2002 issue 2 - a snake on a pole - counsel of chalcedon

8/12/2019 2002 Issue 2 - A Snake on a Pole - Counsel of Chalcedon

1/9

Joe Morecraft III Th.D.

From

the Pulpit of

Chalcedon

Presf:yterian

Church

The texts for

the sermon:

Numbers

21:1-9/John 3:13-18, 12:31-33

The Most Important Question

We Can Ever sk

What is the

most

important question that any human

being can ever ask?

It

can

be

asked

in

several ways:

How

can I live to the glory

of

God? What does

God

require

of

me?

How

does

God

want me to live

my

life?

How

can I live so as to please God? What does

God

desire

of

me?

But all of

these questions amount

to the same question - the

most

important question

any

of

us can ever ask -

How

should I live so as

to

glorify

God

with my life?

Until a person

is

brought by the Holy Spirit

to

ask

this question with the sincere desire to live with the

answer, he or she is living for himself or herself, and

therefore

is

a rebel in God's universe. Until he asks

this question, his primary concern is

how

he wants

to

live, how he can live so as

to

please himself,

how

he

can satisfy the desires

of

his own heart. Until he asks

this question, he is pretending that he is

not

created

in God's image for he has

no

intention

of

living for

God's pleasure and enjoying

Him

forever.

He

is

living in complete self deception.

However, because all have sinned and fallen

short

of

the glory

of

God, and because the wages

of

sin is

death, another vitally important question is involved

in our original question.

In

fact, this other question is

so essential that the first question cannot be answered

without it.

The

question

How

can I live

to

the glory

of

God? cannot be answered until after the second

question is answered.

This other question is, What

must

I do to

be

saved

from my sins?

or

What must I do

to

be reconciled

to

God

so

He

will forgive my sins,

no

longer

be

angry

with me and accept me as His child? Unless this

question is sincerely asked and correctly answered,

it

is completely impossible for a person to live for the

glory

of

God. Now, what is the answer to that first

and most

important question, What does

God

want

me to do with my life?

The

answer is, to use the

words of Micah, to do justice, to love kindness, and

to

walk humbly with your God.

But we are sinners.

God

has revealed His anger against

all

unrighteousness and ungodliness

of all

people.

Our

sins have condemned us and have separated us

from God.

And

in

our state

of

rebellion, nothing we

do pleases Him, for

He

is angry with the wicked every

day.

So then, what must I

do to

be saved?

That

was the first question the Philippian jailer asked

in

Acts

16

when

God

began working

in

his heart.

He

fell down before Paul and said, Wpat must I

do to

be saved? Paul gave him this answer: Believe in

the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, you and your

household.

It

should be noticed that, when the

Philippian jailer asked, What must I do to be saved?

Paul did

not say

Be baptized and join the church,

or Do

justice, love kindness and walk humbly with

your God. Paul's answer was simple, concise, and to

the point.

The

questions that need answering at this

point

are

two: First, what does

it

really mean to believe in Jesus

Christ; and second, why does believing in Jesus Christ

bring salvation and reconcile us to God? Why is

it

that by faith in Christ all

of

our sins are blotted

out

and forgiven and we are made God's children

to

live

with

Him

throughout all eternity?

The

story

in

the

di

k

1

r

ld

Testament regar ng a sna e

on

a

po

e answe s

these questions.

The Story o the Snake on a Pole

This unusual incident

in

the history

of Old

Testament

Israel, recorded

in

Numbers 21, gives us one

of

the

most

memorable illustrations

of

the nature

of

saving

faith to be found anywhere in the Bible. Israel had

been delivered

by

God

out

of

Egypt in the Exodus

. through the Red

Sea. In

Numbers

21

they are in

the midst

of

their trek across the wilderness to the

promised land.

the

COUNSEL o CH LCEDON 11


2/9

A Snake

on

a Pole

As they moved forward, they faced various hostile

enemies and

God

gave

them

victory over them. Daily

food was needed for the hundreds

of

thousands

of

Israelites in the wilderness. Therefore, their faithful

God

miraculously provided water out

of

rocks and

manna from heaven every day for years

to

provide them

with just enough food for everybody-one miracle after

another-day after

day.

Time and again, Israel would

vow that they would be faithful to their

Lord

and Savior.

At one point, because of the potential dangers

on

the

normal route, Moses led Israel

in

an out-of-the-way

direction that was longer, hot, and stony.

The

people

grew discouraged and began

to

complain.

n

effect, they

said,

If

we only had all the welfare and social security

we

had when

we were slaves

in

Egypt.

Oh,

to be back

there Moses, you and

God

have taken us

out

here

in

the wilderness to kill us.

And

besides that, this manna

is

miserable food." They were complaining about the

miraculous food that

God

dropped

in

their laps every

day n

other words, after

God had

been faithful

to

them in so many ways throughout this journey, they

were calling into question God's faithfulness, God's

goodness, God's wisdom, and God's providence. They

said, in essence, "Nothing

good

is going to happen

to

us

out

here.

We

will wind

up

dying

in

this desert. You

and

God

are

not

taking good care of us." They were calling

into question the very character

of

God

Himself, after

God had

been so

good

to them. To punish them for

their sin

of

unbelief and

of

rejecting God's provisions

for them, God judged them by sending "fiery serpents,"

that is, all kinds

of

poisonous snakes.

That

leg

of

their trip was famous throughout ancient

history for its snakes, which were called "fiery" for a

couple

of

reasons. They may have been a reddish color

and they may have caused people

who

had been bitten

by them to have a reddish color because of the burning

fever that would eventually

k ll them as

a result

of

the

venom shot into their body. As a result

of

these snake

bites, thousands

of

Israelites were facing miserable

deaths.

Finally, the people realized the evil

of

their ways. They

realized that they were ungrateful sinners and that they

had sinned against almighty God. So they came

to

Moses,

who

was God's representative and mediator

to

them. They said, basically, "Moses, we confess our sins.

We

have fallen short

of

the glory

of

God.

We

have

sinned against God.

t

was evil for us

to

question God's

faithfulness and God's goodness. Would you please

intercede with

God

in

our

behalf that we might be

2

the

COUNSEL o

CH LCEDON

saved from this judgment

of

the fiery serpents which

our

sins deserve?"

So Moses prayed and

God

gave an answer, strange

though it

was. God

told Moses, I want you to make a

bronze snake and

put

it

on

top

of

a high pole.

Then

lift

up

that pole in some location where it can be seen from

every direction." Moses did

as

God

had commanded

and issued God's gracious invitation

to

the thousands

of dying people burning with fever:

If

you

look

at the

snake

on

the pole, you will be healed.

That

is

all you

have to

do.

You don't have

to

prepare yourself first.

You don' t have

to

straighten up your life first. You

don't have to do this sacrament or that sacrament first.

All you have

to

do

is

look Just

turn

your face and look

at that pole, and you will be saved from the judgment

of

God

by that single look." Thousands looked and were

saved from the judgment

of

God.

hy a Bronze Snake on a Pole

First, why a

pole

t

was erected so that the bronze

serpent could be seen from

all

directions, lifted up in

the sight

of

all. Second, why a bronze snake? Perhaps it

was bronze because the snakes that were biting people,

which were symbols

of

God's judgment, were reddish

in

color, like bronze.

Or

perhaps

it

was because

of

the

reddish color the skin

of

people

as

a result

of

the fever

that the snake bites caused.

t

was the same color

as

the

consequences

of

their sins. Third, why a

snake The

snake was a symbol

of

that which was causing their

deaths-Gad 's judgment through these snakes. t could

have also been a symbol

of

the most famous snake

of

all,

the great tempter

of

man, Satan himself, Genesis

3:

1; Revelation

20:2.

What God

told Moses

to

write

in

Deuteronomy 21:

22-23 could also clarify the significance

of

this event:

" ..

.if

a man has committed a sin worthy

of

death,

and

he

is put

to death and you hang him

on

a tree, his

corpse shall

not

hang

all

night

but

you shall surely bury

him

on

the same

day,

for he who is hanged is accursed

of God. So that you do

not

defile your land which the

Lord

your

God

gives you

as

an inheritance." Hanging

a capital criminal

on

a tree was a symbol

of

his being

cursed by God.

t is

more than probable that this

snake

on

a pole was a symbol

of

the cursing

of

the

snakes that caused the deaths, the cursing

of

the sin

that deserved the snakes, and the cursing of Satan

who

tempted Israel to sin-the point being that it

is

only in

God's judicial condemnation

of

sin symbolized in the


3/9

A

Snake

on a

Pole

substitution

of

the bronze serpent in the place

of

the

sinful Israelites that salvation from divine judgment and

punishment can be found.

"Look to God's way

of

deliverance All you have to do

is look All you have to do is believe that this will deliver

you

if

you trust in it." All those who believed that God

promised deliverance in this manner were delivered

from death. All those

who refused to acknowledge this

divine

method

of deliverance and

who

refused

to

look

at the snake

on

the pole died of their snake bites.

Gary North expressed a helpful insight into this

incident when he said, "This healing by the elevated .

serpent was the positive sanction that transformed

Israel from a nation of psychologically defeated

nomads into a nation of pilgrims on the march. This

time Israel,

at long last, learned its lesson. Never again

did Israel bring the accusation against Moses that

God

had brought them into the wilderness to die. And that

Egypt had been a better place to live."

In

other words,

this faith in God's way of deliverance showed itself in

a changed life,

as

true faith always does because faith

without works

is

dead.

Why Did the Dying Have to Look at

the Snake

on

the Pole to Be Healed

Having confessed their sin and having sought to be

reconciled with God through the intercession

of

Moses, why did

God now

require them

to

now look

at the uplifted snake

on

the pole

to

be saved from His

judgment? What was the significance of this look?

Why did

God

command

it

in the first place? Why did

God

command that people were

to

be saved from death

by snake bites by looking at a bronze snake lifted up on

a pole? To paraphrase John Calvin, nothing seems

more unreasonable than that a mere look

at

a snake

on

a pole would heal a person

of

deadly snake poison. But

apparently this, which

man

would consider an absurdity,

was far better suited for making the undeserved grace

of God

conspicuous than any other reasonable remedy.

If

God

had answered their prayers simply by scattering

all the snakes, they could have said, That was an

unusual natural event. We sure are glad it is over." Or,

if

He would have said, "The remedy is in this salve that

I want you to

rub

on your bodies," then they probably

would have attributed their healing to the medicine,

and,

as

Calvin said, "the power and goodness of God

would have been thrown into the shade." Therefore,

that the snake bitten Israelites might know for certain

that they were healed and delivered by the unmerited,

undeserved grace

of

God alone, God chose a way of

saving them that was repugnant to human reason. It

was the subject of laughter, as it has been ever since,

by proud, unbelieving and dying men. "Are you dying

of snake poison for your sins against God?

God

will

save you from dying. How? Look at the snake

on

the

pole."

That

sounded to unbelievers just

as

absurd then

as

it

does

now

When the dying Israelites looked at the snake on the

pole they were instantly healed.

t

had to

be

by the

grace

of God

and

not

because

of

anything in man or

in nature.

At

the same time, this was a test

of

faith for

Israel. Would they trust God in this and do what He

says to be saved although it sounds so odd? Calvin

said:

It was a foolish thing to

turn

the eyes to a serpent

of bronze to prevent the ill effects

of

a poisonous

bite.

For

what, according

to human

judgment, could

a lifeless statue lifted up on a high pole profit? But

it

is

the unique quality of faith that we should willingly

be

fools in order that we may learn to be wise only

from the

mouth

of God.

In other words, it was a test of faith to see

if

their

faith is real for it is the unique quality of faith to want

to live by the Word

of God

alone, however foolish

it

appears in the minds

of men the foolishness

i

God

is

wiser than

men)

and the

lJ eakness i God

is

stronger

than men)

I Corinthians 2:25.

What was the significance of the

looking?

What does

look mean? We often use this word the way Moses used

it. We look forward

in

hope. We look to somebody for

something.

We

look forward

to

something in eager

anticipation. So then, when Moses told Israel to look

at the up-raised snake, He was telling them to look at it

with faith and

hope

in God's promise. To

look is to

rely

upon God's promise of salvation. As Psalm 34:4-6

says:

I sought

the

Lord

and

e

answered

me and delivered

me

from all

my

fears. Thry looked to

im and

were

radiant

and

their faces

shall

never

be

ashamed. This"boor man

Clied

and the Lord heard

him and

saved

him out

i

all

i

his

trouble.

Therefore, to

look

to

the

Lord is

not some kind

of

magical ritual. It is

to look to God in faith, believing His promise, believing

in

His faithfulness, trusting Him to do what

He

said

He

would do. The dying Israelites were called by Moses

to

believe that the method of salvation God had provided

in the snake on a pole would actually bring healing to

those

who

did

what God

told them

to do

and looked

at

the snake on the pole.

the COUNSEL

of

CH LCEDON 3


4/9

A Snake

on

a Pole

Why

is

faith described

as looking?

Because that is what

looking is. t is faith in God. To look

is

to believe. To

look to a person is to give credit to that person. To look

to a person is to trust him, to count as true whatever

he says. nd so everyone

who

believed Moses, who

counted

as

true what

God

said through

him,

and who

looked to God alone; and His revealed way of salvation

alone, to save them from death, was saved. By looking

at the snake on

the p o ~ in faith they were looking

away from themselves, from any hope

of

remedy in

themselves, looking entirely to God to do for them

what they could

not

do for themselves-save themselves

from the deadly snake bites.

Later in Israel s history

God

spoke through Isaiah and

said similar words: There is no other God

besides

Me, a

righteous God and a 5avi01: There is nOlle

except

Me. Look

unto Me and

be

saved, all the ends oj the

earth. For

I mi; God

and

there is no other. ..

In

the

Lord all

the

iffspring oj

Israel

}vill

be

justified

an.d

will

glory,

Isaiah 45:21-22, 25.

The

Lord said that because

He

alone is Savior

the bronze serpent was made by divine command in

the likeness

of

poisonous fiery serpents, so Christ was

made in the likeness

of

sin-poisoned humanity. As

the sinning Israelites, snake bitten and dying, looked

to the bronze serpent

on

the pole and lived, so sinful,

perishing men and women, poisoned by that old

serpent, the devil, who look in faith to the crucified

Christ, will find forgiveness

of

sins

in

Him.

What

was the

method

that Jesus saw in this passage

as

to how God would accomplish deliverance for sinners

from His judgment? Jesus is talking to Nicodemus, a

Pharisee and allegedly an expert teacher in the Law

of

God. Jesus

is

talking to him about heavenly things in

earthly figures. His subjects are the kingdom of God,

being born of the Spirit, His own condescension,

His own death, believing in Him, eternal life, and the

love

of

God. nd Nicodemus is resisting this gospel

teaching. Therefore Jesus makes His point

as

plain and

direct

as

possible by reminding Nicodemus

of

a story

in the Old Testament of the snake

on

a

pole with which, surely, Nicodemus was

rom sin,

if

we are to be saved from sin,

we must look to Him and to no one else.

We must trust Him to be the savior that

He really

is.

Jesus Application

o

the Snake on a Pole Incident

the

sinning

Israel-

ites snake bitten and

dyIng

looke to

the

bronze

serpent on

the

pole and lived

..

familiar. .

Because the Jews were always

misinterpreting the Old Testament,

Jesus began by establishing His right,

authority and competence for correctly

interpreting the Old Testament:

nd

In

John

3:13-16, Jesus used this bronze

serpent incident to explain the meaning

of

believing in

Him:

nd no one

has

ascended

into

heaven,

bttf He }vho

descended

from

heaven, even the Son oj Man nd as Moses lifted

tp

the serpent

in the

}vilderness, even so must the

Son

oj Man be

lifted up;

that

}vhoever

believes

in

Him

mqy

have

eternal life. For

God

so

loved

the lVOrld

that He

gave

His

onfy

begotten

Son,

that vhoever

believes

in Him shottld not perish, but have eternal

life. In

alluding to the incident in Numbers 21, Jesus

used

it

to explain God s method

of

salvation from sin

and death revealed in Him:

1)

Numbers

21

teaches us

the method by which God accomplished the salvation

of

sinners.

2)

t

teaches us the manner by which

sinners receive this salvation. 3) We see therefore the

necessity of the death of Christ, why He had to die on

a cross for our salvation. 4) We see in this story the

universality

of

the offer

of

the gospel.

Jesus used this story

as

a teaching tool because

of

the

resemblances between the snake on a pole incident and

His own life. As the bronze serpent was lifted up on

a pole, so Christ was to be lifted up on a cross. As

4 Ihe COUNSEL o CH LCEDON

no

one

has ascended into heaven but He

vho

descended from heaven

even

the

Son

oj Man.

He

is

claiming to be the

One

who

has

come from heaven to bring salvation, to

reveal the truth,

to

clarify the demands

of God

upon

His people and to clarify that method

of

salvation so

clearly revealed in the

Old

Testament

but

misinterpreted

by the Palestinian Jews. Because Jesus is God, f rom

heaven,

He

knows what He is talking about and His

miracles prove it. Then, in verse 14,

He

drove His point

home: nd as

Moses lifted tp

the

serpent

in

the }vilderness,

even

so must

the Son

oj Man

be lifted

tp In

other words,

as

the bronze serpent had to be lifted up on a pole for

everybody

to

see,

if

anybody who was snake bitten was

to be healed and thus be saved from the judgment

of

God on their sin, so must the Son of Man, that is Jesus,

be

lifted up

on

the cross, if anyone is to

be

saved from

the judgment

of God

that

our

sins deserve.

nd in what sense was Jesus lifted up for our salvation?

I think

in

two senses. First of all, obviously,

He

was

lifted up on the cross

as

our sin-bearer, taking the

punishment our sins deserve and cursing Satan for


5/9

A Snake

on

a Pole

us, thereby setting us free from his grip and his power,

John

12:31-33.

This is a major emphasis of the New

Testament.

2

Corinthians

5:21:

He made Him

)vho

knew

no

sin to

be

sin

on

our behalf, that we might become the righteousness i God in

Him.

Christ knew no sin.

He had

no sin. But

He took

our

sin

upon

Himself

as

our

substitute and suffered the

curse that it deserved. He was punished in our place,

that we might be saved from the wrath of God and that

we might receive His righteousness so

as to

be accepted

with

Him

throughout all eternity.

I Peter

2:24:

says of Christ, He Himse f

bore

our sins in His

bocfy

on

the

cross that we might die to

sin

and live to righteousness.

For l J His

wounds

you

)vere healed. He took our sins and

the punishment our sins deserve in His own body on

the cross, setting us free from them so that we might

be

free from the power

of

sin

and

live

to

God's glory.

It

is by the wounds that Jesus Christ received

on

the cross

that we are healed

of

the snakebite

of

sin.

Colossians

2:14-15: In

His death, Christ

canceled out the

certificate

i debt consisting i

decrees against us and which )vas

hostile

to us

and

He

has taken

it out

i the

}vq l,

having

nailed it

to the cross. When

he had

disarmed the rulers and authorities He

made apublic displqy i hem, have

triumphed over

them through

Him. These verses contain vivid imagery. We owed

God a bill of a debt with two words on it: Obedience

and Hell.

The

debt that we owed God was perfect

obedience to His Law and the punishment of sins

in

an

eternal hell.

He

could

not

demand anything less

of

us

Because we have not given

God

that perfect obedience,

we deserve eternal damnation for our sins. The soul

that sins dies. Jesus took that bill, that debt that we

owed God, and canceled

it

out by nailing

it

to His cross;

because there, on the cross, the bill was paid in full, the

obedience that we owed to God and the death that we

should have died were paid in full by the Lord Jesus

Christ.

However, Colossians

2:15

also says that, having nailed

this certificate of debt to the cross and canceling it

out

for us so that our debt with

God

has

been

paid,

}vhen

he had

disarmed the rulers

and authorities He made a public

displqy i them, having

ttiumphed over them through

Him.

This picture requires an understanding of what took

place in the ancient world after an army was defeated in

battle. The beaten leaders, commanding officers, kings,

princes, and soldiers would be chained and completely

humiliated by being marched through a town where

the people would jeer at them, spit on them and throw

rocks at them. The more great kings that were .defeated

and marched through the streets, the more the p o ~ e r

and

the magnitude

of

the victory was displayed.

On

the cross, these hostile authorities and powers that

instigated rebellion against God were crushed and were

displayed in chains, humiliated before the world. The

death

of

the Lord Jesus Christ not only canceled out

our debt with

God but

it

also rendered Satan a defeated

foe, and

no

longer an insurmountable obstacle in the

advance

of

God's kingdom. The head

of

the old

serpent was crushed

when

Christ was uplifted on the

pole of Calvary, Genesis

3:15.

And those whom he

had bitten and poisoned were

healed l?J

His )voundsyou

are healed.

Hebrews

2:14:

Since

then, the

children i

God share in

flesh

and

blood,

He himself, like}vise also partook i the same, that

through death, He

might

render

powerless

him who had

the

pOJver

i death,

that is, the

e v i ~

and might

deliver those

who

through the

fear

i

death

were

sul;ject

to

slavery

all

their

lives.

This text does not

say

that through His second coming

He

might render powerless him who had the power

of

death, that is the devil... Rather

it does

say that

Christ became incarnate and took upon Himself our

humanity that through His own death on the

cross -

when

He

was uplifted

on

the cross

in

Calvary - He rendered

powerless the devil

who had

the power

of

death anq

delivered those who through fear

of

death were subject

to slavery all their lives. Satan's destiny and doom were

sealed in the death

of

the

Lord

Jesus Christ.

victory over Satan and

ll of

his schemes against us

was

won

2,000 years ago when Jesus was uplifted on

the cross. Then and there by the death

of

Christ the

serpent was cursed and defeated.

Galatians 3:10,

13: For

as maf )' as

are

i the

works

i the

La)V are

ttnder

a

curse.

For

it

is )vritten, "Cursed

is everyone

}vho does not abide

l J

all things

}vritten

in the book i the Law,

to

petjorm

them

... Christ redeemed

us

from

the curse i

the

Lau ,

having

become a curse for

us for it is written,

"Cursed

is everyone )vho hands

on a tree

...

"

f we do not abide by

ll the things that God commands of us in His Law

(and

none

of

us have abided by them)

then

our lives

are under a curse - for the wages

of

sin

is

death - and

that curse would damn us throughout all eternity were

it not for the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ redeemed

us from the curse of the Law by becoming a curse

Himself in our place, because cursed

is

everyone

who

hangs on a tree. Therefore, when He died

on

the cross

the consequences of our sin were on

Him

and the u r s ~

that was once upon our heads was placed on Him.

the

COUNSEL

o CH LCEDON

5


6/9

A

Snake

on a

Pole

N

ow,

because

He

redeemed us by His own death

as our

substitute, says Paul, there is therefore

no

condemnation

of

any kind whatsoever for those

who

are

in

Christ Jesus, Romans

8:1. Who

shalllqy atrything

to

the charge

i

God's elect? The

answer ,to that question is:

Our

consciences will Anybody that knows us for any

length

of

time

will

Satan, "the accuser

of

the brethren,"

will

So then, who shall bring charges against God's

elect? All kinds

of

sources will,

but

none of

them will

stick

GOD IS

THE ONE

WHO JUSTIFIES. WHO

IS

HE

TH T

CONDEMNS?

CHRIST

JESUS IS

HE

WHO DIED YES R THER WHO

W S

RAISED

WHO IS T

THE RIGHT H ND

OF GOD, WHO

LSO INIERCEDES

FOR US,

Romans 8:33-34 All

the charges melt away under the precious blood of the

LordJesus Christ.

John

12:31-32: "NOJv}Ndgtnent

is Npon this world,' now

[speaking

i

His

own death] the rtller i thiS'1vorld

[Satan]

shall

be

cast

Ollt

nd

L

i

I

be

lifted

NpjrOtn the

earth,

will

draw

all tnen to

Myse f."

Btlt He was sqying this to indicate

the kind

i

death y lvhich He }vas to

die

Often

in the

Scriptures Jesus Christ is presented as being "lifted

up"

on

the cross

to

cancel

oui:

our

debt

with

God

by

taking the consequences

of our

sins

on

Himself, just

as

the bronze serpent representing the consequences

of

Israel's sins in the judgment of

God

was lifted up and

cursed

on

that pole. Just

as

Moses elevated the serpent,

so Jesus Christ was elevated

in

our behalf that we might

be saved.

John

Calvin thought

that

the reference

to

the lifting

up

of

Christ

in John

3

had

an additional meaning. Just

as

Moses elevated the serpent

on

a high pole so that

it

might be clearly seen from every direction by thousands

of

people, even so by the preaching

of

the gospel, Jesus

Christ is lifted up, exalted and publicly displayed like

a standard

to Whom

all eyes are directed. Christ and

His redemptive work must

be

clearly set forth in the

preaching

of

the gospel so that all people might

look

to

Him

for salvation, Luke 24:46-47.

We

have an

allusion

to

the "lifting up" of

Numbers

21

in

Isaiah

11:

1

0:

Then

it

lvill

cotne

abotlt in

that

dqy

that

the nations

lvill resort

to

the root i Jesse

[a

tnessianic title i Christ}

Who

lvill

stand as a cOl1spictlotls standard

Isaiah is prophesying

that the Messiah would

be

"a conspicuous standard"

for all people, just

as

the bronze snake was "set

on

a

standard" so

it

could

be

seen by

all,

Numbers 21:8 so

that when

He

is lifted

up

the nations and the peoples

of the world will be drawn to Him.

It is

through

the preaching

of

the

Lord

Jesus Christ, the faithful

preaching

of the

gospel, that Christ is uplifted; and

as

6

the COUNSEL o CH LCEDON

He

is uplifted, the power

of

His accomplished salvation

on

the cross is experienced by those

who

commit

themselves to that preaching, because thepreaching i the

cross is

to

those

who are perishingjoolishness,

bllt

to

tiS lvho

are

being saved it is the pOJver

i God, I Corinthians 1:18.

Jesus said that the Son

o

Man

tnllSt

be lifted up,

John 3:

14.

God

was,

not

under any obligation to save sinners.

Nobody

forced

Him to

do it.

He

did

not

have to do

it if He

did

not

want to. Why, then, did Jesus say that

He tntlst be lifted

up on

the cross

if

sinners are to be

saved? To manifest the glory

of

His grace and His

mercy

God

determined that

He

would save sinners

and that

He

would

not

allow

all

sinners to perish in

their s,ins. Having decided that

He

would save sinners,

only one way was open to Him--through the death

of

His own Son. Having decided to save sinners,

He

had

no

alternative

but to

sacrifice His own Son for our

salvation.

f God's sheep were to be saved from their sins, Jesus

tnt/st

die

to

accomplish their salvation.

The

gospel tnust

be preached to them and they

tiltlst

believe

in Him as

their

Lord

and Savior.

That

is the way

of

salvation

which

God

has decreed and there

is

no other. Since

only one

God

exists, besides

Whom

there

is no

other,

there can

be no

other way

of

approaching

Him

except

in

the way

He

has prescribed.

And

His prescription

for "snake bitten," dying sinners,

who

are under His

judgment because

of

their unbelief is that Jesus Christ

tntlst die

on

the cross, the gospel

tntlst

be preached, and

Jesus Christ

tntlst

be believed

upon

as

Lord

and Savior.

Whoever

will tnqy cotne

to

God

is true,

but

a person cannot

come

in

any way he prefers. There is only one way to

get to the one

God

and that is the way that the one

God

has prescribed in the gospel

of

the Bible Jesus

had to

die

on

the cross

if

sinners are

to

be

saved.

The

gospel

tntlst be

preached and

He

tntlst be exalted in that

preaching;

and

you MUST believe

in

the

Lord

Jesus

Christ

or

you

will

die in your sins.

Jesus made another itrlPortant

point

from Numbers

21.

He not

only brought

out

the

method

by which

God

accomplishes

our

salvation

but He

also showed us the

manner by which sinners receive this salvation.

God

has gradously provided salvation for us

in

Christ. But

how does that salvation get from Christ to me? How

do

I receive deliverance from the condemnation my

sins deserve?

What

must I

do

to

be

saved? Just

as

those who were snake bitten in Numbers

21

had

to

look

at the lifted

up

serpent

to be

saved from the venom, so

those

who

want

to

be saved from their sin

and

God's


7/9

A Snake

on

a Pole

judgment and enter the kingdom of God must look to

the lifted up Jesus Christ for salvation.

John

3:14-15 says:

And as

Moses

lifted up

the

serpent

in

the

Jvilderness,

even

so must the Son

o

Man

be lifted

up that

tvhoever believes mq l

in

Him

have

eternal life. Jesus saw a

parallel between the Israelites looking to the snake

on

the pole and our believing

in Him

for life and salvation.

Believing

in

Jesus is looking

to

Jesus to save us because

we are dying. To look is to believe.

t

is to give credit

to a person, to count as true wnat that person says. To

believe in Jesus is

to

believe that what Jesus Christ

says

about Himself in the Bible is true and then to trust

Him to be all those things to us. It is to rest

upon

Him

alone to save us from sin, Satan, God's judgment and

eternal death.

There is nothing magical or meritorious about looking

at the snake

or

looking at Christ.

In

fact

it

is

not

even

our looking that saves

us.

There

is

no

power

in

our

looking. It is looking to the

One

Who was crucified

should not perish

but have

eternal life.

(verse 18) He

Jvho

believes

in Him

is not

condemned but

he

Jvho

does not

believe

has

been condemned alreacfy

because he

has

not believed

in the

name

o

the

onlY

begotten Son o God. Can anything be any

plainer? We are saved from the condemnation which

our

sin deserves by believing in Jesus Christ as the

one and only Savior and by looking to Him for that

salvation.

And

the very

moment

we look

to

Christ

in

faith

to

save us,

in that moment

we are saved from death,

condemnation, and the judgment

of

God. Immediately

upon

believing we are given eternal life. When we look

to Christ for salvation the curse that was once over our

heads is removed because of the lifting up of Christ

on

the cross.

It

is

not

a gradual thing. t is

not

something

that we can lose. The moment the Israelites looked at

the snake, they were healed THE MOMENT YOU

RECEIVE CHRISTAS YOUR

LORD

AND SAVIOR,

YOU ARE HEALED AND ACCEPTED

AS

GOD S

CHILD

FOREVER We are justified by faith alone.

Jesus did NOT say that the Son of Man must be lifted

on

the cross and

Who

rose again from

-_____

.

- - -

up

that whoever

is

baptized may

in Him

have eternal life.

He

did

not

say that

the Son of Man must be lifted up that

whoever does justice, loves kindness and

walks humbly with his

God

shall have

eternal life.

But

simply, unequivocally,

and exclusively -

Jvhoever

believes in Jesus

Christ has eternal

life.

As I

John

5:12 tells

us: He

Jvho

has the Son

has

the life

the grave that saves us. Faith is the

instrument that puts us into contact with

the Savior

Who

saves. Our faith does

not save, Christ saves; and faith - looking

- puts us into contact with Him.

Even

our willingness to look

to Him

and

our

ability to look to Him are gifts of God.

Earlier in

John

3, Jesus said ~ h t unless

Ourfaith does not

save

Christ

saves;

and faith looking

puts

us into

contact

with Him.

a person is

born

from above

he

cannot

see

nor

enter the kingdom

of

God.

He has

no

power inherent

in

himself

as a human being to do what is reqUired of im to

enter God's kingdom - which is

to

repent

of

his sins

and believe the gospel, Mark 1:14-15: Therefore, this

willingness to look, this ability to look'in faith to Christ,

because we know we need to be saved and we cannot

save ourselves from God's judgment, is something God

Himself produces in us

in

the new birth.

For

that

reason, when we look to Christ, we

are, put

in contact

with the only Person that can save, us from our sins. We

could

say,

We

are saved by a look "

The

Israelites were saved from death by looking at the

snake

on

the pole and doing nothing else. And

in

the

same way we are saved from the condemnation our

sins deserve by

lookirg to

Christ in faith alone.

In

his conversation with Nicodemus, Jesus spoke of faith

repeatedly: (verse

15)

Whoever believes

mC )'

in Him

have

eternal life.

(verse

16) For God so

loved

the Jvorld that

He

gave His

onlY begotten Son

that

whosoever believes in

Him

Of course, obedience alwC )'s follows

faith, because faith

without

works is

dead. William Tyndale was the first man

to

translate the

Bible

out of

Hebrew and Greek into English.

He

was

right when he wrote: "Faith, the mother of all

good

works, justifies us before we can bring forth any good

work." He said it so clearly.

When we believe in Christ we are obeying

God

because

God commands us to believe

in

Him, I

John

3:23. But

faith does

not

put us into contact with

God

because

it

is obedience. Faith puts us into contact with the

Lord

Jesus Christ because in faith we completely look

away from ourselves. There is

no

talk

of

our own self

worth. There is no talk of merit. There is no tall


8/9

A

Snake

on a Pole

because it isa virtue tha t pleases God,

but

because faith

abandons all self-confidence and rests in Christ and His

finished work

on

the cross." I say to you that believing

in

Jesus is comprised

of

a

look

Have you looked

to

Christ? Are you looking to Christ this moment for

salvation from the judgment

of God? I did

not

ask

you, "Have you joined the church?"

That

is

important

to

be sure. I did

not

ask you, "Have you been baptized

and taken the Lord's supper?"

That

also is vitally

important. I asked you, "Have you become conscious

that you were snake bitten, that you have a raging fever

of

sin and rebellion against

God

in your life and tha t

it

is killing you? Recognizing that, have you ever said in

faith, "There is nothing I can

do

about my situation

to

appease the anger

of

God.

There is

nothing I can do

to

remove the curse that hangs over me because of my sin;

and so, I look to Jesus

as

my only hope. I cast myself

upon

His mercy. I trust

that what

He

said would

happen will happen

to me if

I

look

to Him. I rest

upon

Jesus Christ alone for salvation." Have you done it? I

pray that you do

it

right now. I beg you

snake

on

the pole. As Moses said

to

Israel,Jesus said to

the world:

Whoever believes mqy

in

im have eternal

life.

For

God so

loved

the orid that He gave is

onlY

begotten

Son

that

whosoever believes

in

im

shall not

pensh He

ho

believes in

im

is

not condemned. Jesus said in

John

12, And

1

i I

be

lifted up,

lvill draw allpeople

[all

kinds

0/

people, from

every

Jvalk

0/ life] to Me.

So then,

who

is allowed to look to Christ and

be

saved

from sin and death? Dying sinners. Maybe you have

lived a terrible life, a wicked life, a life that you do

not

want

to

talk about anymore, a life full

of

regrets. I say

look

to

Christ in faith and

He

will forgive and save

even you.

Do

you have to get yourself ready first?

Do

you have to clean up your life and

at

least get yourself

presentable? No Anyone

who

is snake bitten and in

the throes

of

death may look Any sinner

who

will, may

look

Whosoever Jvill,

may look.

And

in the

moment

you

look

to Christ, looking away from y o u r ~ ~ l f looking to

no

one else for salvation,

in

that very fuoment,

God

will forever save you from the death and

to

look to

Christ right now,

if

you have

never looked to

Him

for salvation from

your sins and their eternal consequences.

The moment

you look you will be saved

forever .

The One Qualification for

Looking to hrist for Salvation

fyou

are

snake

bit-

ten .. fyou

are dying

bec use o

the

poi-

sonous venom That

is

the

only qualifica-

tion for

looking

the judgment and the life of sin that you

are so repentant of. You are saved by a

look.

Having looked to Christ, and having

been reconciled to Christ through His

blood, the next and immediate question

you will gratefully ask, my believing

friend, is,

How

may I spend the rest

of

my life glorifying and enjoying this

One

last

truth

should be pointed

out

from Numbers 21,

John

3 and

John

12:

God's offer

of

salvation from condemnation and death

is a

universal

offer. In Numbers 21, what was the one

qualification for a person

if he or

she was permitted to

look

at

the snake

on

a pole and

be

healed?

He or

she

had

to

be snake bitten and dying. Moses said (in effect),

Whoever has been bitten by a snake and is dying because

of

God's judgment

on

his unbelief, however deep

or

serious

or

extensive

that

unbelief - whoever has been

bitten by this snake

of

sin and judgment - I offer

to

you

salvation from death by looking away from yourself to

the snake

on

the pole.

f

you are snake bitten

..

f

you

are dying because of the poisonous

venom ... That

is

.the only qualification for looking," Numbers 21:8.

Anybody who had been poisoned by a deadly snake

bite was encouraged

to look

away

to

the bronze serpent

and was promised healing and deliverance by looking

in

faith.

The

only warrant

anyone

would need for

looking was God's gracious and universal offer

of

salvation. Jesus did

not

miss that

in

the incident

of

the

8 the

COUNSEL ofCH LCEDON

Savior

who

gave

up

His life for me?"

And

once you look at Jesus Christ, you

will never

want

to look

away

I have a

print of

a famous

painting by Waterhouse

in

my den. It's called something

like "Beautiful Maiden Without Mercy." I love it It's

historical setting is medieval times.

In

it a beautiful girl

is sitting

on

the ground. A dark, young knight in full

armor is leaning over

her

with a sword pointed at her

stomach.

It

is obvious that he has come

to kill

her.

However, it is the maiden, not the knight,

who is

the

one without mercy.

He

is looking deeply into

her

eyes

and cannot look

away

Her

hair

is

around his neck like

a noose. He is held captive to her

eyes

He is a slave to

her

eyes

He

came

to

kill

her

but

she has shown

im

no

mercy.

He

cannot look away from

her

face.

Once you

look

into the face

of

Christ by faith, you will

never want

to

look

away

You cannot look

away

You

are a slave

to

His face.

In

fact, you will live the rest

of

your life looking into the face

of

Jesus Christ. As

Hebrews 12:1-2 says: Seeing

ve

are compassed

about

with

so


9/9

A Snake on a Pole

great a

cloud

o }pitnesses let tiS

Iqy aside every zpeight, and the

sin

which

does so easilY

entangle

tiS and

let

NS

'lin

}pith

endNrance

the

race

that is set before tis looking

ttl1to

JesJls I

Such

is

the nature

of

the Christian life. Keep looking at that

One who was lifted up on the cross. Keep trusting

im to save you from sin. Keep looking at Him. Keep

believing that whatever

e says

is true. . .

.looking tl11to

JesNs

the

tlfhor and

Finisher

o

ottr

faith)

zpho

for

the

jqy

that

}pas

set bifore Him)

endured

the cross

despising

its

shame

and

has

sat dOJJJIt at

the

light hand

o the

throne o God.

You

are saved by looking and you stay saved by looking, II

Corinthians 3:18.

Let us pray:

We

thank you, 0 Lord, that You made

Your grace so conspicuous in the gospel by calling us to

salvation from Your eternal wrath due our wicked sins

by grace through faith in Jesus, Your Son. You called

us to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ; and we came

to

im in faith.

We

do earnestly pray, 0 Lord, that,

if

someone

is

reading this

who

has never looked to Christ,

that, today, You would move his or her heart to do so

Forgive us

if

we have ever taken our eyes off im and

put

our trust in anything we have done.

I f

we have

not

looked

as

intently

as

we should have into that face, 0

Lord, forgive us Help us never to stop looking. This

we pray for Jesus sake, Amen.

the COUNSEL

o

CH LCEDON 9

2002 issue 2 - a snake on a pole - counsel of chalcedon

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