God's Salvation Plan
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Who needs Salvation?
We all do. For all have sinned and come short of the
glory of God" Romans 3:23
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Who can give us Salvation?
God alone gives us our Salvation. "For by
grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of
God" Ephesians 2:8
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What if I don't feel any need of God's Salvation, nor do I feel that
I am a sinner?
Only the Holy Spirit can convict and convince us of our sin. "And
when He is come(the Holy Spirit)he will
reprove the world of sin, and of
righteousness, and of judgment: Of sin, because they believe not on me;"John
16:8-9 If we think we have no sin, it is because the Holy Spirit is not
working in our heart. Pray for God to have mercy upon you and show you
your sin, and ask him to give you a godly sorrow for your sin. If
we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in
us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our
sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have
not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us."
I John 1:8-10
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What is so bad about my sin?
It's consequences are death. For the wages of
sin is death." Romans
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What can I do about my sin?
Nothing!!! There is nothing we can do. God alone has the
remedy for our sin. He sent His only Son to solve our sin problem.
We can never make ourselves good enough to merit salvation. But
to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly. his
faith is counted for righteousness. Romans
4:5
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Then what can be done about my sin?
God takes care of our sin problem. God places our sin upon
Christ. Christ makes the complete atonement for our sin. Who
his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, the we being dead to
sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes
ye were healed. 1 Peter 2:24
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What happened to the penalty of my sin?
It was paid for with Christ's own blood. "Forasmuch
as ye know ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, .
. . But with the precious blood of Christ as a lamb without blemish and without
spot." 1 Peter 2:18-19 Christ had to
take our punishment and die in our place, "and without
the shedding of blood is no remission." Hebrews 9:22 He carried
our sins in His own body, "So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of
many;" Hebrews
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How can I receive this faith to believe that Jesus saves me from my
sin now?
Only by the word of God.
"So
then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." Romans
Look and Live
Numbers 21:9
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. 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.
What a great salvation, so freely given. John the Baptist saw Jesus coming to him and proclaimed: "Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world. Jesus said: "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
"Everyone that is bitten, when he looketh upon the brazen serpent, shall live. Jesus said: "If I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto me."
The scripture says: "It came to pass that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the fiery serpent of brass, he lived".
The fiery serpents bit God’s people because they had begun to despise God’s providence. The soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way. This part of the desert where the Israelites had passed is greatly infested with venomous reptiles. But before they had begun to murmur and complain, God had preserved his people from receiving hurt from these fiery serpents.
God provided a fire by night to keep them warm in the thin desert night air, and He covered them with a cloud by day to protect them from the intense heat from the sun. Instead of being grateful to Him for His providence, they quarreled with him about the food. They said, "Our soul detests this light bread.
For this reason came the fiery serpents. It is an awful thing to be
bitten by a serpent. The bite is painful. The bite of these fiery serpents was
mortal. And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people; and much people of
The wages of sin is death. Lust when it is conceived bringeth forth sin, and sin when it is finished bringeth forth death. This death is endless misery, for the scripture describes the lost as being cast into outer darkness, "where the worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. Jesus speaks of the condemned going away into everlasting punishment, where there shall be weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth.
For them who were bitten by the fiery serpent, God said to Moses, "Make them a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that everyone that is bitten, when they look upon it shall live.
It is for us who have been inflicted by the fiery serpent, whose veins are burning with the lust of this world, and with the poison of sin, that Christ was lifted upon a tree.
A loving God has provided the remedy. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son. The remedy is purely of a divine origin. Today the medical industry has an antidote for the bite of a serpent, but in the wilderness in which the Israelites where in there was no remedy whatever, except what God had provided.
A simple look to the figure of a serpent on a pole was all that was necessary! How could a cure come by looking at a twisted brass figure upon a pole? We know there is no efficacy in a symbol. This is the same symbol that Doctors use, but no healing can come by gazing at their icon.
King Hezekiah, one of the last good kings over Judah, did that which
was right in the sight of the Lord. He removed the high places where the idols
were worshipped, and he brake in pieces the brazen serpent that Moses had made.
For in the days of Hezekiah the children of
God had ordained this cure, when Moses had interceded for the people. God had put the effectiveness into it. When God ordains something, God puts the potency into it. We know not how God’s wondrous grace to us is imparted. We don’t know how it works, we don’t need to know how it works, it is sufficient for us to know only that it works.
The serpent brought death, but the symbol of the serpent brought life to the people of God in the wilderness. The symbol had no venom, there is nothing poisonous is brass, but it took the form of a venomous, fiery serpent.
Neither did Christ have any venom in his veins. He only had healing in his veins. There was no guile to be found in Him. But he took upon himself the form of sinful man. Our sin was imputed (assigned) to Him, and therefore He came under the wrath and curse of God. For our sake He was made a curse for us, as it is written, "Cursed is everyone that hangeth upon a tree.
The healing cost us nothing. It is poured out upon us by His grace.
Zechariah 12:10,11 says: "And I will pour upon the house of David, and
upon the inhabitants of
Our Lord was made a curse for us. He endured the penalty of our sin. "He his own self bore our sin in his own body on the tree." "The chastisement of our peace was upon him; with his stripes we are healed."
This report of the serpent lifted up on a pole is given to us for our instruction. We can know the meaning. As you would take a sharp pole and drive it through a serpent to kill it, so this pole was driven through this brazen serpent and the serpent was exhibited as killed, and it was hung up as dead before all the people in the wilderness. It was the image of a dead serpent.
If you will look upon Christ upon the cross, you will see that sin is slain and hung up as a dead serpent. "He hath abolished death, by being made a curse for us, as it is written, cursed is everyone that hangeth upon a tree.
We look upon Him, whom we have pierced. Salvation is freely given to us by a look at the crucified one, but it is not without a price. He willingly paid the price for our redemption. We crucified our Savior, but even we, if we look to him we shall live.
When a criminal is condemned and put to death, it might be argued, "who put him to death?" Some may say that is was the judge who condemned him, others may say it was the jury that brought the guilty verdict, another may say it was the executioner, but when you get to the root of the matter, it was the crime committed by the criminal, and the criminal alone who is truly to blame for the death.
Jesus was sentenced to death because of sin. Justice was satisfied. The penalty of sin is death, and the penalty was completed. Christ died. Sin pierced His side. But whose sin? Whose? It was not his own, for He knew no sin, neither was any guile ever found upon His lips. Pilate said, "I find no fault in this man". And though they found no cause of death in him, yet desired they Pilate that he should be slain.
The Savior was crucified, but the prophet Daniel said not for Himself. Our sin caused the death of our Messiah. It was our sin that crucified Jesus, it was our sin that pierced His side and nailed his flesh to the cross. Isaiah said, "he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
It was the high priest of that year, Cai’-a-phas which said that it was expedient that one man should die for the people. Christ said, "If I be lifted up I will draw all men unto me". Isaiah records, I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting.
Though it is to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth.
There is only one Savior. Neither is there salvation in any other. For there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.