Seventh Day Baptist
Christian Education Council
PO BOX 1678
Janesville, WI 53547
—John 3:11-16
by: Irene B. Saunders.
Jesus told Nicodemus the Spirit gives new life. Jesus prophesied his own method of death by referring to Moses' serpent in the desert. In order for the snake-bitten Israelites to be healed, they had only to look up at the bronze serpent on the pole (Numbers 21:4-9). Faith and obedience work together. Those who refuse to look up at the crucified, dying Savior will not find the new birth of which Jesus told Nicodemus. The mercy and love of God that healed the Israelites are the same as what Jesus demonstrated on the cross.