Chapter 4
PREPARARING FOR THE CHRISTIAN JOURNEY
Whenever God wants to explain hard-to-understand concepts, He uses "picture language."
For instance, the Jewish Passover described in the book of Exodus is one of the many graphic pictures that the Bible provides, to illustrate Christian salvation. Just as God led His chosen people, Israel, out of slavery in Egypt to their very own promised land, so He also leads His called people, the Body of Christ, out of slavery to "self" and sin, and into their promised land of rest. The main difference between the two is that whereas Israel's kingdom is earthly, the Christian's kingdom is not of this world. It is a spiritual kingdom:
Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting, that I might not be delivered up to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm." (John 18:36, NASB)
THE PASSOVER
The term "Passover" came about because God's angel of death "passed over" all the dwellings that had been marked with the blood of the sacrificial lamb (Exodus 12:7, 13). And in the same way, if the Christian has applied by faith the blood shed by Christ, our Passover Lamb; God's judgment for sin will pass over him on the great and terrible day of reckoning:
And he [John the Baptist] looked upon Jesus as He walked, and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God!" (John 1:36, NASB)The Israelites were passed over by the angel of death for one reason only; they had applied the blood of the slain sacrificial lamb. They were not passed over because they were worthy people or because they had obeyed certain laws and ordinances, or even because they had been members of the right religious organization. None of these things qualified them for salvation from God's judgment; only the application of the blood of the sacrificial Lamb. And the same applies to the Christian. By faith we accept Christ's sacrifice on our behalf, to pay the price for the forgiveness of our sins and thereby grant us eternal life.
For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed. (1 Corinthians 5:7, NASB)
..... knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. (1 Peter 1:18-19, NASB)
In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace, (Ephesians 1:7, NASB)
PREPARING FOR THE JOURNEY
Prior to the Passover, the Israelites were instructed to ready themselves for their journey out of their land of slavery. Firstly, they had to apply the blood of the sacrificial lamb to their dwellings (Exodus 12:7). As mentioned, this is a picture of the Christian applying the blood of Christ by faith, through trusting in Christ and in the sufficiency of His atoning blood, to save us from the judgment of sin.
The next thing they did was to remove all traces of leaven from their dwellings (Exodus 12:15). The Bible generally uses the analogy of leaven to depict sin (c/f Luke 12:1). And so in preparation for our Christian journey, we need to rid ourselves of any sin that we may have been harbouring in our lives.
Then they girded their loins, put on their sandals and held their staffs in their hands as they stood and ate the sacrificial lamb (Exodus 12:11). In other words they ate in a state of readiness for travel. They didn't settle down and make themselves comfortable, because they knew that they were about to leave on their epic journey to the promised land. So the Christian too needs to realize that His commitment to Christ is only the start of a life changing journey, and that he needs to move on.
In those days they wore long robes. And when they travelled or went into battle they had to hitch up these robes with a girdle, so that they would not be impeded in their movements. (That's what they meant when they talked about girding up their loins.) And in the same way we too need to ensure that we have taken care of anything in our lives that could impede our walk with Christ.
Whilst they were waiting to leave, the Israelites feasted on the sacrificial lamb. Eating something is indicative of being committed to it. Once we have swallowed the substance, it is absorbed by our bodies, and becomes a part of us. In other words, there is no turning back. And that is just what our commitment to Christ needs to be; an irrevocable decision to embrace Christ, our sacrificial lamb, to the extent that He becomes a permanent part of our lives.
But the Lord Jesus takes our commitment to Him one step further than merely being a permanent part of our lives. He says that unless we give Him priority so that He has first place in our hearts and in our lives, even before our very selves, we cannot follow Him.
He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. (Matthew 10:37, NASB)
And He was saying to them all, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me." (Luke 9:23, NASB).
He died for all, that they who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf. (2 Corinthians 5:15 NASB)
DYING TO SELF
The Lord mentions in Luke 9:23 above, that in order to follow Him we will need to deny ourselves on a daily basis. This goes against all our instincts, as we are prone to self-will, self-satisfaction, and so on. But He always only asks us to do that which is ultimately for our own good. And the reality is that our "self" is a hard taskmaster that has kept us enslaved from day one. It is the cause of most of our problems in life. Christ wants us to leave that place of enslavement to self in order to travel to our promised land of rest.
Each time we have victory in this area, our burdens will become lighter. And once we have got over the hurdle of putting Christ at the centre of our lives in place of our "self," a glorious truth will dawn on us. We will have discovered that this is the key to true freedom, and that it goes hand in hand with that wonderful peace that passes all understanding.
Should you wish to do so, you are welcome to email the editor at response@bibtruth.com
The first three links will take you to previous chapters of this booklet, and the fifth link leads to the next:
Chapter 1, Why Do We Need Salvation?
Chapter 2, The Cost of Salvation
Chapter 3, What Does It Mean to be Born Again?
Chapter 5, Walking with Christ
Copyright 2009 by Yvonne Gibbs. All rights reserved.
