Recovered In Christ

Pass Over…
“When the Jews were in slavery to the Egyptians, the Lord raised up Moses to be their deliverer.  Moses told the Pharaoh about the plagues that would descend upon the Egyptian people if Pharaoh would not let God’s people go.  Of course, pharaoh refused and the plagues hit Egypt with a fury.  The last plague was the death of the first born of each family who lived in Egypt.  Since the Jews lived in Egypt, they were subject to this plague the same as the Egyptians.  However, the Lord provided a means of protection.  If they would take the blood of a lamb and spread it over the doorposts of their homes, the Lord would “pass over” them and the firstborn in their homes would be spared.  Exodus 12:13, “And the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live; and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.”

It should be obvious that the Passover is typological of Christ.  The shed blood of the lamb, of course, represents the shed blood of Christ.  The Lord passed over the homes whose doors were covered in blood.  That is, the judgment of God was not carried out upon those who were under the blood of the lamb.” – Source: CARM

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve tried to separate my own personal experience from what I’ve read in the Bible. And I can’t. I’m not even sure why I’ve tried so hard to do that. I’ve thought of many different reasons. I’ve wanted to read and understand the Bible in a way that was as objective as possible, and not just use it as a book of inspiration for my own individual blip of a life on the radar of the thousands of years of humanity – I mean that’s a bit self-absorbed – to reduce God’s story to nothing more than a Hallmark card to my current affairs. The other extreme was that for many years I saw the Bible as some alien separate text that may or may not be describing actual events. In either case –  it was based upon and talking to a belief system and a culture completely non existant to my own way of life – it had no bearing on my own personal life.

…until I asked God to read it with me. I invited Jesus Christ to read the Bible with me. This was at a time in my life when I was experiencing alot of suffering – walking in the dusk of my spiritual life – in the fading light of my spiritual experience. I knew that something in my life was being put to death and I was terrified. I clung desperately to my old beliefs – and my own experience – and my “truth” and yet – right before my very eyes, I could feel God’s judgement upon my life. Why?

Because I asked Him – I asked God to judge my life. I asked Him for the Truth. The whole Truth. And I got it. He told me that the “plagues” coming to this world – as they had come upon Pharoah in Egypt, would pass-over me and my household – if I would cover my doorpost with the Blood of the Lamb. He showed me that I was a part of Exodus as much as those children of Israel were. And just like they could not have possibly known the FULL implications of what that Lamb’s blood represented – neither did I. Until I simply did what I was told. I came under the protection of the shed Blood of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. The Son of God – who was crucified and became the TRUE and FINAL passover for humanity. Past, present and future, has God revealed to my spirit. My personal experience and The Holy Bible are fused. There can be no separation.

Do I celebrate passover? Every single day of my life. I do so in remembrance of what Jesus did for me – He gave His life for me. He put to death all of my darkness and sin and buried it in His grave. He rose for me. He gave me His life to share with Him. A life that will never end.

I love you Jesus.

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8
Amen.