JESUS CHRIST'S DEATH -- YOUR EXODUS OUT OF SIN
April 11, 2004 (In Windsor, NS) Exodus 4:22-26 (22) And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD, Israel is my son, even my firstborn: (23) And I say unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me: and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn. (24) And it came to pass by the way in the inn, that the LORD met him, and sought to kill him. (25) Then Zipporah took a sharp stone, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet, and said, Surely a bloody husband art thou to me. (26) So he let him go: then she said, A bloody husband thou art, because of the circumcision. Exodus 12:21-24 (21) Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel, and said unto them, Draw out and take you a lamb according to your families, and kill the passover. (22) And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the bason, and strike the lintel and the two side posts with the blood that is in the bason; and none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning. (23) For the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the LORD will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you. (24) And ye shall observe this thing for an ordinance to thee and to thy sons for ever. 1Co 5:7b (7)b ...For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: The EXODUS story. The word DECEASE, in speaking of Jesus' death, actually is EXODOS in Greek. Luke 9:30-31 (30) And, behold, there talked with him two men, which were Moses and Elias: (31) Who appeared in glory, and spake of his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem. His death is our Exodus. How? Let us delve into this beautiful truth. The death and resurrection of Jesus actually occurred the same time that the Passover in Israel was celebrated ever since God PASSED OVER the Israelite's doors and protected them from the destroyer on the night they placed the lamb's blood on their doorways. The greatest aspects of the crucifixion were things you could not have physically seen had you stood there on the hill.
(17) Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. (18) No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father. John 6:51 (51) I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. A very special picture is given to us in the passover.
(7) Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: Think of this: * What saves a soul is identification with Jesus' death, burial and resurrection. * Jesus died for us, so it can be said that we died. * He reckons the death with Christ as our only required death. * And the death people refer to after we are saved when they bury us is only a SLEEP. These Hebrews would step across a threshold of their homes that would be marked by blood, and all that would come between them and the power of death that would sweep through the kingdom would be that little lamb's blood. * What a step of faith! * They would put their confidence in that sort of thing to attempt to escape death! * AND IT WORKED! That takes faith. * For you to have been a Hebrew that day, and to believe that walking through that doorway with lamb's blood would keep you from a force that mankind simply must bow down to, called death, is for you to have manifested faith! And what better way to indicate ENTRANCE into Jesus Christ's death than to have Israel put a lamb's blood around a doorway and walk through that door and be spared from death?
1 Peter 3:20-21 (20) Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. (21) The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ: WATER SAVED NOAH'S FAMILY.
Exodus 4:22-26 (22) And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD, Israel is my son, even my firstborn: (23) And I say unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me: and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn. * Israel is my son, even my firstborn. * Let my son go that he may serve me. * And if you refuse, I will slay your firstborn son. After plague after plague is meted out upon Egypt, we read the following: Exodus 11:4-6 And Moses said, Thus saith the LORD, About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt: And all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne, even unto the firstborn of the maidservant that [is] behind the mill; and all the firstborn of beasts. And there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there was none like it, nor shall be like it any more. Exodus 12:29 And it came to pass, that at midnight the LORD smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that [was] in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle. This is more evidence that God had Jesus Christ in mind when this occurred! * He lumped all of Israel together into one person in His eyes. * GOD'S FIRSTBORN. * He looked ahead by a stretch of 1,500 years. Now, we know that Rev 13:8 calls Jesus the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. * This brings up a question. * If Jesus is "the LAMB SLAIN from the foundation of the world"... * And the man Jesus Christ is also the FIRSTBORN SON OF GOD... * Why did God refer to the people of ISRAEL as His "Firstborn Son"? Lambs were involved in this story.
* But the FIRSTBORN SON OF GOD does not die in the Exodus story. * The lamb dies. God had the man Jesus Christ in mind when He called Israel His "firstborn son." In this statement by God, many people were called a single SON. * A whole NATION was called one person... THE FIRSTBORN SON OF GOD. And the thought God had in mind was that Jesus was indeed the LAMB slain from the foundation of the world... * And Jesus was also the firstborn Son of God. * And those little lambs that died did foreshadow Jesus Christ. * BUT.... * When that entire nation obeyed God's Word and walked through doorways splattered with those lamb's blood, God did two things. * In His mind He saw all those lambs as foreshadowing the GREAT LAMB OF GOD, JESUS CHRIST. * And He saw all that nation of millions of people IDENTIFY WITH THAT LAMB'S DEATH. * AND IN HIS EYES THEY WERE ONE WITH THE LAMB OF GOD! * That is how He saw and that is how He wants us to see it. When you and I believe that Jesus died as us and repent of our sins and accept His blood for remission of our sins, we take a great step of faith. * All that stands between us and eternal hellfire is that little tiny and meek Lamb's blood. * And we say, "THAT'S GOOD ENOUGH FOR ME!" * And no matter what year or what city or town you are baptized into that death, whether it is years apart from the moment I was baptized, it can be said that we both identified with Jesus' death, and therefore we both died the same time Jesus Christ died in the eyes of God, and that was 2,000 years ago!!! Romans 6:3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? We are baptized not into each other's deaths. * We are baptized in one person's death. * One person's death becomes all of our deaths. * JESUS CHRIST'S DEATH. And God foresaw it this way when He told Moses, * "Tell Pharaoh to let my firstborn son go, or I will slay his firstborn son." * And God, at that moment, saw THE PEOPLE IDENTIFIED WITH THE LAMBS THAT WOULD DIE. * And since those lambs represented Jesus Christ, He couldn't help but refer to Israel as HIS FIRSTBORN SON. When we die with Christ and are buried with him in water baptism... * And we take a step of faith and truly believe the only thing to keep us from an eternal death to come is that precious death of Jesus Christ... * WE ARE CONSIDERED ONE WITH THE SON. It is a step of faith for you to accept this as you face a looming eternity before you.
Colossians 1:18 (18) And he (JESUS) is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. That is why the people who trusted in the Lamb's death, foreshadowing Jesus' death, are called by the same title Jesus Christ held, God's firstborn Son. Joint-heirs with Jesus Christ. * Satan hates for people to discover this Gospel. * He knows that Pharaoh represents him. * And He knows that God is teaching us, through this story, that Satan is powerless against us when we take a step of faith through the door. Jesus even said He is the door. John 10:9 I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. Go in and then go out and find pasture. * Enter in to escape death, and go back out again as someone then considered by God as one with the Son. Lets go back to God's instructions to Moses about what to say to Pharaoh. * After Moses hears these words, he sets out to go to Pharaoh for the first time since he ran from Egypt 40 years previous. * On his way with his son and wife, Zipporah, he stops in an inn and rests. * And the strangest occurrence is recorded in the Bible that could leave us spinning saying, "What on earth is that incident left right there in the middle of all this exciting introduction to the Exodus?" And its a horrible little story. Exodus 4:24-26 And it came to pass by the way in the inn, that the LORD met him, and sought to kill him. Then Zipporah took a sharp stone, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast [it] at his feet, and said, Surely a bloody husband [art] thou to me. So he let him go: then she said, A bloody husband [thou art], because of the circumcision. Only three verses. * WHAT IS THE POINT? * Why mention this? * And then go on as though nothing ever happened? We see Moses' life threatened with death at the hand of God. * And God just told him to go and tell Pharaoh to let Israel go! * Did God suddenly make last minute changes and forget to tell Moses, as though saying, "Oops. Moses, I forgot. I have to kill you because you never did circumcise little Gershom. I guess the while Exodus thing is off." God does not change His mind like that. * Obviously God planned for Moses to be saved from death and continue on his journey. * God would not have Israel's whole deliverance balanced on a man who is to tell Pharaoh to release Israel and then kill the man. And so we see God had something in mind here, that adds even more understanding to this whole issue. He smites Moses with something that is killing him * We are not told what it was. * And then suddenly his wife, Zipporah, runs and grabs a knife. * Then she races towards their son, Gershom. * She immediately circumcises Gershom and takes the blood-soaked foreskin and throws it towards Moses, striking Moses' feet with it. * The blood is on Moses' feet. * And she cries, "Surely thou art a bloody husband to me." She utters a strange statement like this. * And then we read God let Moses go and Moses is saved from death. * And Zipporah says again, "A bloody husband thou art because of the circumcision." What did she mean? * Why did God do this? * This came together as the Lord spoke to my spirit and pointed out that GERSHOM WAS MOSES' FIRSTBORN SON. * RECALL THE ISSUE OF FIRSTBORN SON IMMEDIATELY BEFORE THIS. And we come to find out that what Zipporah meant when she called Moses a bloody husband to her because of the circumcision, was that she was saying, "I PURCHASED YOU FROM DEATH BY THE BLOOD OF OUR SON." At face value, without understanding concerning this sort of language, one might think she was complaining about the cruelty of her husband's religion in requiring bloody circumcisions.
That makes it a wonderful little story instead of a horrible little story. * She exclaimed that Moses was saved by Blood. * So she called him a husband saved by BLOOD! She had her husband! He is spared! By the blood. And what is even more astounding and wonderful is this: Colossians 2:10-13 And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power: In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with [him] through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; THE CIRCUMCISION OF CHRIST refers to baptism and Christ's resurrection! * There is here what is referred to as "THE CIRCUMCISION OF CHRIST." * And whereas men circumcised a tiny piece of flesh from the male children, and that very event saved Moses from death, THIS circumcision is done without the hands of man, and is the removal of the ENTIRE BODY OF THE SINS OF THE FLESH. * And Paul the Apostle said that this Circumcision causes us to be circumcised with Christ in forgiving us of all our sins!!!! BURIED WITH HIM IN BAPTISM. * What does that statement have to do with this? * Romans 6:3, a verse we already read, says baptism is baptism INTO CHRIST'S DEATH. * That is why we are strong on Jesus' Name Baptism. * WE DIE WITH JESUS. * The water doesn't do it, but our faith in His death being identified with us does it! God was showing Moses a bit of what He was trying to say when He called Israel His firstborn. * He was saying, "Moses, little Gershom is your firstborn. And a firstborn son's circumcision is going to touch you and its blood is going to save you from death." * And we would read thousands of years later, "We are circumcised in the circumcision of Jesus when our sins were thrown on him, and he was freed from an entire body of our sins by the Almighty Spirit of God, having forgiven us of all our sins." WE ARE TOUCHED BY HIS BLOOD -- connected to it. * In the Bible, blood indicates death. * And as Moses was a bloody husband.. a husband brought back to his wife by the payment of the blood of their firstborn son's circumcision, we are blood-redeemed church, bought by the Blood of Jesus. * A little foreshadow of the EXODUS TO SOON COME, and especially of OUR EXIT FROM SIN. And this passage seems to say it all: 1 Peter 1:18-19 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, [as] silver and gold, from your vain conversation [received] by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God. One thing alone can stand between you and eternal death. * Nothing else can help you. * Not religion. * Not good deeds. * Not even going to church every week. * Your faith in the blood of Jesus, and baptism into His death alone can set you free. You need to be touched by the Blood, and joined to Jesus' death, so that when eternal death comes to your door, it will see that a death already occurred there. * YOUR'S AND JESUS' DEATH. Do you want to know what "Gershom's" name means in English? * "STRANGER" * Because... * Exodus 2:22 And she bare [him] a son, and he called his name Gershom: for he said, I have been a stranger in a strange land. * Moses' son's name described what he truly was. * This was another manner in which Moses was connected to his son, Gershom. * MOSES WAS A STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND. * The blood of Jesus, and His death as us, caused us to also become STRANGERS IN A STRANGE LAND. * HIS NAME CHANGED OUR ADDRESSES. * God is going to take us home one day, family! * This world is no longer our home. * We've EXITED this world! |
