The Beginning Of Months
Passover Message 2005
When sinners put their trust in Jesus blood, they begin a whole new life. The day of our salvation was the first day of a new year and a new life. Salvation is not a reformation of the old man, it is a rendering powerless of the sin nature through the power of the Cross of Christ. The powers of darkness are broken and the justice of God satisfied. The day of Israel’s exodus out of Egypt stands in type a picture of our glorious salvation. It marked a new beginning, a new year for them. In fact, they changed their calendar; the month they left Egypt became the first month of the New Year. Such is the message of the Passover season. Such is the message of eternity.
By Chris McDonald
TEXT: Exodus 12:1-10 - And the
Lord spoke unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, [2] This month
shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the
year to you. [3] Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In
the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according
to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house: [4] And if the household be
too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next unto his house take it
according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall
make your count for the lamb. [5] Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of
the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats: [6] And
ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole
assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. [7] And
they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the
upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it. [8] And they shall eat
the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter
herbs they shall eat it. [9] Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water,
but roast with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof.
[10] And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; and that which
remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire.
When sinners put their trust in Jesus blood, they begin a whole new life. The day of our salvation was the first day of a new year and a new life. Salvation is not a reformation of the old man, it is a rendering powerless of the sin nature through the power of the Cross of Christ. The powers of darkness are broken and the justice of God satisfied.
That is why we preach “Christ Crucified!” That is why we write so much about what CHRIST has done for us at Calvary. We can never write or hear enough about HIM. It’s sad that the modern church world thinks otherwise. Modern preachers seem to be more concerned about every one going to a “higher” level in God instead of being concerned with us reaching the DEPTHS of the unsearchable riches of Christ. Our journey with God is DEEP, not up. God has never been a Amway salesman nor is He some door price at the top of some pseudo-spiritual ladder. Our pursuit must be of JESUS and nothing else. Many look at the “accomplishment,” instead of looking to the one who are seeking to please – the Lord Jesus Christ.
The day of Israel’s exodus out of Egypt stands in type a picture of our glorious salvation. It marked a new beginning, a new year for them. In fact, they changed their calendar; the month they left Egypt became the first month of the New Year. Up to this time, Israel’s civil calendar began in autumn. Some scholars believe that it is quite possible that autumn was the time of year God created Adam and placed him in the garden. It would make sense since autumn was the time of year Adam would have found fruits ripe and ready to eat. It does not seem probable that he began his life while all the fruits were still raw and green.
It would make spiritual sense that the world’s beginning was at harvest time, just as the end of the world is tied to harvest as well! Humanity’s beginning came at harvest and humanity’s end, at least as we know time now, will end at the end of the age, which the Holy Spirit said through Christ was the time of the harvest:
Matthew 13:30
Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.
Matthew 13:39
The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.
In the old times, the new year began when the feast of harvest was celebrated. By at Passover, the first day of the new year had changed. As far as Israel was concerned, the opening of the year would be in the time of our spring – in the month called Abib, or Nisan.
A little before the barley was in the ear, on the Sabbath after the Passover, the produce of the earth was so far advanced that the first fruits were offered, and sheaf of new barley was waved before the Lord. Thus on the Lord’s calendar, the feasts of Passover and Firstfruits were celebrated 3 days apart, typifying the three days the Lord would be in the heart of the earth in the region known as Paradise. Three days after His death, He would rise from the dead and lead captivity captive.
Israel’s other feasts would be types of other great events in God’s dealings with man; but there would be no greater than Passover, for it was Passover, where all other feasts found their meaning. That is a type of the Christian walk today. ALL doctrine is good for instruction for the believer. However, ALL doctrine begins at the Cross! For any other doctrine to find true meaning, it must be centered on the finished work of Christ. We were saved from destruction at Calvary by the Lord’s blood, just as Passover saved Israel from the destruction of Egypt so long ago. It would be ABIB that would stand out as the time Israel reckoned her existence and the Lord brought them out!
Deut. 26:8
And the Lord brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great terribleness, and with signs, and with wonders:
Just as God changed Israel’s calendar at Passover, so does He change our lives at Salvation! God’s grace makes “all things new,” as we become new creatures in Christ Jesus. This process is not a wham-bam thank you ma’am experience. It’s an inward working of the Holy Spirit, who alone can change us. But the work He does in us begins at Calvary when we place our faith and trust in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ and what He accomplished 2,000 years ago on Golgotha’s hill.
2 Cor. 5:17
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all things are become new.
As Nicodemus so long ago tried to understand how a man who had already been born of woman could enter into his mother’s womb and be born again, so too today does the church wrestle with this foundational doctrinal issue. It’s a sad thing that many Christians who profess to have so much “knowledge,” know very very little about their born again salvation experience. I’m not saying they’re not saved, but if you don’t understand what Christ did at the Cross in securing that salvation, little hope exists for one to walk in victory over sin, self, the devil and the world. This salvation experience is something angels looked into and scratched their heads about. Yet, God chose to reveal this glorious truth to those of us in mortal flesh. It’s worth shouting about friend. It’s worth singing about. It’s worth praising God for. It’s worth living for Jesus! You must be “BORN AGAIN!”
John 3:3-8- Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. [4] Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? [5] Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. [6] That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. [7] Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. [8] The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
The Passover, is in type of the great work of redemption that takes place when this spiritual transformation occurs. We are redeemed by the blood of Christ as we personally apply it to our hearts and lives through FAITH. When we perceive the Lord’s act of passing over us because of Christ’s atoning sacrifice, then we begin to LIVE, and from that day we date all other future events. Our lives did not begin on our natural birthdays, our lives began on our SPIRITUAL birthday! My Lord, I want to shout. Let’s take a closer look at the Passover and see how it relates to our glorious redemption in Christ.
The Meaning Of Passover
First, the meaning of Passover has to do with the act of salvation by BLOOD. We know from scripture that the elders and heads of families each took a Lamb and shut it up, that they might examine it carefully. Having chosen a lamb in the prime of its life, “without blemish,” they kept it by itself as a separated and consecrated creature.
Exodus 12:5
Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats:
After four days they slew it and caught its blood in a basin. When this was done, they took hyssop and dipped it in the blood, then sprinkled the lintel and the two side posts of their houses (in the sign of a cross). By this means, the houses of Israel were preserved on that dark and dreadful night, when with unsheathed sword the angel of vengeance sped through every street of Pharaoh’s domain and slew the firstborn of all the land, both of men and of cattle.
Exodus 12:7
And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it.
Exodus 12:12
For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord.
There was only one way of deliverance from the death angel in Egypt – sprinkle the blood on the lintel posts and door. God’s vengeance against the gods of Egypt was the same as His vengeance today is against sin. Moses described our mode of deliverance when he described the Passover. The angel cannot be restrained, his wing cannot be bound, and his sword cannot be sheathed. He must go forth, and he must smite. He must smite us among the rest, for SIN IS UPON ALL! There must be no partiality. The soul who sins must die.
Ezekiel 18:4
Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.
Without abolishing the law which demanded justice, God brought a glorious, saving clause through CHRIST through which we ALL can be delivered. The clause is this, that if another would suffer instead of us and there was evidence that he had suffered, that would be enough for our deliverance.
Can we ever fathom what the Israelites felt when they understood that God would accept an unblemished lamb in the place of their firstborn? If the blood was displayed on the doorpost as the clear evidence that a sacrifice had suffered and died, then the angel would know that in that house his work has done and he could therefore pass over that habitation. The avenger was to demand a life, but if the life was already paid, ad there was the blood to prove it; the avenger could go on his way. It was the night of God’s PASSOVER; not because the execution of vengeance was left undone in the houses passed over, but just the opposite.
For in those houses the death blow had been struck, and the victim had died, and since the penalty could not be extracted twice, that family was clear. In each case where God’s vengeance has struck the sinner’s Substitute, it will not strike the sinner. The best preservative for the Israelite’s house was this: vengeance had stuck there and could not strike again. There was the insurance mark, the streak of blood. Death had been there. Even though it had fallen on a harmless lamb, it had still fallen on a victim of God’s own appointment. In God’s eyes it had fallen upon Christ Himself, the Lamb of God. In the mind of God all that happened this fateful night in Egypt was in type a foreshadowing of things to come years later on the cross where sin’s debt would be paid.
Rev. 13:8 - And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
1 Peter 1:20-21 - Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, [21] 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.
1 Cor. 5:7 - 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:
When we realize this we will no longer walk under the condemnation of sin. God’s judgment against sin that was supposed to be exacted upon the sinner has passed upon another – that other is the Lord Jesus Christ. The law demands that the soul who sins DIE. Christ has died in our place therefore those who walk in faith and anchor their hope in the finished work at the Cross, are free from the condemnation of the past, sin, death and hell. The law has no hold on those who are in CHRIST. This faith does not give us a license to sin, it causes us NOT to sin! It causes us to have the Holy Spirit live this Christian life for us and produce Christ IN US. The life we live is no longer by the flesh, but by the power of the Son of God.
1 Peter 2:24
Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
Romans 8:1
There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Galatians 3:13
Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:
1 Cor. 5:7
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:
That is why we preach the cross! NOTHING else can set man free from the guilt of his past or the wounds of his sin. All the self-help ego trips the modern church offers the world may sooth one’s conscience for a season, but ultimately the guilt will always return. Satan is the ultimate accuser and it’s his job to play both ends against the middle. On one hand, he tempts fallen humanity to sin and do evil; then when humanity does evil, he sits on the other side of the fence slinging the guilt, which ALWAYS accompanies SIN, onto the hearts of the offending party. It’s a vicious cycle but it’s the way of the tempter. He has never played fair in this struggle for the souls of humanity and the eternal destiny of us all.
The only thing the enemy flees and trembles at is the blood of Jesus! In Christ, we are, in type, securely in the doors, just as Israel was that bloody night in Egypt. When we’re in CHRIST, there is no need to have a guard outside the door to drive away the destroyer, for when God sees the blood of Jesus, He will PASS OVER us!
Jeremiah 23:6
In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.
The blood of sprinkling made Israel secure and it makes you and me secure today! Nothing has changed. Passover was the type, Christ the anti-type. The blood, the blood, the blood – sets men free from sin. Preachers, preach the blood of the cross. Get back to preaching the power of the blood. Nothing else can set the captive free. Nothing else can wash away the stains of sin on the hearts of dying, sinful, and wicked humanity. The devil’s powers are no match for Christ’s blood! Yet any other formula or “power” we offer those under our care and teaching is no match for the devil’s power.
Sin is more than an act. It is a NATURE which goes to the very heart and soul of man. That’s why most government leaders scratch their head constantly trying to find an answer to the mess society finds itself in today. They never address the problems of man in spiritual terms, which is really the only way TO address man’s moral dilemma. Once we realize that all our problems are SPIRITUAL in nature, then we will seek the only SPIRITUAL answer to those problems – the BLOOD OF JESUS CHRIST! We preach Christ Crucified! We preach the cross! We preach the finished work of Christ upon that tree.
We will continue this journal in part two of this sermon series on Passover. We pray you know the Risen Christ today. Behold, the LAMB OF GOD, which takes away the SIN of the world. He loves you today and has come to set the captive free. In Genesis, He was a lamb for Abel, a man. To Abraham, He was a provisionary promise. In Egypt, He became a Lamb for a house; on the Day of Atonement He became a lamb for a nation; Then John, praise God for John, who declared Him to be the lamb for the entire WORLD:
John 1:28-29
These things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing.
[29] The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb
of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
Embrace the Lamb of God and believe on Him this Passover season.
Do you know the Prince of Peace, the Lamb of God Today?