Lift Jesus Higher

Lift Jesus Higher

August 17, 2025 Morning Service

Immanuel Baptist Church, Wagoner, OK

Rick Boyne

Message Point: When we lift Jesus before a fallen world, they can’t help but to be drawn to Him.

Focus Passage: John 12:27-35

Supplemental Passage: Then the LORD said to Moses, "Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a standard; and it shall come about, that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, he will live." And Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on the standard; and it came about, that if a serpent bit any man, when he looked to the bronze serpent, he lived. (Numbers 21:8-9 NASB)

Introduction: Driving on the interstate anywhere and you can see the McDonald’s, Love’s Truck Stop, and Braum’s before you exit the highway. You can see where they are because their signs are higher than the surrounding buildings. They do this for your business. They do this to attract you before you see the Wendy’s, Chevron, or DQ. They want your business. We, the church, should be doing the same thing with Jesus. Not our church. Not our children’s program. Not our potluck. But Jesus. We need to lift up Jesus because we want people to do business with God. That is our job!

I. Christ’s Cross as Divine Judgment

a. A troubled soul yet a steadfast purpose

i. John 12:27: “Now My soul has become troubled; and what am I to say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour.”

ii. The lifting of Jesus is divinely appointed, embraced with full awareness and surrender.

b. The serpent lifted in judgment and mercy

i. Numbers 21:8–9: “Make a fiery serpent and put it on a flagstaff... everyone who is bitten and looks at it will live.”

ii. The bronze serpent becomes a paradox of judgment and healing—a prefiguration of the cross.

c. Lifted in suffering to heal the broken

i. Isaiah 53:5: “But He was pierced for our offenses... and by His wounds we are healed.”

ii. Christ’s lifting embodies substitutionary atonement and redemptive suffering.

II. God’s Universal Invitation

a. Christ elevated to extend grace

i. John 3:14–15: “Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes will have eternal life in Him.”

ii. The lifting of Christ opens salvation beyond national boundaries.

b. A sacrifice that beckons the rebellious

i. Romans 5:8: “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

ii. Love displayed on the cross becomes the magnet for repentance.

c. From curse to call—the inclusivity of redemption

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

ii. All peoples—Jew and Gentile—are summoned to the healing presence of Christ.

III. Responding Before the Light Departs

a. The cross illuminates judgment

i. John 12:33: “Now He was saying this to indicate what kind of death He was going to die.”

ii. His lifting is both salvation and warning—a decisive moment of revelation.

b. Darkness that follows rejection

i. John 12:35: “Walk while you have the Light, so that darkness will not overtake you.”

ii. Delay is dangerous; light is offered but not guaranteed forever.

c. Light offered in the midst of wrath

i. John 1:5: “And the Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not grasp it.”

ii. Even as judgment falls, like the serpents among Israel (Numbers 21:6), grace still beckons through the lifted Savior.

Application/Call to Obedience: Look to the One lifted up. Christ's cross is both judgment and mercy, drawing every heart toward grace. As darkness looms, walk in the Light while it is given. Respond now—believe, follow, live. There is healing in His wounds, and eternal life in His call. The Bible says, “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.” (Romans 10:9-10 NASB)