Snake on a stick

I love the "ah-ha" moments in the Bible when something in the New Testament really explains something in the Old Testament. There is a story in Numbers 21:4-9 about how the Israelites were grumbling about God and Moses. God sent deadly snakes among the people of Israel because of their sin. The people asked Moses to pray to God for relief and God told Moses to make an image of a poisonous serpent out of bronze and set it high on a pole so that "everyone who is bitten shall look at it and live."

In the book of John 3:14-15 Jesus uses this story to prepare Nicodemus for the revelation He was about to give Him concerning His redemptive work on a cross. He said, "as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life."

The Israelites would never have thought of the bronze snake as their salvation from the biting serpents. Looking at the very thing that was killing them to save them.

What the Israelites were told to do in the desert we are told to do with the cross. Sin is the serpents biting us. Jesus became sin on a cross. He told Nicodemus that He would be so identified with sin, death and punishment that He would be lifted up like a snake."

2 Corinthians 5:21 says "For our sakes He made Him who knew no sin - sin, that in Him we might become the rightousness of God."

Like the Israelites with the snake, it's something we would never have thought of ourselves.

In 1 Corinthians 1:18 Paul wrote, "For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are saved it is the power of God." God deliberately chose something people see as folly so we can know salvation is God's doing. Not ours! He has created a way for us to live with Him for eternity. Believe it.

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Why Is Justice So Important?

In order to understand the end times we need to understand justice. Isaiah 2:12 says, “For the Lord of hosts has a day against all that is proud and lofty, against all that is lifted up and high.”

The day of the Lord Almighty is the Day of Judgment when God will judge good and evil. When we study God’s word we see that God will lift up the humble, judge all people, destroy the wicked and bring all believers together to establish the new heaven and the new earth.

Why is justice so important in the Bible? First, justice is a part of God’s nature. It is the way He runs the universe. Second, it is the natural desire of every person. Even as sinners, we all want justice for ourselves. And third, when government and church leaders are unjust, the poor and powerless suffer. Then they are hindered from worshipping God. So, injustice attacks God’s children.

When we do nothing to help the oppressed we are in fact helping the oppressor. We shouldn’t just leave it to our country or church to carry out justice. Each individual must deal justly with people and situations. We are accountable to God. We need to be more concerned with the poor and powerless. Less self-serving and self-centered. Christ is described in Isaiah 11:2-5 as the perfectly fair judge. We are called to live by His example. God’s complete moral perfection is revealed by His hatred of all sin and this will lead to judgment. This same moral perfection is revealed in His love for all He has created and this leads to mercy. Mercy for sinners who put their trust in Jesus. We don’t have a chance with justice! We NEED mercy! And lucky for us God is also a God of mercy.

Although sin must and will be punished, for believers it already has been. Christ took on all sin and died for it. Because of this, we who believe are granted God’s mercy for Salvation. We don’t deserve it, but God loves us enough to give it to us. Our first step is realizing we need it. Our second is to ask for it!