Christ Our Passover

On April 18th-20th, the Christian world remembered the death and resurrection of Jesus. Yet, many of them do not recognize how his death was foretold in the Old Testament. One of these instances was in Israel’s Passover.

God instructed the Israelites to select one unblemished lamb per household. The lamb, a male of the first year, was to be taken into their homes on the 10th of Nisan. On the evening of the 14th, the Israelites were to kill the animal, sprinkle its blood on the lintels and doorposts of their homes and consume the entire lamb that night. During that night, the tenth plague on Egypt—the death of the firstborn—took place. When the angel of the Lord found the lamb’s blood sprinkled on the lintel and doorposts, he “passed over” sparing the firstborn in that house. The slaying of the Egyptian firstborn led Pharaoh into finally releasing the Israelites (Exod. 12:1-36).

The Apostle Paul tells us, “Our Passover Lamb has already been offered in sacrifice—even Christ” (1 Cor. 5:7, Weymouth). The unblemished Passover lamb represented the man Christ Jesus who was “holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners” (Heb. 7:26). Jesus was sinless because he was not a descendant of Father Adam. Instead, God’s only begotten Son—the Word—gave up his spirit nature and was made flesh, a perfect man. “The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14, New American Standard Bible).

Paul explains in Galatians 4:4,5, NASB: “When the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law.” Jesus had to be a perfect man, to be a ransom for the perfect man Adam who had sinned (1 Tim. 2:5,6). God’s plan was for Jesus to be made flesh and then give up that perfect human life in death taking Adam’s place under the penalty of death. This would enable God to release Adam and his descendants from the penalty and give them an opportunity for life in Christ’s earthly kingdom.

God’s plan of salvation also includes a provision whereby the faithful followers of Jesus receive a spiritual reward, and assist the resurrected Jesus in bringing Adam and the human family back into harmony with God in Christ’s kingdom. They are the “church of the firstborn” whose names are written in heaven (Heb. 12:23). Together with Jesus, they are the “firstborn from the dead” (Col. 1:18). Just as the blood of the Passover lamb protected the firstborn Israelites, the blood of Jesus protects his followers during the nighttime of this Gospel Age.

This illustration of Jesus as the Passover lamb is repeated in the Bible. John described Jesus as the “Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). Peter writes that we were redeemed “with the precious blood of Christ, as of a [Passover] lamb without blemish and without spot (1 Pet. 1:19). This illustration of Jesus as the Passover Lamb is so important, that John describes our resurrected Lord in heaven as the lamb that was slain (Rev. 5:6,12).

Creation

The first book of the Bible is called Genesis, which is a Greek word meaning origin, source, generation, or beginning. In long eons past, God brought the universe into existence, creating heavenly bodies and our earth (Gen. 1:1). The verses that follow describe the ordering of this earth for human habitation. Six periods called days in the Bible were appointed by God for bringing the earth to readiness to sustain the first human pair. At the close of ‘day 6’ God created a man, from whom he created a woman, and called their names Adam and Eve (Gen. 1:26, 27). God then ceased his creative work on the 7th day. Everything that God had made was very good (Gen. 1:31).

We are told in Genesis 1:27 that God created them in his own image. This image was a reflection of the Creator’s moral attributes with free moral choice and intelligence, but no experience with sin. The new couple was given dominion over all of earth’s creation as its caretaker and benefactor. Adam and Eve were also to populate the earth with offspring. Lucifer, a mighty angel, saw the potential of having intelligent beings give him homage, and so, became an adversary [Satan] to God. By deception he got Eve to sin against God’s commandment (Genesis 2 & 3).

Adam knew he would surely die if he disobeyed God’s command, but he could not face a life without his companion Eve, and so he knowingly disobeyed (1 Tim. 2:13,14). The penalty for sin was, and still is, eternal death—the absence of life. God, however, did not instantly put Adam and Eve to death, but he set in motion the dying process. Through Adam the whole race, including you and me, are under the same death sentence. None escape it! However, God provided a ransom, the anti-type of Israel’s Passover lamb, and through our faith in Jesus’ sacrifice, we can receive eternal life (Rom. 6:23; 1 Cor. 15:22). Now is the time for reconciliation with God if you can receive it. Otherwise, reconciliation will take place during the enlightenment in Christ’s coming kingdom on the earth. Then, at the end of the 7th day, all creation will be fully in obedience to God, and again pronounced very good. 

Our Heavenly Father

Mortal words cannot describe the majesty of the Heavenly realm. Attempts to define the glory of infinity are futile. How can finite flesh and blood commune with the spiritual and divine realities with any degree of comprehension or appreciation?

What are the means God has employed to help fallen man understand who He is and what His character is like? The way he chose was to devise a plan for man’s future which would be in accord with his nature and character. This is evidenced in our ability to discern the invisible by the visible (Ps. 2,19; Rom. 1:20; Col. 1:16). The very creation, and nature itself, give silent testimony to the magnitude and glory of such a God. This physical, inanimate evidence, even without the spiritual, results in our worship of his greatness and power.

However, there are additional attributes that can only be discerned by the outworking of God’s divine plan for humankind as shown in his word, the Bible. There, these attributes are graphically portrayed so that all will recognize the nature and character of man’s destiny.

As we understand and develop increasing faith in that word, God’s character is revealed, and can be summarized by his four attributes of JUSTICE, WISDOM, LOVE AND POWER (Ps. 89:13,14; Isa. 46:10; John 3:16; Eph. 3:9,10; 1 John 4:8,16). Each attribute is infinite but is governed by the other attributes. Accordingly, God’s power is limited by the other attributes acting in unison. Adam was created perfect and by sinning, he plunged all his progeny into death. God’s justice required a ransom as a means of reconciliation (Matt. 20:28; 1 Tim. 2:6). It was supplied by God’s love in sending his Son to die as the corresponding price.

The harmony of all God’s attributes is planned by divine WISDOM, and in unison they demonstrate his nature and character. Thus, the Divine Plan that God has arranged for man reveals the invisible spiritual reality to mortal finite humanity.

We are blessed as we pattern our living in accord with these principles of Godliness. Thereby, we are able to reflect the glory and majesty of our Heavenly Father. 

The Seed of Promise

When Adam and Eve were created, they were free moral agents. They possessed a free will to make their own decisions or choices. However, they disobeyed God and brought sin and death to ALL their progeny (Rom. 5:12). If not for a loving, merciful, and all powerful Heavenly Father, mankind would be doomed to forever suffer and die, but, in God’s GREAT and INFINITE wisdom and justice, even before the foundation of the world, he developed a plan to recover his creation from such a terrible condition! We see just how his Divine plan of salvation is to come about with the great promise of a wonderful deliverer, stated in Genesis 3:15. “I will put enmity between thee [Satan] and the woman, and between thy seed [offspring] and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” Satan was then, and still is today, determined to do all he can to stop this promised seed, but this promised seed will bruise his head, a symbolic description of a vital and fatal blow that will crush Satan and bring an end to his long, dark reign over mankind. Only the heel of the deliverer is bruised, which we know is not a fatal blow.

Later in Genesis, this promised seed was described to Abraham as he tried to fulfill God’s request to sacrifice his son Isaac. Abraham was stopped by an angel, and God said, “In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast  obeyed my voice” (Gen. 22:18). Isaac was a picture of Jesus, the true seed of promise, who sacrificed himself to redeem mankind and provide the way for man’s salvation (John 1:29).

In Galatians 3:16, Paul writes, “Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.” Paul adds in verses 27 and 29, “As many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ [a perfect pattern to follow], . . . And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” These verses described the seed of promise as our Lord Jesus Christ and those who make a full consecration to do God’s will faithfully unto death and are baptized into Jesus Christ. If faithful, they will become members of his bride, the church, which is pictured as the body of Christ with Jesus as their head. They become part of the promised seed through which in God’s perfect Divine plan, ALL the families of the earth will be blessed (John 3:16, Gal 4:28, Rom 9:8).