“The Son of Man must be lifted up” John 12:34 KJV and NASB
“Whom the heaven must receive” Acts 3:21 KJV
“Whom heaven must receive” Acts 3:21 NASB
“He must reign” 1 Corinthians 15:25 KJV and NASB
When the Spirit of God uses the word “must” it “must” have both spiritual significance and eternal import. We are all familiar with the three “musts” of John 3 as to the Savior’s death, the necessity of the new birth, and the ascendancy of Christ in the believer’s life (vv 7, 14, 30). These are a frequent basis for teaching and exhortation. But there are other occasions when the Spirit of God employs the “must” of divine necessity.
John 12:34 tells us of a necessity in light of the heart of God. It was not only our sins that required a lifted-up Savior; the heart of God longed to express its love and grace. For humanity, Jew and Greek, to be drawn to Christ, He must be lifted up. Not only was there no other avenue for souls to be saved, but there was no other manner in which God could fully reveal all that is in His heart. Creation may display His power, creativity, care, and wisdom; His covenants with Israel may show His faithfulness. But nothing, absolutely nothing so reveals His love and grace as a lifted-up Christ.
But such was the satisfaction which God found in that work when His Son was lifted up, so complete was the atonement, so full the revelation of Himself, that the Lord Jesus must be received back into heaven. The heavens “must” receive Him. The Hebrew epistle traces the steps of the triumphant Savior: it tells us that He ascended; that He passed through the heavens; that He entered within the veil; and that He sat Himself down at the right hand of God. And, as if to add to the majesty and glory of that event, it says, “the right hand of the throne of the majesty in the heavens” (Heb 8:1). The character of God demanded this place for His Son.
In 1 Corinthians 15, we are told of the fact of His resurrection and the fruit which it has produced. Paul’s teaching goes onward into eternity and the day when death itself will die. His vista encompasses the ultimate purposes of God for this globe, but more importantly, for His Son. To bring all this about, to subdue everything to Him, the decree has gone forth: “He must reign.” Nothing on earth or in hell can impede the divine decree. We can look expectantly to that day when He will reign, and everything will be subdued beneath His feet. The One Who allowed Himself to be trodden under the feet of men as a worm and no man, will one day have everything subdued beneath His feet.
Consider:
Although the cross reveals the love and grace of God as nothing else had ever before done, the cross is the full display of every attribute of God: His holiness, justice, mercy, love, wisdom, etc.