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. . . . there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me. 22 LOOK UNTO ME, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. (Isaiah 45:21-22)
Here is a prophetic utterance pointing directly to our Lord Jesus Christ. The
entire Bible is about Christ, but there are chapters and verses not couched in
veiled references, but are direct allusions to our Lord as the Word.
This particular verse is so abundantly based in Holy Scripture – both Old and
New Testament – as to be graven in the minds and hearts of those who know and
love the Lord. We have one account in the Church of the Wilderness wherein the
Children of Israel sinned and brought the wrath of God upon their unbowed
heads. 4 And
they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red sea, to compass the land of
Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way. 5 And the
people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up
out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there
any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread. 6 And the
LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much
people of Israel died. (Num 21:4-6)
The wages of sin is death (Romans
6:23),
and the sponsor of sin is the Devil. He is the old serpent of the Garden, and
the Great Red Dragon of Revelations 12. His bite, as Adam learned, is deadly.
There is only one remedy and that is what God promised and, in the fullness of
time, provided. Of course, once dead, there is no more remission of sin, so the
remedy must be applied BEFORE we close our eyes in this life. The same was true
of the children of Israel who were bitten by the fiery serpents. 7 Therefore
the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against
the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents
from us.
(Num 21:7)
Forgiveness and absolution of sin is always available on appeal and repentance
before the Lord; however, sin leaves scars. We may strike another out of
inordinate anger breaking his nose. Later, we may repent and seek forgiveness
of the offended party and of God. If we sincerely repent, we will be forgiven,
yet the broken nose remains. This was true of those who murmured against
the Lord. Fiery serpents were sent into their midst. Now they ask that the
serpents be taken away; however, they were not – but God offers a remedy that
mitigates the penalty of the serpents.
8 And
the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole:
and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon
it, shall live. 9 And Moses
made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a
serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived. (Num 21:8-9)
Unbeknownst to the children of Israel, this brazen serpent (2 Kings 18:4) that
Moses affixed to the pole was a foreshadow of the remedy for sin made available
in Christ. 14 And
as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man
be lifted up: 15 That
whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. (John 3:14-15) Though
they suffered much pain when bitten by the serpent, the Children of Israel
would not die if they simply looked upon the brazen serpent. They could do
nothing more than simply LOOK! 31 Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince
of this world be cast out. 32 And
I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. (John
12:31-32)
Jesus says All men shall be drawn to me.
Yes, indeed, all are drawn to Christ – willing or unwilling, in judgment or in
salvation. We pay a price in our bodies and lives by living in sin and
suffering its misery; but we may live if we LOOK in faith to Christ crucified!
The women, John, the redeemed thief on the cross, and the Centurion looked unto
Christ in believing faith and were saved, but these are not the only ones who
were drawn to Golgotha that day. The ridiculing and scoffing Scribes and
Pharisees were there, too, but to their own condemnation.
God asks us only to LOOK and know Him. Behold what He has done for you and me
on that rugged old Cross at Calvary. If we LOOK upon Christ and realize all
that He has done on our behalf, we are drawn to Him by faith and belief. We
cannot help it. But if our stony hearts have blinded our dimly lit eyes, we
will not look upon Him in faith but is faithless damnation.
Let us examine this “Looking unto Christ.” To look upon the Lord takes the
smallest of efforts. We are not called to remove mountains, or to even walk a
few feet; but simply we are told to LOOK! To LOOK upon Christ requires no
gnostic knowledge or any sophistication of education. The illiterate, the
literate; the rich, the poor; the paralyzed, the whole; the mere child, and the
aged adult can at least LOOK. How simple is that? But many prefer not to look.
It is not that they do not believe that Christ is Lord, but rather that they
do, indeed, know Him to be Lord. If they acknowledge His crucified body, they
will know that their own sins placed Him there on the cross. Admitting to the
sovereignty of Christ requires a great change of heart. This change they do not
desire. The would prefer to hold on to that old self, or free, will instead of
accepting His Will for their lives. They believe that they will be giving up
too much to follow Christ. Little do they know that they are forsaking all in
failing to follow Him. There are no true atheists – all know there to be a
Creator God, but the mere mention of His name to some is the worst offense they
can bear. So they do all in their power to expunge His name from every public
forum. Just this morning, I heard a fellow interviewed on the morning news who
claims to be an atheist. His ministry is to convince people not to go to church
this Christmas. He claims we can celebrate all of the trimmings of Christmas
without acknowledging its Namesake! How ridiculous can he be!
Look! But where? We no longer see the ancient old brow of Golgotha brooding in
the silent dusk of our solitude. The cross has been taken down along with the Body
of our Lord. We can no longer look upon the scarred Body of our Lord for He was
buried. We can no longer see the physical countenance of our Lord walking just
outside the Tomb in the Garden of the early morning dews. So where do we LOOK?
We look to all of these as related in the Word of God. We look, not only on the
crucified Lord there, but the Risen and Ascended Lord. He is every whit as real
today as He has ever been – and He has ever been!
We may not vividly see the nail prints in His Hands, the stripes on His bare
back, the bloodstreams cascading down His brow and cheeks from the crown of
thorns, or the terrible gash in His side made by the Centurion’s spear. But we
should remember them since it was all of us who put them there. After all His patient
ministry, His humility in suffering, and His joy at the surrender of His Spirit
unto His Father – He nevertheless looks upon us with compassion and kindly
regard. How could He? He could do so because He is God, and He is LOVE, and He
was Willing to do so for the sake of our eternal souls!
LOOK! But where? In the Word. Look diligently to learn of Him. 28 Come
unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my
yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall
find rest unto your souls. 30 For my yoke
is easy, and my burden is light. (Matt
11:28-30)
“Learn of HIM!” How much do you wish to learn of Christ? Enough to at least
spare minutes a day in prayer – morning, noon, and night; enough to spend quiet
hours in the day in deep study of the Word which He died to make complete for
you? May none reading this devotion ever hear these words from Christ: 37 And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne
witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape.
38 And
ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not. 39 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye
have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. 40 And
ye will not come to me, that ye might have life. 41 I
receive not honour from men. 42 But
I know you, that ye have not the love of God in you. 43 I
am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in
his own name, him ye will receive. 44 How
can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour
that cometh from God only? (John 5:37-44)
REMINDER: The command to search is not a passive suggestion. If we love the
Lord, we will study deeply to know Him better.
