Testimonies
The life of Jesus is obviously the subject of the New Testament. His miraculous birth into this planet and subsequent death and resurrection are gloriously dissected. However, the New Testament isn't the only picture of Christ's accomplishments on the cross. In its marvelous accounts, the Old Testament has wonderful illustrations of the redemptive work that God wrought through His Son Jesus Christ. The following are two just two stories that foretell the plan of God. Thousands of years before Jesus would walk this earth, the Old Testament puts forth an unmistakable parallel.
Genesis chapter 22 is a beautiful picture of what God would accomplish with His own son nearly 2000 years later. This is the story of Abraham following God's command to offer his promised son, Isaac, as a sacrifice. God directs Abraham to a very specific place. Abraham is instructed to take Isaac to a mountain called Moriah, and offer him there as a sacrifice (Gen. 22:2). As they approached the mountain top, Isaac takes note of the wood and fire, and asks his father "where is the lamb for the burnt offering?" Abraham responds "God will provide himself a lamb". Astonishingly, Isaac trusts his father completely. There is no record of Isaac struggling against his aged father as he is prepared to be sacrificed. What a picture of our Saviour! Jesus himself declared that no man could take His life, but that He would lay it down voluntarily (John 10:18). As you know, Isaac walked down that mountain with no harm, after God provided a ram caught in a thicket for Abraham to sacrifice. So, just as Abraham had said, God did provide a sacrifice that day. However, this would not be the last time God would provide a sacrifice on this mountain. Glory be to God, some 2000 years later God would orchestrate a perfectly parallel event. In John 1:36 John the Baptist sees Jesus walking by and declares "behold the Lamb of God!" Jesus was indeed God's lamb, God's sacrifice. When Jesus was crucified, his cross was hung on Golgotha's hill. This was the same mount in Jerusalem where Abraham and Isaac ascended in Genesis 22. Leviticus 17:11 and Hebrews 9:22 both declare that without the shedding of blood there can be no remission of sin. God redeemed us from sin by paying the price of sin for us (ephesians 2:13-16). Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice for sin. 2Cor 5:21 says, "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. When we accept (by faith) the atonement of Christ's blood on the cross, 2Cor. 5:17 declares we "are a new creature, old things are passed away, behold all things are become new." Notice the word "all". Jesus' sacrifice was so complete, that all of our being was redeemed (purchased, or bought back).
We should never take lightly what has been done for us. 1Cor. 6:19-20 tells us "know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost...and ye are not your own?" How can God say this about us? How is it possible that we don't, in effect, own ourselves? The next sentence in the Bible explains: "For ye are bought with a price". When we make the decision to accept Christ, we receive all the benefits that come with redemption. But in receiving this free gift from God, we are bought with the price that He paid on Calvary's blood stained hill. This ownership that God has purchased means we are to exude his nature in our lives (Romans 8:29). When He owns us, He expects to direct us. But, do not fret. Jesus said "my yoke is easy and my burden is light." (Matt. 11:30)
1 Cor 5:7 states "for even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us." This New Testament verse, like many others, has its origin in the Old Testament. The first glimpse we see of this word "passover" is in Exodus chapter 12. This of course is the powerful story of God bringing His people out of captivity in Egypt. According to the scriptures, Israel had been in Egypt for some 400 years. By the twelfth chapter in Exodus, nine of God's plagues have already been carried out on the Egyptians. The tenth and last is of course the death of the firstborn. God informs Moses that He will pass through Egypt at midnight. Every house that does not have lambs blood applied to the door posts will receive the judgement of death to the firstborn in the house. What an amazing pronouncement of judgement! However, God instructs Moses as to the manner in which the Israelites are to prepare their homes for this judgement. Each family was to fetch a lamb without blemish (vs 5). They were to kill it and eat, which seems natural, but the instructions don't end here. The blood of this lamb was to be caught and applied to the door posts of the house (vs 7). That night in Egypt, the Lord passed thru the land to execute judgment (vs 12). In every house where the door posts had no blood, the firstborn of both man and beasts perished. God's judgment on Egypt and her gods was total and exempted no one. No one, except where the blood of the lamb was found. The next morning, death was found in every home, except in those dwellings where the blood of the lamb was found. The blood of that lamb was the only separation between the homes that had the stench of death, and those with peace and serenity. No strength or ability of man was sufficient to protect one's self from the judgment of God on that terrible night. Only the simple yet profoundly capable lamb's blood prevented destruction. Only the lamb's blood caused the judgment of God to "pass over" the house.
Today we are no different. Jesus' blood can save us, heal us, protect us, and deliver us. The story of the Exodus contains remarkable illumination concerning the blood of the Lamb. The night before the passover lamb was killed in Egypt, the Israelites were slaves. Their condition that night held no distinction from the previous thousands in which they had been held in captivity. However, once the blood of the lamb was applied to their homes, the most dramatic and radical change occurred. The next day Pharaoh and all of Egypt asked them to leave. The Egyptians even gave them their valuables as payment to leave (Ex. 12:35,36). In one night, they went from slavery to freedom. But their release from captivity is not the end of the story! Psalm 105:37 records that this entire nation walked out of Egypt without a single feeble person. This means that God miraculously healed every person under the blood. Think about it, there was no health care for those slaves while performing back breaking work. Yet, the morning after the blood saved them, they were completely healed. According to 1 Cor 5:7 Jesus is our passover lamb. This helps to explain 1 Pet 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." The blood of the lamb has as much power to heal as it does to cleanse from sin! The work of Christ on the cross was total. Thanks be to God, His blood provides complete redemption. Peter used the power of this complete redemption when in Acts 3:16 he declared that lame man who was healed in verses 7 and 8 was healed by faith in the name of Jesus. Jesus paid the price for total deliverance! Spirit, mind, and body.
Jesus was crucified on this same day of passover. Remember the last supper in the gospels? We often read these passages during communion. Luke 22 records this event. Verse 7 states this event was the day that the Passover was to be killed. The nation of Israel was still practicing this ceremonial meal at the time of Jesus. This is the same passover ceremony that God began in Exodus chapter 12, just before the nation of Israel was to be released from slavery. Jesus tells his disciples during this meal that the bread they are eating is His body (verse 19), and the wine they are drinking is His blood (verse 20). Jesus makes an enormous statement: "This is the new testament in my blood." Jesus signified the initiating of a New Covenant. This new covenant had its history and shadow in the Old Covenant (Old Testament). What the Israelites practiced for centuries was being perfected and fulfilled in Christ (matt. 5:17). This is the exact same night the Israelites were celebrating the exodus from Egypt. It was the night before Jesus was crucified, and He was setting forth the new covenant. God is so perfect even in His timing. This is illustrated in the Exodus account also. God had told Abraham that his seed would be held in a strange land for 400 years(Gen. 15:13). Upon leaving Egypt, the bible makes mention that the nation of Israel walked out of Egypt on the exact day that God had spoken of, hundreds of years before (Ex. 12:41). God is so perfect, He leaves nothing out of His plan. He even is perfect in His timing!
Jesus was the perfect lamb without blemish (even Pilate stated he found no fault in him - John 18:38). This was God's lamb, perfect and sinless in every way. This is why Romans 10:4 states "Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth." No one can attain a good standing with God thru the law of Moses found in the Old Testament. As Jesus stated in Matt. 5:17 he came to fulfill the requirements of that law. This is why there is no more need for animal sacrifices. He was without spot and without blemish, and thank God it is His precious blood that redeems us (1 Peter 1:18,19). He has broken the power of sin and death. This blood has the power to save us to the uttermost (Heb 7:25). God has provided His own Son as sacrifice to make atonement for us. This is the gift of God! This scripture in Romans 5:8-11 captures it: "God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by is blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement. "
