How Christ Died as a Bronze Serpent for us to be Saved of our Serpentine Nature

Christ came in the likeness of the flesh of sin to be the reality of the type of the bronze serpent, and He died as our Substitute on the cross to condemn sin and destroy the devil – who is the source of sin. This is really amazing.

In Leviticus 4 we see the sin offering, which is to be offered for those who have sinned and who realize they have a sinful nature.

In Numbers 21, because of the people of Israel rebelled against God and against Moses and spoke against them, fiery serpents came, and Moses lifted up a bronze serpent on a pole for those who were bitten to look upon and live.

Then in John 3 the Lord applies this type of the bronze serpent to Himself, saying that He needs to be lifted up just as Moses lifted up the bronze serpent in the wilderness.

Furthermore, in Rom. 8 Paul tells us that God sent His Son in the likeness of the flesh of sin and without sin, so that He would condemn sin in the flesh.

Hallelujah, what a wonderful fact and reality that Christ came in the likeness of the flesh of sin to condemn sin in the flesh, and He also came as the bronze serpent to be lifted up and we can believe into Him to live, even have eternal life!

What kind of love is this, that God loved us with, that He sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to come and die for us (John 3:16), and the way He died is by partaking of the flesh without the sin in the flesh, and being lifted up as the bronze serpent to be judged by God, looked upon by us, believed on, and received.

And even more, He’s the Lamb of God (John 1:29), who died to take away the sin of the world. Christ died as the Lamb of God for us. In God’s eyes, however, on the cross Christ died as the unique sinner, the bronze serpent who had the form of the serpent but not its poison, and God judged sin in His flesh.

Now we can take Christ as our sin offering in a loving way day by day, laying our hands on Him and confessing our desperate need for Him.

Even more, we who are serpentine in nature, enemies of God, rebellious against God, and corrupted by the enemy, we can become the bride of Christ, the spotless bride of Christ to be His counterpart in love and partner in judging the old serpent! Hallelujah, what a full salvation!

Our God is so wise and gracious. He not only didn’t give up on us, but He came in humanity and put on the flesh of sin so that He might judge Satan and condemn sin, and so that He may gain us as His believers, His bride, that through us He may judge Satan and all the evil ones. Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!

Christ Died as a Bronze Serpent for us to be Saved of our Serpentine Nature

In Num. 21:4-9 we have the story of the people of Israel rebelling against God and against Moses, and they spoke against them; therefore, Jehovah sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died.

Then the people came to Moses, confessed they had sinned, and asked him to pray that the Lord would take away the serpents. God didn’t take away the serpents, but told Moses to make a bronze serpent and lift it up upon a pole, and all those who were bitten by the snakes and would look at the bronze serpent, would live.

This bronze serpent was an artificial serpent – it had the shape and appearance of a serpent but not its poison.

When Nicodemus came to Jesus at night and asked Him about the kingdom of God, the Lord Jesus told him, As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up (John 3:14).

The incident in Numbers 21 was sovereignly prepared by God to reveal a particular type of Christ – Christ as the bronze serpent. It is amazing how God would sovereignly allow this event to happen, and then centuries later the Son of Man would apply this to Himself.

As a serpent in form, the bronze serpent lifted up on a pole is a type of Christ lifted up on the cross for us. We all are serpentine in nature, for we were bitten by the old serpent, the devil; the serpentine nature of the devil is in our being, biting us every day, and we desperately need a Savior.

If it would be according to us, we would remove the serpentine nature, but God has a better plan: He sent His Son, His only begotten Son, to come in the flesh, put on the flesh, and come in the likeness of the flesh of sin and concerning sin.

Christ came as “a bronze serpent” – He bore the likeness of the flesh of sin, but He didn’t have the poison of sin. Christ became a serpent in form, a bronze serpent without the serpentine poison.

When He was lifted up on the cross, He fulfilled the type of the bronze serpent – He was in the form of the flesh of sin but without its poison, so that God would condemn sin and judge Satan, the real serpent.

When Christ was in the flesh, He was in the likeness of the flesh of the flesh of sin (Rom. 8:3), which likeness is equal to the form of the bronze serpent.

John 3:14 is parallel not only to the verse in Numbers 21 but also to Rom. 8:3, for the bronze serpent had only the form of the serpent but was without the serpent’s poison; Christ was lifted up only as a serpent in form, for He did not have the poisonous nature of a serpent.

Christ died as the bronze serpent not only to condemn sin but also to save us from our serpentine nature! He came in the likeness of a serpent to deal with the serpentine nature, and He will nullify all the works that the devil did by us just believing into Him.

We are serpentine in nature – we are fallen, born as children of the devil (1 John 3:10; Matt. 12:34; 23:33; Rev. 12:9).

Thank You Lord for being lifted up as the bronze serpent on the cross to deal with our serpentine nature. Oh Lord, we look to You and we believe into You! We believe that, even though we have the indwelling sin in our flesh and are serpentine in nature, You came as the bronze serpent, and by believing into You, we are saved, we have eternal life, and we are being delivered from our serpentine nature! We praise You Lord for putting on the flesh and coming in the likeness of the flesh of sin to be lifted up as the bronze serpent for us!

How Serpentine Beings can Believe into Christ as the Bronze Serpent and Have Eternal Life

John chapter 3 starts with a very seeking and promising person, Nicodemus, who came to Jesus to ask Him about the kingdom of God; then the Lord pointed him to his need of being born again (not of the flesh but of the Spirit), and then He showed him that he’s serpentine in nature.

No matter how good, perfected, cultivated, refined, or cultured we are, we all still have the serpentine nature of Satan in us.

As sinful human beings, we are all “serpentine” in nature – in our fallen nature we’re children of the devil. When we realize this, that will be a joyful day for us and a frightening day for the enemy, for when we see such a fact, he loses ground, and we treasure Christ as our sin offering.

We are all serpentine beings with the poison of the serpent in our nature; in our fallen nature we are not only sinful – we are serpentine as well. In the sight of God, the entire human race consists of poisonous serpents (see Matt. 12:34; 23:33).

Because we are such serpents, we need a Substitute; we need Christ to die for us in the form of a serpent but without the poisonous element of the serpent (John 3:14; Rom. 8:3). He came in the likeness of the flesh of sin and concerning sin, He was made sin for us on the cross, and God condemned sin in His flesh.

When Christ was on the cross, He was the bronze serpent; God saw in Him a serpent (not a Son), and this serpent was judged and terminated on the cross.

We all know John 3:16 and are very much touched with the fact that God gave His only begotten Son to die for us, so that whoever believes into Him would not perish but have eternal life.

How did this happen? It is by the Word becoming flesh so that Christ as the Son of Man would die for us as the bronze serpent on the cross. Wow!

This is how much God loved us: He was willing to become flesh for us, even to die for us as the bronze serpent, so that we may be rescued from our serpentine nature!

Now whoever believes into Christ as the bronze serpent is saved, does not perish, but has eternal life.

The Son of Man was lifted up to be judged, to judge the serpentine nature, and now in resurrection He released the divine life; as we believe into Him, we have eternal life, we are born of the Spirit and receive life, and we become children of God!

Furthermore, we become the bride of Christ (see the end of John 3). What a salvation this is! We were serpents with a serpentine nature, but the Son of Man was lifted up as the bronze serpent, and He judged Satan and condemned sin on the cross!

Now we believe into Him, receive eternal life, and are born of the Spirit to be children of God. And as we experience such a Christ, He increases and we decrease so that we become His bride, spotless and victorious, without blemish.

When Christ gains His bride, He can boast to the enemy,

Look, Satan, you satanified man and made them into snakes with your serpentine nature, but My Son came in the likeness of the flesh of sin, He was lifted up on the cross as the bronze serpent, and the serpent was judged and sin was condemned! Now these sinners who believe into the lifted up Son of Man are sons of God, the same as Christ in life and nature, expression and function! And all authority will be given to them to deal with you, Satan, and judge you, and execute judgment on you!

Wow! How wonderful it is when we realize that Christ is the bronze serpent for us, and that we can believe into Him, take Him as our sin offering, and tell Him,

Lord Jesus, we believe into You! Thank You for being willing to be considered as a serpent and die for us. Oh Lord, we just believe into You and we have eternal life. We are serpentine in nature, but You became the bronze serpent to be lifted up and judge Satan, the old serpent. Praise You Lord, You are now saving us in Your life to bruise in us the serpent’s head, and You are making us the same as You are to be Your bride, Your counterpart! Hallelujah, we are being produced to be the bride of Christ who will return with Him to judge the devil!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Ron Kangas for this week, and portions from, The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 463-464 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of Leviticus (1), week 7, The Reality of the Sin Offering, the Bronze Serpent, and the Destruction of the Devil.
  Hymns on this topic:
  # Brazen serpent, to Thee looking, / Son of Man, uplifted high. / Thou didst bear the flesh of sin in / Likeness on the cross to die. / Old creation’s termination; / Finished, Satan and the world. (Hymns #1089)
  # Thou art the serpent made of brass, / Who saveth us from evil; / Thou on the tree wast lifted up, / To crush for us the devil. (Hymns #187)
  # Come, Desire of nations, come! / Fix in us Thy humble home: / Rise, the woman’s conqu’ring seed, / Bruise in us the serpent’s head; / Adam’s likeness now efface, / Stamp Thine image in its place: / Final Adam from above, / Reinstate us in Thy love. (Hymns #84)