I AM the LORD Who Brought You Out of Egypt

Thank you to the musicians for the Offertory and the beautiful special music. Both very meaningful pieces, you know, the words and everything just really setting the stage very much for what this day is about, and all that is going into it. So thank you guys very much. You know, in society today, there's a lot of discussion and debate that revolves around identity. You know, you think about the discussions that you hear on the news, you think about the various things that we hear as far as arguments.

They relate to gender identity, they relate to racial and ethnic identity, political identity, social identity, national identity, and the like. We see a lot of talk about identity. And now this concept of identity is one that's complex, it's one that's quite frankly pretty nuanced. And I'm not going to take the time today to dig into all of the nuance, but at its most fundamental, identity is a description of the memories, the experiences, the relationships, and the values that largely define one's sense of self. Helps us to determine who and what we are.

And it's a description of who we are based on certain notable aspects of our life. For example, a person can identify as a husband or a wife or a parent, a grandparent. They can identify based on their vocation, on their ethnicity, and a long laundry list of other things. Our identity affects many of the things that we do, frequently subconsciously, as that identity of somewhat formative, and impacts the decisions that we make, and really the way that we view the world. Where it becomes nuanced is that psychologists argue that one's perception of themselves, both individually and societally, is just as formative to identity as the things that are listed above.

So a person's perception of their identity impacts their identity as well. It's the argument psychologists make today. I'm going to bring up an example here in just a second. But because some of the memories and the experiences, the relationships, and the values that we utilize to define ourselves can change over time, sometimes a person's identity can shift, which can be either a positive growth experience, or it can be at times a significant challenge.

When I worked in education, I worked with a number of educators who spent a lifetime teaching. They came into the classroom at 22, 23 years old, and they worked for 35 to 40 plus years in a classroom. For many, their identity was wrapped up in being an educator. That is who and what they were. And so it was really interesting to see that for some of them, in fact a number of them, this was not an uncommon thing.

Their identity was so wrapped up in their vocation that when it came time to retire, and they're standing on the precipice of leaving that vocation, they had a full-blown identity crisis. They started asking questions, who am I now? What do I do now? How do I relate to the world now that this component of my being that has been so foundational and so important to my life is gone? How do I view the world now? How does the world view me? According to the Oxford Dictionary, an identity crisis is a period of uncertainty and confusion in which a person's sense of identity becomes insecure, typically due to a change in their expected aim or role in society.

And this isn't a new discussion. We think it came up, and it's just a new 21st century thing. But this concept of identity has been at the core of humanity for millennia, perhaps not as much on the forefront as it is today, but it's been there. Humanity is hardwired for belonging. Humanity desires to be a part of something. And historically, as regions of people interacted, lines were drawn among those people along language boundaries, drawn along ethnicities, class, vocational boundaries, and the like. So that people had somebody else that they could identify with, someone else that was like them.

And when those things changed, or when those things were challenged in some way externally, it caused a great deal of stress, it caused a great deal of anxiety, and it led to a crisis of identity. Let's turn over to the book of Exodus. Turn over to the book of Exodus, please. You know, we see as a part of Israel's story a significant shift in their experience. We see a significant shift in Israel's experience as a part of their story.

Once Joseph died, once the people of Israel began to multiply in the land of Egypt, we see the description in Scripture is that the land became filled with the descendants of Jacob.

Exodus 1, and we'll go ahead and pick it up in verse 8, Exodus 1 and verse 8, says, Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. And he said to his people, Look, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we. Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply. And it happened that in the event of war, that they also join our enemies and fight against us, and so go up out of the land. So verse 11, Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burdens, and they built for Pharaoh supply cities, Pithom and Ramses. The more they afflicted them, the more the Egyptians afflicted the Israelites, the more they multiplied and they grew. And they, the Egyptians in this case, were in dread of the children of Israel. And so, verse 13, the Egyptians made the children of Israel serve with rigor. People of Egypt were afraid of the people of Israel. In many ways, Egypt's group identity was challenged in that sense. Scripture records the Egyptians were in dread. They were terrified. They were outnumbered. The might of the Israelites was overwhelming. If someone, some external force, were to come along and somehow organize them, somehow put them into war against the Egyptians and help bolster their numbers, well, they might just overthrow Egypt. They might just completely overthrow Egypt. So the Egyptians, verse 13, made the children of Israel serve with rigor. And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in mortar, in brick, and in all manner of service in the field. And all their service in which they made them serve, says, was with rigor. So Pharaoh had an idea. Pharaoh had an idea. He and the Egyptians changed the terms, we might say, of Israel's stay in Egypt. Before, when Israel was underneath Joseph, or when they were there at the time of Joseph, they were welcomed. They actually enjoyed a certain status in the land. But with the entrance of this new Pharaoh, all of that changed.

All of that changed. It's hard to know how quickly exactly they were enslaved. It's really difficult to know how quickly that process took place. I think we can speculate that it was likely over a period of time, little by little by little, until one day they realized exactly what had happened. Typically, when you have it happen overnight, rebellion ensues. Typically, when that changes so quickly, there's a period of pushback. There's a period of rebellion. It kind of seems in Israel's story that it just kind of happened, and they kind of just shrugged. At least it appears that way from the reading of Scripture. But from that moment forward, Israel's identity changed. Prior to that, they were the seed of Abraham, they were the seed of Isaac, the seed of Jacob. They were related to the one who had saved Egypt in the famine. You know, hey, remember Joseph? He saved you guys. He's one of us. He's one of us. It didn't matter anymore. For a period of time, they lived in Egypt as honored guests, but now they were harshly afflicted. They were oppressed. Their children are subject to infanticide, and those that survived became enslaved in turn. Decade after decade, this cycle continued. They were born. They served as slaves, and they died. You imagine hope was probably in short supply. Hope was probably in short supply. You suppose at that point, they began to question their identity? They began to question who they were? What they were? Or did they possibly just reach the point where they simply accepted, this is our lot in life? This is just the way it is. We're slaves, and this is who we will be for the remainder of our days. Exodus 2, verse 23, we'll reference it. It records that in the process of time, Pharaoh died. In the process of time, Pharaoh died, and at that time, Israel groans as a result of the bondage that they found themselves in. Israel cries out as a result of the bondage, and that cry was heard by God. He acknowledged them, and he began the plan for their deliverance. Let's go over to Exodus 6. Exodus 6, we're going to fast forward in the story here just a little bit. Moses left Egypt when he was 40 years old. We see that he shepherded in the wilderness of Midian for an additional 40 years before his encounter with God out in the wilderness. He sent to Egypt by God to take this message of deliverance to this new Pharaoh. Exodus 6, we'll go ahead and pick it up here in verse 1. As a result of this first encounter that Moses went out and had with Pharaoh, there was a significant increase in the workload of the Israelite people. Pharaoh's response was, okay, fine. You guys want to go worship your God? Go get your own straw. We won't supply it for you anymore. You're on your own. You can make the bricks and you can go gather straw. Of course, that caused him to cry out even greater and, of course, take up some frustrations with Moses and Aaron. But he says you're going to have to gather the straw yourself and you're going to have to continue to meet your quotas. We're not going to ease up on your quotas either. You're going to have to meet those quotas. Exodus 6 in verse 1, the Lord said to Moses, Verse 5, So God spoke to Moses, the words that he wished for the people to hear. We see, ultimately, Israel doesn't heed those words due to the anguish of their spirit and the bondage that they were experiencing. But God had done something significant in those words that Moses first delivered to Israel.

In that statement in Exodus 6, God identifies who he is and what he would do.

In fact, if we continue through the Old Testament account, we see that who God is and the method by which he would redeem his people becomes a thread that is referred back to again and again and again in Scripture. Just a little forward from here in Exodus 6. Let's go to Exodus 13. We'll see another example of this being mentioned. Exodus 13 here, talking about these days, this feast of unleavened bread that we're here to commemorate today.

Exodus 3, we'll pick it up in verse 3. Moses said to the people, Remember this day in which you went out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. For by strength of hand the Lord brought you out of this place. He says, No leavened bread shall be eaten. On this day you are going out in the month of Bib, and it shall be when the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites and the Hittites, the Amorites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which he swore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and with honey, that you shall keep this service in this month. We're here today doing just that. We're here today doing just that. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a feast to the Lord. That's today. On the seventh day there shall be a feast to the Lord. On unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days, no leavened bread shall be seen among you, nor shall leaven be seen among you in your quarters.

Verse 8, you shall tell your son in that day... You know, kids are naturally curious. Say, what are we doing here? Why are we doing this? What's going on? It says, you shall tell your son in that day, saying, this is done because of what the Lord did for me when I came up from Egypt. This is done because of what the Lord did for me when I came up out of Egypt. Verse 9, it should be assigned to you on your hand as a memorial between your eyes, that the Lord's law may be in your mouth, for with a strong hand the Lord has brought you out of Egypt.

You shall therefore keep this ordinance in its season from year to year, over and over again in Scripture. The people of Israel are pointed back to the events that this week represents, specifically the miraculous crossing of the Red Sea, but also the plagues that devastated Egypt. But they are reminded of the strength of God's hand in delivering them from their bondage.

The question I'd like to explore today is why. Why is that? Why is it that this particular event continues to come back, continues to be reminded of the Israelites? The title of the sermon today is, I am the Lord who brought you out of Egypt. And I find it really interesting that this 10-word phrase, or some derivative of this phrase, is found dozens and dozens of times in Scripture.

In fact, if you expand it out and get a little fuzzy on your search terms, it's hundreds of times that this specific event, in this specific way, is referenced. Now, most of the time, when it's referenced, we find it in the earlier books of the Bible. We find it in Exodus, Numbers, Leviticus, Deuteronomy, but occasionally we see it outside of those books. Most of the time, when a prophet is trying to get Israel's attention, that's normally when we see it. The prophet's like, hey, you guys, do you remember this? Yeah, you might want to listen.

This is what the prophet is trying to do most of the time when this comes up. At first glance, when you look at this phrase, this concept, it provides an identity for God. It establishes who He is. It establishes what He did. But the way that it's outlined in other places in Scripture provides certain expectations for Israel as a result of who God is and what God did.

That there are expectations placed upon them as a result of who He is and what He did for them. We're going to take a quick survey through a few of these places. I'm not going to turn to these passages. I'm going to reference them. I'm going to read them. If you're faster than me, feel free. You know, on your marks, get set, right? So, we see it found when God delivers the law to His people, Exodus 20 and verse 1.

God spoke all these words, saying, I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. And then He said, and here are the Ten Commandments. It's found in Deuteronomy 5, verses 1 through 6, the other location where we see the enumeration of the Ten Commandments. It's the same formula. Moses called. This is Deuteronomy 5, verses 1 through 6. Moses called all of Israel and said to them, Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your hearing today, that you may learn them and be careful to observe them.

The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Orib. The Lord does not make this covenant with our fathers, but with us, those who are here today, all of us who are alive. The Lord talked with you face to face on the mountain from the midst of the fire. Moses speaking here says, I stood between the Lord and you at that time to declare to you the word of the Lord, for you were afraid because of the fire. You did not go up the mountain.

He said, I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. And then Moses says, and this is what else he said. These are the other things that he mentioned while we were there. This shows up when God gives the statutes and the ordinances to Israel. When he gives the civil law to Israel. Leviticus 19, 35 to 36. You shall do no injustice in judgment.

In measurement of length and weight or volume. You shall have honest scales, honest weights, and honest ephah, and an honest hymn. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt. Shows up in Leviticus 25, verses 35 to 38. Leviticus 25, 35 to 38. He says, if one of your brethren becomes poor and falls into poverty among you, then you shall help him like a stranger or a sojourner, that he may live with you. He goes on to say, take no usury or interest from him, but fear your God, that your brother may live with you. You shall not lend him your money for usury, nor lend him your food at a profit. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan, and to be your God. It shows up in instructions that are intended to keep Israel holy and separate. Leviticus 11, 44 to 45. For I am the Lord your God, you shall therefore consecrate yourselves, and you shall be holy. For I am holy. Neither shall you defile yourselves with any creeping thing that creeps on the earth. For I am the Lord, who brings you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy. Last one. Leviticus 22, 31 to 33. Therefore you shall keep my commandments and perform them. I am the Lord. You shall not profane my holy name, but I will be hallowed among the children of Israel. I am the Lord who sanctifies you, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God. I am the Lord. Remember, identity is derived from shared memories, shared experiences, shared relationships, and shared values. In God's words to Israel through Moses, he not only establishes his identity, not only establishes who he is and what he does, he establishes Israel's identity through those shared memories, those shared experiences, relationships, and values. They were his people, and as such they belonged to him. He owned them. He owned them. That's a hard word for us to hear today, given all the baggage that goes along with that. But God had bought his people back. He had redeemed his people. He had purchased them back from slavery in Egypt. They had been freed from one master, but Israel was beholden to him now, as the one who had paid the price for their redemption. In that sense, he was their master now. They had been redeemed. They had been bought back. But that did not necessarily mean that everything was copacetic. Israel stood on the shores of that Red Sea, and those waters crashed down behind them, drowning Pharaoh's army. Once again, they found themselves in the midst of an identity crisis. For generations, they had been slaves. For generations, they had known nothing else. Now they're standing on the shores of the Red Sea, and the waters are beginning to settle behind them. The cries of Pharaoh's army, perhaps, as they're drowning in the waters behind them.

Their identity was wrapped up in their slavery. Who were they now? What were they now? Where do we go from here? We see Israel struggle with this identity through the wilderness wanderings. They wrestled with returning to that which was comfortable. What they knew, what they understood, that represented who and what they were before. But now, they were something different. They were his. They were his. And that reputation preceded them. As you see the story of the wanderings play out, and you see the beginnings of Israel enter into the Promised Land, that reputation of who they belonged to preceded them. It went before them in that sense. Why? Because they were just so great in number, and so strong and handsome. No! Not at all. That's not the reason why. Why? Let's go to Joshua 2. Why is it that their reputation preceded them? Was it perhaps locked up in some events that we discussed here today? Joshua 2. Joshua 2, and we ultimately see that as Joshua leads the people into Canaan after the wanderings, Israel encounters the people of Canaan whom God now plans to deliver over into their hands.

So Joshua 2, we see the Israelites go spy into the city of Jericho to try to spy out the city to prepare for the attack. They lodge in the home of Rahab, and ultimately the king of Jericho receives a tip. He investigates. Rahab manages to deceive him as to their location, stashes him up on the roof, and then later on comes back to talk to them. So she goes up to the roof to talk to these two men, and we'll pick up the account in Joshua 2 and verse 8. Joshua 2 and verse 8. Now before they lay down, she came up to them on the roof, and said to the men, I know that the Lord has given you the land, that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land are faint-hearted because of you.

Again, is it because they were so numerous and so scary looking and so mighty? No!

Verse 10. For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites, who were on the other side of the Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed.

And as soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted. Our hearts melted. Neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of you. For the Lord your God, he is God in heaven above and on earth beneath. Verse 12. Now therefore I beg you, swear to me by the Lord, since I've shown you kindness, that you also will show kindness to my father's house and give me a true token. Spare my father, my mother, my brothers, my sisters, and all that they have and deliver our lives from death.

You know, Rahab tells both of these men, essentially, I know who you are. I know who you are.

You're Israelites. We've heard about you. We've heard about you. We've heard about what your God has done, about how he dried the waters of the Red Sea and how he led you out of Egypt, how he gave you victory over Sihon and Og. She said, we know who you are. You're his.

You're his people. You're the ones that crossed through the Red Sea on dry ground. And when we realized this, Rahab said, our hearts melted because we know what he can do. We know what he can do. You know, one of the things we've discussed before and we've talked about before is how in the mythology of the Near East, gods of various nations, lowercase g, of various nations, were regional gods, so to speak. They were regional gods, so to speak. They were perceived to have power in that particular region, but not really to have any appreciable power beyond the boundaries of a country. And they certainly could not overpower the gods of other nations. That was beyond their boundaries, beyond the extent of their powers. The God of Israel, though, was different. He had demonstrated the defeat of the gods of Egypt. He had gone after the Nile. He'd gone after the sun. He'd gone after Pharaoh and his firstborn, who were believed to be gods as well. Not only that, he conquered the first Canaanite god, Beelzaphon, in his path, commanding the wind, the power of the wind, and the waves themselves, parting the Red Sea and marching his people through on dry ground.

You know, the difference between the plagues and the parting of the Red Sea was that now this god of the Israelites, he's moved beyond regional godhood. He's now impacting gods of other nations, conquering entire nations of people, conquering their lowercase G gods.

This was unheard of in Near East mythology, and it was frightening. It was frightening to those who had heard it. Rahab pleads. She pleads with them to spare her, to spare her family, to deliver them from death, which we see, of course, is what exactly what happens. Rahab is spared. We see Rahab preserved in the lineage of Christ. We see Rahab preserved in the lineage of Jesus Christ. We see a similar statement in Joshua 5 and verse 1. We won't turn there. Joshua 5 and verse 1 with the kings of the Amorites and the kings of the Canaanites. They say the exact same thing. That they heard of Israel, they saw Israel, their hearts melted, and there was no spirit in them anymore. There was no spirit in them anymore, because they knew who Israel was and they knew to whom Israel belonged. They knew Israel's identity, even if at times in Israel's own history they were uncertain. Let's go over to 1 Corinthians 10. 1 Corinthians 10. You know, we recognize this particular epistle was likely written in the spring in the early 50s AD. There's a number of mentions of the Holy Days, spring Holy Days in particular. Days of Unleavened Bread, the Passover, all the symbolism that goes on in that process, you know, written for the people of Corinth there from when, from Ephesus where Paul was located.

Again, being springtime, naturally the spring Holy Days are on his mind, and a lot of the letter contains a great deal of imagery and typology to the Days of Unleavened Bread. Now we've seen, and we'll see today, we've seen as this Days of Unleavened Bread has progressed, and we will see today as we come into the second message as well, a number of passages from this particular epistle referenced in the messages that we hear today, because there's so much here. There's so much in this particular book. 1 Corinthians 10 and verse 1. I want to draw your attention to Paul's writing here to the people of Corinth. 1 Corinthians 10 and verse 1. Paul writes, Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. In that sense, they were partakers of this. They shared this with one another. They had fellowship in this with one another, as we heard on the Sabbath from Mr. Faye. But this idea that they all ate the same spiritual food, they all drank the same spiritual drink, for they drank of that spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock, Paul states, was Christ. Verse 5. But with most of them, God was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness. Verse 6. Now, these things became our examples. These things became our examples to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted. So we go back and we look at the example of the Israelites. We go back and we look at their life. We look at the time they spent in the wilderness, and we see the things that they did. We see the way that they tested God numerous times, numerous times, that they tested God. And these things were left for us as an example, so that we would understand our interactions with our God as well. These things that we see recorded for us in Exodus, these things that we see Israel undergo, they were very specific, and they were recorded for our example. The events of the wilderness wanderings, they were purposeful, they were things for us to see and to learn from. But these days we recognize are full of parallels.

These days are full of parallels. Levon serves as a type of sin. Unleavened bread represents the sinless life of Christ that we're to be taking in and internalizing. The blood of the Lamb on the doorpost protected Israel from death while the blood of Jesus Christ redeems us from our sins. Israel's bondage in Egypt was a type of our bondage to sin and the deliverance from that sin that is possible in Christ Jesus. Again, the title of the message today and the phrase that we keep seeing in Scripture throughout is, I am the Lord who brought you out of Egypt. And then God had some things to say about that to his people. Like everything that we see in the Exodus account, everything that we see recorded for us, this was recorded in numerous places for our example.

God continually references back to that act to remind Israel who he was and who he is, rather, and what he did. And you know, I think sometimes for us today in the modern church of God, we're separated enough from that event, maybe even detached from it to a certain degree, that aside from a recognition of it and a revisiting of what God did on Israel's behalf during the night to be much observed, when we sit down and we reflect on what God did on behalf of Israel, it could be that we maybe don't think a whole lot about it.

It was something for Israel. It was something that happened to them. It was something that took place for them. But brethren, that concept is absolutely integral to our identity as well.

To our identity, just as it was to Israel's. As they stood on the shores of the Red Sea, again, as that wall of water slammed closed, they had finally left the land of Egypt.

They were redeemed. And it meant that the days of their bondage to Egypt were over.

But their servitude to God was just beginning. Yeah, they were free from the bondage of slavery in Egypt, the slavery that was taking place in Egypt. But their servitude to God had just begun.

God was in the process of working to build them into a model nation. He gave them his law, he gave them his statutes and his ordinances to help sanctify them and set them apart from the nations around them. They were to be examples to the nation on how to live.

Other nations around them were to look to Israel and go, that's how it's supposed to be done. God's way works. We should do the same thing. That was the intent. That was the system that God was trying to put into place with Israel. God dwelt with them in the tabernacle. He provided for them. He brought them into the land that he promised Abraham and his descendants.

But, brethren, do we stop to consider what that means for us today? Nearly 8,000 miles away from the shores of the Red Sea. Do we stop to think what that means for us today in the modern era of the church? Turn with me to Romans 6. The apostle Paul understood these parallels. The apostle Paul was well learned in the scriptures. He was a Pharisee of Pharisees he talks about before Christ called him, before ultimately he was called and struck blind on the road to Damascus.

But he understood these parallels, and he understood how these things from the Old Testament connected into the New Testament and what it meant for modern day believers as well. In particular, how the events that we're discussing here during these days and the days of 11 bread ultimately connect into that as well. Romans 6, and we're going to go ahead and pick it up in verse 12, Romans 6 and verse 12, kind of breaking into the context here as Paul is discussing baptism, as he's discussing this anti-type of the crossing of the Red Sea. As he's talking about what exactly is taking place in the life of a believer when this takes place. Romans 6 and verse 12 says, therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. Do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. Verse 14, for sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.

Paul writes here, sin shall no longer have dominion over you. It shall no longer be your master, as the connotation of that Greek word implies. It should no longer be your master.

You're no longer in bondage to it. He says, for grace has come. You've moved from a place of bondage where you had no choice, where you were enslaved. You've moved from that point to a place through the redemption of Christ where you can now overcome sin with the help of the Spirit of God. Verse 15 continues to go on. Verse 15, what then shall we sin because we're not under law but under grace? He says, certainly not. Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death or of obedience leading to righteousness? But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered, and having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. Verse 19, I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. Paul's saying, look, I'm making this end something you can understand, basically, is what Paul's telling him, something that we can understand as well. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness.

So Paul says, should we treat this like cheap grace? Just run out there and continue to sin because we know we'll be forgiven? Certainly not. Certainly not, he says. He says, to whom we present ourselves slaves to obey, we are that one's slaves. Brethren, when Israel was redeemed, that word in Hebrew has connotation and meaning of when they were bought back by their God.

When they were bought back, when they were redeemed, when their bondage was over, they were released from the slavery of Egypt. But they were purchased by another. They were purchased by another.

And as such, they became servants of God, again, as he worked to build a model nation. Likewise, if we have accepted the blood of Jesus Christ on our behalf, represented by the Passover, if we have accepted and entered into a baptismal covenant represented by the crossing of the Red Sea, we've been released from our bondage to sin in the sense that we are no longer enslaved by it. It doesn't mean that we're not going to mess up. It doesn't mean that we're not going to make mistakes.

But it means that we continually present ourselves to God as slaves of righteousness with a repentant heart. It means that we're acknowledging and we're obeying our new master, the one who bought us back, the one who redeemed us from the bondage of sin and death. Let's go over to the book of 1 Peter.

1 Peter discusses this concept a little bit as well. 1 Peter, we'll pick it up in 1 Peter 1, verse 13.

1 Peter 1 and verse 13.

1 Peter 1 verse 13 says, Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 14, as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance, but as he who called you as holy, you also be holy in your conduct, because it is written, Be holy, for I am holy. That Old Testament passage that Peter is referencing there is Leviticus 11, 44 to 45, which we read earlier. It says, For I am the Lord, your God. You shall therefore consecrate yourselves, and you shall be holy, for I am holy. Neither shall you defile yourselves with any creeping thing that creeps on the earth. Why? For I am the Lord, who brings you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy. Why should Israel be holy? Why? Because God is holy, and because it's him who brought them out of Egypt. It was him who provided them with their identity, who gave them who and what they are as his people. He was to be their God. They were to be his people.

Verse 17 of 1 Peter chapter 1 says, And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one's work, conduct yourself throughout your time of your stay here in fear. Verse 18, knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things like silver or gold from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers. But verse 19, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.

He indeed, verse 20, was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you. Verse 21, who through him believe in God, who raised him from the dead, and gave him glory so that your faith and hope are in God. Brethren, the price that was paid for us was more precious than gold or silver. It was not corruptible. It's not subject to decay.

The price that was paid for us was the blood of Jesus Christ as the lamb without blemish and without spot. Mr. Dick talked about this on the first day of Unleavened Bread. He was foreordained for this purpose. He was foreordained for this purpose, to be our Passover.

It took the death of Jesus Christ to break that curse. It took the sacrifice as our Passover, on our behalf and on the behalf of all, to be able to release us from the chains of sin and death, to be able to enable us to live for him and to allow God to dwell in us.

When we come up out of the waters of baptism, it's as though we're standing on the shore of the Red Sea. Those waters are closing behind us. They're coming crashing down behind us.

And our bondage to sin, our sinful life, that old man, as Scripture talks about, is drowned in that sea just as those chariots of Egypt, just as Pharaoh's army.

It's as though we are standing on the shore of the Red Sea, ready to take that step in trust and full assurance and faith in our God to begin living that life anew. Brethren, God has worked an incredible miracle in each of our lives through baptism, redeeming us from the enslavement, from the bondage of sin, and giving us the gift of eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord, and our new Master. We've been bought with a price, and as such we serve a new Master.

And as a result, we have a new identity. We have a new identity that comes from that service.

That identity is defined and encapsulated in God and what He did for us. We might take that phrase we've looked at, we might shift it around just a little bit. We might say, I am the Lord who brought you out of sin. Who brought you out of sin. It defines who He is. It defines what He did.

And brethren, it defines who and what we are as a result of who He is and what He did. Because of that redemption price that was paid for us, we belong to Him just as Israel belonged to Him. And just as Israel, our reputation should precede us too.

The people of this world will know what He did for us. How? How will they know what He did for us?

Because they will see it in our lives.

They will know exactly what it is that He did for us.

The deliverance that He provided for us from the bondage of sin.

Because they will see it in our lives.

Let's go to Ephesians 4 as we close today. Ephesians 4.

Paul writes here to the church in Ephesus. Ephesians 4 and verse 17.

Come on. There it is. Ephesians 4 and verse 17.

Says, This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that's in them because of the blindness of their hearts, who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. For those Gentiles that were coming out of the Gentile world, Paul is writing to them to recognize who they are, to understand who they are, that that identity is now defined in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It's now defined in who He is and what He did for them. He says they should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk. Why? Because that's not who you are anymore. You are a new creation. You are something different now as a result of what He did for us. Verse 20 says, But you have not so learned Christ, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus. Verse 22, that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness. Those Gentiles in Ephesus, they came up out of the waters of baptism and new creation, just like all of us, with a new identity in God. And that identity was encapsulated in who God is and what God has done for each and every one of us. And as a result, a new way of life was required. Verse 25 of Ephesians 4. Verse 25 says, Therefore, putting away lying... and again, in this section, He is speaking to the church. He is writing this to Ephesus. He says, Therefore, putting away lying, let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor.

And we talk about how will people see what God has done in our life, because they'll see it in our lives as we interact with them. It says, Let each of you speak truth with his neighbor, for we're members of one another. Be angry and do not sin. Do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil. Let him who stole steal no longer. Rather, let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need. Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. Verse 30, Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. You know, we live our life in this fashion, when the way of God is apparent as a result of our thoughts and our words, our choices, and our actions. Brethren, our reputation will proceed us, just like the reputation of Israel preceded them. As they came into the Promised Land, as they entered into that part that God had promised to them, the people that saw them coming knew exactly who they were, and they knew who they were because of what God had done in their life. Likewise, the people of this world will see us walking miracles, brethren, walking miracles. They will see us giving glory to God, delivered from the bondage of sin and death to life in Jesus Christ, and they may not say it out loud. Perhaps they'll think it. I know who you are.

He has brought you out of the bondage of sin. You, you are His.