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8 And 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.

9 And 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.

LOOK AND LIVE

Israel had complained again against God and he had sent forth fiery serpents amongst them, and all those who were bit by the serpent died.

This is a picture of sin, the sting of sin is the law:

1 Corinthians 15
56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.

Sin has bitten all of us, we have been bitten by sin, and we are now dead spiritually.

But there is hope, God told Moses to put a fiery serpent on the pole, so everyone, who was bitten by the serpents, could look and live.

This is one of the greatest pictures of Jesus in the old testament.
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John 3
14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:

15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

Jesus was lifted up, he has placed on the cross and everyone who looked at the cross and acknowledge their sin and trusted in Jesus, could have everlasting life.

But you have to look, you can see the pole with the serpent on it, you can read about it, you can admire it, but do you look at it?

Everyone, who looks at the serpent, lived.

In verse 55-58 of 1 Corinthians 15, the sting of the law was removed:

55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.

57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

The Christian can say in verse 55, death has no fear for me. I have looked at the cross and now I can live.

He/she can say in verse 57, that he/she has the victory through Christ and that now they can serve God in a new and living way.

Have you looked at the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, if you do, you can experience life in all its fullness.

God bless you
kk