The Cost of Passover

Thank you very much for that special music. She certainly appreciate all the service that's been going on this morning. The ABC students have stepped up. They've gotten an opportunity to contribute to services. They've gotten a better idea of what it takes to put a service together. Probably a little more than maybe initially anticipated, but they're helping out with everything from security to ushering to snacks. So we're looking forward to that as well. Special abuse of course, appreciate Kelly and Amanda and their contribution, as well as the song-leading and announcements. And so they're getting a real fill for what it takes to be able to have services. So they're going to take all this wonderful knowledge and understanding they have and take it back home after ABC so they can serve and continue to be a blessing to their congregations. Right? Right. We don't have to convince them. We're just going to expect that, right? So I really do appreciate all the work that's gone into it. I know they've been nervous about it in many respects, and yet being able to put it together with some confidence as well. So I really appreciate all the help. And if you want to see a different version, you can stay around for this afternoon because they're going to switch jobs and responsibilities and do other things this afternoon. So we'll have different music. We'll have a different sermonette. We'll have different people on security. Will the snacks be the same? I don't know if that will be the same or not. But who knows? You can stay around and get a second helping a little bit later. So we do look forward to that. So thank you for all the help. I appreciate that. I was listening to the special music, and that is a beautiful song with some very, very meaningful words talking about the fact that our shepherd is going to supply our need. God can take care of us. Through Jesus Christ, we can be strengthened. We can accomplish all things. And those things, I think, especially come to mind at this time of the year. With the beautiful springtime that's upon us, we can't help but begin to think of the plan of God as we approach the spring Holy Day season. And it's so important as we think about this significant time. It's huge. This is a huge time of the year when it comes to God's plan.

As you think about what it takes, as far as the events that had to occur, to bring us to this point, they're phenomenal. Monster events, spectacular events. It took the birth of Jesus Christ. It took His death and His resurrection to bring us to this point in time, to bring us to the depth of meaning of the Holy Days. Of course, as you think about it, the world's distorted those big three events.

They don't understand His birth. They don't understand His death. They emphasize all the wrong things when it comes to His death and His resurrection. They don't understand how it all fits together. And yet, we're told that the truth will set us free. Most think, well, the truth, if I have the truth, then I'm free from doing anything. I don't have any responsibilities. It's all taken care of by faith alone.

I don't have to worry about anything anymore. And yet, not understanding these spectacular events, not understanding the implications, not understanding the truth behind them, I think leads to emptiness, leads to a void that just cannot be filled unless God opens your mind to His truth. Because just knowing them, even understanding the truth, without doing it, without living it, without putting it into practice, without practicing the way, I think misses the full impact of what God's holy days are all about, what Christ's sacrifice is all about.

So we have to do these things, don't we? What happens if we don't keep the Passover? If we are baptized, if we are members of the body of Christ, if we don't observe the Passover, what are the results of that? You see, I think truth and freedom go hand in hand, don't they? If Christ said, the truth shall set you free, it's also interesting, He said we had to abide in that truth, we had to remain in that truth, we had to continue in that truth, we had to do that truth.

So if we don't do it, and we don't live it, and we don't put it into practice, how can we be free from the penalties of sin and death if we don't put it into action, if we don't put it into our practice?

So if we know it's true, but we don't use it, where is its value? In fact, where do you find the value for anything? Where do we find value? Well, if you go to the store, how do you find the value of something? Well, you probably have to pick it up, take it to the checkout counter, they run it through the scanner, and they say, hand over your money, and suddenly we know what it costs, right? What is the cost of that item?

But it comes to the Holy Days, especially the Passover. How do we know its value? The value is in the cost, isn't it? What is the cost of Passover? What does Passover cost? If we want to really begin to understand the depth of meaning to the Holy Days, and especially the Passover, we can begin to value it by how much it costs. Do we fully appreciate the tremendous cost of the Passover?

Over in the book of 1 Corinthians, the Apostle Paul was writing to God's people in Corinth, and they had many problems in the church, so many difficulties, so many things that they didn't really fully understand. And he was writing to them to correct them and to guide them and to teach them how to put God's way into practice more effectively in their lives. And at one point, he zeros in on the Passover itself. It's over in 1 Corinthians 11. And in these passages in 1 Corinthians 11, he gives them specific instructions about the Passover. Beginning over in verse 20 or so in 1 Corinthians 11, he begins to discuss how to appropriately observe the Passover.

In fact, he begins to show them part of the true value in the Passover. Let's notice it as we begin this morning. Verse 24, he talks about the bread and the wine. He begins by saying, this he got from Christ. He learned this from Christ. He's passing it on to them. And on that night that Christ was betrayed, it says, verse 24, he took bread and he broke it. And he said, Take, eat, this is my body, which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me.

And then in verse 25, it says, when he had given thanks, in the same manner he also took the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood. The new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till he comes.

So he focuses in on the cost. What was the cost that he begins to show is so vitally important? Well, the cost is Christ Himself. He says, this is my body. This is my blood. It's kind of interesting, in verse 25, he says, this cup, he focuses on the cup itself.

The cup is the new covenant in my blood. That's not a literal thing. That's a figurative thing. That's a symbolic thing. The cup stands for what's inside that cup. That inside that cup was the wine, and that wine was symbolic of his blood. So if we don't know what a covenant is, we begin to miss part of what it costs Christ in the Passover.

The new covenant, the contract, the agreement, the pact that God has made with us. It's an agreement between two parties. So this cup, the blood of Jesus Christ, is representative of that agreement, that contract. Obligations are involved in contracts, aren't they? What are the obligations?

Well, when there's two parties, each has an obligation. Each has a part of that agreement to fulfill. What was the part that Christ filled? Well, his blood was poured out. He died for us. Passover cost the life of Jesus Christ. It cost him his life. In fact, if you read in some of the various translations of verse 25, some of them actually translate it that way.

This covenant cost me my life. The Passover cost the death of Jesus Christ. Is that significant? This is the most expensive life the earth has ever known. Talk about value. Did this come cheap? It didn't come cheap for any of the parties involved. It didn't come cheap for God the Father. It cost him the death of his only begotten Son. It didn't come cheap for Jesus Christ. It cost him his very existence. Dead for three days and three nights. It cost him his being. And this covenant established a relationship. Maybe the most vitally important aspect of the death of Christ brought something important for all of us. The opportunity for salvation. The opportunity for eternal life. We could have no relationship with God the Father and Jesus Christ without the death, without this covenant, without this agreement. We were separated from God. We were cut off from God. So through the sacrifice of Christ, there is a way that we could be in contract with God. We can have an agreement with God that a relationship can be established with God the Father and Jesus Christ. And so through his life's blood, sin can be forgiven. We can have freedom from sin. We can have freedom from the penalty of sin. And so when we look at the context of chapter 11 here in 1 Corinthians, the people in Corinth didn't recognize this fact. They weren't discriminating of what that cost of Passover really meant. They didn't appreciate the symbols. They didn't discern the broken body of Jesus Christ. They didn't value the shed blood of Christ. They had taken it for granted. They were taking the Passover. They were observing it, I guess you could say. Yet, they didn't understand the value of the symbols and what they represented. So what were they doing? They were taking it in an unworthy manner. Down in verse 29, it says, "...he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body." The implication here is they weren't discerning the body. They weren't understanding the tremendous costs that were involved. They were profaning the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. So ultimately, judgment was involved. They were being judged because of their lack of identifying the great symbolism behind the shed blood of Jesus Christ and what the bread and the wine represented. So why weren't they realizing this?

How could they have missed the fact that the most precious life ever lived had shed His blood for them so that they could have a relationship with God? So there could be a covenant, so there could be eternal life, so there could be a family of God.

You see, I think what was missing, because they were doing it. He said, they're coming together. He said, when you come together, well, one is drunk, another is hungry. You see, they missed the value. They missed the point, even though they were going through the motions. So I think there's a meaning here behind us that we can't just go through the motions and expect that something spiritual is going to happen. We can't do that. The motions are not what it's all about.

He said, it's got to come down to the deep-seated conversion, which begins that we've got to know that this is true, that this is right, that this is something that ultimately, as Christ said, would set us free. So we've got to be convinced that this is appropriate. Of course, that's the easiest level to start with. All right, we have to do this. Obviously, the Bible says we have to do that. Are we convinced of this?

Hopefully we are. But we've got to be convinced enough to examine ourselves, it says in verse 28. Examine ourselves. So just to know and not go any farther leaves an emptiness, leaves a void.

And so he says, we've got to take it to the next step. And that being convinced has to lead to conviction, to a conviction that profoundly affects us. That not only do we know that this is true, but we're going to examine it, and we're going to study it, and we're going to validate it so that it makes a difference in how I think and how I act.

So that just very nature of knowing that it's true, being convinced of it, has to turn into a conviction that changes my conduct. If this, just simply knowing it to be true, doesn't convict me to change who I am and what I do, we're no better than the Corinthians. We've profaned the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and we've taken it lightly. Isn't it true?

As you think about this sacrifice, our attitude toward the sacrifice of Christ must affect our entire approach to life. If the sacrifice of Christ doesn't change our approach to life, what good is it? What good is it for us personally? What's the point in observing the Passover if it doesn't affect who we are? If it doesn't affect everything, it affects our relationship with God because it's a covenant. We come together at the Passover, and we are renewing our covenant with God. We're not having our sins forgiven at the Passover.

Now that's not happening. That happens every single day when we get down on our knees and we go before God. We come before God at the Passover to recommit our lives before Him. Reconnect on that covenant, to say, Yes, I took that covenant agreement last week or last month or 40 years ago, and I once again recommit and rededicate my life to you. I once again recognize the significance of the body and blood of Jesus Christ, and I want to reaffirm my dedication to that agreement, that covenant.

And so we come together because it has changed everything in our life, and it continues to change us. Our relationship with God the Father and Jesus Christ, and then our relationships with each other. It should profoundly affect our relationship with everything around us, because that cost was so great. And of course, that reminds us of this tremendous personal obligation that every one of us have.

Hopefully we haven't lost that sense of obligation, because we know, we feel it when we come to baptism. We feel this heavy weight of striving to put on the mind of Christ. And we want to be more like Christ. Well, do we still have that profound sense of obligation that I want to be more like Christ? I'm going to strive, and I'm going to reach, and I'm going to strain with all that I am, and through the help of God's Holy Spirit, I can be like Christ.

And I think a lot of that comes from how deeply we grasp the significance of what the Passover cost Jesus Christ and what sin is all about. I mean, we know the definition of sin. I think we can all rehearse that when we think about what sin is, what does it cost, what does it earn, what does sin earn, what are the wages of sin? Romans 6, 23.

The wages of sin is death, and so we deserve death, not just to die, but we deserve the lake of fire. And yet Jesus Christ stepped in on our behalf, and He took the pain. He took the agony. He had His body ripped to shreds for me, so that I don't have to suffer the penalty of sin. So I don't have to suffer the ultimate death. Yes, He did it for everybody.

He did it for the world. But He did it for me. Do I remember that? And does that convict me to the point that I have to be different? I have to be different. If you think of the sense of Christ Himself being convinced, He had to be totally convinced that God's plan was true and right and needed to be carried out. He was convicted that this was the way. And did it affect His conduct?

Of course, He set the ultimate example. How far was He willing to go? He gave everything. Not only in giving His death, but He lived that perfect life. He lived the perfect life. And so He set that example for each of us that we need to strive after in our life.

It was a sinless life. And so it reminds us how much it costs. It cost the death of God's only Son. So if you had to go to that spiritual store and pick out salvation, what would be the price tag on it? It cost Christ His life. And so His sacrifice is far and away the most costly part of the Passover. But it doesn't stand alone, does it?

If the sacrifice of Christ doesn't stand alone, there's other things I think that need to be considered as well in the cost of Passover. And that cost comes to us. Not only did the Passover cost Christ His life, the Passover cost us our life. Our life is part of the cost of Passover when we begin to understand the personal significance of the Passover. Passover cost us our own life. There's a section of Scripture that we don't normally turn there, but it's an interesting section of Scripture that deals with this.

It's over in the book of Ephesians. Right at the very beginning of Ephesians, in chapter 1, it zeros in on the cost, and in this case, we'll associate it with the cost of Passover. In Ephesians 1, we see how we have been chosen as a special part of God's plan. We have an opportunity now to be a part of what God is doing. And in Ephesians 1, look at verse 3, right at the very beginning of this letter that Paul writes to God's people in Ephesus, he brings us all together and shows us how we have this interconnectedness to the sacrifice of Christ.

Verse 3, it says, "'Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.'" Where does it start? At that spiritual store, it starts with the sacrifice of Christ. God the Father has blessed us by giving us His Son, every spiritual blessing. So which ones did I earn? Which ones did I deserve? Which ones did I perform on my own? Which ones can I get credit for?

None. Every spiritual blessing, it says. The honor goes to God. And then he says, "'He chose us, just as He chose us in Him, before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.'" All right, he didn't choose us as individuals before the foundation of the world. We aren't predestined in that sense. Every single action was chosen by God and designated, and we're just mere robots going through the motion. That's not what this is saying at all. What he's saying here is, we were chosen for a purpose. And that purpose was already in motion when the earth was formed. The purpose was that God was going to bring many sons and daughters into the family of God. And in order to be there, we have to be holy. We have to be without blame. The way to the family of God was established before the earth was formed. And so before the foundation of the world, he says, he chose, he would have a church. He chose that Jesus Christ would be sacrificed, and that there would be a way to eternal life. There would be a unique family that would be established, and through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, it would come about.

And so we fast forward to today, and he did choose us, didn't he? He opened our minds to his truth, and out of this huge number of humanity, he zeroed in on us. And he said, I want you, I want you to have that opportunity to be a part of my family, understand my truth now.

So that opportunity, he decided long ago that he would give human beings an opportunity for salvation. And he gave us that opportunity now. And so he's called us to his church. He's called us to this amazing spiritual organism. He's called us to his family. And so that purpose then has to be our purpose. What was that purpose? Look at the end of that verse there. At the end of that verse, verse 4, that we should be holy and without blame before him.

Now, does that come easy? Does that cost something? As we've been called, and we've been chosen, and we become a part, he says, it's not just being part of the group that counts.

It's the kind of people that are in that group and what they are becoming, that we should become holy and without blame. Because the ultimate purpose then, look at verse 5, he says, "...having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will." You see, what it has to do with is what God's doing.

God's predestined that there will be sons and daughters in the kingdom of God, and they will be like Christ. They will have put on Christ. They will be adopted into the family. And this form of Roman adoption doesn't mean, well, you're just some stepchild that we kind of let in the door and, okay, come on, you can be a part of it.

That is not what he's talking about here. Being full-fledged sons and daughters in the family of God. That's the example that he's given here. That we can be full-fledged sons and daughters of God through Jesus Christ. That's the ultimate plan. That's the ultimate purpose. And it has everything to do with what God initiated, with what God started, with His choosing, with His plan. And so he has a purpose for each of us.

And it's amazing how this focuses in on Christ. It all happens through Christ. How do we become full-fledged sons and daughters in the family of God? Well, verse 5, it says, by Jesus Christ, God brings us to Himself. And it's according to His good pleasure, according to His working. Of course, we have to submit to Him. We have to honor Him in our lives. And so as we begin to see, this is an amazing plan.

And so ultimately, that plan will have that impact in our life that changes everything. Look at verse 6. As those sons and daughters of God, it says, It sounds like highfalutin religious talk, but how are we accepted in the beloved? By making that covenant with Him, aren't we? Which comes back to our baptismal covenant, which we renew at Passover. That we can be accepted in the beloved. We can be accepted by Him because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

We are acceptable before God. And because we are accepted, that changes us. That what we are and what we do is on the way to becoming holy, isn't it? And so we see that we have redemption. Look at verse 7. We have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace. Redemption, boy, that immediately focuses my mind on the Passover.

We are redeemed. We've been bought. That word literally means to pay a ransom. A ransom has been paid. Our life was held ransom by the ways of this world. And yet Jesus Christ paid the ransom. And it wasn't just $100,000. It wasn't a million-dollar ransom. We deserve death, and the only ransom that would cover would be the death of Jesus Christ.

And so we've been ransomed. He paid the ransom for us through His blood. That covenant, remember 1 Corinthians 11, 25, the covenant cost Him His life, His blood, so that we can be forgiven. Loosed, it says. Forgiven, the forgiveness of sins. Literally, being loosed from bondage. Being loosed from bondage.

It brings an image of being tied up, wrapped up by ropes and cords. And yet, Christ loosens them for us. From sin. So we begin to see, this is huge. This is life-changing. Down in verse 8, He takes it to the next step. He says, "...which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence." So not just that we have a little bit of redemption, not just a little bit of a payment for our sins, not just that we have a little bit of forgiveness, but He's made it to abound toward us.

It can abound. It is an amazing thing. Abounding in all wisdom and prudence. And so as we begin to think about that, think about the cost. Christ gave everything. He gave it an entire life. Now when it comes to the cost of Passover for you and I, what did it take to produce this product that we call you and me? A spiritual product. Did it just show up at the store? And here it is. No, it takes something to get a product to market, doesn't it?

What does it take to get a spiritual product to market? Maybe think about it a different way. How much does God have invested in me? How much does God have invested in you? You see, God's been planning this for an awful long time, hasn't He? He's been planning this family that He's creating for a very long time. Maybe that should be part of the cost as we think about regarding Passover. This isn't just some little thing that God's working out.

This is so important. What's the value that God places on our life? As we have His Holy Spirit, we are invaluable. We can't even put a value. What would be the price tag on that? How do you put a price tag on the cost of the life of Jesus Christ?

You can't put a dollar value on that. You can't compute it. So God has so much invest. He's been thinking. He's been planning. He's been working things out so that He can bring us into His kingdom. That is an awesome plan that He has in mind. And He's been working this out for hundreds, well, not even a hundred, thousands, maybe millions of years. Would that be fair to say? He's been thinking about this for an awful long time.

So this is no simple thing. This is a huge plan that God has in mind. And it's to bring sons and daughters into His family. And it took the Passover to kick off the production of that spiritual product that we call you and me. God's got a lot invested in us, doesn't He?

He doesn't bring any junk to market either. Does He? I don't think so. I don't think so. Look at verse 9 here in Ephesians chapter 1. It says, He's made known to us the mystery of His will. Okay, He's opened our minds to His truth, the mystery of His will, ultimately the plan, the mystery, the secret. It's not a mysterious thing that nobody can know, but He's opened our minds. So we know the secret of His will.

We can understand that that's hidden. We can understand it. And how much does He enjoy that? He can't wait till we mess up to squash us? Not at all. He says, when we're right with Him, this is according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Himself. And so He's made known that to us, that we can be a part of His plan. Verse 10, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times, He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth in Him.

And so this awesome plan, He's revealing in us. It's already being revealed. He's purposed that in Himself. And He's going to bring it to pass. And He's going to do it, it says, through Christ, ultimately all through Christ. He's going to put that into effect. He's going to administer that dispensation. He's going to administer it. When the fullness of times, ultimately, we have our fullness right now. We understand the truth. We better be doing something about it now. The greater fulfillment will be when Christ returns then.

So we can begin to grasp this awesome plan when He brings it all together. When we understand the depth of that meaning, when we enter into that contract with God, we have insight into that plan. And so He's revealed that to us. Now, everything isn't gathered yet? That won't happen until the first resurrection. But when we think about that in terms of our life and our commitment and our dedication, how important is Passover in regard to that?

Well, without the sacrifice, we don't even get started, do we? We don't even get started along the way. And so in one sense, you may think, well, this is just a little insignificant moment in time and compared to everything else, I'm not really much in the grand scheme of things.

But I think that's wrong to think that way. Yeah, David said, what is man that you're mindful of Him? You know, who am I? Well, I'm not much when it comes in the grand scheme of things. But you know, in God's sight, how important are we to God? Does God just discount us and say, well, yeah, it doesn't matter if He really chooses what's right, if He responds to my spirit, if He responds to... Is God some distant God that doesn't care? Or does God want us to be a part of His family? Did He call us for His purposes? Did He open our mind to His truth so that we would fall and fail?

I don't think so. I think we are so important to God that the most important being that ever lived had to die. So does God want us there? Does God think we're important? Yeah, I think when you think of it in those terms, God's been planning for us, for you personally, in that sense. He's called you. You've responded to His truth. He wants you in the family.

And so that in itself, I think, should have an indelible impact in our lives. The most important one to ever live gave His life for me. God thinks we're important. He's the only one that never sinned. And so with that in mind, should we ever underestimate our worth and our value to God? See, I don't think we should. I don't think we should. See where our value is. That value comes through the presence of Jesus Christ in our lives. Look at verse 11 here in Ephesians 1. It says, In Him, in Christ, also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works in all things, according to the counsel of His will.

We've obtained it. We have that down payment of that inheritance. We have God's Holy Spirit. And so He sees us as a part of His family right now, and He's purposing in us and working all things according to His will. And so it's an amazing thing when we begin to see that God is preparing you and I for amazing things, for what's to come, so that we can be fully equipped. We can put on the mind of Christ. We can be spiritual creations in Christ. And we can conduct our lives in a way that bring glory and honor to Him. So as you think about this awesome scope of how God is working out an amazing plan, we really don't grasp it unless we see our part in the overall purpose of what God's bringing about.

He's bringing about an amazing family. And when we see the big picture, we begin to see the value of it all. And the value is in its cost. Romans 12 and verse 1 zeroes in a little bit on that cost. Let's notice Romans 12.

We'll recognize this section of Scripture. Writing to God's people in Rome, the apostle Paul encourages us. And he says, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God. It starts with mercy, because through His mercy and His grace, He's called us, opened our minds to His truth, shown us His way, started with God, the sacrifice of Christ.

Our response must be that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. Passover costs us our life, that we are convinced and convicted, and converted conduct is the result of that conviction, that we're not conformed to the world. Verse 2, it reminds us we're transformed by the renewing of your mind, proving what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

That perfect acceptable will is that we renew that covenant, that agreement to allow Jesus Christ to live His life in us and through us, that in every action and every thought we are rededicated to more fully putting that life into practice, that my mind is becoming the mind of Jesus Christ. I'm allowing His life to be in me. Galatians 2.20 is a powerful passage that should impact our lives as we think about the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and how it should affect every aspect of our conduct.

Let's notice the powerful way that the apostle Paul mentions this in the book of Galatians. Galatians 2.20. He says, I have been crucified with Christ. But does that not immediately bring all the implications of the Passover to mind? The Passover sacrifice of Jesus Christ. I have been crucified with Christ. We put our own name in that sentence. I have been crucified with Christ. All right, I'm convinced. I'm convinced Christ died for my sin. Paul didn't stop there, though. And we can't stop there, either.

How about this next part? Is it I who live? Am I still the dominant being in my life? Is my thinking the dominant thought in my life? Is my way of doing things the most evident part of my life? Is what I want most important in my life?

Or can we move to that next level of being convicted, not just convinced, but now convicted to be different? That's what Paul said. I've been crucified, and that conviction has moved me to be convicted of changing. It's no longer I who live. That is such a powerful statement. Can we say that? How much more can we say that this is true today as opposed to maybe last year? How much of me no longer lives, and how much more of Christ lives in me? See, that's part of this process of the Passover and what the Passover costs. I've been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.

And the life I live, let's notice it, the life I live by faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me. The life I live. Can we say that? That's our goal. That's the ultimate. That's what we're shooting. We're trying to put into practice the way of God more fully. And so the life I live in the flesh, even this physical life around me, I live by the faith of the Son of God.

That's what's living in me. That's what's shining for me. Because I fully understand what the Passover costs. It is going to change everything about me. I will be that living sacrifice. By the grace of God and by the response and application of responding to His Holy Spirit, I can allow Christ to live His life in me and through me. I think by examining the cost, that helps us then to move from just being convinced Christians to converted Christians. Because it costs Jesus Christ His life. And it costs us our life as well. Through that amazing sacrifice, we can have a relationship with God.

We can be right with Him. We're able to renew the covenant with God. It's not just the cost of getting free, but remaining free from sin and its penalty.

And by the cost, we can certainly begin to look forward to share in the ultimate blessing, eternal life in the Kingdom of God. And so it's with appreciation. It's with a deeper level of understanding. It's with discernment that we can see our place in the plan of God.

And we remember the sacrifice that God gave for us. That certainly as Christ was tortured, He never lost His temper like I do. He never hated those who were inflicting pain like I would certainly have a tendency to do. He never lost His cool. He never lost control like we do. He never resented. He was never bitter. He never allowed anything to lead Him into sin.

We can be like that, too. As we allow Christ to live His life in us, we can be more like Him. And so let's allow Him to move us from being convinced to convicted to having the converted conduct that brings glory and honor to God. And as we do those things, we can fully appreciate the cost of Passover.