"6And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died. 7Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. 8And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. 9And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived." (Numbers 12:6-9)
God bless the ministry of Pastor Joseph Prince.
It's all about Jesus and all that He has done for us at the Cross.
It's not about us and what we can do for Jesus, but what He has done as is committed to doing for us:
Since I was writing about Jesus, why am I referencing this account from the Book of Numbers?
Like the Israelites wandering in the wilderness, many of have been bitten by disease, death, sin, judgment in terrible forms.
The fact is that all of us are bitten, with the sting of sin, and its strength is the law:
"The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law." (1 Corinthians 15: 56)
We are dead in our trespasses, and our greatest needs is righteousness, which allows His life to flow in us.
Wow!
Yet for me, as for many of us, when we are in pain, when we are struggling in some area of our lives, we cry out to God or to other people "Take away my problem. Take away the pain, take away this disease, this debt which is plaguing my life."
God our Daddy is interesting not just in taking away our problems ,but wants to restore us and bless us in spirit, soul, and body:
"And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Thessalonians 5:23)
and
"Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth." (3 John 2)
Any other prosperity which we enjoy in our lives must start with soul, or inner prosperity. If you are fearful, angry, easily hurt, embittered, or filled with upset on the inside, especially with a sense of guilt or shame, all the blessings in the world will come to naught.
God wants us to have full success in every aspect of our lives, not just materially.
We find this certainty for us at the Cross.
Now, what does the Cross have to do with the Israelites bitten by snakes?
They wanted Moses to take away the snakes. They needed the LORD to heal them from their bites and their bitterness.
So, Moses took a bronzed serpent, a picture of Jesus judged for our sins on the Cross.
Anyone who looked, just looked at the bronzed serpent was healed.
Not looking at our problems, not feeling our pain and trying to get rid of the pain, but gaining a greater revelation of the goodness and grace of God at the Cross.
Jesus Himself compared Himself to the bronzed serpent:
"13And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. 14And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: 15That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life." (John 3: 13-15)
When we see Jesus, not ourselves, we are taken from death to life, and that more abundantly (John 10: 10)
Jesus later told the Jews of His day:
"31Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. 32And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. 33This he said, signifying what death he should die." (John 12: 31-33)
When Jesus says "draw all", He was talking about drawing all judgment to himself:
"1My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: 2And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world." (1 John 2: 1-2)
His blood cleanses us from all sin and unrighteousness (1 John 1: 7)
Look at the Cross, and gain a greater understanding of His love for you at the Cross:
"Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." (1 John 4: 10)
Paul writes in his epistles about God's love:
"17That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: 18The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, 19And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, "" (Ephesians 1: 17-19)
and then
"16That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; 17That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, 18May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; 19And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God." (Ephesians 3: 16-19)
I still do not understand everything that Jesus has done for us at the Cross.
We still have so much to learn about what Jesus did for us, and has committed to doing for us because of the Cross.
Keep learning about what He did for you when He died for you, and let His Spirit transform you from glory to glory (2 Corinthians 3: 18)
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