Why We Need the Passover

Brethren, why do we observe the Passover? I think that's a question sometimes we sort of assume, we look at, we evaluate every year. Why did Jesus Christ have to die? Or did He have to die? Why did God do it the way that He did? Have you ever stopped to think about it? Wasn't there a different way that our sins could be forgiven?

Why did God allow to go that way? Well, today I'd like to take a fresh, perhaps a little different look at the Passover as we prepare for the Passover. And we've been focusing for the last month on the Passover, the Days of Unleavened Bread, preparing for them, Christ's crucifixion, and we've had a number of sermons, sermonettes dealing with that. But let's go back today, starting with the first Passover to Exodus 12. I know we've read part of this before. But Exodus 12 and verse 3, and let's notice some of the features of the original Passover that are mentioned here.

Beginning in verse 3, Exodus 12. So speak to the congregation of Israel, saying on the tenth day of this month, Every man shall take for himself a lamb according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household. Then verse 5, Your lamb shall be without blemish. A male of the first year you shall take it from the sheep or from the goats. So it could be from the sheep or the goats. And we know this lamb was taken, and at sunset or twilight it was killed. So the lamb became the center of the festival, the killing of the lamb, the roasting and the eating of this particular lamb.

Now what made this sacrifice different from other sacrifices? Down through the centuries there have been sacrifices. The Passover was not the first time that sacrifices had ever been offered up. We know that Cain and Abel offered up sacrifices. Noah offered up sacrifice. There are all kinds of examples in the Bible. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob offered sacrifices up. They had killed other animals, not just a lamb, but other animals were types of animals that had been slain. And yet God chose a lamb here to symbolize something.

Let's go on in verses 6 and 7. Verse 6 says, And you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight. And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts on the lentils of the house where they eat. Now, the sacrifice, you have to remember that this was something that was only done once.

They didn't do this from what we know every year where they'd go and they'd mark their doors. But there was a specific reason this year that God commanded them the first year to mark the blood on their doorpost and on the lentils. And that was that God was going to send the death angel through the land. And any house that had not had the blood marked on it, the firstborn would be killed. And so it was a very integral part. Blood then became a part of that. You know, a sacrifice, a word sacrifice and offering many times are used interchangeably.

And even though they apply to the same thing they're talking about different operations. A sacrifice is the taking of life. When they sacrificed the animal, they cut its throat and it bled to death. An offering was taking the sacrifice and offering it to God, giving it to God.

And both were accomplished. So you have a sacrifice and an offering. Now in verse 12, God says, I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night. We'll strike all the firstborn of the land of Egypt, both man and beast. And against all the gods of Egypt, I will execute judgment. I am the Lord. Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over.

And the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. And so God promised to protect them. So they were protected by what? By being under the blood. And this sacrifice, again, offered protection. This is one thing that God taught on that particular evening, that they were going to be protected. Now Israel was accepted by God. The Egyptians were rejected by God. God didn't come to the Egyptians and say, Look, I'm going to send the death angel to the land.

And you have a choice. If you'll kill an animal, take the blood, mark it on the door post, I'll pass over your houses. He never said that to the Egyptians. He said that to the Israelites. They were the ones who had the choice. Now if they were an Israelite and they refused to do what God said, then they died the firstborn right along with the Egyptians. So God made a difference between His people Israel and the Egyptians. And we will see that that has some significance.

So why kill a lamb? Why not use red paint? Why didn't God say, Just go out and get some red dye, some hyssop, mark your door post, and that will take care of it. Because all I'm looking for is red. Why didn't God do that? Anything to delineate, in other words, God could have done anything to delineate between the houses or the homes of the Israelites and the Egyptians. He made the delineation blood. And so therefore they were protected.

Now let's go over to Mark chapter 14 with this in mind. And let's look at Christ's final Passover that He observed. The one that we have a lot of information about. Great detail on Mark 14. Christ had asked His disciples to prepare the Passover for them. They had done so. They were eating what we would call the Old Testament Passover, the meal.

And we find, beginning here in verse 22, that Jesus Christ changed the symbols. And as they were eating, Jesus took bread. He blessed it. He broke it. He gave it to them and said, Take eat. This is my body. Or this bread is my body. It represents my body. It pictures my body.

And He was symbolizing ahead of time what He was going to go through. Jesus Christ, as we've covered, was very much aware of what He was going to have to go through. The beating, the suffering that He would go through, the scourging. Then verse 23, He took the cup.

And so Christ, again, took wine to symbolize His blood, the fact that He was going to give His life. The symbols that Christ chose implied His death, not only that He was going to die, but the type of death that He would die. That He would go through a scourging and that He would shed His blood. Now, the Lamb was killed for the Passover observance. And the Bible very clearly reveals that Jesus Christ is our Lamb. I referred to this the other day, but let's go over to John 1, verse 29. John 1, 29. I want you to notice the Scripture here. It says, the next day John saw Jesus coming toward Him and said, Behold the Lamb of God. So He clearly shows that Christ is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

He was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing. I think that's also part of the Messiah, that is, Son.

And it says, Every creature which is in heaven, on the earth, and unto the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all of them are in it, I heard saying blessing and honor and glory and power to Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb forever and ever. So here we have, symbolically, Jesus Christ pictured as a Lamb that is slain. He is right at the right hand of the Father, and He is assisting Him in carrying out the work that God has to do throughout the universe. Now, in chapter 13, verse 8, we also find it talks about Christ being the slain Lamb. In chapter 13, verse 8, it says, All who dwell on the earth will worship Him whose names, excuse me, all those who dwell on the earth will worship Him whose names have not been written in the book of life, the Lamb, slain from the foundation of the world. So Jesus Christ was preordained, pre-determined, to be slain ahead of time from the foundation of the world. And why was He going to be slain, killed? Because I'm a sinner and you've been a sinner. We've all sinned against God. Now, hopefully we're not continuing in sin. We have sinned, and we need to be forgiven. He was not slain because of our goodness or our righteousness. You and I are not sitting here today because God looked out and said, Oh, look at that good person. Look at that wonderful individual. I'll call them because they really set a wonderful example. No, God didn't do that. Just like ancient Israel, Israel was protected because of God's selection or calling. Not because of their goodness. God said, I didn't call you, choose you, because you were the greatest nation. You had the greatest army. You were the most righteous. You were better than everybody else. He said, No, I chose you. Why? Why did God choose Israel? We all know because of Abraham. God had promised Abraham certain blessings. God chose them because of Abraham's obedience and because of the promise to Abraham and his descendants that they would inherit the Promised Land. They would inherit Canaan. Let's go back to Genesis 17. A number of scriptures we could read on this, but let's just read one of them here. Genesis 17. Beginning in verse 1, When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, I am Almighty God. Walk before me and be blameless. Now verse 2, Genesis 17. And I will make my covenant between me and you, and I will multiply you exceedingly. And Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying, As for me, behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be called Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful, I make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. And I will establish my covenant between me and you, and your descendants after you, and their generations for an everlasting covenant to be God to you and your descendants after you. And I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession, and I will be their God. So we know that God made a promise. We could go back and read. There are other scriptures that clearly delineate between what we would call race and grace. Race, God is talking about many nations, the twelve tribes that He was going to call, and grace through Jesus Christ. That God would extend through Christ's salvation to all mankind. And all nations would become a part of the blessings promised to Abraham. So God chose Israel. And you'll read over here, I didn't write this down, but let's go back to chapter 12 of Exodus. Exodus 12.

We read in verse 40, The sojourning of the children of Israel who lived in Egypt was 430 years, and it came to pass at the end of the 430th year on that very same day. It came to pass that all the armies of Israel, or armies of the Lord, went out from the land of Egypt. It is a night of solemn observance. And so you find that God had prophesied that they would come out of slavery exactly 430 years later, and they, to the very day, came out exactly as God had said and as God had prophesied. Now, God brought Israel out. He chose them as a nation to be His people. And so here God was working through Israel. And in Exodus chapter 24, beginning in verse 6, we find that God established the covenant, what is commonly referred to as the Old Covenant, the first covenant here with Israel. In Exodus 24 and beginning in verse 6, I want you to notice how this covenant was established. Moses took half the blood and put it in a basin, and half the blood he sprinkled on the altar. And then he took the book of the covenant and read it in the hearing of the people. Exodus 20, 21, 22, 23, he read it in the hearing of the people. And they said all that the Lord has said, we will do. They promised to obey God. You said it, we'll do it. And be obedient. This is sort of like when you get married. The minister says, do you promise to love, cherish, and so on and so on, and what do you do? You say, I do. In a sense, we know that the Old Covenant was like a marriage agreement. And the people said, we will do it. I'll do it. And Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people, and said, this is the blood of the covenant, which the Lord has made with you according to all of these words. So the first covenant was established with blood. It was a killing of animals, or an animal. And he took the blood, and he established that covenant with the shedding of blood. Now, let's move down to today, or what we would call the New Testament period of time. We find that you and I have been handpicked by God today, not because of our righteousness or goodness, but because of God's mercy and His calling. There's not a one of us sitting here today who can say, God, you had to call me. You know, I was one who was righteous, never sinned, serving you, and you had to call me. That just was not the way it was done. Just like God chose ancient Israel, God chose us. God calls according to His plan. And in His plan, He's not trying to convert everybody today. God has a plan that during the first six thousand years, He only calls the first fruits. Then comes the millennium, and all those who lived in the first six thousand years who never had a chance of salvation or resurrected, given their first opportunity to understand the truth and to understand God's way. So God calls according to His plan, and He picks. And so there are those, just like with the Egyptians, who don't understand today, who continue to sit under the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And there are those that God hand-picks to sit under the tree of life and have the opportunity to understand God's way. Not everybody has that opportunity in this life, and anciently, not everybody had that opportunity. Israel did. In Galatians chapter 3, the Apostle Paul describes how this applies to us. Galatians chapter 3, beginning in verse 26.

Galatians 3, 26. It says, So we become the sons of God, converted Christians. God is our Father through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ had put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. Physically, we still remain male and female, don't we? We're still Jew and Gentile. We can still be black and white. We can still be a slave or be free. But in the church, we become one. We become a part of the body. We become the sons and daughters of God, one family. And notice verse 29. And if you're Christ, if you're a Christian, if you have the Holy Spirit, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. So there was a dual promise made to Abraham. One of grace, which Israel fulfilled. One of grace that is fulfilled through Jesus Christ. And you and I, brethren, are sitting here today, children of the promise that was made to Abraham. That through him and through his seed, who was to come Christ, that God would extend salvation to us.

Now Jesus Christ, as we read back in Mark 14, took the wine and said, this wine symbolizes, this wine is my shed blood. And he went on to say, for the new covenant. And as the old covenant was set aside by the shedding of blood. So the new covenant is ordained, set aside by Christ shedding his blood. And it applies to each one of us, personally, individually. When God calls us, opens our mind, we understand, we repent of our sins. We are baptized, and we have our sins forgiven. We then have the blood applied to us. And then we come up out of that watery grave, having buried the old man, and you man rises up. We have hands laid on us, and the very nature of God is placed within us, the Holy Spirit. God imparts part of his very nature to us. And he gives us the fruitless spirit, and he gives us gifts from that spirit likewise. But why did it have to happen this way? When I say this way, I'm talking about Christ, his sacrifice, what he had to go through. Could we not have been forgiven some other way? Well, let's go over to Hebrews 9 and verse 22. I think the Bible is very clear on this, but we need to, I think, reflect on it, understand. Hebrews 9, chapter 22 says, According to the law, almost all things are purified with blood.

Now, the margin says, cleanse with blood. So this means that you and I can be cleansed through Christ's blood. And without shedding of blood, there is no remission. The word remission means forgiveness. There's no forgiveness unless blood is shed. And so, brethren, we cannot be forgiven. We cannot be cleaned up without the shedding of blood.

So it is necessary that that accomplish or be accomplished. Let's notice in verse 23. Therefore, it was necessary that the copies of the thing in heaven should be purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves with the better of sacrifices than these. Remember when the tabernacle was set up, the temple eventually set up, they sacrificed. They took the blood in and they set aside the various rooms in the tabernacle, the temple. And things were set aside and ordained and placed there. And there was the shedding and the sprinkling of blood.

And so it is with Christ. In a sense, His sacrifice comes into heaven itself here, as it talks about. For Christ has not entered the holy place made with hands, the physical tabernacle or temple, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself now to appear in the presence of God. And notice these two little words. For whom? For us. He is there for us to appear on our behalf. He is our high priest. He intercedes on our behalf. And verse 25, Not that He should offer Himself often as the high priest entered in the most holy place every year with the blood of another.

And that was on the day of atonement. Then He would need to be suffered often since the foundation of the world. But now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. So He willingly sacrificed His life, gave His life. And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after the judgment, so Christ was offered once. Not twice or three times. He's not going to do this over and over. It says, He was offered once to bear the sins of many.

To those who eagerly wait for Him, He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation. First time Christ came to be a sin sacrifice. He came as a Lamb of God. The second time, He is going to come back as King of kings and Lord of lords to rule this earth. And He will at that time bring salvation, the resurrection, eternal life that will be extended. So Christ was offered up once for our sins. So we find here that God has ordained that without the shedding of blood, there is no remission.

Now you ask the question, why? Why does it have to be that way? Well Leviticus 17, verse 11, gives a little information on that. Leviticus 17, verse 11. For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls.

Now notice, to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement for your souls. The word atonement here is the Hebrew word kippur that we normally think of for the day of atonement. The word means to cover, to hide, and it's talking about our sins to make atonement that our sins can be covered over, that they can be hidden, covered by the blood of Jesus Christ. This also shows that Jesus Christ came in the flesh, that He did not just appear in the flesh. Remember, there was a heresy that was extended during the first century called docicism.

The docetics believe that Jesus Christ didn't really come in the flesh, that He only appeared like a vision, or that the Christ, when the Holy Spirit came on Jesus, that the Christ entered Him at that time, at death. The Christ left. It was the Jesus who died. So they thought that the human died, but the Spirit didn't. I'm not talking about the Spirit dying, but that the Spirit went back to God in the form of Christ.

The only problem with that is that you end up with four people, according to their teaching, in the family of God, or three, whichever way you want to count it. But the Bible shows that Christ did what? He was crucified, and He shed His blood. He gave His life for our sins. He was human. He was God in the flesh. He was God. There was a spiritual element. God was His Father, but He was born of a woman. Therefore, He gave His life.

We know that He literally was not just an apparition or a vision, or just appeared that way. He literally came in the flesh. Now, the Passover shows both the love and the mercy of God and the judgment of God. It shows the two sides of a coin. The one side is mercy and love and forgiveness. The other side is judgment. And both of those are pictured. In 1 John 5, let's keep everything we've covered in mind. Let's go back to 1 John 5, verses 2 and 3.

1 John 5, verse 2. By this we know that we love the children of God when we love God and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments, and His commandments are not burdensome. So what is God's love? How does God know that we love Him if we keep His commandments? That's how. Somebody who claims to love God, you know, I love God for all my heart. They don't keep His commandments. They may be deceived. They may be sincere. But they're not loving God, not in the way that He tells us to do so. Cross the page of my Bible here in chapter 4, in verse 6, 1 John 4, 6.

Now, what does it mean to know God? It says, He who knows God hears us. I'll hold your place here, but back in chapter 2, verse 4, 1 John 2, 4. He who says, I know Him, and does not keep His commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in Him. So again, somebody claims He knows God, and He's not keeping His commandments. That person is a liar. So back to 1 John 4, 6. It says, It says, We are of God, and He who knows God hears us. He who is not of God does not hear us. But this we know, by this we know the Spirit of truth and the Spirit of error.

In verse 7, Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God, and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. So to know God, to love God, means to keep His commandments. I think that's very clear. Notice going on in verse 9, And this is love, not that we love God, but that He loved us and His Son to be a propitiation for our sins. Jesus Christ was the price that had to be paid for our sins. So it says, Beloved, if God so loved us, if God had so much love for us that He was willing to give His Son as the price for our sins, we also ought to love one another.

So if we have trouble loving one another, we need to stop and go back and reflect on the great love that God had for us in giving us His Son. And that the Son had for us, and that He was willing to come to the earth. Philippians 2, beginning in verse 5, shows the attitude that Jesus Christ had.

Philippians 2, verse 5 says, Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God did not consider it robbery to be equal with God. Or again, the margin says here, He didn't consider it robbery, a thing to be grasped at, to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, or He emptied Himself of His privileges. You think about it, having been a spirit being and lived forever, had always been alive, had existed in eternity, all powerful, all might, in charge of everything and with the Father. And yet He was willing to divest Himself of living in that realm, the spirit realm, that level as a spirit being, with all of the radiating power, and come to the earth and be born of a woman, to grow up as a child, to mature as a man, and finally die for the sins of mankind. He was willing to do that. So He humbled Himself. Well, verse 8 here, He says, And being bound in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. So Jesus Christ was willing to do this. This was His attitude, and He was willing to do it so you and I would have the opportunity for salvation. And He did it as Romans 5 verse 6 tells us, while we did not appreciate it.

Somebody ever done a good deed for you and you don't appreciate it?

Hopefully not. Somebody does something good for us, helps us, that we appreciate what they've done. But let's notice, Christ did this in verse 6, for when we were still without strength, in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. So Christ died for us, as the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die, yet perhaps for a good man, someone even dared to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, and while we were still sinners, you find that He died for us. Sir brethren, while we were still sinners, Christ died. While we were in our wretched sins, terrible state of mind, carnal, rebellious approach, Christ died for us. I want you to notice over and over again how these scriptures emphasize. It demonstrates what? The love of God. What does grace demonstrate? The mercy of God, the love of God, the fact that God is willing to extend this to us. In verse 9, much more than having now been justified by His blood, were made just, were made right in the sight of God, through His sacrifice, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God, brought into a right relationship with God, through the death of His Son. Much more having been reconciled, we shall be saved. And how are we saved, brethren? By His life. Not by His death, by His life. Because Christ lives in us. Jesus Christ's sacrifice is for the forgiveness of sins. Those sins have to be forgiven. That's part of the process, yes. But you and I will ultimately have salvation because Christ lives in us. And it is through His living in us that we will have salvation. So the Passover demonstrates God's unlimited love, unlimited mercy, compassion, grace, and action. It explains how He planned for and brought the Pass, forgiveness, and salvation. Now, the Passover also shows God's judgment. There is a judgment, likewise. Romans 6.23, right here where we are, my Bible, Romans 6.23, The wages of sin is death. But the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord. So, wages of sin is death. Why is that? Why does sinning bring death?

Well, it has to do with the very nature of God, His very makeup. God will not compromise sin. He will not compromise with what is evil or what is wrong.

As we will see, and we have seen, the law helps us to define what God is like, His nature. God is love. We find we are to love the Lord our God with all our heart, all our soul, all of our might. And the Ten Commandments explain how to put that love into action. How is love expressed? Well, it's expressed through obedience to God in keeping the spiritual law of God. James chapter 1 and verse 13 tells us something about God. James 1.13 says, God is not tempted to sin, to do evil, to do wrong. God doesn't sin. God's very nature, His very makeup, is a way of showing outgoing concern, giving, love, mercy, helping. It's a way of life with Him. And it's a way of life that God has revealed to us and that He wants us to learn. He wants us to live that way. Now, God's law points in the right direction. Without it, we would not know the right way. Now, Christ said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. So Christ lived that way, and He is that way. If God hadn't given us His law, how would we know the right way to go? How would you know right from wrong unless there is a standard to go by?

You wouldn't, and God has revealed to us that standard. We wouldn't know the right way. And if God's law doesn't point us in the proper path, we would not know how to love. True love is to direct someone in the right way.

Do you love your children if you just let them do any old thing they want to? If you let them drown the cat, roast the dog, shoot at their neighbor's house, tear their neighbor's tulips up, whatever it might be. Is that showing love to your neighbor? Is that showing love to your children? Now, we know that children grow up, and they don't always know the right way, and they have to be directed in that right way. So it is with God dealing with us. Back up a page here in Hebrews 12 and verse 5. Hebrews 12 verse 5 says, It says, So God will correct us in chasing us, and He scourges every son whom He receives. Now, in verse 10, talking about our physical fathers, Any time God works with us, corrects us, allows something to occur, is so that we can take or partake more of His holiness. In 1 Corinthians 11, we've already read this season that God will sometimes correct us for our own good. 1 Corinthians 11, beginning in verse 31, But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world. God doesn't want us to go down in flames, for the world around us, God wants to bless us. God is not a harsh monster, as He is sometimes pictured. He watches out for our spiritual life, just like a physical parent, physical father, looks after the life of his own children. You have little children. You do everything within your power to protect them, don't you? You cover up the light sockets, anything that could be harmful or hurtful, they could pull off on themselves. You try to put up and put away from them. You look, you watch them. You don't allow them to just wander off without knowing where they are. You don't allow them to play in the streets. You look after them. You're very concerned about them. You're concerned about their physical life, because you know that they're not...they haven't had enough experience yet. No. Certain things could lead to death. And so it is with us that God will work with us to look after our spiritual life, not just our physical life. He's concerned about the end result of our being in His kingdom. But the one thing that God will never do is compromise with His law. In 1 Peter 1 and verse 15, let's notice 1 Peter chapter 1 and verse 15.

It says, as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all of your conduct. So you and I are to act as those who have been set apart. And we truly have been set apart. We've been handpicked by God. Because it is written, be holy, for I am holy. So God Himself has been one who will only go one way. Now, let's notice in verse 17, if you call on the Father who without partiality judges according to one's works, conduct yourself throughout the time of your stay here and fear. So you and I are going to be judged by our works. You and I are judged by what we do, by our actions, how we live, how we respond to God's law. Knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver and gold, that's not the price that was paid for you. So we begin to answer the question, well, couldn't we get a bag of money and be redeemed, have our sins forgiven? Go to God and say, well, God, we're going to light a few candles. We're going to crawl on our knees. We're going to do a few Hail Marys and go a few laps around the rosary, and we will be forgiven. Because you see, there are those who feel that this is the way to be forgiven. It's not enough to go to God and ask for forgiveness. You've got to do penance. You've got to do something. They feel they've got to do something to earn it. Now, he talks here that it's nothing we do. Silver or gold, we can't buy it, or your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers. But notice, how are we redeemed? Well, it goes on to say here, verse 19, With the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, before the foundation, but was manifest in these last days for you. So, brethren, we find that Jesus Christ's sacrifice is what forgives our sins. God has ordained that when you sin, it requires your life. That sin brings the death penalty. And the only way that that can be forgiven is through death. There has to be a life given. Now, let's move on. We'll see exactly what we're talking about here. Christ died because God will not compromise with sin. Sin produces the death penalty. Someone has to die for sin. We will all die for our sins unless we repent of them. The wages of sin is dead. We're talking about eternal death. God's great gift to us at this time of the year that we celebrate is His Son, Jesus Christ. As an offering for sin, Christ offered Himself up. He also sacrificed Himself and gave His life freely. Let's notice in Ephesians 5.2. Both of these are mentioned here in this one verse. Ephesians 5.2. We find walk in love as Christ also has loved us and He has given Himself for us as an offering. He is given as an offering for us and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.

Brethren, what we find is that Jesus Christ died so that you and I would not have to die for eternity forever. He gave His life for us and His life was more important than all human beings who have ever lived. The Passover pictures God's mercy and how He planned for our forgiveness, for our healing. Let's go back to Psalm 103. Psalm 103. We find, even ahead of time, that God showed what would happen by Christ's sacrifice beginning in verse 8. We read, The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in mercy. He will not always strive with us, nor will He keep His anger forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy towards those who fear Him. And as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. How is that possible? How are our transgressions removed so that they are so far out of sight that they can't be seen by the blood of Jesus Christ, His sacrifice? And as a father pities his children, so the Lord pities those who fear Him. He knows our frame, and He remembers that we are dust. Brethren, God knows that we are human, and He's made a way for expiation and for remission of sins. He's made a way for forgiveness and for our sins to be covered. He recognizes our frailty, our weakness, how human we are. Do you think that God doesn't know that we will sin? Certainly, God does. He knows that even though He has called us, given us His Spirit, that we still fall on our face. We still miss death. We still have habits that we need to overcome. And the Passover is there to remind us every year that we need a Savior, and we were baptized. All of our past sins were forgiven. But we need to be forgiven. And as we get down on our knees throughout the year, and we cry out to God, God forgives us. Every time we get down and sincerely ask for forgiveness. Because that sacrifice has been applied to us. And so that sacrifice is continually applied to us. Once it's applied, it can be continually applied to our sins. But we have to repent of those sins. We have to make an effort to change. And the Passover is simply a memorial of what Christ did to make all of that possible. What God is looking for in us is the attitude of repentance and striving to change. He wants to see us really striving to be different. Sometimes you can hear a sermon, and I realize this as a minister. You can hear a sermon, and you'll find that in the sermon that a minister, I might explain the perfect standard that God wants us to shoot for. And here's this lofty standard up there, and you're sitting there and you're thinking, I can never be that way. I fall so far short of that.

Sometimes we get discouraged. Well, realize I'm not going to give a sermon and say, well, it's okay for you to sin a little bit. No, you're going to give a sermon, you're going to explain the perfect standard, the right way that God wants us to live. What we're supposed to be striving for, the epitome, the mountain top, so to speak. That's what we all work toward. But we realize that it takes effort to get there, and sometimes we fall short and we don't make it. Now, in saying that, I'm not saying that that justifies us. God knows we're weak, He knows we're human, but He has given us His Spirit. And, brethren, that Spirit imparts to us the nature of God, the mind of God, gives us the love of God, and God begins to give us the strength as we stay close to Him. And that's what the Days of Unleavened Bread are all about. We come into the Days of Unleavened Bread having put leavening out, putting sin out of our lives, and then what are we to put in? We're to put righteousness in. We're to live by God's law. And so, the Days of Unleavened Bread should be focusing on what we need to be doing right, and the areas where we can be more righteous, striving to obey God and to serve Him. And so, there's a combination there. Now, what happens, though, to a person who refuses to repent, refuses to change, turns his back on God after God has given him an opportunity of salvation, and rejects God's way of life, God's plan, and God's purpose? Well, 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 10 says, It's going to come a day that we all stand before God, that each one may receive the things done in the body according to what he has done, whether good or evil. So, brethren, whether good or evil, if a person who's been evil and refuses to repent, then Hebrews 10.26 tells us what will happen. Hebrews 10.26 says, If we sin willfully, deliberately, premeditatingly, after we've received the knowledge of the truth, or knowing the truth, totally rejecting the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sin. Christ died once for sin, not twice, once. But there's a certain fearful expectation of judgment and fiery indignation which shall devour the adversaries. Anyone who rejected Moses' law died without mercy on the testimony of 2 or 3 witnesses. How much worse punishment do you suppose will he be who thought worthy, who had trampled the Son of God underfoot and counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, set apart, made holy, a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? It is the Spirit of God that works with us to call us out of this world to reveal God's plan. If we turn our back on the working of that Spirit in our life, the leading of that Spirit, the guidance of that Spirit, and we want to go our own way and reject God's calling. Verse 30 says, For we know Him who said, Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, says the Lord. And again, the Lord will judge His people. And so you find that it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of God. So brethren, those people will be thrown in the lake of fire and burn up, and they will die. So God is consistent. God wants to forgive. His very nature is one of extending mercy, showing love. But if a person refuses, becomes hardened, becomes adamant, then God in His mercy will terminate that person's life, and they will not have to suffer forever. So God is consistent. The same God who forgives will also throw people in the lake of fire.

This also shows God's love, that they won't go on suffering forever. And that truly is love. God is very merciful if we repent, keep striving, keep changing. God is with us. God has said, I'll never leave you, nor forsake you. He's with us to the very end. And so we need to understand fully and completely that our God, our Father, will never walk out on His family. Today we find people walking out on their families. But God will not walk out on His family. He is with us. He will never forsake us. He will always work with us, strive to help us in everything that we do. The Passover shows God's nature, that He won't compromise, that sin does produce death, that that penalty must be fulfilled, that Jesus Christ died in our place if we accept His sacrifice, so that our sins can be forgiven. We should never think that God doesn't love us.

Anytime we began to think, I don't think God loves me, how could God love me? Realize this, that Christ died for us while we were yet sinners. God gave His Son for us while we were in that state. And only a being who has so much love and compassion that one cannot understand it could do that. That's the type of love that you and I are asked to develop, to begin to emulate, so that we can have the very nature of God also. His love and the love of Christ, brethren, is in full display through the offering and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.