Stress Test Devotional May 4
May 04, 2024
JOHN 3:11-15 | “Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.”
Jesus’ idea of new birth unnerved many of his contemporaries. It undercut other ways of feeling secure with God. It meant being ethnically and racially Jewish was no guarantee of spiritual status. Nor was birth into the priestly class or educational qualifications. Being a Levite, a Pharisee, or a Scribe did not improve your position with God.
Nothing illustrated the independence of God more than the cross. God’s way of righting wrong and defeating evil, is the cross, and it is a event which he planned, suffered and accomplished, apart from our efforts entirely. We would not have even seen its significance without Jesus’ instruction—here encapsulated by reference to the strange story in Numbers 21:6-9. Israelite rebellion is punished with a tsunami of serpents and then Israelite confession is followed by the command to Moses ‘”make a poisonous serpent, set it on a pole, and everyone bitten can look at it and live.” Jesus on the cross draws out the poison from all who need to be saved and given new life, lifted up like the snake in the wilderness.
God’s way of rescue was beyond our anticipation and capacity. Do you agree?
Spend some time today “looking at the cross.”
