The Lamb: Who's You Are Not What You've Done
The Passover Lamb is a shadow of Jesus, The Lamb of God. The Passover Lamb shows us that God is moving to bring about deliverance and freedom. Sadly, the Church has missed some of the juiciest bits of the Roast Lamb feast, and has muddled up and lost it's original meaning. Let’s take a deeper look at this delicious truth…
Background
The Israelites had been trapped in slavery for over two hundred years. There was no way out until Moses and God formed a partnership that would change the course of history. Together they confronted Pharaoh demonstrating power with signs and plagues to show the Egyptians that God wanted His people set free. (You can read more about that here.) However Pharaoh repeatedly declined and we end up at the final straw. God tells the Israelites how He will deliver them...
Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: ‘On the tenth of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household... Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats. Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight. And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it. Then they shall eat the flesh on that night; roasted in fire, with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs they shall eat it... ‘For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike 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. Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. - Exodus 12:3-13
Shadows Of Banquets and Deliverance
Here we see that the Passover Lamb served a couple of important purposes in this wonderful story of liberation. Firstly, The Lamb provided a succulent meal that was to be enjoyed by the entire family. The entire lamb was to be consumed, I can just imagine plates and plates of lamb being passed around with the slaves already beginning to taste their freedom.
The consistent message throughout the New Testament is that Jesus has come to sit us down at a great banquet. Countless times Jesus tells stories of great feasts and everyone is invited! Not only that but He demonstrated it regularly. Jesus first recorded miracle was turning water into wine, and He partied so hard that He was labeled a drunkard and a glutton. This is the first message of The Passover Lamb. Jesus provides Himself for us so that we can feast, party and enjoy life in Him and in community. Sadly, we have been so sin conscious that we have totally missed this tasty truth.
Secondly, The blood of the Passover Lamb served as a sign of who they belonged to. The blood painted on the door posts showed the destroyer that he could not touch these people. The blood showed who they belonged to, protected them and as a result secured their liberation.
The same is true of The Crucified Lamb of God. His blood tells the destroyer who humanity belongs to and in doing so purchases the deliverance of all of creation. All external enemies have been rendered weak, powerless and defeated. The only power they now have is that which we give them to them. Jesus death was a demonstration that we belong to Him, and because we belong to Him we cannot be defeated.
This is not to say that all our problems are gone. Far from it. The Victory has been secured but we must now enforce it. This battle is internal. It is why Jesus said we must "Repent and Believe." This is the life of renewing of our minds. We must change our mind to become aware of, and agree with, the Victory His sacrifice has already secured. Whatever we agree with will manifest in our lives. If we agree with death and darkness, then death and darkness will manifest in our life. If we agree with life and freedom and victory, then life and freedom and victory will manifest in our lives.
Jesus the Victor
For too long we have assumed the sacrifice of the Passover Lamb was for the punishment of our sins. We must realise that the sacrifice of Jesus gave something far better than a “get out of jail free card.” The sacrificial death of Jesus has shown the enemy who humanity belongs to. The enemy is rendered defeated, unable to destroy us. Where sin made us fall short of the glory of God, Jesus Victory enables us to live the glory of God! We are now free to sit down and feast at the table of The Lord in intimacy. We can walk in freedom - free to be who we were created to be. We can enjoy life lived to the full, and revel in God and His creation. Jesus is the Victor!
The Lamb is Not about What We've Done.But Who's We Are.
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