John 3:13

John 3:13 says, "And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but He which came down from heaven, even the Son of Man which is in heaven."  This speaks of the unique nature of Jesus.  I have heard people speak of babies as having been sent down from heaven, but there has been only One Who was, and that is Jesus.  As His followers, when we go to heaven, we will be going home to a place we've never been before.  We will not be angels, as they are a different part of creation, and are already in heaven.  Verse fourteen adds, And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up In verse fifteen, Jesus speaks of His death, burial and resurrection.  He said as Moses lifted up the serpent, even so the Son of Man had to be lifted up.  Verse fifteen continues, That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.  It was necessary for Moses to lift up the brass serpent to save Israel from death as the result of their disobedience.  It was necessary for Christ to be lifted up, crucified, to save mankind from death as a result of their sins.  With Moses, the result was temporary, but with Christ it is everlasting.  It required Moses to be obedient to the will God, and it required Jesus to be obedient to the will of the Heavenly Father.  It required the people of Israel to have faith in Moses.  He was their representative to God.  It requires us to have faith in Jesus, as the Messiah, the Savior of the world and our representative before God.  If required them not only to have faith but to act on that faith, to look up at the serpent in Moses' hand.  Our faith in Christ requires action from us.  We must confess to the world that He is our Savior and look up to Him for guidance.  The people of Israel had a choice to either believe and obey or die.  Then we read, "Even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that all who believe on Him might be saved."  We today have a choice, to either believe and obey Christ or die in our sins.  The choice should be simple, yet many refuse to believe.