THE PASSOVER LAMB OF GOD

Introduction

-{Exodus 12}

-Trish and I have been talking a lot about AI (Artificial Intelligence) lately because at her job at UAH they have been encouraging their employees to learn the ways that AI can make their jobs easier and more efficient. AI nowadays can do so much. It does come with the warning that AI can get things wrong and AI can lie to you because it can give bad information at times, but it can be a useful tool. You can use AI to write things for you. You can use AI to figure out problems. You can use AI to create and build.

~Of course, you can use AI for a lot of silly stuff too, which, as usual, would be the first place I go with it. So, I learned that you can use AI to make pictures, even fake pictures of yourself. AI can take one of your portraits and then make you look like whoever or whatever you want to look like. So, I decided to fool around with some AI apps and programs and I made myself and anime character, I made myself the Joker, I made myself a superhero, I made myself the Godfather. It was pretty crazy.

-AI can do some wild stuff. But considering what I did with it, when you think about it, it is so easy to create a false picture of someone. And the more advanced it gets, you could fake someone doing something in a picture that they really weren’t doing. You could use AI to create a false narrative about someone’s life.

-And, in a sense, this is what a lot of people are doing with Jesus—they are creating false pictures of who Jesus is, and building narratives about Him that aren’t true. That is why it is so important that we hold on to what the Bible portrays. But it is not just the New Testament. The Old Testament gives a picture of Jesus through prophesies and types and shadows that point forward to who He would be and what He would do. Each picture and prophecy is not complete in itself, but it gives us one piece of the puzzle, and it is useful in gaining a greater understanding of Him.

-And being in the Christmas season, what we’re saying is that the Old Testament had already told us so much of who that baby in the manger would become. A few weeks ago we saw that He would be the Victorious Offspring that would crush the head of the serpent. What we see today is that many thousands of years later when God would give the Jews their first holiday and festival, Immanuel, God with us, is pictured. So, let’s look briefly at the time when God established the Passover...

Exodus 12:21–28 NET 2nd ed.

21 Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel, and told them, “Go and select for yourselves a lamb or young goat for your families, and kill the Passover animals. 22 Take a branch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and apply to the top of the doorframe and the two side posts some of the blood that is in the basin. Not one of you is to go out the door of his house until morning. 23 For the Lord will pass through to strike Egypt, and when he sees the blood on the top of the doorframe and the two side posts, then the Lord will pass over the door, and he will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you. 24 You must observe this event as an ordinance for you and for your children forever. 25 When you enter the land that the Lord will give to you, just as he said, you must observe this ceremony. 26 When your children ask you, ‘What does this ceremony mean to you?’— 27 then you will say, ‘It is the sacrifice of the Lord’s Passover, when he passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt, when he struck Egypt and delivered our households.’ ” The people bowed down low to the ground, 28 and the Israelites went away and did exactly as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron.

-{pray}

-God had promised Abraham and his descendants that they would receive the land of Canaan. However, there would be a bit of a historical detour as the Israelites were enslaved by the Egyptians for hundreds of years. Finally, at the time God determined, He raised up a leader who would represent Him before the people and before Pharaoh—the man named Moses. God sends Moses before Pharaoh to tell him to let God’s people go, but God, who knows everything, knows that Pharaoh would not release them.

-The Bible says that God hardened Pharaoh’s already-hard heart so that God could deliver His people through mighty signs and wonders—demonstrations of His almighty power. So, Moses would tell Pharaoh to let the people go. Pharaoh didn’t, so God sent a plague upon the Egyptian people. Pharaoh would seemingly repent of his decision and God would take away the plague. But Pharaoh didn’t really repent, so the whole cycle would start all over again. Through the plagues God demonstrated His power and authority over every last bit of creation (and at the same time demonstrated that the Egyptian gods were completely impotent before Him).

-Pharaoh himself needed to be humbled. The ninth plague involved a supernatural darkness that covered the Egyptians alone, while the Israelites were able to see. This plague was a shot at Pharaoh himself as Pharaoh was supposedly the embodiment of their sun god Ra. But Pharaoh could not do anything about the darkness. They went through the whole cycle of fake repentance, plague taken away, then Pharaoh changes his mind again. No matter how much the Egyptian people suffered, and even Pharaoh himself suffered, his heart was so hard that he would not give in to God’s demands.

-So, in Exodus chapter 11 God tells Moses that He is going to send one final plague after which not only will Pharaoh let the Israelites leave, he will drive them out of the land, and while leaving the Israelites will plunder the Egyptians of their riches. God says that the plague is going to be the firstborn of everyone in Egypt dying, whether human or animal. But God would make a distinction between the Israelites and the Egyptians if the Israelites would follow His directions.

-Then beginning in Chapter 12 says how the distinction is going to be made. God gives the instructions that set up two related institutions and festivals that would be very important to the Jewish people. It started their calendar and it was marked as a remembrance of God’s great work that released them from their slavery. God instituted the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the Passover—and it is the Passover specifically that gives a picture of the Messiah that would be born on Christmas day. How does the passover picture Jesus, Immanuel, God with us? First, consider...

1) The Lamb’s sacrifice

-God gave specific instructions on how to implement this important event if they were to remain unscathed from God’s tenth plague. First, according to v. 3 and v. 21 they had to have a lamb. According to v. 5 this lamb had to be male. According to v. 5 the lamb had to be one-year-old, at the prime of the lamb’s life. According to v. 5 the lamb had to be perfect, with no defect or blemish of any kind. According to v. 6 and v. 21 this lamb was to be killed, but according to v. 46 none of its bones were to be broken.

-I haven’t even gotten to the important matters of the verse yet, and already you can see that this lamb pictures Jesus Christ. Paul says:

1 Corinthians 5:7 (NET 2nd ed.)

7 ... For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.

-John the Baptist pointed to Christ and said to his followers:

John 1:29 (NET 2nd ed.)

29...“Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

-Why is Jesus the called the Lamb? Because what happens in Exodus points to who He is and what He accomplished for all of humanity. Jesus, a male lamb who was sacrificed in the prime of His life. Just as it is described here in Exodus, He was perfect in every way, with no spiritual or moral blemish or defect. 1 Peter testifies that He is:

1 Peter 1:19 (NET 2nd ed.)

19 ... an unblemished and spotless lamb....

-The writer of Hebrews testifies:

Hebrews 4:14–15 NET 2nd ed.

14 Therefore since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest incapable of sympathizing with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way just as we are, yet without sin.

-Even after careful examination by Pilate, Pilate had to give this testimony:

John 19:6 (NET 2nd ed.)

6 ... I find no reason for an accusation against him! [I find no fault in him]”

-Just as the Passover lamb was not to have its bones broken, John 19:32-36 testify that the Roman soldiers did not break Jesus’ legs because He was already dead. And just as the Passover lamb was to be slain on behalf of others, so too was Jesus slain on behalf of sinners. The lamb was sacrificed—and it is no mere coincidence that the timing of Jesus’s crucifixion was during the Feast of the Passover. Jesus is the fulfillment—He is the Lamb of God. This is the picture of Jesus in the Passover. But what does the Passover picture about what Jesus’s sacrifice would accomplish?

2) The Lamb’s redemption

-The Israelites were given specific instructions on what to do with the lamb that would lead to their protection from destruction. They were told to take the blood of the lamb that they sacrificed and put it in a basin. Take a branch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that’s in the basin, apply it to the top of the doorframe and to the side-posts of the door of the house in which the family resided. They family was not to leave the house until the morning—they were to remain in the house where they were covered by the blood.

-God through Moses told the people that on the night of that last plague, they would be spared the fate that was to befall the Egyptians. The Lord, through the means of the destroyer, would go through the land of Egypt and kill all of the firstborn. However, when the Lord saw the blood on the doorframe, the Lord would pass over that house, and they people inside were spared destruction. Those who believed God’s Word and trusted in Him and followed His instructions were saved. The Passover lamb was sacrificed so that it could redeem those covered by its blood.

-And just as the blood of the lamb saved the Israelites from physical death, so Jesus, the Lamb of God, offers us salvation from eternal death. We too are saved by the blood of the Lamb. All human beings are sinners under God’s wrath of justice, but for those who are covered by the blood of the Lamb, the just wrath of God passes over them, and they are freed from the bondage and penalty of sin. Through faith in Him, we are marked as His own, forever secure in His love and grace. You see, the lamb served as the sacrificial substitute. Just as the firstborn of the Israelites were spared because the sacrificed lamb took their place, so those who put their trust in Jesus are spared because of the sacrificed lamb who took their place. As one author described it:

The Passover teaches us how one may act as a substitute for another, because the lamb served as a proxy for the Israelite family so that the destroying angel would pass over them. In other words, God did not require human blood from family members, such as the firstborn son; instead, the lamb’s blood, which was smeared on the doorposts on the night of the Passover, served as a proxy, similar to the way that Jesus Christ’s blood saves us from the destructive elements of death and sin.

-And all those who are in heaven recognize that it is only by the blood of the sacrificed lamb that allows them to be there. In the great throne room scene in Revelation where the Lamb of God takes the scroll and sits on the throne, this is what they proclaimed…it says:

Revelation 5:9 NET 2nd ed.

9 They were singing a new song: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals because you were killed, and at the cost of your own blood you have purchased for God persons from every tribe, language, people, and nation.

-You see, the blood of the true Passover Lamb accomplishes the salvation of God and delivers us from sin’s grip. And the Bible describes this accomplishment. Listen to what the blood of the Lamb does for us:

The blood redeems – Revelation 5:9, Colossians 1:14

The blood purchases – Acts 20:28

The blood washes – Revelation 1:5

The blood justifies – Romans 5:9

The blood saves – Romans 5:9

The blood forgives – Ephesians 1:7

The blood draws nigh – Ephesians 2:13

The blood purges – Hebrews 9:14

The blood cleanses – 1 John 1:7

-That is why we sing those wonderful hymns about the blood of the Jesus. We know that we are saved by NOTHING BUT THE BLOOD OF JESUS. We know that there is POWER IN THE BLOOD. We are assured that THE BLOOD WILL NEVER LOSE ITS POWER. So, the question is ARE YOU WASHED IN THE BLOOD? This is so important, even at Christmas time, because by the LAMB’S SACRIFICE, the LAMB REDEEMS, and therefore we are guaranteed to participate, finally, in...

3) The Lamb’s victory

-When redeemed and protected by the blood of the lamb, a person is spared the judgment that comes and is delivered and set free. The fateful night of the passover, God’s destroyer came and struck down the first born. The plague came and God again showed His mighty power. But those who were covered by the blood of the lamb were spared and saved.

-This victory over death and deliverance from bondage foreshadows the ultimate victory that Jesus achieved through His death and resurrection. Paul tells us:

1 Corinthians 15:57 NET 2nd ed.

57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!

-Just like the Israelites, we are set free to go to the Promised Land of God’s Kingdom, and no enemy is able to stop us. Yes, as we make our pilgrimage on this earth we are going to have ups and downs, good times and bad, triumphs and trials, but ultimately there is no enemy that can stop us. Paul tells us:

Romans 8:37 NET 2nd ed.

37 No, in all these things we have complete victory through him who loved us!

-Other translations will say that we are more than conquerors. What it means is that in Christ we are on the winning side. Just as the Egyptians were powerless before the might of God, so too the world and the devil and the flesh are powerless to keep us from our final destination in Jesus Christ. There is nothing that can come toward us that we cannot overcome in Christ. We are conquerors in Christ. We are victors in Christ. We are overcomers in Christ.

-This is the picture given to us in the book of Revelation. There is description of the saints in heaven given...

Revelation 12:11 NET 2nd ed.

11 But they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives so much that they were afraid to die.

-They are overcomers by the word of their testimony because they have a testimony to give that Jesus Christ saved them. But notice what it says: THEY OVERCAME THE ENEMY BY THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB. The devil is an accuser, and the devil will go about his work in trying to discourage us or dissuade us, but we have a testimony—we are overcomers, we are conquerors, we are victors by the blood of the Lamb—it has nothing to do with us or what we have done or not done. As one author stated this truth:

Satan’s tireless goal in the life of every Christian is to prevent, disrupt, and cut off his or her relationship with God. He “prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). But the devil’s only real power over believers is to throw our sins and transgressions in our faces. He is the accuser. Thankfully, the sacrifice of Christ has effectively dealt with the problem. It is the blood of Jesus Christ—the blood of the Lamb—that redeems people, setting them free from slavery to sin and Satan’s control.

Scripture gives us vivid pictures of Christ’s redemptive work on the cross. Peter explains that “God paid a ransom” to save us from our old empty way of life. “And it was not paid with mere gold or silver, which lose their value. It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God” (1 Peter 1:18–19, NLT). The tribulation saints will have “washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (Revelation 7:14). When Jesus Christ died, His precious blood “purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation” (Revelation 5:9). Jesus’ blood was poured out “for the forgiveness of sins” (Matthew 26:28), and it “purifies us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).

Satan tries to condemn us, but we overcome by the blood of the Lamb. “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death” (Romans 8:1–2). Jesus freed us from the spiritual chains of sin (John 8:35–36; Romans 6:17–22).

The next time Satan tries to hurl past failures in your face, remember that “God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned” (John 3:17–18).

-If you have believed in Christ you have a testimony to give, and that is the victory found in Jesus. This is why we celebrate Christmas and praise Immanuel—He is the Passover Lamb of God who brings the victory. The only question is have your sins been covered by the blood of the Lamb?

Conclusion

-I want to close with this thought. On the night of the tenth plague, midnight comes and everything is quiet in the Israelite camp. Not a sound is heard. But then during the night in Egypt there is uncontrollable screaming, shrieks and wails and cries and shouts of grief and despair. The Egyptians woke up to death. Firstborn sons and daughters died in their sleep. Firstborn cattle and sheep and rams dead in their stalls. No family in Egypt was left untouched, not even Pharaoh was spared—his son died in the night. Why? Why did it have to be that way? Well, God’s just judgment fell upon the people and they were not covered by the blood of the Passover Lamb.

-God’s just judgment also falls on sinners. And Jesus said that if you aren’t covered by the blood of the Lamb you will experience something similar to the grief and despair of the Egyptians—you will be in a place that he described as a a place of eternal torment (Luke 16:23), of unquenchable fire (Mark 9:43), where the worm does not die (Mark 9:48), of outer darkness (Matt. 25:30), where people will gnash their teeth in anguish and regret (Matt. 13:42), and from which there is no return, even to warn loved ones (Luke 16:19–31). This is a true, accurate picture of who Jesus is and what Jesus taught.

-If you know someone who is not covered by the blood of the Lamb, come forward today and pray for them that this Christmas they will come to know Immanuel, The Passover Lamb of God. But if you yourself are not covered by the blood of the Lamb, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ today...