So What Shall We Then See?

According to Baloche, we ask that we see the Lord “high and lifted up.”

Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven — the Son of Man. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.^[6]

These words were spoken mere lines before what is probably the most famous verse in the entire Christian Bible: For God so loved the world, he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Being “high and lifted up” holds within it, a glorious moment we can scarcely fathom. In the history of humankind, very, very few people actually witnessed with their physical eyes the “lifting up” of Jesus; His crucifixion. Those who did — whether the Romans, the two thieves, the daughters of Jerusalem or the few family and friends who dared climb Golgotha — saw a holiness they could not perceive. They would endure days of agony before they would see with their hearts the truth that Jesus had tried to convey but they’d not quite understood. He was and is and always will be the King of Glory, filled to overflowing with power and love.

So Then, As You Sing

Again, according to the lyrics, we will experience — by our spiritual eyes and heart — the power and love of Jesus as we sing “holy, holy, holy.”

We like that part of the song very much.

But, let us think about the reality of what precedes this. We must see Jesus, “high and lifted up,” dying upon a Roman cross, sheer agony screaming from every pore of His body as He died in atonement for our sins. Our hearts must see Him fully, in the glory of His purpose as we sing, “Holy, holy, holy.” We cannot separate the agony from the glory.

Not if we want our hearts to truly see.

^[1] http://www.leadworship.com/paul/about.html

^[2] Excerpted from the NIV Study Bible © 1985 The Zondervan Corporation, page 914.

^[3] Psalm 119:18

^[4] http://bible.crosswalk.com/Dictionaries/EastonsBibleDictionary/ebd.cgi?number=T1699

^[5] Psalm 19:8

^[6] John 3: 11-15 NIV

Eva Marie Everson is the author of a number of works such as Oasis, her recently released title from Baker/Revel. A seminary graduate, she speaks on a number of topics and can be reached by going to: www.EvaMarieEverson.com