As we considered in the previous Note in this series, the Gospel of John uses three different symbols, or figures, to portray the Lord’s death: the Lamb of God (1:29, 36), the serpent (3:14), and a grain of wheat (12:24). Each of these is very meaningful, and each portrays a different aspect of His death.

Of course, as the Lamb of God, Jesus “takes away the sin of the world.” Almost all Christians are aware of this precious truth; it is the most basic aspect of the Lord’s death.

But what did the Lord mean when He said to Nicodemus, after first telling him about the new birth, that,

“As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that every one who believes may have eternal life in Him.”
— John 3:14

This figure of “Moses lifting up the serpent” relates to a very different aspect of the Lord’s death, namely, the fact that Jesus died not only for us, but also with us. That is, He died not only to deal with the record of our sins before God, but also to deal with the sin nature within our being.

It is absolutely crucial for us to understand and appreciate this aspect of the Lord’s death if we are to go on with the Lord in a healthy way.

The apostle Paul certainly did. In his letter to the Galatians he famously declared,

I am crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh, I live in faith, the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
— Galatians 2:20

And in his letter to the saints in Rome he asked them,

Do you not know that as many of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? We have been buried therefore with Him through baptism into His death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so also we might walk in newness of life. For if we have grown together with Him in the likeness of His death, indeed we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man has been crucified with Him that the body of sin might be nullified, that we should no longer be in bondage to sin.
— Romans 6:3-6

Surely the Lord, through His word, would ask us the same question today: Do we truly know we have been baptized into the death of Christ?

Quite often, if I watch a video of Christians today at one of their music concerts, or hear a contemporary Christian song, my impression is, they are thanking and praising the Lord for dying for us, so we will not be punished for our sins. Yet, very rarely, it seems, is there any stress on the fact that He died with us, so we could walk with Him in newness of life.

But of course, we also have to ask, How much do we ourselves truly grasp this tremendous fact that we have died with Christ by passing through the process of death and resurrection with Him? No doubt, all throughout our lives we need to enter into a deeper and deeper apprehension, and application, of this great truth. How blessed it is to be able to boldly declare, with the apostle Paul, “I no longer live, but Christ lives in me!” It is even good to turn that Bible verse back into prayer, telling the Lord,

“Thank You, Lord, I am crucified with You, and I’m not the one living any longer, but now You live in me! Amen.”

This brings us back to the figure of Moses lifting up the serpent, and the question of why Jesus would use such a figure to portray His death. As we shall consider in the next Note in this series, if we understand the significance of this figure, it will greatly help us to see and appreciate more clearly the significance of our co-death with Christ.

Sent to our mailing list on
—  11 September 2024 —