and look at our text today in John 12 where Jesus is foretelling what his death on the cross will accomplish for mankind.

Jesus’s Response to the World

In Luke 19 Jesus wanted to make it very clear why he came to earth

Luke 19:10 “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.””

and in John 12 Jesus explains how his death accomplishes his purpose

look with me at verse 24-

John 12:24 “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.”

Christ’s single Death will bring Life to Many. -24

Jesus uses the illustration of a seed to explain his death

An apple can only reproduce more fruit if part of it dies so that it can bring life.

THink about the process of an apple

A healthy tree produces apples, and those apples have seeds inside of them.

As long as that apple is hangin on the tree it is alive. it is tied to its life source, but in order for it to reproduce more fruit it must be separated from the life source and die.

But it is only through the seperation from the tree that this dead seed now has the power to bring new life which will produce more fruit.

Jesus explains how his death accomplishes his purpose

MY DEATH is required so that I can can bring life to the many.

1 PETER 2:24 “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.”

Listen to the words of Romans 5: 12 &15 “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned=”

Romans 5:15 “But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many.”

When Jesus says in John 12:24 “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.”

He is speaking of himself He left the father the life giver, the life sustainer, to come to earth and die in our place so that through his death many would come to life,.

The first thing John tells us in our text is that Christ death has the power to bring life to all.

Transition:

John 12:25-26 “Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.”

the second truth we see from Christ’s death is that…

Christ’s Death will Give an example to follow - 25-26

think about our apple tree again.

When a seed falls from the apple tree it dies and through its death it reproduces another apple tree, and now that apple tree grows and it reproduces even more fruit and the result is more seeds dying and reproducing fruit.

If Christ death produces fruit then our lives as fruit that Christ produced should produce the same kind of fruit that produced us.

Its very simple an apple tree will reproduce apple trees and and orange tree will reproduce orange trees.

If you are truly the fruit of Christ death than you will reproduce the same kind of fruit in your life.

.In these two verses I believe we can see what it looks like to reproduce the fruit of Christ

“Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

TO produce a harvest for Jesus we must die to self (24)

When we choose to place our faith in Christ, it’s because we have come to the realization that life in the world doesn’t fulfill. The things that we try We recognize that we need life in Christ instead.

At that moment, in order to be spiritually reborn, we must first die. Galatians 2:20 states, “I have been crucified with Christ.” At salvation, we die with Christ so that we can be raised to newness of life and begin bearing the fruit of the Spirit.

2 Cor. 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”

Gal. 5:24-25 “And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.”

To die to self means that we are no longe rin control of our lives but we are now followers of Jesus .

Trans; Our verse goes on to say

“If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.”

To follow the example of Jesus our lives must produce a fruit that brings God all the glory

and Jesus tells us what this should look like in our lives

Look at this verse in reverse order

If our purpose is to honor God with our lives than we must Serve Jesus and to serve jesus we must be with Jesus and to be with Jesu we must follow Jesus and to follow Jesus we must first be alive in Christ.

In order for us to follow the example of Christ we need to spend time with Christ.

How often are you in Gods word

How much time each day you spend talking to God in Prayer,

In order to follow christ example we must be with Christ.

Trans; Our text goes on in John 12 verse 27-30 and Jesus Gives the crowd another reason for his death

John 12:27-30 ““Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not mine.”

The third reason for Christ’s death is that it will bring glory to God.

Christ’s Death will bring the father Glory - 27-30

Everything Christ did on earth was for the glory of God.

So how is God Glorified through Christ death

First Christ was a sacrifice to God

Eph. 5:2 “And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”

2nd Christ was a sacrifice for God’s chosen people.

Romans 5:8 “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

~God receives all the glory for Jesus’s death on the cross, because through it the lost sinners are redeemed back to God.

Transition: our text goes onion verse 31

John 12:31 “Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out.”

Christ’s Death will Bring Judgement to the guilty - 31

Christ’s death will bring judgement to those who are under condemnation.

Jesus speaks of two judgments in this verse

the judgement of the world and the judgement of the ruler of this world.

Think about what is happening in our story. The religious leaders have accused Jesus of breaking the law and are trying to find Jesus so that they can bring him to judgement, which will climax with him hanging in humiliation on the cross. But Jesus is saying You got it all wrong, The reality is that the cross is what will pass judgement on all mankind.

Jesus didn’t come to earth in rebellion against God, He was sent by God the father as his representative, As the perfect substitutional lamb that would die in the place of sinners.

The cross did not Judge jesus like the Pharasees wanted, But in contrast it is the cross that brings judgment to everyone who rejects Jesus as their substitutionary lamb.

RC Sproul speaking of the cross of Christ said

“In the callous murder of the Son of God, sin displays itself in its most evil form. But in that death, God was also giving his Son as a sacrifice, the Lamb of God; in that death, Jesus was securing the life of the ‘many seeds’ (v. 24). Thus the death of Jesus’ signifies judgment both positively and negatively. As far as ‘the world’ is concerned, however, it can only be negative. There can be no further reprieve, for there can be no hope for those who reject the one person whose death is the epiphany of God’s gracious, saving self-disclosure.

Christ death is the fulcrum point that either can bring a sinner life or condemn him to eternal death.

Not only does Christ death bring the judgement to the world but it also seals the judgment upon Satan.

In Genesis chapter 2 When God created this world He put man in charge. He gave adam and Eve dominion over this world, But when Adam and Eve Sinned in the garden they forfeited their dominion to their new master the Devil.

And throughout the scriptures we see that Satan has the dominion of this world

In 2 Cor. 4:4 “In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”

Satan the ruler of this world Hates God He hates Jesus and since the garden of Eden His entire purpose has been to defeat God so that He could be the supreme ruler of ALL

And We come to our story in John and Jesus is about to die—, Although the cross may seem like a victory for Satan. Although it may seem that He has finally destroyed God,. it is in fact The death Jesus that brings Satan’s final defeat!

When Jesus was lifted up on the cross as the payment iN FULL for SINS DEMAND , Satan’s tyranny over mankind was defeated. He no longer can keep sinners captive in his grip

And Because Christ died and conquered deaths grip there is now no possibility for Satan to ever defeat God, And Because of this, His judgement of eternal damnation is Sealed.

We see this in John 16:11 “concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is already condemned.”

Satan’s Judgement was sealed with the cross, but understand He still has power today, and He still hates God and hates anything that God loves. and that includes you. His entire purpose from the moment jesus died and sealed his condemnation to eternal death is to take as many people with him to hell and away from God.

Finally the 4th thing that Jesus says his death will accomplish is found in verse 32

John 12:32 “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all people to myself.””

Christ’s death will draw all people to himself 32

Christ death will become the center of attention for all of history.

Everything up to this point in history has pointed towards a coming Messiah who would die in the place of sinners, Who would restore mans broken relationship with God.

And AfterJesus is lifted up on the cross, all of man’s Salvation points back to that moment in time.

The point is this All of mankind both past present and future must look to the cross to find forgiveness of sin and their restoration to God.

it is Christ death that makes salvation possible without the cross all people would still be lost in their sin, But because of Christ finish work on the cross He can now draw all people to come and be restored back to God.

Transition: jesus has built the case of why the cross matters for all mankind.

Without his death on the cross their can be no life for mankind.

Without the Cross we would not have the example of dying to self to follow

Without the cross Sin and Satan would not have been defeated

Without the cross No one could ever be restored back to God.

Without the cross God could not receive the glory from our Salvation

So what should response be when we fully understand the magnatude of what The cross of Christ has done for us today.

Our Response to Jesus

look with me one more time at our text in John 12....

John 12:35-36 “So Jesus said to them, “The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.” When Jesus had said these things, he departed and hid himself from them.”

Our response to Jesus is simple- either we chose to walk in the light of Christ or we chose to reject him in our lives and continue down a path of darkness that will lead to death.

To walk in the light doesn’t mean to be religious or just a really good person,

To walk in the light means to have a personal relationship with Jesus

To have a relationship with Jesus means that you beleive that he is the son of God, That you believe that He died on that cross in your place for your sins. and that when he rose again in 3 days from that grave He paid the debt of sin that you owe in full. and there is now nothing more for you to ever do to earn God’s grace of salvation in your life.

But notice what Jesus says about how long you have to make the decision to accept Jesus as the Savior of your life.

While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light

Folks don’t fool yourself thinking that you have more time to accept Jesus, stop playing games with your eternal destiny .

The Bible is very clear there is an expiration date on God’s offer of Salvation in your life.

If you wait too long and continue to walk in the darkness of this world it will be too late and you will be condemned for all eternity with the devil - God’s Enemy- in the Lake of Fire.

Bring It Home

Lost:

If you have never confessed your sins and asked Jesus into your life. If you have never believed in Jesus for your salvation The question I have for you is simple-

What will you do with jesus ?

Will you accept his free gift of salvation today or will you chose to stay in darkness? The choice is up to you, but remember the consequences of your choice will last for all eternity.

Saved:

Because of the cross of Christ we are the most blessed people on earth .

We have an eternal hope because of the cross,

we have an eternal relationship with Jesus because of the cross

We have eternal forgiveness because of the cross.

The question i have for all of you who have believed in Jesus is this.

What are you doing with Jesus as a result of what Jesus did for you on the cross?

Don’t be content in just having a Savior from condemnation, Chose to live a life that will bring him glory that will proclaim his gospel and that will serve his church.

The Christian who falls in love with Jesus , is the Christian who will make and equip more followers of Jesus. \

They are the ones who produce the fruit of Christ from the seed that what was planted in their heart.

Church don’t waste the cross. Love it embrace, and proclaim it.

Pray