Looking unto Jesus... How do we do this?

Beloved of God, Hebrews 12:2‭-‬3 tells us:

"fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart."

Christ had no sins of His own to die for. He had no curse, generational or otherwise. He had no sickness. He was not lacking in any good thing.  It was our sins, our curse, our lack, our disease, our imperfections that He carried. It was our death (the wages of sin) that He died. He endured all of that for the joy of seeing us utterly set free from all these earthly ills and death in hell.

Because of false teaching, many churchgoers have grown weary, are discouraged and have lost heart. Why? Their focus has been removed from what Christ has done and diverted to what man must do. Recall the verse above-

"For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart."

The word bearing the reason why Christ endured such hostility- why He suffered and died at the cross - is being stolen from many. Many are not fixing their eyes on Jesus. Rather, many have their eyes fixed upon their own fasts, seeds, good works done to get God to bless and their own obedience in general. 

But how do we fix our eyes on Jesus "so that you will not grow weary and lose heart?" Christ explains this to us in John 3:14-17-

"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up,  that whoever believes in Him should not perish but  have eternal life.  For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.  For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved."

Understand that those wilderness snakes were no ordinary serpents. Numbers describes them as "fiery serpents," from the Hebrew word "saraph" meaning "to burn." Anyone who was bitten by them became incapacitated from their fiery venom/sting and thus unable to walk uprightly or go about their business as usual. Recall Christ Himself gave us this typology? The snake sting is a picture of the sin nature which all of mankind inherited from Adam: Romans 5:19-

"By one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one man's obedience many will be made righteous."

Adam passed on this sinner/old nature to all of his descendants. It's akin to being born with genotype SS. Sinners will produce sins just as sickle cell carriers will have crises; just as the Israelites that were infected by the sting of the fiery serpents (sin nature) produced deathly symptoms (acts of sin that lead to death.) 1Corinthians 15:56-57 tells us-

"56The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."

Redemption from/victory over the snake sting of death (Sin Nature) that makes man produce deathly snakebite symptoms (acts of sin that lead to death; sickness, lack etc are "death begun") is found only by fixing our eyes on Jesus alone and not by rushing off to do things in a bid to get God to bless. 

The strength of the sin nature is the law. Scrambling to treat snakebite symptoms (sins, addictions, earthly ills that lead to death) in order to be made whole aka trying to keep the law in order to be free from sins and earthly ills or whole like God will only distract one from fixing their eyes on Jesus. This will cause the snake sting that is the Sin nature to strengthen its hold over the infected- the very thing that many church pastors are leading the flock to do today!  The result of this distraction from Christ by useless human effort-driven activities at being made whole is the production of more symptoms/sins that lead to death; see this reflected in Romans 7:5-

"5 When we were controlled by our old nature, sinful desires were at work within us, and the law aroused these evil desires that produced a harvest of sinful deeds, resulting in death."

Also consider verses 17-18 of the same John 3 in continuing with Christ's typology of Himself as the bronze serpent-

"17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. 18 He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."

Anyone whose gaze is not fixed on "Christ crucified" for salvation the same way that the Israelites did the bronze serpent is condemned already, no matter how obedient he is and no matter how many good works he does. All of those "good works" and obedience done to be right with God or get Him to save from any ill are useless in saving anyone. They only worsen the situation. Only the bronze serpent mattered. Only "Christ" and "Christ crucified" matters.

As it was with the affected Israelites who did not die immediately after being infected with the snake sting, "death" is a process. This death that is the wages of sin is not necessarily immediate. It is preceded by earthly ills such as anxiety, depression, stupid mistakes, joblessness, lack of creativity, all earthly ills and culminates in death in hell. Beloved, Christ died the death for us. ONCE.

Recall the Pharisees whom Christ referred to as "brood of vipers" in His word? Their doctrine is no different from that which is being preached in many places of worship today:

DEPENDENCE ON HUMAN EFFORT/THE ARM OF FLESH FOR THE ATTAINMENT OF GODLINESS AND SALVATION FROM SIN AND DEATH

Notice no Jesus Christ to fix your gaze on in order to be made whole (sin and death free) in their own equation of salvation? In their teaching, your gaze must be fixed on what you can do by your own useless might aka arm of flesh. Beloved, beware of such "pastors." They are a "brood of vipers" and are biting people up and down; infecting people with that false doctrine that promotes the attainment of godliness by human effort- the same seemingly good but deathly doctrine that Satan the original viper/serpent preached to Eve in Eden. 

As it was with the very religious and law-hugging Pharisees who observed the law more than anyone alive, the spirit of the antichrist is not necessarily anti-God. It is one that seeks to replace what Christ has done to make man whole/godly- including giving man free access to God and His freely-given blessings-  with human effort at achieving same.

The Israelites saw their utter helplessness to save themselves. They looked to the bronze serpent (Christ's finished work at the cross) and were saved from the snake sting within (sin nature inherited from Adam.) They were made whole (saved) from the snake venom's deathly symptoms (for us, sins, addiction and all earthly ills that lead to death.)

Earthly ills such as fear, anxiety, stupid mistakes, lack, depression, sickness, fast-tracked ageing, etc are all "death begun." Same way Adam died. Unlike the Israelites, many churchgoers are trying to get rid of their snakebite symptoms (acts of sin that lead to death) by themselves or by promising God that they will not sin again. This is as useless as the affected Israelites fasting, sowing seed, promising to obey the law or doing anything at all in order to get God to save them. God already provided His Salvation for us: Christ lifted up for our salvation from sin and death. Plus recall that "fiery serpents" is from the Hebrew word "Saraph" which means "to burn?" Christ gives us a picture of man's utter incapacitation and his utter inability to walk uprightly because of this "snake sting" that is the sin nature that all mankind possess by default through Adam's sin. 

No matter how holy, strong or good you think you are, as long as the fire of the sin nature is burning through your body, you can never walk uprightly. The hallmark of the sin nature is that it strives to attain godliness and God's blessing through human obedience and good works aka lawkeeping- as useless as the affected Israelites trying to walk uprightly by treating their snakebite symptoms.

As Satan the original viper did with Eve, false pastors aka "brood of vipers" preach that Pharisees' message of dependence on human effort at obedience, fasting and sowing seed in order to be upright/godly/be made whole like God. But how can one walk uprightly under the influence of the fiery serpent's sting?  Only by fixing our eyes on "Christ crucified" --- knowing that our salvation from acts of sin, sickness, poverty, whatever comes from utter dependence on Christ as the Israelites did the bronze serpent --- do we have wholeness/godliness. Only then can we be free from the burning that incapacitates and makes one unrighteous in God's sight. 

God gave us His own Son to free us from the sting of the fiery snakes (sin nature) and its deathly symptoms (acts of sin that lead to death.) Only by freely receiving the benefits of Christ lifted up at the cross can one walk uprightly. When your believing is right, right living will follow.

It is a finished work that Christ has done in remitting our entire lifetime of sins so by Grace, reap the FREELY-given benefits of God's goodness- His Wisdom, Righteousness, Holiness and Redemption. Health in our body. Peace in our heart. Abundantly provided for.

Don't worry if your life is horribly imperfect and riddled with sins and addictions right now. Your situation makes you the perfect candidate for God's freely-given salvation in Christ. The bronze serpent would have been of no effect to those who falsely thought that they could keep the law, be godly by even an inch, sow seed and fast in order to get God go save them. To us, Galatians 5:4 counsels:

"Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace."

To you whom the world looks down on for those sins and addictions that you struggle with without knowing that it is only God's mercy that keeps them from being in worse conditions; to you who are utterly helpless to save yourself, be glad because Christ came for YOU:

"For when the time was right, the Anointed One came and died to demonstrate His love for sinners who were entirely helpless, weak, and powerless to save themselves."

His salvation is not for those who think they have the might to do anything at all in order to "not perish but have everlasting life." In reality, all of mankind is as helpless as helpless can be. The arm of flesh will fail.

Recall the typology about the bronze serpent and how we are saved from sin and death was given by Christ Himself and in the most famous of all Bible passages (John 3:14,15,16,17,18.) This is not a coincidence. He wants us to know and believe God's everlasting love for us.

As He did the affected Israelites who fixed their gaze expectantly on the bronze serpent that Moses lifted up in the wilderness and not the things that made them sick and unwhole, Christ Himself is transforming us to perfection. See yourself as God sees you through the MIRROR of His Word- Christ Himself:

"And there is still much more to say of His unfailing love for us! For through the blood of Jesus we have heard the powerful declaration, “You are now righteous in My sight.” And because of the sacrifice of Jesus, you will never experience the wrath of God." Roman's 5:9

And by God's Grace, trust the One who cannot lie when He says our transformation is happening as we continue to fix our gaze on Him like the Israelites of old; not our silly fasts, seeds and useless attempts at being godly through works of the law. Let's keep on ourselves as He sees us-

"But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord." 2 Corinthians 3:18.

Right believing always produces right living