Our Sacrificial Passover Lamb

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I greet you in the name of our great Lord and Savior Jesus Christ as we honor and celebrate him on this Passover resurrection weekend one of my fondest memories as acute of the Easter holiday was watching my all time favorite movie the 10 Commandments would air on ABC every Easter and with commercial breaks would run from 7 PM to midnight. I would get permission for my parents to stay up late and would watch it intently from beginning to EN when you though. Something began to nag at me. I asked the question why would a movie about Moses leading the Israelites out of Egyptian bondage be shown every year on Easter which I prefer to call resurrection day. What does that have to do with the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, which is why we have resurrection Sunday.

I've never heard this discussing church up to that point. So I sought out the answer. So if you have the same question.

We will talk about it today. Let's begin with Passover in Leviticus chapter 23 verses four through five.

We find written. These are the feasts of the Lord, holy complications, which shall proclaim at their appointed times.

On the 14th day of the first month at twilight.

Use the Lord's Passover Passover is the first of the seven feasts of the Lord.

There are three fees in the spring, one in the summer and three in the fall.

Understanding the history of the Jewish people's Passover is very important in understanding the first coming of Jesus Christ and the story of salvation. I strongly believe that many Gentile churches lack understanding of the faith due to dismissing the Jewish roots of our faith, the value as Christians is to understand such great depth and background. When we realize what Jesus has done for us what he died for.

We understand how this is been God's plan from the beginning. And if you go all the way back to Genesis 315 when Adam and Eve sin. God spoke to them and said he would send the Savior the deliverer from the seed of the woman and that was the first promise in the Bible right in the very beginning of the Bible Genesis chapter 3 verse 15, the Messiah would come that would be this Messiah you this one who will save his people from their sins. So it was God's plan from the beginning that he was going to send his son to save us. So, as history progresses, God sort of unfolded in progressive steps so Passover we start examining Passover itself as something scheduled in God's calendar. He first introduced the concept at the time of the Exodus out of Egypt when the Hebrew slaves were freed by the Lord, under the leadership of Moses. Moses went to Pharaoh. Time and again I said let my people go. Pharaoh repeatedly refused and as a result, there was this succession of plagues, 10 plagues, culminating in the template in the judgment of God because Pharaoh was so stubborn and refused to release the Israelites, also known as Hebrews, God kept increasing the judgments. In fact, when you analyze the study or Pharaoh you will notice as it goes through the plagues. Moses would come and say let my people go, and what happens is Scripture records the Pharaoh hardened his heart against the word of the Lord is says Pharaoh hardened his heart, but when you get along. About halfway through the place and terminology changes is says God hardened Pharaoh's heart is very serious about the time you get to the 10th plague, Pharaoh was so stubborn and so said in his rebellion that I don't think he could've repented, then even if you wanted to, in the judgment of that time as the template was that God was going to judge by killing the firstborn of every person, an animal in Egypt which would apply not only to the Egyptians, but also to the Hebrew slaves. Exodus chapter 12 verse 12 follow 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.

So he said the death Angel will pass through and kill the firstborn of every family unless they do one particular thing you can find this in Exodus chapter 12 verses one through 28. For the sake of time I will paraphrase that one thing was the interpretation he gave which theoretically leaves would apply just as much to the Egyptians as it would to the Hebrews he said kill a lamb and had to be a spotless lamb the best lamb they had in their flock kill a lamb put the blood of that lamb actually literally painted on the door post on the front door of your home or dwelling. So when the death Angel passes through. He sees that blood on the doorway. He will pass over your house and not keel the firstborn in this judgment, but if there is not belittle the doorway in the firstborn in that household will die. So the very work Passover comes from the literal fact of the angel passing over the homes that have the blood on the door post that is very critical that initial definition to understand why Passover even has that name. This led to Pharaoh finally conceiving and letting the Hebrews go and when God delivered them from Egyptian slavery through the parting of the Red Sea, they went out into the desert and began the 40 years of wandering around in the desert. It was during this wandering in the desert when God actually instituted or commanded that they observed that event that great deliverance out of Egypt by having a Passover meal, a Passover observance where they would soberly remember how God had delivered them and spare their firstborn in the household so that is part of what was instituted there in Leviticus 23 that they would actually do this every year once a year permanently became a regular nonnegotiable observance every year, known as the Passover feast. So to the original question, what does this Passover have to do with Jesus and his crucifixion and resurrection. We come into the time of Jesus, and he was meeting with what the Bible calls the Last Supper meeting with his disciples. The Last Supper is inappropriate word description because it was the last meal he had before he was to and yet the actual occasion was the regular Passover feast. This time of Jesus on earth was approximately 1400 years after the Hebrew Exodus from Egypt to the Jews of been observing this Passover feast for well over a thousand years. At this point, Jesus and the disciples were all Jewish, so they were observing the Passover having a Passover meal which is now known as the Last Supper, but then it was actually Passover.

That particular year. We find in Matthew chapter 26 verses 17 through 18, the disciples came to Jesus saying to him, where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the Passover and he said go into the city to a certain man, and say to him.

The teacher says my time is at hand. I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples, highlight their my time is at hand. In the original instruction given through Moses. The Hebrews were told to pick out and take lambs for your sales. According to your families and keel the Passover lamb. So every year the Jews would celebrate Passover by killing a lamb and offering that lamb as a sacrifice to God. If I go over and Hebrews it talks about how this act was only able to cover usual sins for another year but did not actually take away their sins, but he kept them in close relationship with God and accountable sortable short lease. You might say so. As Jesus was preparing to go to the calls. The Israelites were preparing the lambs they keel every year as a sacrifice to God during the Passover feast. When Jesus died. It was right at the actual time of Passover in Matthew 26 to refine you know that after two days is the Passover and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified to see the difference in Jesus blood versus the lambs blood. His blood forgives our sins takes them away there gone with clans were clean before God and made righteous through his blood. This is why the apostle Paul wrote in first Corinthians 5. Seven therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new law since you are truly unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.

The Bible tells us the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life in Rome, as it also says we have all sinned and come short of the glory of God in another place.

It says it is appointed unto man once to die, so all these things reveal that because of the scene of Adam and Eve and the fact that we are all born into sin.

We all have sin in us and we do scene and therefore the judgment the righteous judgment of God on every person is that they must die because they have sin, that sounds pretty radical, but that's the way it is and if someone has a problem with that.

They do have to take it up with with God in the Bible so would Jesus had sinned, he could not die for anybody else. You can only die for himself and we can only die for our seniors, our seals and we died because we sin and dying for our seals would leave us with eternal damnation. Since Jesus is not sinful and never sin. He then was able to be that spotless lamb like they had back in the days of Exodus with Moses and the children of Israel, Jesus was the spotless lamb without spot or blemish, and therefore heaven will sin you could then die once and for all. For the rest of us in his death being perfect and sinless actually qualifies and satisfies the justice nature of God. God adjudicates that the death of his son is worthy enough to pay the penalty that all of us old because of our sins.

That is the miracle of salvation, and it is just glorious so Passover was just a wonderful beginning when God started laying out his plan way back at the time of Exodus from God's perspective. That is when Jesus had to die because the original Passover out of Egypt. The deliverance from Egypt was actually the picture of what was to come with the massage so it had to be in the same time and in order to actually fulfill that prophetic picture that God gave originally and here is what makes God's plan for salvation even more glorious. Jesus died for us of the we could have eternal life. He then prove that death cannot hold God's power when he rose from the grave on the third day. Matthew 28 verses one through six. Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb, and behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone from the door and sat on it.

His countenance was like lightning, his clothing as white as snow, and the guard shook for fear of him and became like dead men. But the angel answered and said to the women. Do not be afraid, for I know that you see Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here, for he is risen as he said, come see the place where the Lord lay and I love how the angel sat on the stone is like. If you have a sibling rivalry in your your wrestling with your sibling and and and you will sometimes you get on top of that sibling you hold him down. You will sit on them as indication that they are conquer their defeated so the angel sat on the stone is assured victory that Jesus Christ had conquered death, he conquered sin and the stone could not hold him the stone that was too heavy for human being to move was rolled away could not hold our Lord. So the connection between Passover and the richer red resurrection of Jesus Christ. Jesus fulfilled the fees by being the perfect spotless sinless land that was sacrifice at Passover, but he would take away our sin is not just cover them, allowing us to be worthy to dwell in the presence of Almighty God for eternity is known as the great exchange we took our sins pay in the sin debt that we cannot pay by dying the death that we deserve and exchanged it for the gift of eternal life is no greater love that exists than what is found in our Lord sacrifice.

If you have never received him as your Lord and Savior, please do so today and I tell you I feel like praising him right now for the great sacrifice that our Lord made as we celebrate the week this week in the fact that not only did he die but he rose from the dead. He conquered death, he is now the right hand of the father and that is a glorious, glorious occasion that we just honor our Lord.

We we praise and we magnify the holy name of the mighty God that we serve and I'm just in all the great love the great compassion in the great power of our Almighty God, we are going to take a short break. The please don't go away. On the other side. I'm going to be joined by a great warrior in the faith. He has a special message for student athletes you want to stick around here don't go away you're tuned into God first program you're listening to Brian Thomas only got more wine please visit God.org around the library. There you'll find articles and messages available exemplary downloads on various topics such as salvation, marriage lesson is just to name a few. Also, sign up for our monthly newsletter and visit our website God will go back to the golf course program as we honor and celebrate as we commemorate and worship our great holy Lord, as he died on the cross he died at Calvary for our sins and rose from the did on the third day we celebrate our majestic Lord on this Passover resurrection weekend. Today we have a special guess that is joining us, James basin, who is the elder at the upper room Church of God in Christ in Raleigh, North Carolina, heads the God first campus ministries. He's here today to talk about his book, which is title tackled by faith when sports and the cross collide a student athletes guide to success. As you were a member of the football team at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill during the playing days if those this is a bold warrior for the faith man that I just admire so much and I just want to thank you James for for coming on to talk with us on the program today invite? Grub. Absolutely it is an honor. Truly an honor to have you weld so this book that you wrote to you, yourself. You are a student athlete or maybe you can say your former student athlete. I don't know maybe once when I go but I wrote this book that is targeted toward student athletes but but there I think is something in this for everyone that everybody can glean from this so I want to start by asking the question what was your motivation for writing this book tackled by faith when sports in the cross collide third environment and I'm excited to talk about this book on the Lord. He deftly had a way to bring things back around everything into perspective.

The reason why will talk about faith for all the providers at all where you don't write a book sell a million copies the Lord your leader an assignment. He said look I want you to hear the good news of the gospel of Christ. What better way to do it through book and so what I did. I combine Mark's student athlete on the experiences of the melancholic college student over 2 Chapel Hill and I combine that with also with my campus ministry experience benevolent campus ministry of the student and then also taking on a leadership role in campus ministry and combining the two of those undercover an opportunity just to talk about it and share the good news of Christ mounted really made all the difference in my life and continuing as making a difference as well in my life, my family was whirling from his clerical share with someone else wrote and is there something in this book for everyone.

So if you're not a student athlete or or not, a former student athlete don't tuned out because there's so much great information that they James is laid out here in this book for us so I love the way you spoke about character and you define the book. The difference between character and reputation. So speak with us about the difference between those two character and reputation your firm regenerate mortgages dramatically. For anyone who will not question what were quite certain really wants to build on on their Christlike character all talk about character and reputation on one of the Lord help me to write about it.

It was no character actually you war reputation is pretty much what people perceive you to be your characters who you really are behind closed doors in an that was one of the biggest. I figure this is actually the book because of my Christian testimony was that somebody really call me out. James, the Lord is not pleased with how well you can play sports. God is giving you that that ability, but even more pleased and concerned that your character and who you actually are and who people know you are like me you know what makes a lot and I like Lord – something that I want to work on all people, not because I was a leader not work like that, while Mildred because I'm a believer in Christ, and so manner. I want people to know your character and who you actually your Christlike character and you know and I talked about in the book is will you have made the call of duty and the manager will God with both the court and Matthew 123 and then on the only way to God. According to John 14 for committing Christ the son of the living God coming. There were so many different characteristics of what we know that Jesus Christ himself was God in the flesh, and I'm not a golfer for Christ showing his character throughout his life even after death wrote her statement will see it and I now do love again we define that because there are people out there. We talk about will how do people perceive us what we would they think about is that I reputation but then there is what is going on behind closed doors. What you doing when nobody is watching and what came to mind for me as I was reading is on the unfortunate situation with Ravi Zacharias where she had this great Ricky timeline for so many years and then we find out. Unfortunately, after the man's death that he was doing all kinds of wicked things behind closed doors now know was it was one of those things where he had a struggle me. People debate about that but but will refine the knowledge that there were things going on behind closed doors that are not the characteristics of a person that is born again and so we don't want to be one of those people that will out in society.

People think of us as one way to then behind closed doors with things and I was listening to a sermon, just a few days ago and the preacher was saying and he said if I come to your home. Let me look through your refrigerator.

Let me look through your magazines. Let me look through your your your TV package and I can and I can till very quickly.

If you are truly born again and that really hit home because that touches right on as you talk about character versus reputation. Third, we want to be known by deftly praying for armed robbery. Zacharias noted castaway book critical legacy and everything to mankind for all the people that experience what happened and everything we want to make sure that our story we want people to know was far from the tree is known by its fruit, and so man I tell you what we do in life and and and what people are looking at our normal fog.

Most look back in your mind or not.

It's not a judgment or anything like that. They're just so delighted whenever they're reading this book.

It's almost like you're doing a self reflection or just where you're at your personal walk with Christ your Lord is 1 m improvement. Always, always know where I need to improve my skill. This book will definitely help you, and though there will deftly make you check yourself and take a hard look in the mirror and so as we continue on. You had a chapter that was titled the power behind the purpose.

What is purpose. You know what I would write and talk about the commanded or came from a monitor follow a lot of people work go throughout life makes it faster and more what is my purpose. What have you call me good. What is my comment and the literally walk about every day in the service themselves in or and and then the Lord will put them on James's.

Given all that respondent to make the site and that of the whole purpose of our life and we set our life around that everything else will follow the poison so that was the whole reason behind the focus, but we miss out on the go book off a purpose driven life in the church are not just look all over Matthew 2819 were the more talk Christ talk about the great commission. So we been commissioned. We have an assignment I want to encourage everyone if you're still searching for the purpose you still certain fourth-quarter loaded call you to do. Evangelize special part generally of some part of your life working for you to manage a lot.you gotta make this act as right as you know, so, so we'll talk about a little more as we go further, but so purpose. The purpose is not bigoted in a sales not make it to the not to do this or that and I was listening James to a radio show a few days ago and they were revealing that this interview they surveyed parents. They asked him what is the goal for your child or your children less than 5% of them said to spend eternity with Jesus Christ.

They saw gave all kinds of answers like you know being a professional athlete or being some prominent law. Your evil things of that nature.

Very few of them talked about the fact that their children, you know, wanting the child to have salvation, eternal life, and it is destitute to the point that you're speaking on not just as wanting that for our children but we should want that for everybody. We should be always looking to evangelize in making disciples for Jesus Christ so I just love that so much what you are saying you also you had a chapter on sacrifice.

You mentioned the sacrifice that athletics right now. I played sports in school. The best I could do was intramural basketball in college. I was not a real athlete like you are you play college sports adjustment to taste that I have bill from from playing in in middle school and high school level. That was a sacrifice though. But I don't think it compares to what the friends of mine that I saw and that they play doughnut on the collegiate level to the sacrifice that they made and so is deftly a great sacrifice, but I want you to talk to us about what the sacrifice mean then speak to what you defined in the book as the ultimate sacrifice for our leaders and mallards alone, no look years and years ago, but I can remember it vividly and numerically what literally full time job and thankfully I had my hair hung straight whenever I wanted to college and am also a very straight on the a lot of mulching but there was a lot of times I mean we we just couldn't truly literally sleep and drink football all day long and this just got a lot out of the Army visited Tom Zorn but effective writing spring right now a lot of college students do not plan football. There are going through spring training and they're getting ready for the spring payment toward a and this was my first time Jim introduced her to her days are never experienced it before didn't think I would get tired of football but are certainly bedroom most hated it because they would be totally take you to go anywhere just go to partner study name to go back and study your your material that was lifting weights. I mean it was a regiment.

They literally do they literally make sure that you prepare for that and sometimes you just amount of effort they put into it just to get there and radiologist white man was a big sacrifice because then there is a lot of volunteers and not try to encourage the big on student-athlete cannot occur to well under slight look man, that's only going to be temporary for short one time in your life and you gotta really make sure that not only are you making a sacrifice for four athletics which you need to make a sacrifice where it really matters, and in the book of talk about ultimate sacrifice, which hung 360 God so loved the world he gave his only begotten son and Angela believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life. And I'll tell you that the ultimate sacrifice need not work work get ready to celebrate use. There we realized would be required to give them a call for study demonstrate his love toward us while we were yet Christ died for God is the ultimate Python care what we do in life.

Nothing will ever compare to what do you recommend we all went to him to serve, the result of what he's done for Jesus Christ. The ultimate sacrifice. What a fitting point to press the pause button.

Please come back and join me next week as we will continue with part two in the conclusion of my interview with Hilda James facing both Jesus Christ is alive and well. He is risen less celebrate our Lord on this resurrection weekend as he deserves our worship.

Until next time, remember to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, bless God's great nation of Israel, and so the only wise God be glory through Jesus Christ, forever.

Amen