Some may be very surprised to hear that Christ died on the cross even as a serpent in form. “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life” (John 3:14-15). Here the Lord Jesus applies to Himself the type of the brass serpent lifted up by Moses in the wilderness (Num. 21:4-9). Because the children of Israel complained and were rebellious, “the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died” (Num. 21:6). Then the people came to Moses and confessed that they had sinned in speaking against the Lord and against him. They asked Moses to pray that the Lord would take away the serpents. When Moses prayed for the people, the Lord said to him, “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” (v. 8). We are told that Moses made a serpent of brass and put it upon a pole. Then “it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived” (v. 9).
The incident in Numbers 21 was sovereignly prepared by God to reveal a particular type of Christ. The brass serpent lifted up on a pole is a type of Christ lifted up on the cross for us as a serpent in form according to John 3:14. As fallen human beings, we all have been “bitten” by the serpent, the Devil. We were bitten in the garden of Eden when Adam was bitten by the serpent and poisoned by him. Therefore, we are all serpentine beings with the poison of the serpent in our nature. In the sight of God, the entire fallen human race consists of poisonous serpents. As such serpents we needed a substitute; we needed Christ to die for us in the form of a serpent, but without the poisonous element of the serpent.
We need to be very clear that Christ was a serpent in form but that He did not have the poisonous nature of a serpent. We, however, actually are serpentine, for in our fallen nature we are children of the old serpent, the Devil (1 John 3:10). For this reason, in Matthew 12:34 the Lord Jesus called the Pharisees a “brood of vipers.” In Matthew 23:33 He called them “serpents, brood of vipers,” the offspring of the most poisonous kind of serpents. Because the Devil is the father of sinners (John 8:44), sinners are children of the Devil. Sinners also are serpents, the offspring of vipers. Therefore, in the sight of God, in our fallen nature we are not only sinful—we are serpentine.
The serpent is a symbol of the Devil, who is called “the ancient serpent” (Rev. 12:9). No doubt, the Lord Jesus was crucified as a serpent in form in order to deal with Satan, the Devil, the old serpent.
It was through being crucified as a serpent in form that the Lord Jesus crushed the head of the old serpent, the Devil (Gen. 3:15). In this way He judged the ruler of this world: “Now is the judgment of this world; now shall the ruler of this world be cast out” (John 12:31). By His death on the cross Christ destroyed the Devil, who had the power of death (Heb. 2:14). Therefore, as the One who died as a serpent in form under God’s judgment, the Lord Jesus dealt with the Devil and with his world, the satanic system.
Through the death of Christ, sins, sin, the old man, the entire creation, the Devil, and the world have all been dealt with. This was possible only because Christ was crucified as the Lamb of God, a man in the flesh, the last Adam, a creature, and a serpent in form. As the Lamb of God, Christ took away sin. As a man in the flesh, He made it possible for God to condemn sin in the flesh. As the last Adam He terminated the old man. As a creature, He crucified the entire creation. And as a serpent in form, He destroyed the Devil and the satanic world.
Around 1935 I heard a message given by Brother Watchman Nee in Shanghai. He said that if you went to a young believer and asked him who died on the cross, he would say that his Redeemer died on the cross for his sins and his sin. If you went to another one who was more advanced and asked him who died on the cross, he would say that Christ died there, bearing his sins, sin, and himself. Someone still more advanced in the Christian life would tell you that Christ died on the cross for his sins, sin, and himself with all of creation. Another category of Christians would say that Christ died on the cross not only for their sins, sin, and themselves with all of creation, but also in order to destroy Satan and judge the world. Later I began to see that there was the need for even further advancement in realizing the death of Christ, that there was the need to see that through the death of Christ all the ordinances were abolished. All the ordinances—the habits, customs, traditions, and practices among the human race—were abolished on the cross. Concerning this aspect of His death, Christ is our peace and Peacemaker (Eph. 2:14-16).
Christ died as the Peacemaker, as the One who makes peace: “He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of partition, the enmity, having abolished in His flesh the law of the commandments in ordinances, that He might create the two in Himself into one new man, making peace” (vv. 14-15). Christ died on the cross to abolish all the ordinances among mankind. In particular, He died to take away the partition between the Jews and the Gentiles. Not only was there a partition between Jews and Gentiles; there were also partitions between every nationality and race. Without the removal of these partitions, there would be no way for us to be one in Christ as His Body. Praise the Lord that all the ordinances were abolished by Christ on the cross! Now in the church life we have people of all races, colors, and nationalities.
Christ is our peace. Christ, who has accomplished full redemption for both Jewish and Gentile believers, is Himself our peace, our harmony. Due to the fall of mankind and the call of the chosen race, Israel, there was a separation between Israel and the Gentiles. Through Christ’s redemption this separation has been removed. Now, in the redeeming Christ, who is the bond of oneness, both are one.
Christ has broken down the middle wall of partition, the enmity. The middle wall of partition is “the law of the commandments in ordinances,” which was given because of man’s flesh. The first of these ordinances is circumcision to cut off man’s flesh. This became the middle wall of partition between the circumcision and the uncircumcision, the enmity between the Jews and the Gentiles. Christ broke down this middle wall of partition by abolishing the law of the commandments in ordinances, the law of the ritual commandments, such as the ordinances of circumcision, keeping the Sabbath, and dietary regulations. When Christ was crucified, all the ordinances were nailed to the cross. Because the middle wall of partition has been torn down through Christ’s abolishing in His flesh the law of the commandments in ordinances, the Jews and the Gentiles can be built up together as the Body of Christ.
Christ’s death was all-inclusive and was accomplished once for all. There is no need for Him to die again. The Lord’s all-inclusive death is eternal. If we see this, we shall praise the Lord that sin, sins, the flesh, the old man, the old creation, Satan, the world, and the ordinances have all been dealt with through the death of Christ.
Because Christ is an all-inclusive person, He died an all-inclusive death. For example, if the king of a certain country were to die, a person with a twofold status—a man and a king—would die. As our Redeemer the Lord Jesus had a sixfold status and therefore died as the Lamb of God, a man in the flesh, the last Adam, a creature, a serpent in form, and our peace and Peacemaker. Such an all-inclusive person died an all-inclusive death. Because Christ’s death was all-inclusive, when He died on the cross all negative things were dealt with. Sin, sins, the flesh, the old man, the old creation, Satan, the world, and all the ordinances were dealt with. All these negative things were terminated and taken away through the all-inclusive death of Christ, our Redeemer.
As we remain under the Lord’s dispensing, all the aspects of His person in redemption will be dispensed into us. We should not try to overcome sin or destroy Satan. If we try to overcome sin, we shall be overcome by it. If we try to destroy Satan, he will destroy us. The only way to overcome sin and destroy Satan is to stay under the dispensing of Christ. Our basic need today is to experience more of the dispensing of the processed Triune God into our being.