Monday Reflections...a great morning and an upcoming week of continuous study...sermon post

This photo is not a younger version of me or of any of our children but just a stock photo to show what I am going to be doing this week.  Sometimes I wonder why I put myself under this much pressure but again, I have been called by God to preach His word.  So I wade into the deep waters of God's word this week for the sake of His church.  Let me let you in on what is on my plate.

I finished the book of Titus this week in the morning worship service so next week is the start of a new book of the Bible and it will be Malachi.  The start of a new book always requires more study as I get acquainted with the whole of the book prior to preaching from chapter 1.  

At the same time, I will be starting the book of Ezra in the evening worship service.  I didn't plan it this way but both the Sunday morning and evening services ended their series at the same time.  

I will be reading the book of Numbers this week for my online masters class and writing a 3 page reflection on it.  There is always a weekly quiz and the starting of studying for the next week to keep ahead.  

I am in the midst of our weekly Transition Team meetings and preparing weekly for our Men's Sunday School class.  This post, "Monday Reflections" is a weekly activity along with my "Wednesday in the Word" which is working through the book of John and currently we are in chapter 12.  The last weekly activity is our Wednesday night prayer meeting and we are going through the book of 1 Peter and presently in chapter 2.

If I count that right, I will be studying 5 different books of the Bible this week along with topical studies for the Transition Team and Men's Sunday School class.  The plate is full and overflowing but there is light at the end of the tunnel.

The Transition Team finishes the end of November; the online class ends the first weekend in December with a break until the middle of January; and the Men's Sunday School class has a month break after the middle of December.   I think this is good for me to type this out so I see what is ahead of me and that it is doable.

Back to my masters class and this week's study of the book of Numbers, which yielded some connections between Jesus and this book.  Actually, Jesus quoted from this Old Testament book to make a really big point about salvation.

Just prior to the famous John chapter 3 and verse 16, Jesus references a Numbers event.  John chapter 3 and verses 14 and 15 say, 

Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.

Jesus is referencing Numbers chapter 21 and verses 4 through 9.  The Israelites are complaining again.  They speak lies of no bread and water when these are supplied by God for them.  God sends poisonous snakes to bite them.  They come running to Moses in repentance and asking him to intercede for them before God to take away the snakes.  Moses does but God tells him to make an image of a snake and mount it on a pole.  Only those who would look up at the bronze snake would recover.  Obedience was required.  

Jesus uses this event to explain salvation or being born again to Nicodemus.  Jesus would be lifted up on a cross, a pole of sorts, and everyone who looked up to Him, meaning believed in Him, would recover from the death of our transgressions.  Obedience was required of those who would be saved.  This obedience was a response of faith of the One who was lifted up.  

Like the ones in the desert who were saved from the poisonous bite of the snake by obedience to look up in faith, which was given to them by God as the only solution, would recover so shall we who respond in faith of the One given to us who was lifted up on a cross.  The evil, the snakes, were not removed but God provided a way to be saved.  So too, God has provided a way to be saved, to born again, and to made spiritually alive in a world that still contains evil.  

Jesus reaches back into the Old Testament to paint a picture to Nicodemus and to us how one is saved by the God's loving action of giving us Someone to look up to in faith.

Adam