Pastor's Corner

for Sunday Sept 19th
Look to Jesus and Live!
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. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (Jn 3:14-16) The occasion mentioned here is when the children of Israel sinned against God by complaining and grumbling and as a punishment God sent snakes into the camp. The people repented and cried out to Moses to ask God to take away the snakes. So God told Moses to make a bronze snake and lift it up on a pole and whoever looked at the bronze snake was healed. Now, suppose someone said, “This is ridiculous! How can looking at some bronze snake hanging on a pole heal me?!” What would have happened to this person? They would die. So, to be healed one had to believe God’s promise to heal them if they looked at the bronze snake. This is the context of John 3:16. Jesus is making a parallel between Himself and this bronze snake in the desert. We all, every one of us, have been bitten by the serpent (the devil) and we will die from his bite. But there is salvation for everyone who will look to Jesus hanging on the cross. Jesus became sin, that is, He took my sins upon Himself and was punished for them. And now God says, “Look to the cross and you will be saved.” Here too someone might say, “This is ridiculous! How can someone hanging upon a cross over two thousand years ago save me from sin?!” Thus, only those who believe the promise of God and, in faith, repent of their sins and trust Jesus for their salvation will live; those who will not look to the cross will die in their sins. Look to Jesus and Live!
Pastor Don.