John 3:13-15

¹³ No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. ¹⁴ And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵ that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

So just as the Israelites were told to look upon the serpent and their lives would be saved, so too the Son of Man is lifted up on the cross, and when we look upon him, when we identify with him in death and resurrection, when we believe in who He is then we would have eternal life.

Numbers 21:4-9

⁴ From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom. And the people became impatient on the way. ⁵ And 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 no water, and we loathe this worthless food.” ⁶ Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. ⁷ And the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. ⁸ And the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” ⁹ So Moses made a bronze^[c] serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.

The Israelites asked God to remove the serpents, but God did it another way. If God had just taken away the serpents, then they would not be bitten, and so easily would they forget and not understand how much so that God saved them. We also do this when God gives us breath each morning, and we forget to say thanks because, in our minds, it becomes a right and not a privilege. God provided a way for them to be saved where they had to take one small action to look upon the bronze snake and in doing that they would each time be reminded that it is God who has saved them.

John 3:16-18

¹⁶ “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. ¹⁸ Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 

We can so easily forget the great privilege that we have in salvation. God has given his own son to save us, to take our place because of the wrong that we have chosen. Imagine if we had to give up a child to save someone else, and even in that situation, God has done even greater than that. We can never really comprehend what he has done to save us.

The Son of Man has been lifted up, and when we look upon him, when we keep our eyes on Jesus, we will be saved, and we will have eternal life. Therefore, let us keep our eyes on Jesus and not let the world distract us lest we fall away, and that eventually leads us to death.