Christ Our Passover

Introduction

Twelfth chapter of the book of Exodus. Before we get there, I would like to point out that three weeks from this morning, we will have an attorney who preaches the gospel in a powerful way. So powerful, in fact, you’d probably consider him a preacher who happens to practice law. There’ll be a series, Are You Living by the Word by Brother Kevin Clark. I’ve heard him. I promise you, you will be happy that you are here and spent the time with your fellow Christians studying the Word of God and learning from this man’s great wisdom and wonderful presentation. When you think of Exodus chapter 12, I’m sure that you realize that this morning we’re going to talk about the Lord’s Supper. When you think about memorials, the memorial like the Lord’s Supper, like what we find in Exodus chapter 12 with the Passover.

We’re very familiar with them. It’s remembering something, often something of great significance. If you’re lucky enough to get to New York City, there is a memorial at the site of the World Trade Towers. You have the 9-11 memorial. If you’re fortunate enough to go out to Hawaii, there is the Pearl Harbor Museum that is a memorial to the many lives lost in the attack back in 1941. And when you think about memorials, they cause us to stop and think. They cause us to stop and ponder what happened. And it doesn’t matter that the World Trade Center towers fell about 15 years ago. It doesn’t matter that Pearl Harbor was born over 70 years ago. What matters is that we remember the life lost. We remember the lives sacrificed.

And there’s numerous memorials, whether it be a Vietnam memorial wall, remembering the lives of the world. Of our soldiers.

Whether it be the life of the soldiers or the impact that this country had on another part of the world, we have memorials that stand there as a place to help us remember something of significance. And certainly there’s nothing of greater significance than the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. But many of us would be puzzled if we study Scripture to see that really in Exodus chapter 12, we see kind of the forerunner of what we know as the Lord’s Supper. We see kind of where it began in a sense. But even before you get into Exodus chapter 12, note the context in Exodus chapter 11. You have the people of Israel who are in Egyptian bondage. Now that’s a critical point.

The people are in Egyptian bondage. All the way back in Genesis chapter 12, God promised Abraham that from his seed would be a great nation. That would be the Israelites. And in Exodus chapter 1, you find that this great nation has arrived. And Pharaoh, rather than treating them nicely and separately, fearing them, put them under a hard yoke of slavery and bondage. And it’s at this point that Moses is raised up, and God speaks to him through the burning bush, and Moses is to lead his people out of Israel. And there was a little bit of a hesitation there, but then Moses finally does. But Pharaoh this time doesn’t play along. And there’s a series of ten plagues. And in chapter 11, you see the final one threatened in chapter 11 and verse 1 of the book of Exodus.

The Lord said to Moses, Yet, one plague more I will bring upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt. Afterward he will let you go from here. When he lets you go, he will drive you away completely. Speak now in the hearing of the people that they ask every man of his neighbor and every woman of her neighbor for silver and gold jewelry. And the Lord gave the people more favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover, the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh’s servants, in the sight of his people. And here it is, this final plague, and all the power of God being shown to not only this nation, not only to Egypt, but around the world, this plague would be the one that finally had the Pharaoh, at least for a moment.

Let God’s people go. And verse 4, read it with me. So Moses said, Thus says the Lord. About midnight I will go out in the midst of Egypt, and every firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die. From the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the slave girl, who is behind the handmill, and all the firstborn of the cattle. There shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there has never been, nor ever will be again. But not a dog shall growl against any of the people of Israel, either man or beast, that you may know that the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel. In verse 9, then the Lord said to Moses, Pharaoh will not listen to you, that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.

And of course, the problem with that, if you’re Moses, if you’re the Israelites, is if God is going to strike down the firstborn of everyone in the land of Egypt, aren’t God’s people in Egypt too? What’s going to be done about that? If God’s going to distinguish between Israel and Egypt, what’s going to be done if Moses is trying to get God’s people out of the land of Egypt, and then God takes down all the firstborn? Of course, that’s not what happened. And God gives them a specific remedy for this problem, and it’s found in Exodus chapter twelve. The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, this month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year for you, till all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month, every man shall take a lamb, according to their father’s houses, a lamb for a household.

And if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his nearest neighbor shall take according to the number of persons, according to what each can eat, you shall make your count for the lamb. Verse 5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats, and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight. Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. They shall eat the flesh that night, roasted on the fire with unleavened bread and bitter herbs, they shall eat it.

Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted its head with its legs and its inner parts. And you shall let none of it remain until the morning. Anything that remains until the morning you shall burn. In this manner you shall eat it, with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand, and you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord’s Passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast, and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments. I am the Lord. The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are, 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.

This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven out of your houses, for if anyone eats what is leavened, from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel. So you see, this memorial that was given by the Lord was going to mark a significant event. It was going to be when the tenth plague came. The only ones who would be spared from the destruction, the sure destruction, from our living God, who would send the destroyer out to take the firstborn of every man and beast in the land of Egypt, would be those who did what?

Those who had the sign that God had prescribed. If you look back at verse thirteen, I do think it’s important to note as we get into this conversation this morning, we see what is the language of verse 13. The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. Now, what’s interesting about the sign here is that oftentimes when we talk about baptism, what’s kind of the number one go to argument? Well, baptism is just a symbol. It’s not truly where you reach the point of forgiveness of sins. And yet, how mandatory was this sign that God gave his people of the utmost importance? When you see, when he sees the blood, he will pass over them. No plague would fall on them or destroy them when God struck the land of Egypt.

This was an important sign to God’s people. How is it to be done? They were to take the blood and put it on the lintels of the doorpost, and God would pass over them because that’s the way God had commanded them to do. And when he did this, God passed over them. But it wasn’t just a one-time feast. It wasn’t a one time sacrifice. In verse 14, it’s so clear.

How long? Throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast. I think it’s important that we understand this when we think about the Lord’s Supper, and this morning, I want to speak a little bit on what should we be thinking about while partaking of the Lord’s Supper. We do this every Lord’s day and with good reason. Acts chapter 20 and verse 7 gives us a great example of the Apostle Paul making a point to be with his brethren and to partake of the Lord’s Supper on the first day of the week, which comes every week. But when we when we partake of this sacrifice and we partake of the bread and the fruit of the vine, sometimes we risk being a little distracted, unfocused even.

1. Christ Our Passover Lamb Without Blemish

And when we see in 1 Corinthians chapter 11, a text that we’ll examine in a few moments, we’re going to see that there is a grave penalty to taking this for granted, to not being focused on the death of our Lord and Savior. But even in a bigger picture, look back to Christ as our Passover. If you look in verse 5, you see that there are some similarities here. And in verse 5 is perhaps the most stark. The lamb that was to be offered in the case of the Israelites, all the way here, and the origination of the Passover in Exodus chapter 12 and verse 5. How was that lamb to be selected? It was to be a lamb without blemish. When you think about our Passover lamb, you know who that is, because John chapter 1 makes it clear.

Turn there with me. See the connection that Scripture itself makes for us. In John chapter 1 and verse 29, note how Jesus is addressed. In John chapter 1, beginning in verse 29. You see, the next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and said, Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. This is he of whom I said, after he comes, a man who ranks before me, because he was before me. I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water that he might be revealed to Israel. And John bore witness, I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him. But he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.

And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God. The next day again, John was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, Behold, the Lamb of God. John the Baptist, as the forerunner of Christ, as the messenger, to bring the people to be ready for Jesus the Christ and his ministry and his message. He recognized Jesus as the Lamb of God. And not just the Lamb of God in verse 29, as you see the sentence concludes, who takes away the sin of the world. When you think about the idea of the Lamb that was slain in Exodus chapter 12, it’s important to note several aspects of it. And this morning is not meant to be a comprehensive study on the Passover.

Because we’re going to focus more on how do we take the thoughts of Jesus, our Passover Lamb, and involve them in our lives, and as we partake of the Lord’s Supper each Sunday that the Lord wills that we be with his people. But make note that the Lamb without blemish is just one of the many similarities between the Lamb in Exodus chapter 12 and the Lamb of God, who is Jesus the Christ, our Passover Lamb. For example, the fact that the Lamb was to have no broken bones. The list of these examples continue on and on. But note for of most importance, this Lamb was out blemish. How was it that Jesus could be the Lamb of God? Yes, he was our sacrifice, but how was Jesus without blemish?

Does that mean that his skin was smooth and his look was perfect? Not exactly. Not exactly at all if you consider the words of Isaiah chapter 53 in the first four verses. But look with me at what is of most importance, and that’s in 1 Peter chapter 1. How was it that Jesus is our Lamb without blemish? Well, when you see in 1 Peter chapter 1, you see exactly as Jesus was. In 1 Peter chapter 1, beginning in verse 17 with the reading. And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of the lamb, without blemish or spot.

He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you, who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. And then there’s this wonderful picture in Revelation chapter 5. Look with me there. If you want the idea to know for certain that Jesus is the slain Lamb, that this is what we needed, He is who we had to look to, without whom we had no hope, you find that in Revelation chapter 5. And this wonderful picture.

And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals? And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it. And I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. And one of the elders said to me, Weep no more. Behold, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals. So here comes the lion from the tribe of Judah. Here comes the one who’s going to loose the seals. He is going to give us this victory that John so desperately wanted, opening up this document in verse six.

And between the throne and the four living creatures, and among the elders, I saw a lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. And he went and he took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne. And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures, and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints, and they sang a new song saying, Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals. For you were slain, and by your blood you ransom people from God from every tribe and language and people and nation.

And you have made them a kingdom and priest to our God, and they shall reign on the earth. In Revelation chapter 17 and verse 14, we see Jesus pictured as the King of kings and Lord of Lords. That’s who we consider Jesus to be, the ultimate conquering hero, and he is. But Jesus conquered because he was what’s depicted in Revelation chapter 5, a lamb who was slain. Our victory as Christians is only had because Jesus was slain just as the lambs were taken in Exodus chapter 12, and their blood was put up on the doorpost of the home. We are saved because Jesus was crucified. As we’re partaking of the Lord’s Supper, we need to consider our Lamb without blemish. It’s easy to look back and to say, clearly from scriptures such as Hebrews chapter 2, Hebrews chapter 4, Jesus was the perfect sacrifice.

2. The Unleavened Bread and the Blood That Was Shed

Jesus lived perfectly, but he lived perfectly, so that at the right time that God had planned from before the foundation of the world, Jesus would be the sacrifice. And then you think about all the sacrifices in the Old Testament, not just pertaining to the Passover, not just pertaining to the feast of unleavened bread, as we might call it. But the sacrifices in which the animals’ lives would be taken. The heartbeat would stop. The blood would be shed and sprinkled on the people. And we see that the unleavened bread and the blood that was shed are two more similarities between this great Passover feast in the Old Testament and Jesus, our Passover lamb. When you see in Exodus chapter 12, what was the reason for the unleavened bread?

What was the purpose? What was God’s message to them about this? Yes, he commanded them to do it this way. But what was the reason? Well, it was the hurry, it was the haste. What was the whole context of this Passover? What was the whole context of the tenth plague? To get the people out of Egypt. And God even knew in Exodus chapter 11 and 12 that Pharaoh was going to relent. Pharaoh was going to come after the people even after he told Moses, fine, get out of here. And that Pharaoh did. They all approached them, following them up into the Red Sea. But when you think about the blood that was shed and the unleavened bread, we can’t move past the idea that God expected unleavened bread because there wouldn’t be time for them to wait.

They had to get up and go. They couldn’t wait for the leaven to take its part. And when you think about the New Testament, there’s a great number of passages that would be great to look at, but 1 Corinthians chapter 5 perhaps makes the strongest point. If you look there in 1 Corinthians chapter 5, a passage about withdrawing from a sinful man, a man who had his father’s wife. Note the reference to leaven that Paul uses. Seems like an odd spot to find a lesson about the Passover or to apply to our thoughts about the Lord’s Supper, and yet here it is, woven into Scripture. In 1 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 6, your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?

Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb has been sacrificed. Let’s therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. Remove yourself from anything that pulls you down, that weighs you back, press forward, be different, be without blemish, as Jesus who died as the perfect slain lamb would be.

And when we come to Matthew chapter 26, that’s the very setting through which Jesus makes the idea, the example of the Lord’s Supper. It was in their preparation for the Feast of Unleavened Bread, their preparation and going through the idea, the ritual, the memorial of the Passover. You see, the scripture entwines these in a way that we can’t undo. We may not read them, we might not have the whole picture. But we would do ourselves well to study what Scripture makes clear, and that Jesus is our Passover Lamb, and that’s a perfect type for us to notice and to pull out. But when you look at Exodus chapter 12, and we as we look at one more Old Testament passage in making this point. Look at verse 7 of Exodus chapter 12 and verse 7.

What were they to do with the sacrifice lamb? Were they just to kill it? Because God just loves animal blood? Did God need the lamb for food? Of course not. Exodus chapter 12 and verse 7, then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. What would happen to the houses that had the blood where God told them to place it? God would pass over those homes. The firstborn in those homes would be spared. Likewise in the New Testament, if we don’t partake of the body and blood of Christ, if we have not come into contact with the slain Lamb of God’s blood, we will not be saved. We will not be passed over from the judgment that belongs to us.

We will remain in our sinful bondage unless we are in the house of the Lord. Unless we are in the Lord’s body, which is his church. You want a strong argument for being a Christian, for being a disciple of the Lord? Look at this example in Exodus chapter 12. If Jesus is our slain Lamb, if He is the perfect sacrifice without blemish, through whom no bones were broken, that we can have forgiveness of sins. What is our state outside of his body? If Galatians chapter 3 makes it clear that we are baptized into his body, that we put on Christ to the redeeming act of baptism. Is that not a sign that we should follow as God’s people? Is that not exactly what God’s people did in Exodus chapter 12?

And how did God reward them? He passed over their homes. Pharaoh said the people could go, and they went. And God provided for them to get across the Red Sea. God entered into a covenant with them in Exodus chapter 20 at Mount Sinai, and he made them his special, peculiar people. And God makes that same promise to us. When we think about the Lord’s Supper, we need to remember that Jesus was the perfect unblemished lamb sacrifice. We know that. But to remember, to think about the brutality that there was in the old law would do us well when we remember some sort of sanitized version for a few moments each Lord’s Day morning. We think about the unleavened bread to be taken, consider the body and blood of Christ, Matthew chapter 26.

3. Look Back to the Life of Jesus

Think about his blood that was shed for many for the forgiveness of sins, Matthew chapter 26. But also why? Why else was the blood shed? Well, we’re going to get to that in a moment, but consider these four ideas of what to focus on during the Lord’s Supper. As we think about Jesus paying that great cost, as we think about the fulfillment that Jesus offered this old lost shadow of the Passover, consider these thoughts, the obvious one. Look back to the life of Jesus. In Luke chapter 22 and verse 19, what does Jesus say when instructing his fellow apostles in taking of the Lord’s Supper? Do this in remembrance of me. We need to remember not just that Jesus was tried before Pilate, but his life that was spent healing the sick, having compassion on the masses.

Jesus’ righteous anger when he went in and he cleared the tables in the temple. Jesus was committed to doing the work of the Father. And yes, looking back on the life of Jesus also includes realizing he had nails through his body, nails that left scars that in John chapter 20 Thomas could see so that he would believe. We need to know that Jesus was crucified, and this wasn’t some act of a movie, but it was a man who was butchered and slain. Not altogether different than the life of a lamb that’s taken. You see, Jesus not only died, we think of Jesus as living because he lives. We think of Jesus as being raised from the dead because God resurrected him from the dead. But to be resurrected from the dead implies that Jesus died and he did.

And in so doing, being our slain Lamb, he gave us everything. And with the resurrection, we know that our faith is not in vain. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, life without the resurrection would be. We can be out of our sins. We can be bought with the price, but we need to remember when we’re partaking of the body and blood of Jesus the Christ, that he gave it all for us. He didn’t just go and sit down and be put to sleep. It was brutal. It was awful. It was horrific. It was about as bad as man has devised a way to put someone to death. And Jesus did that for us. And he did it like a lamb before its shears is silent.

4. Look Forward to His Coming

If you want more imagery of Jesus being a lamb, just look at Isaiah chapter 53. Well, we see now we only need to look back at the life of Jesus. We need to look forward to his coming. I think this is an important point. And when you look at 1 Corinthians chapter 11 and verse 26, you see the very point there made by Paul. It’s important to look at what Jesus did, but it’s more important to know why Jesus did it. Where are we going? Why do we do this week after week? In 1 Corinthians chapter 11 and verse 26, note what Paul recalls. In verse 23, even beginning, for I received from the Lord what I also deliver to you that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread.

When he had given thanks, he broke it and said, This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. In the same way he also took the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. Partaking of the Lord’s Supper is not just something we do as Christians because that’s what God says, although that would be sufficient. We do it because we are proclaiming to all of those who are with us who are involved in that communion, that Jesus lives, that Jesus died on the cross for our sins, but God raised him from the dead.

5. The Blessings of the New Covenant

We need to look forward to the fact that not only have we been bought with the price, but that Jesus is coming again. And that is what Christians should look forward to. We should ache for the coming of the Lord. That’s a part of the Lord’s Supper message, too. We partake of this until he comes. So we focus our minds looking back at the life of Jesus, looking forward to Jesus coming again. Thirdly, what about the blessings of the new covenant? It’s interesting. This seems to be sometimes a little bit left out. And in verse 25 of 1 Corinthians chapter 11, what was the cup? It is the new covenant in my blood. Just as with the Israelites in Exodus chapter 12, yes, the Passover involved at that moment the passing over of destroyer of the firstborn, finishing the tenth plague.

But what happened as the people left Egypt? What were they to look back on and remember that God freed them from their bondage in Egypt? And when he did that, they became his people when he gave them law, when he gave them that special old covenant. When we partake of the blood of Christ, we’re not just partaking in that which can give us the forgiveness of sins. We are remembering the new covenant that was made. And what’s great about it? Hebrews chapter 8 tells us exactly what’s great about it. Look there with me. If you need to know anything about the word covenant, know this passage. Know Hebrews chapter 8. And Hebrews chapter 8, beginning in verse 6. But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is much more excellent than the old, as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises.

For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second. What is this new great covenant? Well, Hebrews chapter 8, quotes Jeremiah chapter 31, and that great promise that God makes of that future covenant. Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. Not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. For they did not continue in my covenant, and I showed no concern for them, declares the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord.

I will put my laws into their minds and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall not teach each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, No the Lord, for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more. What’s better about this covenant? What’s better about this promise? That Jesus is the mediator of the covenant, that this sacrificial lamb was the perfect lamb. He wasn’t a type, he was the real thing, and he was the only thing that could buy us from our sin, that could free us from our spiritual bondage to sin through which we are hopelessly and eternally lost.

Praise Jesus for coming to this life and serving God’s purpose. Praise God for allowing Jesus, his son, to be that sacrificial Lamb. We need to remember that this is a sacrifice. This isn’t just part of the creation of the world, and God just spoke it, and it just came into existence and nothing was harmed, and everything was great. Jesus was in our form. He was spat upon, mocked, and abused, and Jesus did it why? So that he could redeem you and I from our sins. And Jesus, in Hebrews chapter 9 and verses 15 through 17, is the mediator of the new covenant through which we have direct access to the throne of grace. Through which we can have the eternal once and for all forgiveness of our sins.

6. Realize That I Need the Blood of Christ

But it’s only possible through Jesus. You see, when you think about the memorial, and you think about that we do this each and every Lord’s day. And in 1 Corinthians chapter 11, when there’s the warning to not do so in an unworthy manner, it’s not speaking about us being unworthy. As one commentator writes, the minute someone says that they are worthy of taking the Lord’s Supper, they would have violated that claim at all. Because after all, Jesus was given through the grace of God. There’s nothing we could do to deserve Jesus coming to die on the cross for our sins. So then what is the point? How are we to take it in a worthy manner? How are we to examine ourselves? Realize that I need the blood of Christ.

Realize where I am without the body and blood of Jesus. Where am I without that new covenant? And if I’m here and I’m living like the man in Hebrews chapter 10 who is sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of truth, what does that mean for me? Now, if you look at those verses in Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 26 to 31, we know that it’s not good. It is a fearful thing to fall in the hands of the living God. Imagine having trampling underfoot the blood of Jesus Christ. As we partake of the Lord’s Supper, we realize that we are proclaiming Jesus’ death. We recognize his resurrection and his coming again. We know that Jesus is the mediator of a new covenant. Any of these thoughts are on point.

Conclusion

But they aren’t sufficient unless we consider that I need each and every one of those aspects of God’s great plan. We need to give thanks to God every day for sending Jesus to die on the cross for our sin. Maybe not having a perfect understanding of the Passover correlation, but knowing that Jesus’ victory was in being the slain Lamb of God. Will you go to God in prayer with me? Our dear God and most gracious and loving Heavenly Father, we praise you for your unlimited grace and mercy that you have had for your people. We pray that you forgive us of our wrong, and we thank you for allowing us to approach your throne of grace, recognizing that this is possible through the sacrifice of Jesus the Christ.

We thank you for your examples in the Old Testament of seeing how you would make promises to your people, that you would deliver those who were faithful to you. We likewise thank you for making your will known to us and pray that we will take advantage of every ounce of grace and compassion that you offer us. Thank you for sending Jesus to be the perfect Lamb sacrifice without blemish. We pray that we do all things in accordance with your will, pleasing you. We recognize without you we are nothing, O God. Help us to realize that with you we can have everything, that this life is not worth the living, not to get caught up in entanglements here, but to focus on our spiritual life there with you forevermore.

We pray all these things in Jesus the Christ, the victorious Savior’s name. Amen.