423. JOH 3:14. THE BRAZEN SERPENT A TYPE OF CHRIST
Joh_3:14. The Brazen Serpent A Type Of Christ
"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up."’97Joh_3:14.
Here we have the authority of Jesus for considering the brazen serpent as directly typical of himself. Without this divine testimony we might have been struck with the points of coincidence, and have legitimately illustrated the one by the other. Seeing Christ has done this for us, we approach the subject with peculiar confidence, and rejoice that the merciful precision of the serpent of brass was designed to point to that great act of mercy, by which God designed to save all believers through Christ Jesus.
I. The appointment of the Serpent of Brass originated in the Mercy of God towards his rebellious Creatures.
Ungratefully murmuring against the benign providence of God, he righteously visited their rebellion with the tokens of his displeasure. He sent among them fiery serpents, whose bite was fatal. Thus the wrath of Jehovah spread disease and death through the Israelitish camp. For this evil it is obvious there was no human remedy or help. Had not God mercifully interposed they would all have been consumed. But because his compassions failed not, he remembered them in their perishing state, and devised means for their deliverance.
Now we have here an exact and faithful representation of our fallen and ruined state by sin. Satan, the old, subtle, fiery, and deadly serpent, deceived our first parents. He tempted them to sin against God, and most awfully prevailed. Thus they became corrupt, guilty, and were condemned to die. Their condition was beyond human help. They had no skill to deliver themselves, or power to avoid the calamitous results of their transgression. The mercy of God, however, prevailed over all the worthlessness of the sinner, and from the boundlessness of his grace he provided a ransom and a deliverer. God so loved the dying Israelites as to appoint a remedy for their misery, and "He so loved the world," &c. Joh_3:16. Notice,
II. The striking Resemblance in the Instrument of Death and the Means of Recovery.
A serpent inflicted the fatal wound, and a serpent of brass was the medium of cure By man sin entered into the world, "with all our wo." By Adam apostacy and guilt and ruin were introduced. By the second Adam, the Lord from heaven, who became really man, made of a woman, &c., was the curse sustained the penalty paid, and salvation procured. Through man we became aliens, diseased, and exposed to death. By man also we were brought nigh, receive healing, and everlasting life See this fully illustrated by the apostle Paul, Rom_5:12, to end.
III Both Remedies were to be similarly exhibited.
The serpent of brass was to be affixed to a pole and lifted up. Thus Jesus says, "As Moses lifted up the serpent, even so must the son of man be lifted up," &c. Now in the antitype we see this,
1. In the crucifixion of Christ.
He was lifted up on the cross. Lifted up there as the victim for sin. Lifted up there to die publicly as an atoning sacrifice for a guilty world. And this was necessary and essential. "It behooved Christ to suffer," &c.
2. In the lifting of Christ up by the preaching of the gospel.
Ministers are standard-bearers. It is theirs to go forth unfurling the banners of salvation. On this is the emblem of the Lamb slain. It is their great work to make known the cross of Christ to all the perishing children of men:’97
"’Tis all their business here below,
To cry, Behold the Lamb."
IV Both Remedies were effectual.
The serpent of brass was an antidote to the bite of the fiery serpent. It saved the diseased and dying victims from death. It was invariably effectual. So Jesus, as God’s remedy, is in every case efficacious to the salvation of the soul. He possesses all ability and all merit. None availed themselves of the remedy Moses lifted up and died, and none come to God by Christ and perish
"He is able, he is willing,
Doubt no more."
V. The Application to both Remedies was the same.
The virtue of the serpent of brass was derived by looking. Whoso "looked," lived. Now faith is the soul looking to Christ. It is the eye of misery and helplessness, directed to the all-meritorious and all-sufficient Saviour. In this looking or believing on Christ, the eye of desire and trust is withdrawn from every other object, and directed only to Christ. It is an act in which there can be no merit. An act which alone is effective, through the virtue there is in Christ. An act which displays the gratuitousness of salvation, the very opposite of merit, &c. An act which is followed invariably by the enjoyment of life. Whoso looked lived, and whoso believes is saved. Saved into spiritual life, and into the hope of eternal life in heaven Yet do we see a great disparity between these remedies. The one was but for a temporal malady, and imparted natural life; the other is for all the maladies of the soul, and relates to spiritual and everlasting life. The one was but a temporary remedy, suited to a limited period; the other is an abiding, and the only remedy throughout all time. The one was for the Israelitish camp; the other for the whole world
APPLICATION
Learn,
1. Sin is a disease, painful, universal, and fatal. Have you felt it? Do you desire healing and deliverance?
2. Christ is the remedy. The one and only remedy. No other name. No other sacrifice, &c. A remedy gratuitous, free and infallible.
3. Faith is the only means of obtaining restoration. O look unto him and be saved. Look now, before the exhibition of Christ to you ceases. Look all of you, and thus your souls shall live.
Autor: JABEZ BURNS