What Does the Passover Season Mean to You? Part 1

Well, brethren, it won't be long, and Easter will be upon us. Now, in light of that fact, I would like to read from an article entitled, He's Pagan, He's Lusty, But Everyone Loves the Bunny. That's right. This is an article written by Jeff Strickler. It appeared in the Minneapolis St. Paul Star Tribune on March 21, 2008. He says, and I quote, Even the name Easter was borrowed from the ancient Saxons who marched spring with a festival honoring the goddess Easter or Astarte. One of her earthly symbols was, you guessed it, a rabbit. Of course, that's a fertility symbol. The article goes on to say, there is a Christian group called The United Church of God that is opposed to Easter in its entirety. On its website, GN Magazine.org, the Ohio-based denomination argues that since Jesus never specifically endorsed Easter as a holiday, it remains a pagan rite, and all the symbols associated with it, including the Easter Bunny and Easter eggs, are irreverent. But beyond people like these, and perhaps Elmer Fudd, don't you love to be compared with Elmer Fudd? Beyond people like these and perhaps Elmer Fudd, it's hard to find someone who speaks poorly of the Easter Bunny. Now, I must say, I have a few fond memories of eating chocolate Easter bunnies and yellow marshmallow eggs and rabbits, but I can't say that observing Easter as a child was ever very meaningful to me. I was just out for a little candy. Now, on the other hand, I observed my first Passover back when I was 18 years old, now 37 years ago. Can you believe it? 37 years ago. I wasn't yet baptized, so I didn't partake of the symbols of Passover, the wine, the bread, the foot washing. But I know that my first Passover season in God's Church was a very meaningful one for me. I had wanted to be baptized before Passover that year. I had started attending in January of that year, and I really wanted to be baptized before Passover. But the minister knew I had applied to Ambassador College, and he felt it would be best to wait. So I waited, and I was baptized, I think it was in August or September, I believe it was the latter part of August in 1974. And the next year, 1975, while at Ambassador College, was the first year that I fully observed the Passover. And again, that Passover was a very, very meaningful one for me. It was inspiring. It was also very sobering to keep the Passover. And although my memory has blurred over the years, I know with a great certainty that every single Passover season has been extremely meaningful to me. And I'm sure that is also the case for you personally. Some of you have been in the church longer than I have, and I know that every single Passover season is extremely meaningful. It's, again, very sobering. It's also very inspiring. I know that because we all, I know that because we all put a great deal of emphasis on the Passover, we all feel the same way about the Passover season. We look forward to it. We prepare early, Mr. Smith was thinking along the same lines as myself, and we both decided it's time to start talking about the Passover.

And it is rightly so that it means so much to us, because without a doubt, this is the most spiritually meaningful time of the year. Now, that's not to take away from Pentecost or from the Feast of Tabernacles or Last Great Day, Feast of Trumpets, or any of the other Holy Days. Of course, the Passover itself is not really considered a Holy Day. The Days of Unleavened Bread, the first and the last day are Holy Days.

But it's part of the spring Passover season, and it's a very meaningful time of the year. We're going to talk about that today. What does the Passover mean to you? That's the title of the sermon. What does the Passover mean to you? Will you take the Passover in a worthy manner this year, as the Bible tells us we must do? How can you be sure? What does the Passover mean to you?

I'd like to share at least five principles. I say at least five because I probably won't get through all of these today, and it's possible I may add something next time. I don't think we'll get through all five, so this will probably be a two-part sermon. We'll see how long it takes. Let's begin with principle number one. Observing the Passover means that you acknowledge God's deliverance out of slavery and sin. Observing the Passover means that you acknowledge that God has delivered you out of slavery and sin. Now, it starts back in the book of Exodus. Actually, I suppose we could say it starts before that even in some ways, but let's go back to the book of Exodus and let's rehearse a little of the history of why we keep the Passover and what it means to us. In Exodus chapter 1, we'll start reading in verse 11. And of course, this was after Joseph had died. Remember, Joseph had been exalted and was second in command in the land of Egypt, and his family came to Egypt because of a great famine, and they lived there in the land of Goshen. And the Pharaoh who knew Joseph died. And the next Pharaoh, or the Pharaoh that it's talking about at this time, didn't know Joseph, didn't have the affinity to Joseph that, of course, the prior Pharaoh had. So they were taken into bondage. And in verse 11, it says, therefore they set task masters over them because they were multiplying. They were concerned that they might get more and more powerful in the land of Egypt and might even take over. So in verse 11, they set task masters over them to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh supply cities, Python, and Ramses. They became slaves. But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were in dread of the children of Israel. So the Egyptians made the children of Israel serve with rigor, with harshness, very back-breaking work. Verse 14, and they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in mortar, in brick, and in all manner of service in the field. All their service in which they made them serve was with rigor. So they very strictly and very harshly put them to work, and they were evil task masters. Now, in chapter 2, and we're going to skip over the birth of Moses, but in chapter 2, verse 23, now it happened in the process of time that the king of Egypt died, then the children of Israel groaned because of the bondage. And they cried out, and their cry came up to God because of their bondage.

Just imagine if you were a slave in a country, in a land, a foreign land, that you had come to, and once you were happy there, but then you had been enslaved and taken into bondage, how would you feel about that? Would you not also cry out to God for deliverance? That's exactly what these children of Israel were doing. So they groaned because of the bondage, and they cried out, and their cry came up to God because of the bondage. So God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. And of course, the Bible talks about that covenant in the book of Genesis. And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God acknowledged them. God knew who they were. God knew that a promise had been made to them through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And God was about to do something about it. Now, we're going to skip over the next several chapters, and there's a lot of history here, and it really would be wise to read all of this before the Passover to get a better feel for exactly what was going on. But we're going to go over all of the various plagues that were poured out on Egypt, because they would not let God's people go. They would not let them go worship God. Again, they were held in bondage. They were slaves. So let's go to Exodus 12 now, and in the first several verses of chapter 12, it talks about taking a lamb, preparing it for sacrifice, a lamb without blemish, taking it on the 14th day of the same month, and killing it at twilight. Other instructions are given. And then notice verse 11, And thus you shall eat it, this Passover, with a belt on your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. So shall you eat it in haste, it is the eternal Passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast. And against all the gods of Egypt, I will execute judgment. I am the Eternal. In fact, many of the plagues, or basically all of the plagues, had to do with the gods of Egypt. And we don't have time to go into that now, but God was showing His power over the gods of Egypt in each one of those plagues.

And now a final plague, a tenth plague, was about to be poured out on the land of Egypt, a land that was already decimated to a large degree. I will execute judgment. I am the Eternal. Now the blood shall be assigned for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, the blood that was put on the lintels and the doorposts, I will pass over you, hence the name Passover.

I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike this land of Egypt. So this day shall be to you a memorial, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord. Throughout your generations, you shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day, you shall remove leaven from your houses for whoever eats leavened bread, from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel.

On the first day, there should be a holy convocation, and on the seventh day, there shall be a holy convocation for you. No matter of work shall be done on them, but that which everyone must eat, that only must be prepared by you. So you shall observe the feast of unleavened bread, for on this same day I will have brought your armies out of the land of Egypt. Now they weren't really armies, but they were just people. They weren't armed in that sense. They were a slave people, but it refers to them as armies.

My margin says, the hosts of Israel, the hosts out of the land of Israel, therefore you shall observe this day throughout your generations as an everlasting ordinance. In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread until the twenty-first day of the month at evening. For seven days no leaven shall be found in your houses, since whoever eats what is leavened, that same person shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is a stranger or a native of the land. You shall eat nothing leavened in all your dwellings.

You shall eat unleavened bread. Now, of course, we continue to observe the days of unleavened bread. We will put the leaven out of our homes. We know doing so is symbolic of putting sin out of our lives. It takes some effort, and so we do put some effort into putting the leaven out of our homes. We vacuum our homes. We search through the covers to make sure the leaven is out. We put the leaven out.

We do that because we want to be vigilant in putting sin out of our lives. It's symbolic, though. It's a physical thing that we do that reminds us of something spiritual. It helps us learn lessons about what we need to do in preparation for the Passover. We need to put sin out of our lives, each and every day of our lives. That's the kind of life that we all must be living. A life of repentance, a life of obedience and faithfulness, of striving to live by every word of God and to do those things that are pleasing in God's sight.

Now, in verse 23, it says, For the Lord will pass through to strike the Egyptians, and when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and not allow the destroyer, the death angel, to come into your houses to strike you. And you shall observe this thing as an ordinance for you and your sons forever. It will come to pass when you come to the land which the Lord will give you, just as He promised that you shall keep this service.

And it shall be when your children say to you, What do you mean by this service, this Passover service, that you shall say, It is the Passover sacrifice of the Eternal who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when He struck the Egyptians and delivered our household. Remember, God is the God who delivers, and He delivered the children of Israel out of Egypt.

So the people bowed their heads and they worshipped. Then the children of Israel went away, and they did so, just as the Eternal had commanded Moses and Aaron. So they did. They were obedient to follow the instructions. They knew that if they didn't put that blood, if they didn't sacrifice the Lamb and put the blood on the doorposts and the lintels, they would not be passed over. They would die, along with the firstborn of Egypt. So they took these commands seriously, and they were obedient. Now, let's go to verse 42.

Verse 42. Now, we're skipping again over a lot of information here regarding the tenth plague, the death of the firstborn. Everything came to pass exactly as God said it would. And the firstborn of Egypt died.

Let's read verse 42. Well, let's read verse 40. Now, the sojourn of the children of Israel who lived in Egypt was 430 years. They had been there a long time, 430 years, and it came to pass at the end of the 430 years. On that very same day, it came to pass that all the armies of the Eternal went out from the land of Egypt. It is a night of solemn observance to the Lord, for bringing them out of the land of Egypt. This is that night of the Eternal, a solemn observance for all the children of Israel throughout their generations. And, of course, we will keep a night of solemn observance as we gather together in people's homes, in brethren's homes, and as we meet in private rooms and restaurants where we can have some privacy. Because this is a night of the Eternal, a solemn observance to show how God did rescue the children of Israel out of Egypt.

Let's go to verse 51 now. Verse 51, And it came to pass on that very same day that the Eternal brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt, according to their hosts, according to their armies, as it says, God took them out of Egypt.

Now, let's look at a few verses in chapter 13, verse 3. And 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 Eternal brought you out of this place, no leavened bread shall be eaten.

And then in verse 7, 11 bread shall be eaten seven days, and no leavened bread shall be seen among you, nor shall leaven be seen among you in all your quarters. And you shall tell your son in that day, saying, This is done because of what the Eternal did for me when I came out from Egypt. It shall be as a sign to you on your hand and as a memorial before your eyes or between your eyes, that the Eternal's law may be in your mouth. God wants us to keep His law.

Today, people believe that God's law was done away. The Bible is consistent in showing that, no, God's law is not done away. In fact, Jesus Christ Himself said, I came not to destroy the law or the prophets. I came to fulfill all of the prophecies, and He came to fulfill the law, to keep the law, to show us how if we humble ourselves before God and yield completely and surrender ourselves fully and completely, we can overcome. We can put sin out of our lives. Now, Christ did that perfectly. None of us have done that perfectly. We're all sinners. We've all fallen short of God's glory. Jesus Christ was perfect. He is the perfect sacrifice. Only He has never sinned. The rest of us are sinners. Sin is the transgression of the law. We know what sin is because the law tells us what sin is. When we break it, we have sinned. So the law continues today, and we are to strive to obey the law, to overcome, and to put sin out of our lives. Let's go to verse 15. Verse 15. And it came to pass when Pharaoh was stubborn about letting us go that the Eternal killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt. The Pharaoh was very stubborn, and we won't go back and rehearse the other plagues, but there were numerous times when Pharaoh was going to let them go, but changed his mind and would not let God's people go. So the Eternal killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of beast. Therefore I sacrificed to the Eternal all males that opened the womb, but all the firstborn of my sons I redeemed. It shall be as a sign on your hand and as frontlets between your eyes, for by strength of hand the Eternal brought us out of Egypt. In verse 21, And the Eternal went before them, he went before the children of Israel, by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so as to go by day and night. He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day, or the pillar of fire by night, from before the people. So God was with them throughout the day and the night. God was continually there to strengthen them, to encourage them, to let them know that He was there for them.

Now, when Moses instructed the Pharaoh that the God of Israel was telling him, let my people go, what was God really saying? Now, we know that Egypt is symbolic of sin. We also know that the Egyptian Pharaoh is symbolic of Satan the Devil. So the children of Israel were in bondage in Egypt. They were in slavery to sin. They were in bondage to sin. And who was trying to keep them in Egypt? Who would not let them go? Pharaoh, or the one symbolic of Satan the Devil, would not let them go. So God was, in essence, saying, let my people go from sin. Let them come out of sin. Let them follow Me. Let them obey the covenant that they're going to make between Me. I'm going to give them My commandments, My law. Let My people go from sin. That's what this season is all about. This is what God wants us to understand. He wants us to put sin out of our lives. But even more importantly, He shows us that it's only through Jesus Christ that our sins will be forgiven. Because even though we are to put sin out of our lives and we are to be overcomers, we're all going to fall short. We need a sacrifice. We need a lamb. We need the shed blood of Jesus Christ to wash away our sins.

So even though God does want us to obey Him and to put sin out of our lives, He also wants us to realize that we are saved by grace. We are not saved by law-keeping. We're not saved by keeping the law. We've all fallen short of doing that. No, we are truly saved by grace, the grace that comes through our Savior Jesus Christ. We know that God miraculously delivered Israel from Egypt. It was miraculous. The destruction of the Egyptian nation rocked the world at that time. It was inconceivable that the puny nation of Israel could escape from the powerful Egypt.

Israel was a slave people. They were in bondage. They had no weapons. How could they possibly escape from the most powerful man on earth? How could they possibly escape from the most powerful army on earth? Even though God had decimated Egypt to some degree through the plagues, it was mainly economically that He was decimating them. They still had strength militarily.

It didn't make sense for Israel to actually be able to get away. God made that happen. Pharaoh, we know, finally relented and let them go, but it wasn't long before He was after them again.

We find that symbolic of when God starts working with us. Satan doesn't want that to happen. Satan doesn't want God to be able to get through to us. He doesn't want God to influence us. He doesn't want us to heed the call. He wants us to resist God. But when we draw near to God, we know that God draws near to us. God strengthens us, and Satan has to go.

Satan can't stick around. Remember what it says in the book of James. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. So this is symbolic of how God has called you out of the world. How God has opened your mind. And back before you were baptized, Satan had to leave when God was drawing you and calling you and bringing you. But he's come back. He doesn't leave us alone. Satan still pursues us. He still tries to get the best of us. See, it was only through divine intervention that Israel escaped Egypt. And it's only through divine intervention that you are escaping from the bondage of sin. The wages of sin is death, and that is what we all deserve. Because we've all sinned. We actually deserve the second death, which is a death for eternity.

But because of God's grace, and because of his divine intervention, he is bringing us out of bondage to sin. He is showing us the way.

We're going to talk about that way as we continue through these couple of sermons. Again, it's only by God's grace that Israel could have escaped the bondage of Egypt. It was a miraculous intervention. It was God's gracious protection upon them and his deliverance. Remember, it was God who decimated the Egyptians by sending the first nine plagues. It was God who sent the tenth plague, the death angel, and killed the firstborn of Egypt while sparing the firstborn of Israel. It was God who drowned the Egyptians in the Red Sea while saving the Israelites. What did the Israelites do to escape the Egyptians? Let's read about that in Exodus 14. What did they do? Exodus 14, verse 13. Back in verse 8, it talks about how Pharaoh, king of Egypt, pursued the children of Israel. He went after them. They were complaining in verse 11, thinking that they were going to die there. Some of them obviously didn't have faith, even though God had been with them continually day and night. They had seen the plagues that God had brought upon Egypt. They had seen his mighty power, and yet they were quick to grumble and complain. And that is a trait of Israelites. They tend to grumble and complain.

In verse 11, they said to Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you so dealt with us to bring us out of Egypt? Is this not the word that we told you in Egypt, saying, Let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness. And Moses said to the people, Do not be afraid. Stand still and see the salvation of the Eternal, which he will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians, whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever. So Moses told him to stand still and do nothing.

But that's not what God wanted them to do, is it? He didn't want them to just stand still. Now, we can understand why Moses would say that, because he realized fully that it was only God who could deliver them. But notice verse 14. Well, yeah, let's read 14 and then notice a little further here. Verse 14, The Lord will fight for you and you shall hold your peace. Verse 15, The Lord said to Moses, Why do you cry to me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward. Don't just stand still. Get moving. Lift up your rod and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it. And the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea. And I indeed will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them. So I will gain honor over Pharaoh and over all his army and his chariots and his horsemen. And we know that, indeed, God did gain tremendous honor because all of them were drowned in the sea. God opened up the sea for the children of Israel to go through on dry ground, but he drowned all the chariots, all the armies of Pharaoh. God does want us to continue to move forward. He doesn't want us to just stand still. He wants us to be active in serving him and moving forward. We know it was God who sustained the children of Israel in the wilderness for 40 years. They had to wander there because of their disobedience, because they would not go in and take the Promised Land.

Because they lacked faith, it was because of their unbelief that they did not go in immediately and take possession of the Promised Land. God was giving them a good land, a land flowing with milk and honey. But they refused to go in and take it. They refused to move forward. We must not refuse to move forward. It was God who gave the Israelites the Promised Land. They did have to go forward and possess the land. They had to be strong and of good courage.

And who was this God who gave the Israelites victory over Pharaoh and the Egyptians? The Scriptures refer to this God as the God of Israel, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and Jacob, the great I AM. We know that this being, this God, was none other than the one who became known later on as Jesus the Christ. Many people don't realize that the God of the Old Testament was, in almost not every single case, there are a few cases where the ancient of days where God the Father was revealed to some degree, but for the most part it was the one who became Jesus Christ, the Creator God. The Father created all things through Jesus Christ. The New Testament tells us that. We know that to be true. So it's even more significant and meaningful when we realize that it was the one who became Jesus Christ who led them out of Egypt. He was their deliverer at that time.

So the first principle again was observing the Passover means that you acknowledge God's deliverance out of slavery and out of sin. You acknowledge that it is God who is delivering you out of slavery and sin. Now God the Father, working through His Son Jesus Christ, is delivering us out of slavery and out of sin. Which leads to the second point, the second principle.

Secondly, observing the Passover means that you acknowledge and you accept Jesus Christ as the Lamb of God and your personal Savior. It means that you accept Jesus Christ as the Lamb of God and your personal Savior. So let's talk about that for a while. We'll fast forward to the time of Jesus Christ when Jesus Christ was born of the Virgin Mary. Now we're not going to take the time to go to John chapter 1, but John 1 is vital in understanding who Jesus Christ truly was. Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary. He was conceived of the Holy Spirit.

And John talks about that, and it talks about how the one who was with God at the very beginning became flesh and dwelt among us, among us human beings, conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary. Jesus was without sin, but the religious rulers of the day under the influence and the inspiration of Satan the Devil were intent on killing the Lamb of God.

They were intent on killing the Lamb of God. The people, the mob, joined hands with the religious leaders, and they cried out, Crucify him! Crucify him! And so the innocent Lamb of God was slain. Now, I'm obviously moving over a lot of history, moving to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, but it is vital that we understand that Jesus became our Passover Lamb. In Exodus 12, it talked about a Lamb that would be taken and would be sacrificed on Passover 9th, or that afternoon, and that the Passover would be observed. Jesus Christ became our Passover Lamb. His blood was shed for us. The death angel would have no power on those who accepted Christ as their Savior. Jesus Christ became sinned for us. That's what the Scripture tells us. That Christ became sinned for us. He paid the penalty. Again, the wages of sin is death. The penalty for sin is death, and that's what Jesus Christ did for you and me. He laid his life down for us. He paid the penalty for our sins. He made it possible that all of our sins can be forgiven. And there isn't any sin that's too heinous for God to forgive if a person is repentant. And obviously, that is the key. A person must repent of his sins.

The second death is to have no power on you and me, because we have accepted Christ as our Savior. We know that three days and three nights Christ was in the tomb. He was buried in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights. It's the only sign that he was truly the Messiah, that he would be in the heart of the earth as the prophet Jonah was in the belly of the great fish for three days and three nights. So Christ was in the heart of the earth, buried. He was dead.

But God the Father resurrected him to life. We know that he sits at the right hand of God today. We know that he makes intercession for us. We know that he is our high priest. The book of Hebrews goes into all of this. It explains that in great detail. Christ was resurrected, otherwise we would still be in our sins. So in 1 Corinthians 15, and I know that Mr. Smith went to 1 Corinthians 15, but I'm going to go to the first part of 1 Corinthians 15, not the latter part where he was. 1 Corinthians chapter 15.

1 Corinthians chapter 15. Let's start reading in verse 3. 1 Corinthians 15 verse 3. 1 Corinthians 15 verse 3. For I delivered to you, first of all, that which I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures. Jesus Christ died for your sins and mine, and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. After three days and three nights in the heart of the earth, he rose and he was seen by Cephas and by the twelve of the twelve disciples. After that, he was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remained to the present. Many of them were still alive at the writing of this particular epistle. But some have fallen asleep, some have died, but many were alive. There were many eyewitnesses that Jesus Christ truly had been resurrected. After that, he was seen by James and by all the apostles. Then last of all, he was seen by me also as by one born out of due time. Now let's go to verse 13. Paul says, but if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ, whom he did not raise up, if in fact the dead do not rise. Remember, the Sadducees did not even believe in a resurrection of the dead. The Pharisees did believe in that, but not the Sadducees. Verse 16, for if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile. You are still in your sins.

There is only one way to eternal life, and that is through Jesus Christ, through the sacrifice of Christ. There is no other name given under heaven whereby we may be saved. Now, some people will say that all roads lead to heaven, whether it is Buddhism or Shintoism or whatever else. They say all of these roads lead to heaven or eternal life or however they want to put it, but the scriptures deny that. They say there is only one name given under heaven whereby we may be saved, and that is because only Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God. Only Jesus Christ is the Son of God who had His blood shed for us. He is our Passover. So we certainly need to understand that.

Verse 17, and if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile, you are still in your sins. Then also those who have fallen asleep or those who have died in Christ have perished.

For example, King David and all the others, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, he is saying if Christ didn't die as the Savior of mankind, as the Lamb of God, if He didn't die and if He wasn't resurrected, then those who were asleep have already died, they're perished. He says, if in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable. In other words, we are to be pitied if what the scripture says isn't true. But what the scripture says is true. Jesus Christ is our Savior. He died for us, and if by Him we may live for eternity forever, we have salvation through Jesus Christ. Now, I'd like to take a little time to talk about this Lamb of God, the analogy that's used in the Bible about Christ as the Lamb of God, as our Passover. In Genesis 22.8, we find a parallel. Genesis 22, we find a parallel, even as far back as Genesis, that talks about a Lamb or a sacrifice. You're familiar with this account. It's about Abraham and Isaac. Genesis 22.8. And Abraham said, he was speaking to Isaac who said, you've got the fire, you've got the wood, but where is the Lamb for a burnt offering? In verse 8 of chapter 22, Abraham said, my son, God will provide for himself the Lamb for a burnt offering. So the two of them went together and we know the rest of the story. Abraham was ready to sacrifice his son, his son Isaac. He was ready to sacrifice him because he had faith. God had told him that his seed would continue through Isaac, that the promises would go through Isaac. So he had faith that Isaac would be resurrected to life. So he was willing to kill his own son.

Abraham was willing to put the knife to his own son. Now Isaac was a type of Jesus Christ who also willingly laid his life down for all of us. Abraham was a type of God the Father, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but should have everlasting life. So here we find a parallel. Abraham, again, a type of God the Father and his son Isaac, a type of Jesus Christ. We know that God did not require that Abraham plunge that knife into his son's heart. He said, now I know that you will obey me because he was willing to do that. That's the kind of faithfulness and the kind of obedience that God is looking for in his people, the faith of Abraham. Abraham is the Father of the faithful. We are to follow his example. We are to be his children in the faith.

So do you have that kind of faith? Do you have that kind of love for God that you would lay down your only son? Well, we know Jesus Christ was the Son of God who was slain from the very foundations of the world for you and me. So we see this type in Genesis 22. Now, if we go, of course, in Exodus, we see the type again of the Lamb that was going to be sacrificed, the Passover. In John 1, let's go to John 1, we'll see here that Christ is seen as the Lamb of God. The disciples came to realize that Jesus Christ was indeed the Son of God. In John 1, John 1, as I already mentioned, the first part of John gives the background of Jesus Christ.

In verse 29, the next day, John saw Jesus coming toward him. John, the author of this particular Gospel, John saw Jesus coming toward him and he said, Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Now, we need to realize again that there's only one name under heaven whereby we may be saved and it is Jesus the Christ, the Messiah, the anointed one. He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Now, in Revelation chapter 5, we're going to go all the way back to the last book in the Bible where we'll find this parallel or this comparison used a number of times. Revelation chapter 5. Revelation chapter 5. We know that most of Revelation is prophetic. Most of it is yet to be fulfilled. Revelation chapter 5 verse 6.

And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God, sent out into all the earth. Then he came and he took the scroll out of the right hand of him, who sat on the throne. Now, when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying, You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain. Clearly, talking about Jesus Christ, who was slain, and you were slain and have redeemed us to God by your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and have made us kings and priests to our God, and we shall reign on the earth. Now, this is talking about those who are the firstfruits, those who are the firstfruits of God, they will reign and rule with Christ on the earth for a thousand years. So again, we see this parallel, this language about the Lamb of God. Notice verse 12, saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing. Jesus Christ is truly the Lamb of God. In Revelation 7 verse 14, Revelation chapter 7 verse 14, and I said to him, Sir, you know, so he said to me, These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. There will be those who will repent. They will come out of the great tribulation and they will repent and their robes will be whitened.

Some will be martyrs. They will have to give their lives.

But in doing so, their robes will be made white in the blood of the Lamb. Not all people will be martyred. Some will be martyred. Some will be protected. Some will be changed at the return of Christ in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet. Those who have died in Christ, of course, will be resurrected first at the return of Christ.

So they washed their robes, they made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Verse 15, Therefore they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple. And he who sits on the throne will dwell among them. They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore. The sun shall not strike them nor any heat. For the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. It's speaking about eternal life. Living fountains of waters. The fountain of youth. We've all heard about the fountain of youth. How Ponce de Leon down in Florida was hunting for the fountain of youth. Seems like people still are looking for the fountain of youth. Actresses that are in their 70s who have been remade countless times, still trying to look young. But eventually it always catches up to them.

Even I guess Liz Taylor was in the hospital. I don't know if she died or I guess she's still alive. Anyway, it happens to all of us. But thankfully there is deliverance from this body of flesh. And we can be given the gift of eternal life because of the Lamb.

For the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. God will wipe away every tear. There's so many tears, so much heartache on the earth today. And there will continue to be death and sorrow and suffering until Christ returns. And even after that, to some degree, as people will rebel against Christ, it won't be until the New Jerusalem when all flesh will be gone and then there will be no more sorrow, no more suffering, no more crying, no more tears. God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.

In Revelation 12, we see again this blood of the Lamb talked about. Revelation 12, verse 9.

So the great serpent was cast out, that serpent of old called the devil and Satan, who deceived the whole world. He was cast to the earth and his angels were cast out with him.

The angels were cast out with him. Then I heard a loud voice, saying in heaven, Now salvation and strength and the kingdom of our God and the power of his Christ have come. For the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down and they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb. That's how we are to overcome Satan the devil. It's not by our own power. It's not by our own might. It's through the blood of the Lamb. It's because of our acceptance of Christ as our Savior, the one who is slain for us.

It's our acceptance of Jesus Christ as the Lamb of God that will give us victory over Satan.

Satan is a powerful demon, an evil spirit. We cannot stand against Satan the devil without God's help. To take Satan on by ourselves would be the height of foolishness.

We don't have that power. It's through the blood of the Lamb. He is the accuser of the brethren. He accuses us when we sin. He tempts us to sin. And then he accuses us of sin before God Almighty. He is our adversary. He is our enemy.

But it is Christ who intercedes for us, pleads our case, grants us repentance.

And it's through the blood of Jesus Christ that we've accepted by which we shall be saved.

Revelation 15, verse 3, They sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvelous are your works, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are your ways. I'm in Revelation chapter 15, verse 3. The song of the Lamb. Great and marvelous are your works, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are your ways, O King of the Saints. Who shall not fear you, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy, for all nations shall come and worship before you, for your judgments have been manifested. So, again, it is the Lamb of God. And one last time in Revelation 22, it speaks of the Lamb of God, Revelation chapter 22. We saw in the book of Genesis where it talked about the Lamb of God, talked about Abraham and Isaac, and a sacrifice of a Lamb, and a parallel. And now in the very last chapter in the Bible, chapter 22, verse 1, and He showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal. And we read about this. It's symbolic of eternal life, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb.

The Bible talks a lot about Jesus Christ as the Lamb. God wants us to get the connection. That Christ is our Passover. In fact, in 1 Corinthians 5, it says exactly that, that Christ is our Passover. Let's briefly go there. 1 Corinthians chapter 5. 2 Corinthians 5.

Verse 6, it says, 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, for indeed Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us. In Romans chapter 5, it shows that we are reconciled by the death of Jesus Christ, but we are saved by His life. Romans chapter 5 verse 9. Romans 5 verse 9.

Well, let's read verse 8 too. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, and that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more than having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. We are reconciled to the Father because of the Son, because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for His shed blood, and we are saved because Christ was resurrected. And is now at the right hand of God, making intercession for us.

So again, we are saved by the life of Christ. We are reconciled to the Father by His death. I'm going to conclude this scripture by just going to John 3.16. I already I quoted it once, and we're familiar with it. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but should have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world to Him might be saved. God is in the process of saving the world. Scripture says that He is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to the knowledge of the truth. It's not God's will that any perish. Of course, people can choose. God doesn't force a person. Scripture shows that some will be cast into a lake of fire because they choose to refuse to obey God and to surrender themselves to Him. But apparently, the vast majority of people will eventually, as the plan of salvation is, as it comes through fruition after the thousand-year period, after the Great White Throne Judgment period, that the vast majority of people will repent of their sins. They will be saved through the sacrifice of the Lamb of God. So it's important that we focus on these things. The Passover will be upon us before we know it. The Passover season truly is the most meaningful, inspiring, and sobering time of the year. Let us all draw close to God the Father and Jesus Christ as this Passover approaches. Let us consider the principles that we discussed today. As we prepare for the Passover, we talked about observing the Passover means that we acknowledge God's deliverance out of slavery and sin. And when we observe the Passover, it means that we acknowledge that we have accepted Jesus Christ as the Lamb of God, as our personal Savior. So these are two very important reasons we have more to cover next time. So I hope that you can begin to read the book of Exodus, read more about it, study into it, strive to get your mind closer and closer to God as we approach the Passover.

Again, it is a very meaningful time, but we have to move forward. We have to be doing something actively ourselves. Certainly fasting before Passover is always good to do, to pass over or to fast, to draw closer to God, to read the Scriptures, to study the Bible about the plan of salvation and what God is doing in your life. So I would encourage you to do this, and let's all prepare for the Passover.