John 3:14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up. Rom 8:3 For that which the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God, sending His own Son in the likeness of the flesh of sin and concerning sin, condemned sin in the flesh.
The serpent lifted up on a pole in the wilderness was not actually a serpent with poison; it was a brass serpent made in the likeness of a real serpent (Num. 21:9). When Jesus was on the cross, in the eyes of God He was in the form, the likeness, of a serpent. But as was the case with the brass serpent in the wilderness, there was no poison in Him because He was not born of a fallen man. He was born of a virgin. According to Matthew 3:7 and 23:33, both John the Baptist and the Lord Jesus called people the "generation of vipers," that is, serpents, indicating that all fallen ones are descendants of the serpent. We all are little serpents. Do not think that you are good. Before you were saved, you were a serpent. This is the reason the Lord Jesus died on the cross to suffer God's judgment. When Jesus was on the cross, He was not only a man, but was also in the form of a serpent. In the eyes of God, for all of us serpentine people, He took on the form of a serpent and died on the cross. Perhaps you have never heard that Jesus took the form of a serpent, the likeness of the flesh of sin. You have heard that Jesus is God and that He took the form of a man, but not that He also took the form of a serpent. How wonderful He is!
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Witness Lee, Life-study of Matthew, 1986, pp. 58-59. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. Please visit us at www.emanna.com. Send comments to: [email protected].
To unsubscribe from the mailing list, either: Send an email to: [email protected] (No subject or message needed; a blank email will work) or visit www.emanna.com and fill out the unsubscribe form there.
