John 3:14-16 As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
Do you remember the story from Numbers 21, when the people complained to God and to Moses about food and water? God sent fiery serpents to bite them, and many died. In verse 9, we read, “And Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on the standard; and it came about, that if a serpent bit any man, when he looked to the bronze serpent, he lived.”
Let’s be encouraged by God’s love for His people, Israel, and then His love for the world. Nicodemus would not have been shocked by God’s love for Israel. What would have been shocking would have been to learn that God loves Gentiles in the same way He loves the Jews. These verses in this conversation put the spotlight on what Jesus had been saying. The only way into the kingdom of God for both Jew and Gentile is by new birth, by the Holy Spirit, who gives them faith in Jesus’ substitutionary death.
Everyone has been repeatedly bitten by the serpent of sin. Without God’s provision of an object of faith, like the serpent Moses lifted in the wilderness, everyone perishes. It was the love of God for Israel that moved Him to provide a way of healing and deliverance. In these verses, what would have shocked Nicodemus was that God loves Gentiles also with the same kind of love. He is providing a way for anyone in the world to be healed and delivered from sin’s fatal bite.
Yes, it is the general love of God that provides the object of faith, but it is the covenant love of God that provides the faith to believe in Jesus, the Son of God. For faith to be given as an assurance of eternal life, it has to have an object. Jesus’ substitutionary death is the object God has provided. Then, God can clearly show those who are in His kingdom through faith. Those to whom God gives eternal life will believe in Him and trust in Him, as the Holy Spirit gives new birth.
What were the implications of this conversation to Nicodemus if he understood it? It meant that Jews and Gentiles were on equal ground before God. Self-righteousness and religious practices were meaningless. The old covenant was about to pass away and become obsolete, replaced by a new covenant through the blood of Jesus. Eternal life was to be offered to the world, and the way to eternal life was to be through the execution of the man standing in front of Him. All of this is because of the love of God. As we love with Jesus today, may our hearts be amazed at the scope of God’s love and the love that has provided eternal life to us through the gift of faith. To God be the glory.
I invite you to become a partner in our ministry. Would you pray about becoming a regular supporter of Elijah Ministries and the Live to Love with Jesus ministry? I hope you will receive the joy and benefit of “giving it forward,” so others may receive encouragement to turn their hearts to God and to live to love with Jesus. You may give online or send a check to the address listed at www.spiritofelijah.com/donate.
