Scripture Reading: John 3:1-8, 9-16, 22-36
In John 3 there are three signs: regeneration, the bronze serpent, and the bride. In the foregoing chapter we covered the sign of regeneration. In this chapter we will consider the signs of the bronze serpent and the bride.
John 3:14 says, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up.” Here the Lord referred to what happened in Numbers 21:4-9. Numbers 21:5 says, “The people spoke against God and against Moses, Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and there is no water; and our soul loathes this light bread.” Here we see that the children of Israel complained and were rebellious. As a result, the Lord “sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died” (v. 6). Then the people came to Moses and confessed that they had sinned in speaking against Jehovah and against him. They asked Moses to pray that Jehovah would take away the serpents from them. When Moses prayed for the people, Jehovah said to him, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live” (v. 8). We are told that Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. Then “if a serpent had bitten any man, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived” (v. 9).
The children of Israel who were bitten by serpents died — it was not merely a case of their becoming ill. Therefore, they needed not only to be healed but to be enlivened, to be made alive again. In the sight of God the rebellious Israelites had become serpents, and those evil serpents were condemned and rejected by God. In order for the children of Israel to be rescued, it was necessary for them to be judged. They needed a substitute to bear this judgment for them. They were all serpents, and there was the need of a serpent to become their substitute to be judged by God for them. This was the reason Jehovah told Moses to make a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. That substitute serpent was not to have any poison. If that bronze serpent had the poison of a real serpent, it could not have been a substitute for the serpentine people. The serpent used as a substitute had to be clean, without poison. The bronze serpent had the form of a real serpent, but it did not have any serpentine poison. Jehovah told Moses to lift up this bronze serpent on a pole and have the serpent-bitten children of Israel look at it. Whoever looked at this bronze serpent that was judged in place of the children of Israel could live.
This incident in Numbers 21 was sovereignly prepared by God to reveal a particular type of Christ. The bronze serpent lifted up on a pole in Numbers 21 is a type of Christ lifted up on the cross for us as the Son of Man according to John 3:14. As descendants of Adam, we all have been “bitten” by the old serpent, the devil. Therefore, we are all serpentine beings with the poison of the old serpent in our nature. In the sight of God, the entire fallen human race consists of poisonous serpents. Furthermore, all these serpents are dead. We as dead serpents need a substitute, someone with the form of a serpent but without the poisonous element of the serpent. This Substitute, of course, is Christ.
According to Romans 8:3, God sent His own Son in the likeness of the flesh of sin and concerning sin and condemned sin in the flesh. This corresponds to the revelation in John 3 concerning the bronze serpent. For God to send His Son in the likeness of the flesh of sin means that Christ became a serpent in form, that is, a bronze serpent without the serpentine poison. Furthermore, Paul’s word in Romans 8:3 about God condemning sin in the flesh indicates that the old serpent has been condemned so that the problem of sin may be solved. Now whoever believes in Christ as the One who was lifted up to be condemned in our place has eternal life. This is the significance of the type of the bronze serpent in John 3:14.
In His conversation with Nicodemus, the Lord spoke to him concerning the bronze serpent. The Lord seemed to be saying, “Nicodemus, you ask Me how it is possible to be born again. You are a teacher of Israel. You have taught the people from the five books written by Moses. Did you never tell them about the story in Numbers 21? Certainly you must have taught this. Don’t you know that the matter of the bronze serpent in Numbers 21 is related to regeneration? As Moses lifted up the bronze serpent on the pole, so the Son of Man must be lifted up.” The Lord was indicating to Nicodemus that He was the fulfillment of the type of the bronze serpent.
It was as the Son of Man that Christ was lifted up on the cross to be judged on our behalf. This means that He was lifted up not as the Creator but as a creature, even as a creature that was in the form of the flesh of sin (Rom. 8:3). Some teachers may deny the fact that Christ with respect to His humanity is a creature. But the Bible clearly reveals that Christ became a creature, and even a creature in the form of the flesh of sin, for He took upon Himself the likeness of the flesh of sin. In typology, this is signified by the bronze serpent. According to the type of the bronze serpent, when Christ was lifted up on the cross, He was in the likeness of the flesh of sin typified by the form of the bronze serpent, but He did not have the nature of sin typified by the poisonous nature of the serpent.
Certain opposers have spread the evil rumor that I teach that Christ had a sinful nature. I have never taught that the Lord Jesus had a sinful nature. However, according to Numbers 21, John 3:14, Romans 8:3, and 2 Corinthians 5:21, I do teach that the Lord Jesus became flesh in the form, the likeness, of the flesh of sin, but not having the nature of sin. According to the Bible, I teach that Christ was made sin for us; that is, He took upon Himself the likeness of the flesh of sin and died upon the cross in that flesh.
The point we are emphasizing here is that the bronze serpent in John 3:14 is a sign not only to Nicodemus but to us all. In John 3 the Lord seemed to be telling Nicodemus, “Nicodemus, you are a serpent. Don’t think of yourself as a gentleman, and don’t expect to be changed or improved through teachings. Moses taught you many things, but that did not change the fact that you are a serpent. Now you come to Me, regarding Me as a rabbi and thinking that I may give you some better teachings so you may be improved. No, Nicodemus, you are wrong. You are a serpent. Nicodemus, I am not your rabbi; I am your Substitute. You are a poisonous serpent, but I am a ‘bronze serpent’ willing to be judged by God in your place so that you may have eternal life. If you believe in Me as the One judged by God in your place, My divine life will be released into you. After this divine life has been imparted to you, you will be made alive. Nicodemus, you are dead. What you need is eternal life to enliven you. You don’t need teachings, and you don’t need a rabbi. You need a substitute to be judged by God in your place. As this Substitute, I have the life within Me to release into your being to make you living.” This is the sign of the bronze serpent.
In our preaching of the gospel, we need to declare the truth of 3:14. The Lord’s word to Nicodemus here is part of the gospel. However, there are many believers who do not understand what the Lord Jesus was saying here. Certainly those in the Lord’s recovery are no longer ignorant of the significance of the type of the bronze serpent and the Lord’s word concerning it in 3:14. I believe that even the young people are able to understand what I am saying about the sign of the bronze serpent.
We all must realize that, in the sight of God, we are serpents full of the poison of the devil, the old serpent. As the offspring of Satan (Matt. 3:7; 12:34; 23:33), we are little serpents brought forth by the old serpent. Perhaps you think of yourself as a refined lady or gentleman. But God sees you as a serpent. I must tell you the truth and point out that in the sight of God we, as fallen beings, are all serpents. You may be highly educated, and you may have a gentle disposition and an excellent character. Nevertheless, your sinful nature is serpentine in the eyes of God. Do not think that criminals are serpentine but that you are not. It is a fact that we all are serpentine, for we all have been bitten by that poisonous old serpent.
Because we all are serpentine, what we need is not the teachings of a philosopher or a rabbi. We need a “bronze serpent” to be our Substitute to bear God’s judgment for us, to redeem us, and to release His saving, divine life into our inner being.
The sign of regeneration indicates that we need to become a new being. This is the main significance of the first sign in John 3. The second sign, that of the bronze serpent, indicates that our old being is serpentine and that this serpentine being must be replaced so that we may receive another life, eternal life, in order to become a new being with a new life and a new nature.
Let us consider the Lord’s word in 3:14 and 15: “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that everyone who believes into Him may have eternal life.” This indicates the goal of the lifting up of the Son of Man. The Son of Man was lifted up in order that everyone who believes into Him may have eternal life. Therefore, the goal of the lifting up of the Lord Jesus as a “bronze serpent” is that everyone who believes into Him may receive another life, eternal life, divine life.
We should not separate or divide verse 16 from verse 15. The word for at the beginning of verse 16 indicates that it is a word of explanation. Why did the Lord Jesus become a “bronze serpent” to be lifted up on the cross for us so that we may have eternal life? The answer, revealed in verse 16, is that it was because God loves the human race. According to 3:16, “God so loved the world.” The world here does not refer to the globe; it denotes the human race. The human race is called the world because it has become a part of the system of Satan. (The Greek word for world, kosmos, means “a system.”) The fallen human race has become a part of Satan’s world system. Nevertheless, God loves the satanic human race; in this sense He loves the world.
The entire satanic, human world has become serpentine. Everyone in it, including philosophers such as Confucius and Plato, is serpentine. Of course, we also are serpentine. Nevertheless, God loves us, and He gave His Son to become a “bronze serpent” judged on the cross in our stead. The result is that everyone who believes into Him does not perish but has eternal life. In verse 16 also the word that means “in order that.”
The sign of the bronze serpent indicates that Christ was lifted up for us and judged by God so that by believing into Him as our Substitute we may have eternal life. Hallelujah for the sign of the bronze serpent!
The third sign in John 3 is that of the bride. How marvelous that this chapter takes us from a serpent to a bride! John 3:29 says, “He who has the bride is the bridegroom.” All believers, brothers and sisters alike, are part of this bride. I am very happy to be included in this bride.
John 21:25 says, “There are also many other things which Jesus did, which, if they were written one by one, I suppose that not even the world itself could contain the books written.” This verse, together with 20:30-31, affirms that this Gospel is the record of a selection of things that serve a particular purpose. Certain things that Jesus did are recorded in this Gospel as signs. We have seen that in chapter 3 there are three signs — regeneration, the bronze serpent, and the bride. It is significant that there is no mention of the bride in chapter 2 and no mention in chapter 3 of the changing of water into wine.
According to 3:26, the disciples of John the Baptist said to him, “Rabbi, He who was with you across the Jordan, of whom you have testified, behold, He is baptizing and all are coming to Him.” This indicates that the disciples of John the Baptist were jealous because many of his followers were turning to the Lord Jesus. But John said to them, “You yourselves testify of me that I said, I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before Him. He who has the bride is the bridegroom” (vv. 28-29). By this we see that it was John the Baptist, the forerunner of the Lord Jesus, who spoke in 3:29 concerning the bride and the bridegroom.
John’s brief word concerning the bride is very significant. It indicates that all regenerated persons are components of the bride who will be married to the Lord Jesus as the Bridegroom. How marvelous! Why do we, serpentine beings, need to be replaced and regenerated to have another life? It is correct to say that the goal is that we may enter into the kingdom of God and become members of the Body of Christ. However, according to the context of the whole chapter, regeneration issues in the bride of Christ.
Have you ever realized that you have been regenerated in order to become a part of Christ’s bride? Perhaps some would argue and say, “When the Lord Jesus spoke about regeneration in this chapter, He did not indicate that we are regenerated in order to become part of the bride. Instead, He told us that we must be regenerated so that we may enter into the kingdom of God.” Let us not isolate verses 1 through 8 from the chapter as a whole. We should not separate the Lord’s word concerning regeneration from what is written in this chapter regarding the bronze serpent and the bride. Only when we put these three matters together can we have a complete understanding of what this chapter reveals.
We need to see that regeneration means that our serpentine being is put aside and that we receive the divine life in order to become a new being so that we may be a part of the bride. By this we see that regeneration is for producing the bride of Christ. Have you been regenerated? Are you a regenerated person? What is the goal of your regeneration? If you see the vision revealed in this chapter, your thinking will be revolutionized, and you will be able to declare that you have been regenerated so that you may become part of Christ’s bride. You will say, “Lord Jesus, Hallelujah! I am part of Your bride, Your counterpart. Lord, how sweet and pleasant it is that I am part of Your heart’s love and desire!” We all are part of the bride of Christ. We all need to realize that through regeneration we have been made part of the bride of Christ. We all can declare, “Through regeneration I have become a part of the bride of Christ!”
