Sacred Image of Catholic Church in John 3:14-15

John 3:14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:

John 3:15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

REFUTATION:

The Catholic Apologetic say that the Catholic Church should make statues of Christ the same way the bronze serpent was erected.

If you will notice very well, you will never see an image of bronze serpent in any churches of the Catholic Church so the alibi they used here is they do not do also.

because in the verse the statue lifted up is not the graven image of Christ but the bronze serpent statue.

and the Son of Man is not a statue also that was lifted up to heaven.

Let's find the reason why God ordered to Moses to make that bronze serpent

Numbers 21:8 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.

Numbers 21:9 And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.

Now Was the bronze serpent created to be used in religious worship like in this picture below? NO!

In fact, God ordered Hezekiah to destroy it when the Jews burned incense of it

2 Kings 18:4 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.

What God says about offering incense?

Isaiah 66:3 he that burneth incense, as if he blessed an idol.

See, that's the reason why God wants it to be destroyed. It is tantamount to giving blessing to an idol which is an abomination to God

If burning of incense to the bronze serpent is an abomination to God, it is also more abomination if you kneel and pray on it.

besides you will not burn incense if you do not worship it.

God's servant burned incense also when he worships God. read the verse below:

Luke 1:9 According to the custom of the priest's office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord.
The same those who burned incense to the bronze serpent that Moses made before.

they worshipped it.

It means burning incense is an act of worship. Since God alone should be worshipped (read Matthew 4:10) It is not right to burn incense to the bronze serpent or worse to any image which God never told to Moses to make like you can show in this picture:

Now we will allow the Catholic interpretation of the verse? NO.

Since Jesus Christ is also God in the belief of the Catholic Church, making a statue of Him (since he is a God) is not good in the sight of God as mentioned in the following verses:

Isaiah 40:18 To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him?

Isaiah 40:22 He that is so impoverished that he hath no oblation chooseth a tree that will not rot; he seeketh unto him a cunning workman to prepare a graven image, that shall not be moved.

God said that the man is impoverished if you'll create an image of a God and Jesus is God.

God even said that making an image in the likeness of male and female is CORRUPTING YOURSELF

Deuteronomy 4:16 Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female,

So making an image of Jesus Christ in male image is included here.

Besides God forbids his servants to make graven images in the likeness of any thing especially an image of a man which you can see a lot of them on the Catholic altars of the churches and Catholic worshippers' homes.

Deuteronomy 4:23 Take heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of the LORD your God, which he made with you, and make you a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, which the LORD thy God hath forbidden thee.

Jesus said to worship God IN SPIRIT (read John 4:24)

A spirit has no form, unseen and has no flesh and bones to be touched so IT MEANS YOU CAN NEVER TOUCH A SPIRIT (read Luke 24:39)

It means Christians should worship God w/o using visual aids. like what the Catholics are doing on the statue of Mary shown above.