Scripture: 2 Kings 18 v 4: "He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan."
Numbers 21 v 8: "And the Lord said unto Moses, 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."
Nehushtan, Moses' brass serpent, had gone from being a miracle against snake bites on the Exodus from Egypt, to being worshipped as an idol during the reign of King Hezekiah. So the obedient king destroyed it along with all the other forms of idolatry being practiced.
Moses never realised that his Nehushtan was symbolic of the Son of God being lifted up on a pole when He was crucified. He took upon Himself all the sin that the serpent in Eden had brought upon humanity. He became SIN on that Cross and broke the power of sin to give us true freedom from it.
The work of the Cross in our lives is to crucify our flesh, break through our stubborn souls to release our eternal spirit to receive from the Holy Spirit everything we need to stay in God's perfect will. It brings death to every wrong thing in our lives and brings healing and renewal to our whole body.
The Cross left its marks on Jesus, on His hands and feet. The Crown of Thorns, those thorns were 8" long from a plant called Nabk, now extinct. Those thorns were pushed into His scalp producing severe pain. Everything that happened to Him physically brought victory to us in our spirits. From the moment of His death it brought us life everlasting.
The Lord does not want a religious idol made out of the Cross. It's a symbol of suffering and death. Witches and satanists hang crosses everywhere to try to ward off their own evil spirits from attacking them. It doesn't work.
The Lord wants us to be free of dead works. If by wearing a cross on a chain is meant to convey your commitment to Jesus Christ, why didn't His disciples do it? Why is it not stated clearly in the Bible? Even the persecuted Christians in Rome used a symbol of a fish to know each other. One would draw an innocent arc in the sand and the other would complete it so it resembled a fish. Then they knew they were fishers of men.
If your lifestyle, behaviour, love, hospitality, joy, generosity, peace, and witness do not proclaim Who you follow, then no ornament will make it clear either. We need to be real with ourselves; with God and man; ready to help one another in every way possible. We need to go the extra mile, turn the other cheek, be a martyr or put others first to really make the world take notice.
The world is weary of fake Christians and plastic Christianity. We are in a war zone 24/7 but many churches are like entertainment centres full of amusement and fun. It borders on mockery of the Most High God. Many churches in England lost their congregations because of powerless rituals, and these buildings were turned into Bingo halls.
Today is 9-11 when the Twin Towers were brought down by religious militants. Those World Trade Centre buildings were built on land given by Britain to America to build a church. The Lord judges these things and His thoughts are way above ours.
Christians in the Middle East lands have regularly died on crosses at the hands of the psychopathic ISIS militants. Even children were being crucified through the evil men and women who will face the Lord to give an answer one day. Hundreds of thousands of migrants fled to Europe to escape the slaughter.
If your family were martyred in Iraq with little children hung upside down on crosses, would you worship those crosses? What of the 70,000 Christians in North Korean prison camps, kept in cages where they can only crouch? They cannot sit, stand or lie down. We would not make an idol of those cages either.
Many people wear a medal of St. Christopher to protect themselves from harm. Many have the same medal on the dashboard of their motor vehicles. Do we prefer this form of insurance rather than trusting in Jesus to be with us to help us get through any looming problems? Dead saints can do nothing for us. Mary, the Mother of Jesus, is also a dead saint. Another idol trying to replace Jesus in our lives.
Our Christian way of life stands alone. It is not a man-made religion like every other type of worship. Jesus is the only name by which people can be saved. Only His Blood cleanses us from sin. Only His Cross can work in our souls and flesh to turn us into His likeness.
Hezekiah broke Nehushtan into little pieces, even though it was given by God to Moses to do miracles. As soon as it became an idol it lost its power for good. It became a curse to them. Put your faith in Jesus alone and not in statues, symbols, or objects. Get rid of religion and religiosity to become a person of power in Christ.
This Nehushtan symbol is part of the Hippocratic Oath taken by the medical professional to ensure a high standard of medicine. Jesus says that by His stripes, or whiplashes, we are healed. It's our choice. In Acts 19, Paul sent rags torn off the tents he was making through which the Lord promised that special miracles of healing and deliverance would be given. These are not idols but remind us of the woman who touched the hem of His garment and was healed miraculously.
The real need is for the whole church to review what has been added to Christianity to made it modern. It's time to go back to basics and get rid of the add-ons. Every one of those doctrines, symbols, methods, has turned a vibrant powerful functioning church into the church of Laodicea.
Revelation 3 v 14 - 22: " And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;
15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.
22 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches."
Prayer: Heavenly Father, our world is full of logos, emblems, brands, product identities but You call those dead works, especially religious symbols. Help us to clear our lives of all that offends You, Lord, and let Your grace upon us be something beautiful for God. Let everything that is an idol to us be broken like Nehushtan. In Jesus' name. Amen.