Let's examine a few verses of Scripture: "

For he hath made Him to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. " (II Cor. 5: 21)
The chief priests mocking said among themselves, "He saved others, Himself He cannot save" (Mark 15:31)

Jesus the righteous, perfect, sinless, Son of God, the all-together-Iovely one, the Only Begotton of the Father, the Jewel and Treasure of Heaven, He is the One who came to this earth as the Bethlehem's Babe. It was He of whom it was said by the angel Gabriel "His name shall be called Jesus for He shall save His people from their sins." Let me now here declare, that it was in the conceived and designed plan and purpose of God, before the beginning of time, and before the foundation of this world was laid, that Jesus Christ should come and die and be the perfect sacrifice, that would forever and for all mankind, take away the for sins of-this world. This act is declared so eloquently in Eph. 3:9-11, And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things all things by Jesus Christ: (10) To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the Church the manifold wisdom of God; (11) According to the eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus, our Lord.

It is upon this single Devine mission of Christ that the Gospel is established. The Apostle Paul declared it most emphatically in the beginning verses of I Cor. 15:1-3, that Jesus died, was buried, and that He rose again on the third day. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! And so let the Church as its mandate and mission; continue to proclaim this Glorious Message. Of necessity we must quote from Paul's writings, Rom. 1: 17 "I'm not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one who believe, to the Jews first and also to the Greek.

Nothing takes God by surprise, He is Omniscient, He never lacks ability, He is Omnipotent, He is not limited by the dimensions of time and space, He is always there, and is everywhere at the same time, He is Omnipresent. When the problem of sin surfaced, and its scourge engulfed all of humanity, including us of the entire world, it was a problem so gigantic that only an all wise God, The El Shaddai, could ever resolve, hence the reason that John 3:16 encapsulates the very whole theme of the Bible. There is a Hymn where in the Chorus it states "Such Love, Such wondrous Love, That God should save a sinner such as I how wonderful is love like this" The Bible states that God does not desire that any should perish, but all should come to repentance.

There is a fascinating illustration of the vicarious death of Christ on the cross, and it is found in (Num. 21: 6, 9). His holy Father could not have countenanced the sin of the whole world upon shoulders of His Son and so God the Father literally turned his back on His Son Jesus. Jesus bore our sins, yours and mine, the sin of the entire world, in order to avail us the provision of salvation. He bore it all alone. Upon Jesus was no mercy given, the wrath and judgement of Our righteous God was poured out upon Jesus, Our Saviour and Redeemer. No wonder He cried out when He was still praying in the garden of Gethsemane, "If it were possible let this cup pass from me, nevertheless not my will but thine be done.

The problem with the interpretation of this Scripture is the fact that most folk, try the traditional substitutions. This makes the serpent, on the pole to be the devil. This cannot be because Satan can only disguise himself as an angel of light, in Him there is not light at all, and secondly, under Moses' instruction, all who looked upon the serpent lived. Now there must be something very erroneous there, since when has Satan become an agent of Life? Moses said that every one that is bitten, when he looks upon it, shall live. This is highly inconsistent with what the Bible says about the devil. That "thief comes not but to steal kill and destroy .... , John 10: 10. Only Jesus has ever declared the He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. He alone is the Life giving Spirit. We all have been bitten by the sting of death of Satan. We all are dying, and will soon surely die. In this instance Moses made intercession unto God, on behalf of the Children of Israel. Jesus presently is our intercessor; He is always interceding to the Father for and on our behalf. In the reference of Numbers, the clear meaning is Satan and sin is finally being judged.

By substitution, the Cross symbolizes God's Devine final judgement upon sin. The serpent upon the cross symbolizes Christ bearing the sin of the whole world, sin past present and future, your sin and my sin, fulfilling the Scripture in the very beginning of my message, "For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. II Cor. 5:21 " Do you remember when Christ was on the cross He cried out, in anguish of soul in a loud voice ''My God, My God why hast Thou forsaken me.

Can you imagine this, the One of the purest birth, One who knew no sin, One who committed no sin, it was His very first experience of the horrible defilement of sin, and From eternity past, before the beginning of time, Christ elected to come to this earth to redeem this world from sin. He said prepare me a body and I will come and redeem Adam's fallen race. (Read Heb. 10:3-10) Now we can begin to understand the inspired writing of the Apostle Paul to the Philippians, "let this mind be in you which also was in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men; and being found in the fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. " Phill. 25:-8.

Now we can understand, why "He saved others and himself he could not save."

God loved you so dearly, that no price was too high for Him to pay to redeem you back into the fellowship of his fold. Heb. 10: 1 0, "By the which will, we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all." Now in order to grasp the full import of what Christ has done, we must realize that He has gone where no one has ever dared. Everyone has fallen prey to death, and for us all "And it is appointed unto men once to die but after this the judgement" Heb. 9:27. Apart from Enoch and Elijah all have died and remained very dead, but Jesus "Glory to His holy name" triumphed over death, was victorious over the grave, was raised from the dead, and forever liveth. Indeed He is the All time Undefeated, Undisputed champion of grace. We can now gloriously sing We serve a risen Saviour, He's in the world today, I know that He is living whatever men may say, I see His hand of mercy, I hear His voice of cheer, and just the time I need Him He's always there, He Lives, He Lives, Christ Jesus Lives today, He walks with me and talks with me along life's narrow way, He lives, He lives, Salvation to impart, you ask me how I know He Lives, He Lives within my heart.