I am doing a study of the book of Mark, & this week I happen to be studying Passover & the betrayal of Christ. The study led me to Exodus 12, reading about the first Passover. What amazing symbolism!
They were told to take an unblemished lamb to sacrifice & they were to take the blood of the lamb & put it on their doorposts, & God's wrath would pass over them. Passover celebrates the fact that God struck the firstborn of the Egyptians that night, but spared the Israelites. They then escaped the land of Egypt.
Jesus is our unblemished lamb! His blood is THE only reason we will be spared when God judges every man. When we respond to God's pursual of us (& He is pursuing every man, whether they realize it or not - 2 Peter 3:9) by accepting in our hearts & saying that Jesus is the Son of God who died as a perfect sacrifice for our sins, we are covered by the blood of Jesus, & God no longer sees our sins but we are made righteous in his sight; we are SAVED (Romans 10:9-10). What beautiful truth!!
Some prophecies from the Old Testament regarding Jesus & salvation:
"Behold, your King is coming to you; righteous & having salvation is He, humble & mounted on a donkey." Zechariah 9:9 (see John 12:14-15 for fulfillment of prophecy)
Jeremiah 31:31-34
Isaiah 52:13 - 53:12 ** REALLY good stuff regarding Jesus' crucifixion
Isaiah 11:1-5
"Behold, the virgin shall conceive & bear a son, & shall call His name Immanuel [meaning 'God with us']." Isaiah 7:14
Isaiah 9:6-7
These prophecies were written hundreds of years before Christ. & these are only a few of the things written about Him that came true. (see more prophecies here & lots more here.)
I just love it. I am so thankful for what Jesus did for me, for you. This is what I am celebrating this weekend of Easter.
What are you celebrating??
1 comment:
I've been doing a Beth Moore study on Jesus the past few 2+ months and it just so happened that I reached the Easter stuff right around Easter. I love how that works out. :) Anyway, two weeks ago I felt like God was leading me to start studying Exodus, and that He wanted me to start immediately, rather than wait until after I finished the Jesus study like I was planning on doing. So because you shared, I'm going to share a little nugget of what God has taught me so far. :)
In John 19 Pilate tells Jesus, "don't you know I have the power to crucify you or set you free?" and Jesus responded with, "You would have no power over me were it not given to you from God."
Then in Exodus 10:1, as well as several other places, God says that He hardened Pharaoh's heart so that He could do miracles and make Himself known. The whole time the Pharaoh thought he was in control of things, but not only did God MIRACULOUSLY prove that the Pharaoh had no control (10 plagues, parting the sea, etc) but God also was the very reason that the Pharaoh was the way he was and responded in the way that he did.
So, even when we *think* that we're in control of situations, we only have as much control as God allows us to have. Ultimately, He's going to get His will done so that His name will be glorified, whether we choose to be a part of it or not.
That's a really good feeling, knowing that I'm not really in control, because I'm too afraid of making the wrong decision. But knowing that ultimately, God is going to make His will be done is really comforting, and freeing. :)
Thanks for sharing and letting me share!
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