“The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats… Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs. It is the LORD's Passover. On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn—both men and animals—and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD. The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will PASS OVER you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt. This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the LORD -a lasting ordinance.” (Exodus 12:5, 7, 11, 13-14, NIV)

Observations:
I asked myself what are the commandments given in this passage?

1. The sheep or the goats you choose must be year-old males without defect.

2. Take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs.

3. This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the LORD -a lasting ordinance.”

Observations:
I asked myself what are the 7 promises given in this passage by the Lord?
 
1. It is the LORD’s Passover.

2. On that same night I will pass through Egypt.

3. I will strike down every firstborn----both men and animals.

4. I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt.

5. I am the LORD.

6. The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are.

7. When I see the blood, I will PASS OVER you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.

Interpretations:
I asked myself what do the observations have to do with the cross and decided to look at all 10 observations!

When I think of the cross, I cannot forget PASSOVER remembering the One who went to the cross to pay the penalty for my sin so God's judgement will passover me. For my sins are many and my struggle with reconciliation and forgiveness is real. But thanks be to the Lord Jesus Christ, who covers me in His precious Blood, His judgment will passover me. I need to give the same grace to those who have shamed me, etc because we shame the Lord everyday by our actions and yet He is so gracious to forgive us to reconcile us before the Father.

All this I keep in mind as I study the 10 points of Passover in light of the cross.

Point 1:  The sheep or the goats you choose must be year-old males without defect.

For PASSOVER, the animals that were chosen for a sacrifice were animals without any defect. In the same way, Jesus was chosen for the ULTIMATE SACRIFICE who was without blemish or defect.

"But it was not the of goats and calves. No, he took his own, and with it he, by himself, made sure of our eternal salvation." (Hebrews 9:12, TLB)

"For it is not possible for the blood of bulls and goats really to take away sins. That is why Christ said as he came into the world, “O God, the blood of bulls and goats cannot satisfy you, so you have made ready this body of mine for me to lay as a sacrifice upon your altar." (Hebrews 10:4-5, TLB)

“For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.” (1 Peter 1:18-19, NIV)

Point 2: "Take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs."

For PASSOVER, it was very important that the Israelites took some of the blood of the sacrifice and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes where they ate the lambs.

This is very interesting because when you look at the sides and tops of the doorframes covered in blood, you actually get a Π shape covered in blood.

When you take the vertical line from the left or right and move it into the center, you get a  ┼ covered in blood.

It is very interesting that Jesus Christ became our sacrificial Lamb of God without any blemish or defect and was sacrificed on the CROSS in the center of two criminals to His left and right. The CROSS was filled with the Blood of Jesus Christ.

"And it was because he believed God would save his people that he commanded them to kill a lamb as God had told them to and sprinkle the blood on the doorposts of their homes so that God’s terrible Angel of Death could not touch the oldest child in those homes as he did among the Egyptians." (Hebrews 11:28, TLB)

"For God sent Christ Jesus to take the punishment for our sins and to end all God’s anger against us. He used Christ’s Blood and our faith as the means of saving us from his wrath. In this way he was being entirely fair, even though he did not punish those who sinned in former times. For he was looking forward to the time when Christ would come and take away those sins. (Romans 3:25, TLB)

It was through what his Son did that God cleared a path for everything to come to him—all things in heaven and on earth—for Christ’s death on the cross has made peace with God for all by his Blood. (Colossians 1:20, TLB)

“And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death---even death on the cross!” (Philippians 2:8, NIV)

Point 3: “This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the LORD -a lasting ordinance.”

For PASSOVER is a time, all the Israelites or Jewish people commemorate for generations to come.

Followers of Christ celebrate PASSOVER too and remember PASSOVER in light of what happened on the CROSS on a GOOD FRIDAY!

When Jesus was twelve years old, he accompanied his parents to Jerusalem for the annual Passover Festival, which they attended each year. (Luke 2:41-42, TLB)

"The Passover, a Jewish holy day, was near, and many country people arrived in Jerusalem several days early so that they could go through the cleansing ceremony before the Passover began." (John 11:55, TLB)

Point 4: “It is the Lord’s PASSOVER!”

For PASSOVER is indeed initiated and put into effect by the Lord so it is the Lord’s PASSOVER whether it is celebrated by Jews or Christians which will become more evident as the rest of the points are looked at.

'And he said,“I have looked forward to this hour with deep longing, anxious to eat this Passover meal with you before my suffering begins." (Luke 22:15, TLB)

Point 5: "On that same night, I will pass through Egypt."

The Lord did pass through Egypt on that night of PASSOVER.

"But all who reject me and my message will be judged at the Day of judgement by the truths I have spoken." (John 12:48, TLB)

Point 6: "I will strike down every firstborn---- both men and animals."

Thousands of years ago, the Lord did strike down every firstborn ---- both men and animals because of the sin that was prevalent.

In the same way, it is very interesting that the LORD struck down His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ who was the firstborn of creation for our sake because of the sin prevalent in our lives when Jesus decided to become the ULTIMATE SACRIFICE for us.

"For God never said to any angel, “You are my Son, and today I have given you the honor that goes with that name.” But God said it about Jesus. Another time he said, “I am his Father and he is my Son.” And still another time—when his firstborn Son came to earth—God said, “Let all the angels of God worship him.” (Hebrews 1:5-6, TLB)

“Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see—such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him. He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together. Christ is also the head of the church, which is his body. He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead. So he is first in everything. For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.” (Colossians 1:15-20, NLT)

Point 7: "I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt."

The Lord did bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt showing His power and letting everyone in Egypt, who followed false gods, to know that there is only One God and He is Jehovah, the I AM.

Don’t let them live among you! For I know that they will infect you with their sin of worshiping false gods, and that would be an utter disaster to you.” (Exodus 23:33, TLB)

For the Lord says: I have put a stop to Moab’s worshiping false gods and burning incense to idols. (Jeremiah 48:35, TLB)

In the same way, the Lord will bring judgment upon us when we follow false gods instead of Him and Him alone. False gods do not have to be idols we worship but anything that we give more allegiance to than God Himself.

(Those who worship false gods have turned their backs on all the mercies waiting for them from the Lord!) (Jonah 2:8, TLB)

God tolerated man’s past ignorance about these things, but now he commands everyone to put away idols and worship only him.(Acts 17:30, TLB)

And then, instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they took wood and stone and made idols for themselves, carving them to look like mere birds and animals and snakes and puny men. (Romans 1:23, TLB)

But the men left alive after these plagues still refused to worship God! They would not renounce their demon-worship, nor their idols made of gold and silver, brass, stone, and wood—which neither see nor hear nor walk! (Revelations 9:20, TLB)

Point 8: "I am the LORD."

God is reminding the Israelites that He is the Lord and there is no other.

In the same way, we are reminded that Jesus is the only Way, the Truth, and the Life and there is no other way to get to the Father. If we want to reach Father God, it has to be done through Jesus Christ and starts with the blood shed on the cross.

"Jesus told him, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one can come to the Father except through me. If you had really known me, you would know who my Father is. From now on, you do know him and have seen him!” (John 14:6-7, NLT)

Point 9: "The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are."

When judgment came on the first-born of every man and animal, the Israelites whose house’s doorframes had blood on the sides and top had a sign.

In the same way, today we all have the sign of the cross when judgment comes over if we apply Christ’s cleansing blood shed on the cross in our lives.

And now may the God of peace, who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, equip you with all you need for doing his will. May he who became the great Shepherd of the sheep by an everlasting agreement between God and you, signed with his Blood, produce in you through the power of Christ all that is pleasing to him. To him be glory forever and ever. Amen. (Hebrews 13:20-21, TLB)

But if we are living in the light of God’s presence, just as Christ does, then we have wonderful fellowship and joy with each other, and the Blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from every sin. (1 John 1:7, TLB)

Point 10: "When I see the blood, I will PASS OVER you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt."

When the Lord saw the blood on the side and top of the doorframes, His judgment did pass over them.

In the same way, when the Lord sees the blood of Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son covering over our lives, His judgment will PASS OVER us. But, we need to apply the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ in our own lives so we have the antidote against the virus known as sin that becomes a destructive plague.

And it was because he believed God would save his people that he commanded them to kill a lamb as God had told them to and sprinkle the blood on the doorposts of their homes so that God’s terrible Angel of Death could not touch the oldest child in those homes as he did among the Egyptians. (Hebrews 11:28, TLB)

So Jesus said it again, “With all the earnestness I possess I tell you this: Unless you eat the flesh of the Messiah* and drink his blood, you cannot have eternal life within you.But anyone who does eat my flesh and drink my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him at the Last Day. (John 6:53-54, TLB)

"And he said to them, “This is my Blood poured out for many, sealing the new agreement between God and man." (Mark 14:24, TLB)

"So overflowing is his kindness toward us that he took away all our sins through the Blood of his Son, by whom we are saved." (Ephesians 1:7, TLB)

But now you belong to Christ Jesus, and though you once were far away from God, now you have been brought very near to him because of what Jesus Christ has done for you with his Blood ++. (Ephesians 2:13, TLB)

"And since by his blood he did all this for us as sinners, how much more will he do for us now that he has declared us not guilty? Now he will save us from all of God’s wrath to come." (Romans 5:9, TLB)

Implications:
I saw important implications for my own life. If I want the Lord’s judgment to PASSOVER me, I cannot do it on my own. Whatever I do will not let God’s judgment PASSOVER me without His help. This means just because I think I am a good person will not do. I maybe seen as a good person in the world’s standards but God’s standards are so high. God in His perfect holiness cannot allow sin to enter into His presence. Therefore, even if I did 99.9% of good things but did 0.1% of bad things, that does not make me a good person in God’s eyes. It is like water being polluted with a drop of cyanide. It is not pure anymore even if people think it can be pure.

"For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard." (Romans 3:23, NLT)

But, the Good News is that the price for my Salvation has already been paid. I don’t have to work my way to reach God. In all the religions of the world except Christianity, everyone is trying to reach God through their good works but in Christianity, I see that it is God that reached out to humanity through His Son Jesus Christ. That made such an impact on me and still does.

The Word of the Lord says, “While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us!”

So, now I need to accept the free gift of grace given to me by the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ on the cross. But the CROSS was not the end of the story. It is just the beginning of the Gospel. The Lord Jesus came back to life on the 3^rd day to save humanity by reaching out to them.

"David was looking into the future and speaking of the Messiah’s resurrection. He was saying that God would not leave him among the dead or allow his body to rot in the grave." (Acts 2:31, NLT)

"Let me now remind you, dear brothers and sisters, of the Good News I preached to you before. You welcomed it then, and you still stand firm in it. It is this Good News that saves you if you continue to believe the message I told you—unless, of course, you believed something that was never true in the first place. I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said. He was seen by Peter and then by the Twelve. After that, he was seen by more than 500 of his followers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. Then he was seen by James and later by all the apostles." (1 Corinthians 15:1-7, NLT)

Let us not forget that we are the reason Jesus died on the cross. The bloody cross is from the Lamb of God who sacrificed His life for humanity. It is undefiled blood and the purest antidote for our virus sin so we are not affected by this destructive plague. When we take His cleansing blood and cover ourselves with it, we are covered by the cross. The cross covers over our entire body with the blood on it so the destructive plague of sin cannot touch us as the power of Christ's resurrection we can experience with a new life in Christ burying our old life.

Now when God looks at us in His holiness, He does not see sin anymore but the blood of Christ covering over us and cleansing us of all sin. Now God’s judgment will PASSOVER us and we can be with Him in Eternity. And so through the Cross, Jesus became our PASSOVER LAMB.

"For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised  from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.  Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised to life as he was. We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin. And since we died with Christ, we know we will also live with him. We are sure of this because Christ was raised from the dead, and he will never die again. Death no longer has any power over him. When he died, he died once to break the power of sin. But now that he lives, he lives for the glory of God. So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus." (Romans 6:4-11, NLT)

I ask you now dear friend, how do you know judgment will PASSOVER you?
Dear friend, you can know beyond a shadow of a doubt that judgment will PASSOVER you if you have Jesus Christ in your life. Jesus paid the ultimate price on the cross for you and me. It is the cross Jesus used to fulfill His mission for you and me. It is more than just a symbol or jewelry to wear on your neck or a pin to put on.  Each time you come across a cross, I hope you get a flashback of the screaming pain of Christ as each nail went in to rescue you and me. May that reminder, remind you how much Jesus loves you that He endured the cross for you and me so judgment can PASSOVER us.

When we make a cross using our hands, it is not just a gesture but being reminded of the One who endured it and the One who now covers us by His blood because He loves us.

But that is only one aspect of why Jesus chose obedience to death-even death on the cross.

The other reason that came to my mind is a pathway. When we cross the road, we are actually crossing a pathway to reach our destination. Without a road or bridge or water we won’t be able to get to the other side because they serve as a pathway.

In the same way, I see the Cross as the only pathway to reach God. When we look to the Cross of Christ, we are looking to the pathway that serves as a bridge to reach our Heavenly Father. All other means and pathways will not let us get across except the cross of Christ so judgment can PASSOVER us.

May you know how much you are loved by Jesus no matter what you have done or no matter where you have been! He loves you so much that He paid the price for you.

Now won’t you accept what He did for you and come into His presence and give your life to Him so He can cover the virus of sin with His cleansing blood so judgment can PASSOVER us?

He will give us a transfusion of change.

"Paid All Sins, Savior's Our Valiant Everlasting Redeemer!"(P.A.S.S.O.V.E.R)/”How do you know judgment will P.A.S.S.O.V.E.R you?”

Prayer:
Dear Jesus, I love you. Thank you for loving me so much and thank you for choosing the cross to die for me. You became the Son of Man and lived here on earth. Then you humbled yourself and became obedient to death-even death on the cross. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sin. You died on the cross so that I can be covered in your blood and cleansed by your blood as I acknowledge that I need you and cannot enter Heaven without you being my pathway. You became my PASSOVER LAMB! So, Jesus I confess all my sins to you and all the ways I have tried to get into Heaven when you already provided the means and the Way. I repent of my sin. Thank you for all that you have done for me especially forgiving me of my sin so judgment can PASSOVER. The cross is the place, a wonderful place where accused and condemned find mercy and grace. Thank you Jesus, it is at the cross where the wrongs we have done and the wrongs done to us were nailed at the cross. Thank you Jesus, at the cross you died for our sins and at the cross you gave your life for us. I thank you for that and thank you for coming back to life to save us. Thank you Jesus for being there for me! Thank you for loving me. I love you Jesus! Please take me as I am and make my life into something that you will be proud of. I surrender my life to you and need your help to live for you. I am forever grateful for the cross and what you have done for me and I can never repay you. I want to live for you and need your help. Thank you that your blood is for me. Help me Jesus please to live in the power of your Holy Spirit. I thank you Jesus for saving us! Thank you for hearing my prayer and answering me. Whatever your will give me the willingness and strength to bear it. Come into my heart and please make my heart your home. Live in me Jesus and I will live for you and serve you all the days of my life as you help me knowing you are my Lord and Personal Savior. You are my God! Thank you Jesus! I acknowledge you as my Lord and Personal Savior! In Your Name I Pray precious Jesus! Amen!

You are my all in all. You are my Prince of Peace, Rock, Savior, and Friend. You are my Holy Father guiding me through to live a life of righteousness, holy righteousness. Oh God, I need you more than ever. I need to feel your hands around me holding me tight. I need your love to surround me so that you can glow in my life. Help me please Jesus. I desire in your presence. Thank you for guiding me to live a life of righteousness. Oh God you love me more than ever. You hear my voice when I cry out to you. When I seek your face, you fill me up. You are my all in all. Thank you Jesus so much for your help no matter what I face, your grace is available and you take my case. Thank you for hearing us and answering us. In Your Name I Pray Jesus! AMEN! (Most of the prayer is from a vineyard song called “All in All”

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