基督在十字架上，在蛇的形状里被举起
当主耶稣死在十字架上时，祂是在蛇的形状里。这话很难懂，需要一点解释。罗马八章三节说，“神既在罪之肉体的样式里，并为着罪，差来了自己的儿子，就在肉体中定罪了罪。”这节经文告诉我们，基督是在罪之肉体的样式里。
林后五章二十一节说，基督替我们成为罪。这是多么强的话，那是甚么意思?当撒但在蛇里面试诱亚当吃知识树的果子并接受他的观念时，撒但那古蛇就将他的性情注射到人里面去，蛇的性情便注射到人的身体里。虽然人的身体是神所造，是善良的，但当撒但那蛇性注入的时候，它就变质成为肉体了。
身体是神造的，是好的；但肉礼是坏的，是身体因蛇毒变质而成的。“身体”这辞是好的，而“肉体”这辞是不好的。但是约翰一章十四节怎么说“话成了肉体”？那里的肉体是好的还是坏的?当基督成为肉体时，祂是成为好的，还是成为坏的?答覆这样的问题，要十分谨慎。约翰三章十四节指明也保证，当基督成为肉体时，祂实际上并没有成为坏的。
而罗马八章三节说，祂是在“罪之肉体的样式里，”这样式就等于铜蛇的形状，有蛇形而无蛇毒。基督是成了“在罪之肉体的样式里，”却无分于肉体的罪（林后五21，来四15）。基督是在形状上成了罪的肉体，并不是实际成为罪的肉体。你看那条铜作的蛇，在形状、外表、和样式上像是一条真蛇，其实里面并没有毒。它有蛇的外形，而无蛇的性质。照样，基督在外表、样式上成了罪的肉体。就外形说，祂与有罪的人完全一样，但在祂里面却没有罪的性情。虽然祂成了罪，祂却不知罪。祂只是在罪之肉体的形状，样式里。
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Christ Lifted Up On the Cross – Rom. 8:3
Christ Lifted Up on the Cross in the Form of the Serpent
When the Lord Jesus died on the cross, He was in the form of the serpent. This is hard to understand and requires some explanation. Romans 8:3 says, “God, sending His own Son in the likeness of the flesh of sin and concerning sin, condemned sin in the flesh.” This verse tells us that Christ was in the likeness of the flesh of sin.
2 Corinthians 5:21 says that Christ made sin on our behalf. This is a very strong statement — what does it mean? When Satan, in the serpent, tempted Adam to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and to receive his thought, Satan, the serpent of old, injected his nature into man. The nature of the serpent was thus injected into man’s body. Although man’s body was created by God and was good, when the serpent’s nature was injected into it, it was corrupted and became the flesh.
The body is created by God and is good; but the flesh is evil — it is the body corrupted by the serpent’s venom. Yet John 1:14 says, “The Word became flesh.” Was that flesh good or bad? When Christ became flesh, did He become something good or something bad? To answer such a question requires great caution. John 3:14 indicates and assures us that when Christ became flesh, He actually did not become something bad.
Romans 8:3 says that He was in “the likeness of the flesh of sin.” This likeness is equivalent to the form of the bronze serpent — it had the form of the serpent but no serpent venom. Christ became “in the likeness of the flesh of sin” without participating in the sin of the flesh (2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 4:15). Christ took the form of the flesh of sin in appearance but did not actually become the flesh of sin. Look at that bronze serpent: in outward form and in likeness it appeared to be a real serpent, yet within it there was no poison. It had the outward form of the serpent but not its nature. Likewise, Christ, in outward form and likeness, became the flesh of sin. In appearance He was exactly like sinful men, yet within Him there was no sinful nature. Although He became sin, He did not know sin. He was only in the likeness and form of the flesh of sin.