The Last Passover Sacrifice

Introduction

I want to welcome you again this morning to Good News Church and thank you for being here this Easter Sunday. Easter Sunday is a celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. This happened approximately 2,000 years ago, but to understand the significance of it all, we have to go back even further in time, to an even that happened about 1,500 years before Christ. But to fully understand that, we need to go back about 7-800 years before then.

Before we jump into the sermon, I want to invite you to follow along today with the notes that can be accessed by your phone simply by texting the word NOTES to the number on the screen or scanning the QR code that is on screen now. This will allow you to do a couple of things — 1) as we move through the different verses in the Bible, it will help you see each verse as we come to it, 2) it will allow you to tap on that verse so that you can see the full context of it, 3) it will allow you to make personal notes that you can save and access later, and 4) it will allow you to go back and study and make sure that what was preached today is actually within the context of what the Bible actually says and not something that is being made up. I do encourage everyone to take notes in some way or another for these reasons.

So without further ado, I invite you to go back in time with me to somewhere around the year 2100BC. We find ourselves in the land of Ur, which was situated in modern-day Iraq. There, we find a man of 75 years of age with his wife. The man’s name is Abram, later changed to Abraham. His wife’s name is Sarai, later changed to Sarah. Abraham and Sarah sit in Ur, and at their age, you would expect them to have several grandchildren, however, they’ve never been able to have kids, and therefore, no grandkids.

In a time when the ability to have children was something that was so closely tied to your identity, this was a devastating reality that Abraham and Sarah lived in. But one day, Abraham is visited by God and told to do something unusual — “Get up and leave your family behind [Abraham lived close to, and probably with, his father and uncle and brother and at least one nephew]. Leave your family behind, leave your home behind, and go to a land which I will show you.”

And Abraham does something that we might consider very unusual too — he obeys. He leaves familiarity behind for a land that he had never been to. In fact, as he set off to go, God only at first told him direction without telling him a destination. So Abraham didn’t even know where this place was going to be, much less how long of a trip he would be making.

But that is not the only thing that God had told Abraham. He had also promised him that he would have descendants. How many? So many that they would be impossible to count. This was a pretty wild promise considering that Abraham and Sarah were both well past the age of having children, but Abraham believed in the Lord and obeyed.

Eventually, Abraham arrives at the land of Canaan. This is the land that God had told him to go to, and when he arrives, God once again speaks to Abraham and says “Travel up and down this land, because everywhere you step foot on is the land which I will give to your descendants as their land, and where I will establish them as a people, a nation.” This land becomes known as the “Promised Land,” because God promises it to Abraham’s descendants. In that promise, God also tells Abraham that though they will begin to occupy that land initially, his descendants will be enslaved in Egypt for 400 years, and after that time, God will bring them back again to this land to occupy it and live in it.

It is in this land that Abraham and Sarah have their first son and only son, Isaac. Though Abraham had had a child with Sarah’s servant, this was the only legitimate child that Abraham had with Sarah. God identified Isaac as the “child of the promise.” It would be through Isaac that God would establish a people that would one day, according to God’s promise, be a blessing to the whole world.

Fast forward a few years and we find Isaac has had children with his wife. Jacob, one of Isaac’s sons, ends up having 12 sons of his own. Jacob’s name is later changed to Israel, and that it is his descendants that make up the 12 tribes of Israel. Of these 12, Jacob has a favorite son —Joseph. Joseph is son number 11 of 12, but he is the favorite, and Jacob makes no attempt to hide this. Obviously, this causes some jealousy among the older 10 brothers, and when Joseph is 17 years old, his brothers take him, throw him in a pit, and eventually sell him as a slave to a merchant that is on his way to Egypt.

There in Egypt, Joseph is sold as a slave to a powerful man named Potiphar. God uses this experience and Joseph’s faith to mature Joseph into a wise and godly individual. Despite having been sold as a slave and then falsely imprisoned for a number of years, Joseph remains faithful to the Lord, and eventually, he is elevated to the position of 2nd in command of all Egypt. He rules Egypt under the Pharaoh, and it is his guidance that saves all of Egypt from a devastating famine that otherwise would have decimated it along with many other people in that area.

Now, Egypt is not far from Canaan, where Joseph’s brothers and father live, and they find themselves suffering from this horrific famine that is affecting the whole region. Word gets to them that there is food available to buy in Egypt, so they go to Egypt. The brothers had no idea that Joseph was even alive, much less that he would be in a position of power in Egypt, but to their surprise, that is exactly what they find.

Joseph makes arrangements with the Pharaoh to allow his family to come to Egypt and live there permanently. Because the Pharaoh respects Joseph so much, he gives the house of Israel, the house of Jacob, the best land in Egypt to live in.

This is a very fast run-down of Genesis chapters 12-50, so 38 chapters, but if you want a deeper study into that period, I encourage you to visit the sites that are in the notes at this point so that you can listen to 20 in-depth sermons on the study of these chapters.

(https://sermons.logos.com/series/254620-epic-the-story-of-abraham-isaac-and-jacob and https://sermons.logos.com/series/253394-pit-prison-palace:-the-journeys-of-joseph)

There in Egypt, the people of Israel begin to multiply and flourish. But at some point shortly after the death of the last son of Jacob, a new Pharoah came into power and enslaved the Israelites for 400 years.

Around year 320 of their enslavement, a boy is born to an Israelite family. His name is Moses. For 320 years, the Israelites had been slaves. However, they were still multiplying in number. About this time, it is estimated that there are around 2 million Israelites. Moses ends up being used by God to deliver the Israelites out of Egyptian slavery to lead them to the land of Canaan, the Promised Land.

The story of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection actually has a lot to do with this particular event that we know as the Exodus - the exit of the Israelites from Egypt.

Plagues for Egypt

If you know anything about Moses, whether you learned about him in church, or a parent, aunt, grandparent taught you about him, or even if you’ve only seen the story in the form of a movie, then you might remember that Moses, at God’s command, goes to Pharaoh with a message: “God says, ‘Let my people go,’” to which Pharaoh laughs.

When the Pharaoh refuses to let the Israelites leave, God sends plagues to Egypt as punishment, one after another. After each plague, the Pharaoh calls for Moses and says, “Fine! I will let them go! Just ask your God to take this plague away.” And after God removes each plague, the Pharoah changes his mind and says, “Forget it, everyone is staying here; I’m not setting anyone free!” So, God sends another plague, and another, and another — ten in total.

The first nine plagues are these-

Water turned to blood

Frogs

Gnats

Flies

A plague on all the cattle

Painful boils

Hail

Locusts

Darkness

After each plague, the Pharoah would promise to let the Israelites go, but then when God would take away the plague, then he would harden his heart once more and go back on his word.

So now, God speaks to Moses and He says, “Moses, I am going to bring one more plague upon Egypt, and after I do, He will let you go. Not only will he let you go, he will demand that you leave at once. So tell the people to pack up and be ready to leave on a certain day.”

The First Passover

And this is where we get into the Bible passage that we will study this morning.

We will be in the book of Exodus, the second book of the Bible, chapter 12. Exodus 12:1-2

Exodus 12:1–2 KJV 1900

1 And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, 2 This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you.

This event that God was about to describe to Israel was going to be so defining that it would mark the beginning of the Israelites calendar year. The month of Nisan would now be the first month of the year and this event would happen on the 14th of the month.

In preparation for this event that would be called the passover in which God would visit the tenth plague upon Egypt, God begins to give instructions on how to prepare.

Exodus 12:3 KJV 1900

3 Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house:

Exodus 12:5–6 KJV 1900

5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats: 6 And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening.

They were to start their preparations on the 10th of the month, and is started by getting a lamb, a spotless, male lamb as verse 5 tells us. They were to take this lamb from among the sheep, and it was to live with the family for the next four days. On the evening of the fourth day, the lamb would be killed.

There were three things that needed to be done with this lamb once it was killed.

Exodus 12:7–10 KJV 1900

7 And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it. 8 And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. 9 Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof. 10 And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; and that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire.

First, they were to take of the blood of this lamb and apply it to the door frame of the house - the upper and side posts.

Then, they were to cook the lamb whole, the purtenance that v.9 mentions means the innards. It was to be roasted with fire, not eaten raw or boiled, but roasted.

They were to eat it the whole lamb that night. If the family was too small to eat a lamb by themselves, they were to join with another family and eat (v.4). And if, for some reason, there was any left in the morning, it was to be burned.

As they ate this lamb, there were certain things that they were to do also. We saw in verse 8 that they were to eat this with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs as a side. The bitter herbs that were eaten, and still are for those Jewish families that celebrate the Passover still, were most commonly either horseradish or romaine lettuce.

But look at this next instruction.

Exodus 12:11 KJV 1900

11 And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the Lord’s passover.

Loins girded was a preparation that you did to move quickly or to run. In that culture, and still in many middle eastern cultures, you would wear long robes and tunics. These were not easy to run in, so if you needed to run, you “girded up your loins.” That means that you reached between your legs, grabbing the back end of the tunic and pulled it forward and up, tucking any slack into the front of your belt. This would cause the material to rise above the knee, and thus allow freer movement to run, fight, or do some other thing that required more mobility.

They were also to eat with their shoes on their feet and their walking staff in hand. They were to eat quickly — think of how you scarf food down on your way out to work if you’re cutting it particularly close that morning. The reason give n later on, as we shall see, is that the next morning, the Pharaoh would not only allow them to leave, but he and the rest of the Egyptians would practically beg them to leave.

But God continues saying, “It is the Lord’s passover.” What in the world is a “passover”? Well, it means exemption. And as we continue to read, we will see what God was exempting the Israelites from.

Exodus 12:12–13 KJV 1900

12 For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord. 13 And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.

So how exactly would this plague come? If we go back a chapter, we can see God explaining it clearly.

Exodus 11:4–7 KJV 1900

4 And Moses said, Thus saith the Lord, About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt: 5 And all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne, even unto the firstborn of the maidservant that is behind the mill; and all the firstborn of beasts. 6 And there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there was none like it, nor shall be like it any more. 7 But against any of the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue, against man or beast: that ye may know how that the Lord doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel.

God Himself would pass through the land of Egypt, killing every firstborn of every family and animal. However, when He would arrive where the Jews were, He would pass over them because of what we see in Exodus 12:13

Exodus 12:13 KJV 1900

13 And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.

The blood on their doorposts would be a token, a mark, a signal for God to “pass over” those houses and not touch the firstborns of those families.

And it happened exactly as God said it would.

Exodus 12:29–36 KJV 1900

29 And it came to pass, that at midnight the Lord smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle. 30 And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt; for there was not a house where there was not one dead. 31 And he called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, Rise up, and get you forth from among my people, both ye and the children of Israel; and go, serve the Lord, as ye have said. 32 Also take your flocks and your herds, as ye have said, and be gone; and bless me also. 33 And the Egyptians were urgent upon the people, that they might send them out of the land in haste; for they said, We be all dead men. 34 And the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneadingtroughs being bound up in their clothes upon their shoulders. 35 And the children of Israel did according to the word of Moses; and they borrowed of the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: 36 And the Lord gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they lent unto them such things as they required. And they spoiled the Egyptians.

The Egyptians ran them out of Egypt. They were so afraid that if they stayed, they would all die. In their eagerness to see them leave, the Egyptians gave the Israelites gold and silver and jewels and clothing and anything else that they needed to get out of there quickly.

This is the story of the first Passover. And God commanded that this be observed as a memorial by the Jews forever. From the second passover and on, the Jews ate this passover feast of a lamb, unleavened bread, and bitter herbs to remind them of their deliverance from the slavery of Egypt and the beginning of their journey back to the Promise Land. There were further commands that God gave as far as the observance of the future passover feasts, and those can be found there in that same chapter, and I encourage you to read it.

At this point, you might be wondering what the connection is with Easter.

Well, the celebration of the passover does not only point the Jews to the story of their liberation from Egyptian slavery, but it points to Jesus Christ Himself.

A Different Passover, A Different Sacrifice

There is a lesson in the elements of the Passover feasts for us to learn about Jesus. In fact, it was the night before the Passover lambs were to be slaughtered that Jesus was arrested. They took Him and tried Him for blasphemy, for Jesus had made claims that could not be mistaken as anything other than claims of deity, claims of being God Himself.

That offense carried the death penalty, but shortly before this time, the Roman government had taken the rights away from Jews to carry out capital punishment. So in order to have Jesus executed by the Romans, they lied about Jesus saying that he was an insurrectionist against Rome.

This also carried a penalty of death under Roman law, and Jesus, was taken before Pontius Pilate, the governor of Judea in Jerusalem. Pilate saw that there was no guilt in Jesus, and attempted to set Jesus free, but the public was so adamant about wanting Jesus to be crucified that he finally gave in to their wishes. Jesus was whipped, beaten, and mocked. He was forced to carry His own instrument of torture and death — the cross — until He no longer could. And about 9am He was crucified on a hill called Calvary, the place of the skull. There He hung on a cross with a crown of thorns that had been driven into His head, and after six excruciating hours, Jesus died. That would have been about 3pm, the time that the Passover Lambs were being slaughtered in the Temple.

So let’s look at the symbolism.

The Israelites in Egypt, preparing the passover meal are a picture of all people who have been saved and forgiven of their sins through faith in Jesus Christ. Like the Israelites were set free from bondage, Christians have been set free from the bondage of sin.

But for that to have happened, the Israelites needed to have a sacrifice. Those that did not have this sacrifice, regardless of race or nationality, would not be protected. To be free from sin, we need a sacrifice that will free us from the deadly and eternal punishment for sin.

For the Israelites, the sacrifice was a lamb. Not any old lamb, but a spotless lamb. It had to be perfect in every way. And for us, the sacrifice that we need for our sins is a perfect sacrifice. Nobody in history can claim absolute perfection except Jesus Christ. He is our Passover Lamb.

The lamb that would be sacrificed would leave his home, and go live where lambs did not belong, in the house with the family for 4 days. Just like that, Jesus left His home in heaven, and came where it was not a natural thing for him to live, on the earth with the people He created.

And at the end of the four days, that lamb would be killed by the very family it was living with. The same with Jesus. After a time of ministry to His own people, they arrested Him, lied about Him, tortured Him and had Him crucified.

The Israelites that sacrificed the lamb in Egypt had to apply the blood to their doors, so that when God saw the blood, He would pass over them and not bring death. In the same way, it is the blood of Jesus that is applied to our souls that prevents us from ever having to face the wrath of God. It provides us with an exemption - whereas all men have sinned and are on their way to a lake of fire — the second death — those that have put their faith in Jesus and ask Him to forgive them of their sins have had the blood applied to their souls and are washed from sin. When God sees us, He no longer sees our sins, because they are washed away. No, He sees the blood of His Son Jesus.

The passover lamb was fully cooked by fire and consumed by the family, and that which was not eaten was consumed by fire. This speaks of the totality of its sacrifice. Just so, Jesus paid the full price for our sins, leaving nothing not-paid-for.

The Israelites were to eat of the lamb. We are to be partakers of Jesus. The Israelites took the lamb into their bellies, but we are to receive Jesus into our hearts to be saved from death, which is the payment for sin.

The Israelites were to eat bitter herbs ,reminding them of the bitterness of slavery from which they were saved. Likewise, we were saved from a bitter bondage to sin. We recognize that sin, though at times may have satisfied a little, was never sufficient to bring about a deep and permanent peace or joy. It only led to bitterness.

And like the Israelites who ate the Passover dinner ready to leave, with their shoes on and with their walking sticks in hand, we too ought to be ready to leave this world that is represented by Egypt. We ought not be lazy, we ought to be ready to go.

Here is the difference between the physical passover lamb and the spiritual Passover Lamb that is Jesus. The physical lamb that was one that spared those who participated in the passover of Egypt from physical death. The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, this spiritual Passover Lamb, spares all those that partake of Him through faith, not from a physical death, but from a spiritual death. He gives everlasting life.

John 3:16 KJV 1900

16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

So how do I know that Jesus is who He said He is? Well, Jesus fulfilled many prophecies. So many, in fact, that the probabilities of Him fulfilling all of the prophecies that He did are astronomical to the degree that it is considered impossible. But the greatest prophecy of all was His own.

He told His disciples, His casual followers, and even His enemies (the Pharisees and Scribes and such) that He would be crucified and buried, but on the third day, He would rise again. And that’s what we celebrate today on Easter Sunday.

So, the question that sometimes comes up is, “Should we celebrate Passover?” And the simple answer is “no.” Though the celebration of Passover was a symbol of the Spiritual Passover Lamb that would die to set us free from a spiritual death and give us eternal life, it is a celebration of something that physically happened to the Jews — the God-orchestrated release from Egyptian slavery through a series of plagues culminating in the death of the first born of the Egyptians.

What Jesus gave us something to celebrate with as a church to remember the death, not of a lamb, but of THE Lamb — the Lamb of God. That celebration is called the Lord’s Supper. Just as God told Israel to celebrate the passover as a remembrance, Jesus told His church that every time we partake of the Lord’s supper, we remember that Jesus’ body was broken for us. We remember that Jesus’ blood was spilled for us. And that it was done to save us from the horrible bondage of sin and the payment of eternal death that sin carries with it.

So what does this mean for us today? Well, just like Passover was meant for the children of Israel, as God said, “It would make a difference between Israelite and Egyptian,” only those that are saved have reason to celebrate a day like Easter, a day when the sacrificed Lamb of God rose from the dead.

And maybe you are here today and you do not personally know Jesus Christ as your savior, I have some news for you. Some of it is bad news. In fact, it will be the absolute worst news ever, and that is no exaggeration. But I do not come with only bad new; this is, after all, Good News Church! I have for you also some Good News, and it is the best news that you could ever hear. And just like before, that is also no exaggeration. For these pieces of news, I want us to go to the Bible.

The Bad News

So let’s start with the bad news first.

The bad news is that we are all sinners. The Bible defines sin as missing the mark. God has set up a standard, and that standard is perfection, and we all miss that mark. Look at what Romans 3:23 says.

Romans 3:23 KJV 1900

23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

We could probably think of many good people. Many of us would even include our own selves in that list of good people. But the standard of comparison that we use for that is other people. And we can all find at least one other person that is worse than us. However, God’s standard of comparison is His own righteousness and His own perfection, and there is not a single person that can reach that standard. We all fall short, and the reason we all fall short is because of sin.

Sin is not just bad things that we do that disobey God’s laws, but the Bible says that sin is ingrained in us. It is part of our spiritual DNA and has been that way for all mankind from the time that Adam and Eve fell into sin. Romans 5:12

Romans 5:12 KJV 1900

12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

Sin is passed on to all men, and something came along with sin — death.

Romans 6:23 KJV 1900

23 For the wages of sin is death.

This death that Romans talks about is not physical death, it is a spiritual death. Death is separation. You have a soul; your soul is eternal. It is housed within your body, but your body is not eternal. One day you will die, and your soul will separate from your body. This death comes for us all sooner or later.

Hebrews 9:27 KJV 1900

27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:

It is appointed to us to die. But after this, there is a judgement, and if sin is found in you, then you will suffer a second death, a second separation. That is the separation between you and God, and it will be an eternal separation in a lake of fire according to the book of Revelation 21:18

Revelation 21:8 KJV 1900

8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

You may think that you are safe because you are neither a murderer, and adulterer or whoremonger, or a sorcerer, or an idolater. But did you catch the last one? Liars. We have all been liars from the time that we could speak. We all learned how to lie young. So everyone belongs in that category and everyone is destined to a lake of fire, the second death.

This is the very bad news. But like I said, I have the very best news to share with you too.

The Good News

The Bible often uses the word GOSPEL. Gospel means good news. So when we talk about the gospel of Jesus Christ, we are talking about the good news that is found in Jesus.

Look at John 3:16

John 3:16 KJV 1900

16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

There is that word perish is talking about the second death. But notice that it says that God sent His Son so that those that would believe in Him would not perish but have everlasting life.

A while ago we read Romans 6:23 as part of our bad news, but now lets read the rest of it for some great news.

Romans 6:23 KJV 1900

23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Notice that eternal life is a gift from God. Gifts are given and received without strings attached, otherwise it is not a gift. The giver of this gift of eternal life is God, and He gives the eternal life through Jesus Christ.

Why did He have to do that? Because it is impossible for us to work for it.

Ephesians 2:8–9 KJV 1900

8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.

Salvation is a gift of God. It is free for all mankind.

But we need to remember that just because a gift is free for us, that means that someone had to pay for it. And that someone was Jesus.

1 Peter 2:24 KJV 1900

24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.

When Jesus was crucified, He did so willingly. He told Peter, the same author of this letter, that He could call down angels to defend Him if He wanted to. But He chose to die on a cross and to shed His blood and to take our sins upon himself to pay for them.

But why did He have to die?

Well, because according to God’s law, things are paid for in blood. Perfect blood.

Look at Hebrews 9:22

Hebrews 9:22 KJV 1900

22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.

Almost all things are purged, cleaned, with blood. And without the shedding of blood, there is no remission, forgiveness.

That blood has to come from someone that is perfect though. If I shed my blood for my sin, I will be paying for it for all eternity.

But if someone who has never sinned were to die for me, that someone does not have a debt to pay so he is free to apply that payment of death to my sin! Remember Romans 3:63a? The wages, the payment for sin is DEATH. So, Jesus died to paid that debt when He didn’t owe that debt because he never sinned.

Which brings us to one of the final things. How is it possible that Jesus was able to live a sinless life? Well, it is because Jesus is God in the flesh. And being God in the flesh, He still possessed all the nature of God, one of which was holiness, perfection.

So, though He met God’s standard of perfection (His own standard) and didn’t have to die, He chose to to set us free.

So how do we get this gift of salvation?

Romans 10:9–10 KJV 1900

9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Romans 10:13 KJV 1900

13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

The hard work has been done for you. You just need to believe in Jesus with your heart and sincerely ask him to save you of your sins and come into your life.

You have to realize that there is absolutely nothing that you can do to save yourself. You cannot earn salvation on your own and you do not deserve it. But realize this too — despite that, God loves you so much that He sent His only Son to die for you. If you come to Jesus humbly, believing in Him and asking Him to, He will save you of your sins and give you eternal life.

Now, he saves you so that you can follow Him. It is the only reasonable thing to do. God saves us through Jesus Christ so that we can become more and more like Jesus. He does not save us so that we can go out and do whatever we want. He saves us to change us. And one of the biggest things He changes is our eternal destiny — from a lake of fire to the presence of God.

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