Thursday, July 9, 2009
John 3:14-15 "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life."
SURPRISING PICTURE . . . SURPRISING SAVIOR
Whether a sacrificial Lamb or a Shepherd saving His sheep, the Old Testament pictures of the coming Christ were Gospel messages--saving Gospel messages, as those who believed received in reality what was promised in picture.
The importance of believing in the promised Savior was emphasized by Jesus to Nicodemus. in John 3: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have ever-lasting life" (16).
But before He said this Jesus pointed Nicodemus to another Old Testament picture of Himself--one where faith had a prominent place. The Brass Serpent pictures the Savior lifted up in the likeness of the sinner, providing rescue from death through faith in the promise of God. If John 3:16 is the Gospel in a sentence, here is the same Gospel in a picture.
The sin of Israel portrays the rebellious sin of us all. Death by snakebite seems fearsome, until you consider the eternal death that great serpent Satan has inflicted upon us. The Brass Serpent, God's provided solution, at first glance appears to be part of the problem (a snake!). In the same way the Crucified Christ appears to be simply one more executed criminal. And finally, through the grace of God that bridges time and place to work salvation, the eyes of faith look on the suspended thing and receive the salvation promised.
We are saved by Christ not from death by snakebite but from death eternal--and this salvation is received by the faith the Spirit works.
