Christ our Passover (Part 2)

So last time we looked in general terms at the Passover and what this meant for the people of God and how this is a fitting picture of our salvation and the beginning of a life and a journey with God. This time I would like to go back to this Passover night and look more at the detail and what we can learn from these things.

If we read Exodus 12 we read that a lamb was to be taken. Many of us will understand that this is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ and our minds will go to scriptures such as John 1:29 "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world". Let's look at how this lamb would speak of the Lord Jesus.

We are told that the lamb must not have any blemish and this would speak to us of the sinless, spotless character of the Lord Jesus. 1Pet 1:19 and Heb 7:26 are just two scriptures that tell us of the sinlessness of Christ.

The lamb must be slain! When we gather to remember the Lord Jesus we "shew the Lord's death till he come" (1 Cor 11:26). The death of Christ is also at the centre of our Gospel message, without his death there is no salvation or good news! "But we preach Christ crucified" 1 Cor 1:23

But more than this, the blood of the lamb had to be applied to those doorposts and lintels, without the blood there would be no Passover and no deliverance! Remember God said "when I see the blood, I will pass over you", so we learn that the blood was effectual, it was the blood that saved! Of course this applies to our salvation also for the Word of God tells us that without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins, and 1 Pet 1:19 says that we are redeemed "with the precious blood of Christ..."

The application of the blood externally made me think, there were aspects of the Passover that were internal and there were aspects that were external. The Passover feast for example, was inside the house and no meat was to be carried outside. It was also consumed and eaten, so truly internal in nature. The blood however was applied externally outside the house and I think there is a lesson here too regarding our salvation, as this is something that should effect us internally and externally! Salvation changes us internally as we are 'born again' we are a 'new creature' one that is indwelt by the Holy Spirit. We also take in the Word of God and meditate on it and appreciate Christ, these are all internal things! However our salvation also has outward aspects, such as a changed life visible to all those around, showing the fruits of the spirit, good works, and also public worship and contribution to the activities and gatherings of the local church. All these are external things, but very real things that apply to us today, so let us be encouraged and challenged as we read these things!

As we draw to a close, the Passover was something they would remember and that would have an impact on them for the rest of their lives (Ex 12:24). It would not be onerous, or some boring tradition but it would be a joy to them, to have cause to remember once again the greatness and goodness of their God in saving them! This should speak to us today! How much of our Christian lives do we find onerous or a bind? This should not be so! Let us once again remember the goodness of God and take joy and delight in the things of God.

Finally, if they were asked by their children what the Passover feast was all about, they should be able to both maintain and explain these things to them! I think the lesson is clear, when others ask us why we believe what we believe we should be able and ready to maintain and explain to them, if only in simple terms. 1 Peter 3:15 says that we should "always be ready to give an answer to every man that asks for the reason of the hope that is in you..." So let's be encouraged and be bold, and ensure we are equipped to maintain and explain to others!

I trust these couple of posts will have been interesting and beneficial to you. Yours in Christ, Mark

Christ our Passover (1 Cor 5:7) (Part 1)

Hello again fellow believers, and welcome to the new look Believers Blog site, now a Blogger site which I am finding easier to administer and post to, as well as being free! I hope you all continue to enjoy the site and find it helpful and profitable to read.

I thought I would share a few simple thoughts that occurred to me as I was reading the Passover account in Exodus 12 recently. I am sure that most of us would realise that the Passover is a picture of our Lord Jesus Christ and the salvation he has made for us, but there is so much bound up in this picture! Here are a few thoughts of mine...

In Exodus 12 we read God says; "this month shall be for you the beginning of months"... In effect this was to mark a new beginning for His people, the Passover marked the beginning of a new life for them! And so it is with our salvation, praise God it marks the beginning of a new life with Christ our Saviour. And of course the Passover marked the beginning of a journey with God, and so it is with our salvation! Let's think about that journey for a moment...

They had been saved out of Egypt, which in the Bible is generally a picture of the world and its attractions. This was the place where they were in slavery as well so this is an excellent little picture for the believer who is saved out of the world and from the penalty and power of sin. They were on their way to the Promised Land which is generally seen as a picture of the Christian's inheritance and the enjoyment of the blessings of God as a believer. Ephesians tells we are presently "blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places" but occasionally conflict and trouble can arise which can rob us of our enjoyment of spiritual things, such is pictured by the various conflicts the people of God experienced with the Philistines in the Lord and other such enemies.

I think that there is an application however, that we can view the Promised Land in a future sense as well for the believer. Remember that the Promised Land was the end goal for God's people on their journey with God, and in between Egypt and Canaan there were many years where they would experience times of testing and triumph, failure and victory, and they would experience the guidance, preservation and provision of God. How much God would have to teach them during that time and the works he would do through them, all before they reached their promised home. Sometimes we sing "heaven is our home" and how true this is, we are pilgrims and strangers down here (1 Pet 2:11), our citizenship is in heaven (Phil 3:20)!

Next post we will look in a little bit more detail at this Passover night and see what more we can see of Christ there and how we can apply this to ourselves today practically in our Christian living.

Yours in Christ, Mark

The 7 Sayings on the Cross (3)

"Woman behold thy son! ...behold thy mother"

This is the third saying from the cross and I have twinned it with a recurrent comment from the foot of the cross, and one that was absolutely true:

"He saved others..."

His life was all about others, and so was his death both in terms of its sacrificial nature and that even on the cross the Saviour is here thinking of others. He turns to his mother and ensures that she is cared for and provided for in the days, weeks and months following the Saviour's death and eventual ascension.

We mentioned in our previous post that some people who were at Golgotha that day were affected for eternity, such as that thief on the cross. But in this instance we see that there were also individuals at the cross who were affected for the rest of their earthly lives, and here is such an example. How touching that in the most traumatic and sorrowful of circumstances there at the foot of the cross, these 2 individuals were brought together by the Saviour and given a solution that would bring them blessing for life! Here in this new relationship they would find comfort, solace, support and encouragement at a time when they would most need it.

I find it no coincidence at all that it is John who is chosen by the Lord for this particular task - was he not the 'disciple whom Jesus loved', the one who leaned upon the bosom of the Lord Jesus? John presents Christ as the Son of God in his Gospel, yet also understood something of his incarnation(John ch 1).  Mary also knew that He was the Son of God, as she had been told this from the very beginning (Luke ch 1) but of course she was also best placed to understand the fact that He was the Son of Man also, God manifest in flesh!

I am sure that Mary the mother of the Lord Jesus would have appreciated the close fellowship and encouragement of the one who had seemed most close to the Lord Jesus, who seemed to understand something of His character perhaps more than the others at that time. Together they would both be able to contemplate and consider the tremendous person and work of Christ!

Is it not true that the Lord does the same work for us today? When the Lord saves us we enjoy a new relationship, one that has been made possible through the work of Christ at the cross and one that affects us for time, not just for eternity! In our last post we appreciated the eternal significance of our salvation, whereas here we contemplate the new relationship that we have with him as our Saviour, enjoying fellowship and help, strength, encouragement and guidance in our daily pathway down here.

What a wonderful salvation is ours!

Yours in Christ, Mark

The 7 Sayings on the Cross (2)

"Today thou shalt be with me in paradise"

Naturally I have paired this with that direct request of the thief on the cross to the Lord Jesus:

Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom"

This is indeed a lovely scene in the midst of all the pain and suffering there at Golgotha. It is lovely to see amidst all the mocking, scorn and the flagrant wickedness of man at the cross, that we also see a glimpse of repentance and faith from a single individual.

Here we see dialogue between a thief and the Saviour. It is interesting to note that the thief was someone who took from others that which wasn't his to take, but the Lord Jesus was one who freely gave to others that which only he could give!

The repentant thief is rewarded with the sure promise of eternal life in response to his faith. It is lovely to see the dramatic context of this conversion - that at the last opportunity that life afforded him, this man's eternal destiny was changed forever!

And so the cross changes our destiny too. It is easy to forget that we too met the Saviour at the cross and as a result of that meeting we also are bound for heaven and have eternal life in Him. Our conversions may well have been less dramatic in terms of their situations and circumstances, but the end result was the same - a sinner was saved by grace! Saved from judgement and wrath, and won for heaven!

We praise the Saviour for showing a care and interest in us, that ever he should come and give himself so that we might be saved.

Yours in Christ, Mark

"What shall I do...?"

"What shall I do...?"

I thought by looking at this little question in the New Testament there is a little framework here for a Gospel meeting, I trust these thoughts are a blessing to us.

Mark 10:17 - "what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?"

This is a common question that we hear men asking, and men down the centuries of time have desired to have eternal life, the concept is well sought after! Many people have their own ideas about this, and many people are doing various things in the hope of obtaining eternal life. We need to be clear about the gospel message, we should be very wary of what was called in Galatians "another gospel" as there are many messages in the world today that purport to be Christian but we should tell people to hold it up to the light of scripture and see how it compares to the truth of God's Word! The simple gospel message remains unchanged over the last 2000 years - repent, and believe.

Luke 12:17 - "what shall I do because I have no room where to bestow all my fruits?"

Again this is also relevant for today, as we live in a materialistic world, a consumer society. Some people sadly care nothing for their soul's salvation, their eternal destiny, or about God and the sacrificial death of his Son on the cross for them. Some people are merely concerned with the things of this world,how they can increase their goods, their wealth and their social standing. This is tragic as they will go through life and miss out on God's salvation and find ourselves in a lost eternity! Note that God is appalled at this mans attitude - "thou fool..." The things of this world are temporal and cannot fully satisfy our souls like God can! The Lord Jesus said "what shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world yet lose his own soul?" The awful cost of only valuing the temporal and material things in life!

Luke 20:13 - "what shall I do, I will send my beloved son"

We praise God that here was a time in this world's history when he                   sent his Son into this world - God manifest in flesh, the wonder of it! It was the only solution to the sin problem, and only his sacrificial death could satisfy a holy and a righteous God. His divine plan was for him to die at the cross of Calvary, and there bear our sin in his body on that tree, that he might die the just one for the unjust ones in order to bring us to God. We thank God for that death of his on Calvary!

"Oh, wondrous cross! Oh precious blood!

Oh death by which I live!

The sinless One, for me made sin,

Doth now His wondrous heart within,

Eternal refuge give."

Matthew 27:22 - "what shall I do with Jesus which is called Christ?"

Here is the plea of the Roman governor Pontius Pilate to the Jews. It is a question that we must all surely answer for ourselves in our lifetimes, however long that may be. Some may outright reject him, as the Jews did 2000 years ago; others may choose never to address that question, but by doing so they face the prospect of standing before him as their Judge and they will be judged for their sin in that case. The Gospel demands a response from the hearts of men and women and as people depart from our Gospel meetings they will have responded to that message; either to repent and trust Christ as their Saviour for eternal life with him in heaven, or to neglect or reject the good news of the gospel and put it from their minds. But we do so to our eternal cost! The Bible says:

"Now is the accepted time..." 2 Cor 6:2

"Choose life..." Deut 30:19

Yours in Christ,

Mark