Jesus Christ: The Center of the New Covenant Feasts

Well, greetings and welcome to the afternoon service of the seventh day of Unleavened Bread, otherwise known as the graveyard shift. Glad to have all of you with us this afternoon.

It was great to see the choir up here. My wife said to me the other day, we're going to be singing your favorite hymn. And I said, great is thy faithfulness. And she said, yes. So that was wonderful. And thank you for that. There's a phrase in there that I repeat in my personal prayers all the time, morning by morning, new mercies. I see. I think that's just so beautiful. And it was also good to see Mr. Graham up here leading the chorale. As I've said before, I hope I look as good as Mr. Graham does when I get to be his age. Actually, we're just a few months apart. They have a new dating site for people our age who are single. I don't know if you've heard of it. It's called carbon dating. All right, enough of my silliness. Well, good afternoon. As we close the seventh day of Unleavened Bread this year, I think it's very appropriate for us to reflect on what we've been doing the last nine days, thinking about the Passover and all that we've done in between and where we go from here, according to God's plan.

I'm sure you're aware of the first three of God's seven annual Holy Days reflect God's plan for his first fruits. And that's the process of conversion, eventually, as we receive God's Holy Spirit and the new creatures in Christ. That's the first three of the seven Holy Days.

The final four, after a break from Pentecost, reflect God's plan for the rest of humanity, which is returned to earth in the events to restore the kingdom of God. So today, let's look and focus on what we've been doing. These first two of the Holy Days that we've celebrated will include the Passover connected with the first day of Unleavened Bread, and then, of course, is the seventh day of Unleavened Bread as well. And near the end of the sermon, we'll touch upon, again, that third Holy Day that we're looking forward to, called Pentecost, which we received that very special gift that literally transforms us and moves us from being a disciple to a child of God, the receipt of the Holy Spirit. So let's begin. About two weeks ago or more, many of us started a personal self-examination to prepare for these days that we've been celebrating. Let's go to 1 Corinthians chapter 11 and verse 28, and let's see what Paul wrote here. We've all heard this scripture before, I'm sure, in a few sermons the last couple of months, but I want to emphasize the importance of what Paul teaches here, because this is part of God's plan for each and every one of us. He has an individual personal development plan for you that's different than the person who's sitting next to you. God knows what we need. He knows what our spiritual gifts are. He knows what our natural gifts are through our DNA, and God has a plan and a purpose for us for all eternity, and He's working with us each and every day to develop into fulfilling His role and His desire for us. 1 Corinthians chapter 11 and verse 28, but let a man examine himself, in contrast to what Mr. Boucher was talking about, Paul correcting the Romans about judging each other and judging their brothers. Paul was saying, we shouldn't be examining the person next to us. We shouldn't be examining our spouse, examining our children. We should examine ourself. And so, let him, this is after self-examination, eat and drink of the cup, for he who eats and drinks of the cup in an unworthy manner, meaning just discards the need for any self-examination, who eats in an unworthy manner, eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. How precious and wonderful and what an incredible sacrifice was made for us, not discerning the Lord's body. Verse 30, for this reason, many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. Verse 31, for if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. So, how do we avoid Judgment Day, a harsh judgment from God?

Paul tells us here, if we would examine ourselves rather than our brothers or our sisters in Christ or everything and everyone else, if we examine ourselves, we would not be judged. We will be forgiven. This is the same process that we went through this year that originally brought most of us to repentance. We looked at our lives. We realized we needed a Savior. We were sinners, and we needed to stop sinning. We needed to walk in a new direction in life. And when we do this, every year as we prepare for the Passover, we of course don't make ourselves worthy to take the Passover. We are all under God's undeserved grace, but it's through our act of humility that Jesus Christ makes us worthy to take the Passover because He is our sacrifice. Moving to chapter 13 here of 1 Corinthians, chapter 13 and verse 5, just one page over for most of us. Paul says, examine yourselves as whether you're in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you unless indeed you are disqualified, but I trust that you will know that you are not disqualified. And I would say just the very fact that we took the time to examine ourselves shows that we are qualified, shows that we care enough that our conscience isn't seared, that we come to a point every year in preparation for the Passover where we say, I need to have a heart-to-heart talk with myself. I need to look at the things that I'm doing well and reinforce those things, and I also need to acknowledge areas that I need to grow in and change and develop more of the mind of Jesus Christ. I'm going to read verses 5 and 6 from God's Word for today. It says, test yourselves. Don't you realize that you are people in whom Jesus Christ lives? Could it be that you're failing the test? I hope you will realize that we haven't failed the test. And again, I think if you took the time to examine your life, you certainly didn't fail the test. We certainly have not been disqualified. So annually, we need to specifically examine how far we've come since we were called into God's way of life and how far we yet need to go, the things we need to change, the adjustments we need to make in our life. And I might add that oftentimes God will allow us to go through a stress test just to see how well our faith is grounded. So we call them pre- Passover trials, but sometimes God allows us to go through a specific stress test just to see what our faith is really made out of and what we are composed of. So I think that's a very important thing to acknowledge. Here's the good news about this self-examination. Here's the good news that God gives us, and I'm going to read it from John chapter 5 and verse 24. Jesus said to the Jews, Most assuredly I say to you, He who hears my word and believes in Him who sent me has everlasting life and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life. And you combine that with what we read in 1 Corinthians 11 31 for if we would judge ourselves we would not be judged. Jesus is saying look at ourselves, don't judge our neighbor, don't judge our spouse, don't judge everyone else. If you want to do an analysis, take a look at our own hearts and our own minds. If we judge ourselves now, there will be no need for us to be judged later on. So through this action of self-examination, we prepared for the Passover service. And most of us who have God's Holy Spirit participated in the Passover service, which is a wonderful thing. For in the next few minutes, I would like to talk about the crucifixion and sacrifice of Jesus Christ, perhaps in a way that we don't usually consider.

As an alternative form of looking at the sacrifice of Christ from a different angle than we perhaps normally do. We're going to begin by going to Romans chapter 5, and here Paul is going to contrast the original Adam, who was human, and fleshly with Jesus Christ, who is symbolically, we could call him a second Adam. The original fleshly Adam was the father of all living. Jesus Christ as the spiritual Adam is the first of the firstfruits of those who will be called and saved. And that's the analogy or the comparison that Paul's making in this particular scripture. These verses are cryptically translated in English. I was trying to think the other day, how many times have I ever heard a minister read these verses? And it's been very few times because it's easy to get tripped up.

It's cryptically translated and not easy to follow, but we'll try to make it as simple as we can today.

Romans chapter 5 and verse 12, so that we can draw this comparison, this analogy. Romans chapter 5 and verse 12.

Therefore, justice through one man, sin entered the world, that was the original Adam, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned. For until the law, sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed where there is no law. So sin becomes obvious from the point of time that the Ten Commandments were recorded and published during Moses' time. Before then, people sinned and people died, but it became very relevant to humanity when God had a written, recorded law that specifically said, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt remember the Sabbath day. Verse 14, nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam.

Now Adam's transgression was that he heard a verbal command, do not eat of the tree that is in the middle of the garden. Everyone else who died after him sinned, and they died, but it was a different way, even though they didn't know that the Ten Commandments existed, unwritten and unrecorded at the time, they still suffered the effects of sin. So again, reading this here, to the likeness of the transgression of Adam. Adam specifically disobeyed God's instructions, but it says something else about Adam, who is a type of him who was to come. So Adam was the first man, and he was a forerunner of the spiritual Adam, Jesus Christ. Let's go to verse 15 now.

But the free gift is not like the offense, for if by one man's offense, speaking of the original Adam, many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of one man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. So if sin abounded, even in a greater way, Paul says, grace would abound.

Now this word free gift sometimes trips people up. Free gift that is referring to here is the undeserved grace of God given through Jesus Christ, which brings justification and righteousness and ultimately eternal life. This English word grace comes from the Greek word charis. Verse 16, and the gift is not like that which was through the one who sinned, for the judgment which came from one offense, that is the original Adam, resulted in condemnation. But the free gift, which came from many offenses or became as a result of many human sins, resulted in justification.

Adam brings condemnation, Jesus Christ brings justification. This is what Paul's saying. Verse 17, for if by one man's offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness will reign in the life through the one Jesus Christ. So one is death, the offense of death reigned, the other is the abundance of grace reigns. Verse 18, therefore as through one man's offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation. Even so, through one man's righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, that's the original Adam, also or so also by one man Jesus Christ obedience will be made righteous.

Verse 20, moreover the law entered that the offense might abound, but where sin abounded, grace abounded much more so that the sin reigned in death, but even grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. So again, I know that can be a little cryptic, but what Paul is saying here is he contrasts the difference between the original man named Adam and the justification in righteousness and eternal life given by the spiritual Adam, whom we know of course as Jesus Christ the first of the firstfruits. As Paul stated in 1 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 7, therefore purge out the old leaven that you may be a new lump for indeed Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us. So how did Jesus Christ redeem our first parents?

How did Jesus Christ symbolically redeem all of humanity? How was he our Passover? How was he able to atone for Adam's sin and make our undeserved grace possible? Let's see theologically how it is.

Galatians chapter 3 and verse 13. If you'll turn there with me. Galatians chapter 3 and verse 13.

Paul writes here, Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law having become a curse for us, for it is written, cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree. And that's a quotation from Deuteronomy chapter 21 and verse 23. And if you turn there and you would look at the verse and the verse next to it, here's what it basically says that if someone committed a serious violation of the law, they were to be stoned and then after they were dead, they were to be hung up on a tree as a witness of their sin to the entire community. It was the ultimate shame to be stoned and then have your corpse hung up on a tree as an ultimate witness that you had violated a law within the community. But you know what? Jesus Christ didn't die under the rules of Jewish law. Why? What we're going to see is the reason why is that God had chose earlier that he would die under the Roman law of crucifixion because the afflictions that Jesus received in his body would be symbolic of the redemption that he would give for our first parents, the original Adam and Eve, and for all humanity. So again, Jesus didn't die under the rules of Jewish law. Way back in Psalm chapter 22, that's a thousand years before Jesus Christ lived, David wrote a psalm, and I'm just going to read it, Psalm 22 verses 16 through 18. He says, they pierced my hands and my feet. I can count all of my bones. They look and stare at me. They divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots. You see, it was preordained and prophesied a thousand years before Jesus lived that he would die the death of Roman crucifixion for a very important reason. Isaiah states in chapter 53 verse 5, but he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised, it says, for our iniquities.

The chastisement for our peace was upon him, and by his stripes, his beatings, his wounds, his flesh being pierced, torn by his stripes, we are healed, and all we like sheep have gone astray.

We have turned every one to his own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Jesus Christ died on a tree to redeem the first sin of Eve, who stole an apple, a forbidden fruit, from a tree. So let's take a few minutes and compare this first Adam with the spiritual Adam, and see how Jesus Christ became a curse for us, and how by his stripes the sins of the original Adam and Eve and all humanity were redeemed, and how we were healed from sin. Let's begin by going to Genesis chapter 2 and verse 20. We're going to take a look at a few important facts stated about Adam and Eve early on. Genesis chapter 2 and verse 20.

Genesis chapter 2 and verse 20.

So Adam gave names to all cattle, to all birds of the air, and to every beast of the field.

But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him, and the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept, and he took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh in its place.

Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman, and he brought her to the man. So Eve is created here from Adam's side as his soulmate, as his equal life companion.

It says in the Believer's Study Bible notes for this verse, the word for rib, selah, in Hebrew, is elsewhere translated side. And they refer to Exodus 25, 12, and 1 Kings chapter 6 and verse 5. In Exodus it talks about the construction of the chest of the Ark of the Covenant, and it said rings would be put on the side of the chest. Same Hebrew word that is translated rib for Eve. She would be the first to reach for the forbidden fruit, and afterward Adam, it implies, would reach out and take the fruit from her and eat of it himself. Genesis chapter 3 and verse 6. Let's go to chapter 3 and verse 6.

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of the fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. So Adam and Eve shared in this sin together. Both reached out and took of the forbidden fruit with their hands. With their hands, they seized the forbidden fruit.

Genesis chapter 3 and verse 14. So the Lord said to the serpent, Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all cattle, and more than every beast of the field, on your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life, and I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed, he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel. Some scholars refer to this as the first gospel. This is a prophecy about the crucifixion and what is to happen to Satan pictured by the day of atonement. To bruise the serpent's head is to wound it and remove it immediately, much like the angel in Revelation who goes and seizes Satan and puts him in chains, spiritual chains, for a thousand years so he can no longer influence humanity according to God's purpose. This picture is the defeat of Satan, but beforehand the serpent would bruise Christ through the crucifixion. He would bruise his heel when his feet were nailed to the cross. Genesis chapter 3 and verse 17.

Then to Adam he, God said, because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, saying you shall not eat of it. Cursed is the ground for your sake.

In toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field. The land from that point on was cursed.

Today, the agricultural industry spends hundreds of billions of dollars each year on pesticides and herbicides to control weeds, to control pests. As someone who loves gardening myself, I can tell you it's frustrating with all of the weeds and insects and various plant diseases that seem to show up out of nowhere. It's a constant battle of the land as we indeed are plagued by this sin. Now, let's review the New Testament scriptures regarding the crucifixion of Jesus, and see how Jesus Christ, as Paul would say, became a curse for us. And see how by his stripes the original sins of Adam and Eve were redeemed, and the sins of you and I were made possible for redemption. And again, we're going to do this by quickly looking at a few events of the crucifixion.

John chapter 19 and verse 1. John chapter 19 and verse 1.

So then Pilate took Jesus and scourged him, and the soldiers twisted a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they put on him a purple robe, and they said, Hail, King of the Jews, and they struck him with their hands. As a result of the sin of Adam and Eve, a curse had been placed on the ground that it would bring forth thistles and thorns. And here the Roman soldiers thought they were being funny, and they took thorns and created a round shape by wiring it together, a phony crown. And they mockingly put it on the head of Jesus Christ, scratching him, piercing his flesh, drawing blood from him. And the Son of God accepted and redeemed the curse of the land for his coming kingdom. The crown of thorns pierced his flesh, and when Jesus Christ returns and establishes the Garden of God again on this earth, there will no longer be any curse on the land. Let's take a look at Luke chapter 24 and verse 36. See something that Jesus said after his resurrection that reflects the way that he was crucified. Again, Luke chapter 24 and verse 36.

Now, as they had said these things, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them and said to them, peace to you. He walked through a closed door. He just immediately showed up. He was there. Boom!

There he was. Peace to you. But they were terrified and frightened and supposed. They had seen a spirit.

And he said to them, why are you troubled? Why do you doubt arise in your hearts? Behold, my hands and my feet, that it is I myself, handle me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have. And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet.

And his hands and his feet had impressions inside them where nails had been driven.

And the scar tissue and the deep impression was still there on his hands and on his feet.

The hands and feet of Jesus were pierced with those nail marks, representing the hand of Adam and the hand of Eve who had reached out for that forbidden fruit. He accepted their curse and redeemed their sin and ultimately all of our sins. His feet were nailed to the tree, according to the prophecy of Genesis chapter 3 and verse 15 to the serpent, and you shall bruise his heel. In Western Christianity, the artwork of the crucifix usually shows the two feet placed on one another, one above another, with both pierced by a single nail. John chapter 19 and verse 32. John chapter 19 and verse 32. John records, then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and the other who was crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs, but one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear and immediately blood and water came out. Adam wasn't the only one who sinned among our first human parents. Eve was created from Adam's side to be his help meet. Jesus being stabbed in the side represented Christ bearing the curse of Eve, who was created from the rib of the very original first Adam. When Jesus returns to earth to establish his kingdom, there will no longer be a curse on labor pains. There will no longer be dangers in childbirth because that sin, the sin of Eve, was redeemed by Jesus Christ. The purpose of the brief contrast between the original Adam and Jesus was to remind us that Christ died to redeem humanity as the ultimate Passover lamb.

And I've tried to present this in a way that maybe we normally don't draw the symbolism and connections together. After the Passover, we of course celebrated the Passover together. The following evening we celebrated the night to be much observed, which begins the first day of unleavened bread. We reflected in ancient Israel's freedom from Egypt after hundreds of years, and it was a forerunner of our calling. We, too, came to a point in time in our lives where we said, I'm tired of being a slave to sin, my own passions, my own emotions. I'm tired of being manipulated by Satan, the modern-day Pharaoh, and I want freedom. I want the freedom that's possible in Jesus Christ.

And that is what we think about on that evening. We reflected on Israel's freedom from Egypt, and we reflect on our calling and our own personal repentance, and the personal freedom that we now have because Christ dwells in us. He is the sacrifice. He is our sacrifice and our Passover.

And then we begin these days of unleavened bread. Let's turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 6, something I always want to bring out and mention about this particular verse, because I will say this again. I've said it before, and I will say it again. I do not keep God's holy days because they're in Leviticus 23. That may or may not shock you. I keep them because they are continued in the new covenant, not because they're simply in Leviticus 23. I, and you don't keep most things in Leviticus 23 that it says we should do. We don't keep the things between Leviticus chapter 1 and 22 or chapter 24 on. So why do we keep God's holy days? The answer is because they are a part of the new covenant. 1 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 6. Just a few things. This scripture was written about 55 AD. Scholars don't debate that. Yes, some may move it to 54 or 56 AD. Almost everyone agrees within the range of those few years. This book was written by Paul. This is 24 years after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It's also five to six years after the Jerusalem Conference of 49 AD.

In that conference, we are told that everything was supposedly decided about the law of Moses and what Gentiles should do and the requirements Gentiles should keep in the law of Moses. And that's what we're told according to the scholars. So this was written six years after that Jerusalem Conference. Paul says himself in chapter 12 and verse 2, you know that you were Gentiles carried away to these dumb isles however you were led. So now we know the year. We know it's decades after the death of Jesus. It's five to six years after the ministerial conference. It's specifically written to Gentiles. Let's see what Paul says. First Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 6. Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump therefore purge out the old leaven that you may be a new lump since you truly are unleavened. And he could be referring that either spiritually they were unleavened because they were in the faith or this could have arrived during the days of unleavened bread to be read in the congregation and maybe physically they had removed leaven from their homes. Continuing, he says, for indeed Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast. Let us Gentiles, more than two decades after the death of Jesus, let us Gentiles five to six years after the Jerusalem conference, keep and observe these days. So here Paul confirms that God's holy days are an important part of the new covenant. Yes, we observe them differently than the old covenant because they're all Christ-centered. All seven of them reflect either what Jesus Christ has already done or what Jesus Christ is doing today, like working with us through his Holy Spirit is reflected by the day of Pentecost, and what Jesus Christ will yet do in the future when he returns to this earth and establishes his government on this entire earth. So I hope that that can help us to appreciate and understand why we continue to observe these days, why they're important to us. So let's quickly review what these days represent, why we ate unleavened bread during the feast, why we were instructed to eat unleavened bread during each day of the feast. Exodus 16, verse 10, if you'll kindly turn there with me. Now it came to pass, as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness and behold the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud and the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, I have heard the complaints of the children of Israel speak to them, saying at twilight you shall eat meat and in the morning you shall be filled with bread and you shall know that I am the Lord your God. The wilderness is a difficult place to survive. The ancient Israelites were short of what they needed to thrive and survive, and of course we know that they lacked faith. But in spite of their lack of faith, God in his great mercy decided to provide them with a daily miracle and he gave them manna which became their bread of life.

Exodus 16, verse 13, so it was that quails came up in the evening and covered the camp and in the morning the dew lay all around the camp and when the layer of dew lifted there was in the surface of the wilderness a small round substance as fine as frost on the ground so when the children of Israel saw it they said to one another what is it for they did not know what it was and Moses said to them this is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat and verse 35 says and the children of Israel ate manna 40 years until they came to an inhabited land and they ate manna until they came to the border of the land of Canaan ancient Israel only survived in a difficult environment because they daily ate the bread that came from God it came down from heaven it nourished them it sustained them it gave them physical life and they ate it daily enough for only one day at a time except for the double portion given to them on the day we call Friday so they didn't need to gather it on the Sabbath day it was their daily bread what did Jesus teach his disciples in the model prayer give us this day our daily bread we need to go back to the throne of God each and every day and ask for God's love and ask for God's mercy and ask for God's presence in our lives each and every day we too need the bread of life daily to sustain us spiritually but the bread that we need isn't physical it's the presence of Christ dwelling in us each day and that's why during this feast we were encouraged to take some unleavened bread every day to represent represents the righteousness of Jesus Christ and to eat that showing our desire to have the presence of Christ dwelling in us each and every day now let's connect us together to John chapter 6 and verse 32 and see what Jesus said John chapter 6 and verse 32 then Jesus said to them most assuredly I say unto you Moses did not give you the bread from heaven some scholars say since they worshiped Moses they idolized Moses maybe is a better word they idolized Moses some scholars say that Jesus worded it this way because he didn't want to yet to reveal to them that he was the one who gave them bread from heaven in Moses time because he says but my father gives you the true bread Jesus came to reveal the father that the father existed who the father is and we find that out by looking at the teachings and the values of Jesus Christ but many scholars say since it was the father that now gives us the true bread that is Jesus Christ that here in this verse 32 Jesus was implying that it was he as the god of the old covenant who gave ancient Israel the bread from heaven and not Moses continuing in verse 33 for the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world then they said to him Lord give us this bread always and Jesus said to them I am the bread of life again using the same title that anciently the god of the old covenant told Moses whom he was how they would know him I am continuing he who comes to me shall never hunger and he believes in me shall never thirst but I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe and primarily many of them were not called the father has to call us or else those blinders remain on our eyes and we just don't get it no matter how many religious messages we hear if we are blinded we're just not going to understand and be called verse 37 all the father gives me will come to me and the one who comes to me I will by no means cast out for I have come down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me this is the will of the father who sent me that of all he has given me I should lose nothing but should raise it up the last day and this is the will of him who sent me everyone who sees the son and believes in him may have everlasting life and I will raise him up at the last day this is Jesus Christ promise of a resurrection when we are connected to the true bread of life and eventually our physical life ends and we expire and we go into the grave we will be resurrected in that first resurrection and have everlasting life that's the promise of Jesus to those who partake of the true bread from heaven it's also during the days of unleavened bread that a beautiful and meaningful ceremony was conducted in the tabernacle and later in the temple it was called the sheaf of the first fruits ceremony let's read about it quickly here Leviticus chapter 23 and verse 6 this is rather a quiet ceremony that was performed it wasn't a feast day there were not many people standing around it was a quiet ceremony done by the priest in the tabernacle and then eventually the temple on that Sunday during the days of unleavened bread so let's pick it up here Mr.

Boucher read the first part of this so we'll we'll pick it up here in Leviticus chapter 23 and verse 9 and the Lord spoke to Moses saying speak to the children of Israel and saying to them when you come into the land I shall give you and reap its harvest then you shall bring a sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord to be accepted on your behalf on the day after the Sabbath what we call Sunday the priest shall wave it this wave sheaf was part of the barley harvest and Jewish history records that the sheaf was harvested on Saturday night after sunset which of course would have begun the first day of the week it was then gathered together and it was waved in front of God and it was accepted by God on that first day of the week what today we call Sunday morning during the days of unleavened bread again it was not a sacrificial offering it pictured the ascension of Jesus Christ the resurrected Jesus Christ into heaven to be accepted by the Father I want you to notice that verse 11 states to be accepted on your behalf Christ died so our sins could be forgiven so that we could be redeemed so that we could be justified but he was also resurrected so that we could be resurrected and share eternal life with him as the Apostle Paul states in 1 Corinthians 15 verse 20 but now Christ is risen from the dead and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep because Jesus Christ was resurrected the resurrection can occur for everyone the Father is called and they can be given eternal life if we only emphasize the death of Christ the Passover and the forgiveness of our sins and if there were no resurrection by Jesus Christ all of us would simply be redeemed justified forgiven corpses for all eternity that's why the resurrection was necessary in 31 A.D.

when Mary was standing outside of Christ's tomb on Sunday morning after his resurrection on the Sabbath day before she eventually after a brief discussion with him realized that it was Jesus after making a mistake that he was the gardener and her natural instinct was to hug him and the whole nod to him and just incredible excitement that the Lord was alive that the Lord had been resurrected she wanted to hang on to him and hug him and Jesus said to her in John chapter 20 in verse 17 do not cling to me for I have not yet ascended to my father but go to my brethren and say to them I am ascending to the father and to your father and to my God and to your God and this is why this simple ceremony in the temple every year during the days of unleavened bread is so important it is a very important doctrine in the church of God so for seven days we've been eating unleavened bread because we want to express our desire for Christ Jesus the bread of life to live his life and his righteousness within us to dwell in us let's read a scripture in which Paul encapsulates this beautifully Galatians chapter 2 and verse 19 Galatians chapter 2 and verse 19 Paul writes for I through the law died to the law that I might live to God and I have been crucified with Christ it is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me isn't that what we demonstrated during the days of unleavened bread every day we ate a little bit of unleavened bread to demonstrate that Christ lives in me and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith though I'm still human though I still struggle with my attitude and my sins and my humanity it's no longer about the flesh I now live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me and I do not set aside the grace of God I don't diminish God's grace for if righteousness could come through the law then Christ died in vain obedience can't save us perfect obedience can't save us only the grace of God given to undeserving sinners and faith through that grace in who and what Jesus Christ is can provide us with salvation so when we begin to partake of the bread of life on a daily basis we now live for a new reason and purpose and we're concluding the sermon with this final verse Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 8 here is where we go from here here is what Paul tells us our life purposes today is God's children there's an entire cottage industry and what's your purpose and many coaches and people talking about your purpose discovering your passion discovering your purpose and Paul tells us as Christians what our purpose is Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 8 and this is what we should take at the conclusion of this service today and focus on until the day of Pentecost he says for by grace that's undeserved favor from God and pardon from God you have been saved through faith and that not of something that you could do not of yourselves it is a gift of God and we talked about earlier about the gift that Paul wrote about it is the gift of God not of works lest anyone should boast for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them before you were born God knew he would call you and he already had a purpose beforehand before you were ever called by the father and became part of the family of God I'm going to read verse 10 from the new Revised Standard Version for we are what he has made us created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life again that's the new Revised Standard Version are we willing to give our lives purpose and to demonstrate and develop the good works that become a way of life as we leave here today that is our mission we are to be God's quality workmanship he's working with us like a master potter on the clay and once in a while he pulls out a piece of that clay and that's painful and oftentimes he sculpts us and he reshapes us and he molds us into the way that he wants us to be because we are his precious workmanship and that's something that we should never forget and we should give glory to God every day in our actions and in our lifestyle our way of life our purpose is to promote good works and when I say good works these include our daily faithfulness to our spouses to our church to our community a spiritual personal relationship with God and Jesus Christ through prayer through the study of the word through fasting and using other spiritual tools obedience to his will and being able to say well maybe I'm not happy about the decision or what I must do but he's my father I want to please him therefore I'm going to be obedient to his will even if I don't understand why good fruits include service to others it includes self-sacrifice it includes holding ourselves back and denying ourselves so that others can benefit and grow Jesus Christ set that example it includes supporting the gospel and each and every day of our life reflecting the mind of Christ and everything that we do with our hands or with our own thoughts that's what we've been thinking about these last seven days and what we've been reflecting in the things that we've done in the services that we've kept and the spiritual things that God has given us to understand that's what we have been doing let's continue with those good works there's one more step in that process of conversion and it's a big one that we won't be covering today because it'll be covered in the upcoming day of Pentecost today we've discussed our self-examination repentance accepting Jesus Christ as our Savior beginning a new life during the days of unleavened bread with the bread of life within us removing sin from our lives desiring the presence of Christ in our lives through unleavened bread we've done all of those things but there's still a missing link the next step is very important pictured by that holy day that will be coming up on May 24th you see brethren we need spiritual help and guidance for a lifetime Jesus told his disciples I will not leave you orphans we cannot of ourselves do the things that God wants us to do as we say in the coaching industry the human mind is a dangerous place to go alone we need a spiritual coach we need a spirit essence that the Father and the Son share that they're willing to give us to be our encourager our comforter our spiritual coach and we'll hear more about this in the new near future until then I encourage all of us to continue to reflect those good works in every area of our life and study ahead for the power and personal transformation possible because of the gift of God's Holy Spirit I hope and pray that all of you will have a fulfilling remainder of the seventh day of unleavened bread this year may God bless all of you