We Praise Your Name, For Who You Are, Yes and Amen, Waymaker, Living for Jesus

Have you read the entire Old Testament (OT) in the Bible? How about the New Testament (NT)? What were your “first impressions” about God from the OT? The NT?

Now the LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, 2 “This month shall be the beginning of months for you; it is to be the first month of the year to you. 3 Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, ‘On the tenth of this month they are each one to take a lamb for themselves, according to their fathers’ households, a lamb for each household. 4 Now if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his neighbor  nearest to his house are to take one according to the number of persons in them; according to what each man should eat, you are to divide the lamb. 5 Your lamb shall be an unblemished male a year old; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. 6 You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month, then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel is to kill it at twilight. 7 Moreover, they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses in which they eat it…11 Now you shall eat it in this manner: with your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste—it is the LORD’S Passover. 12 For I will go through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments—I am the LORD. 13 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… 24 And you shall observe this event as an ordinance for you and your children forever.

God wants us to know Him in a personal and intimate way. God has many attributes, but if there’s one attribute that He wants us to know Him for, it is love. Many people seem to see a different God in the Old Testament (OT), than in the New Testament (NT)! But we have only one God, and we’ll look at how God reveals Himself in both the OT and NT. God wants us to understand and know Him and even boast about it (Jeremiah 9:23-24)! God revealed Himself as the unchanging “Alpha and Omega”; we read this from the OT to the NT, from the last book of the OT to the last book in the NT (Isaiah 44:6, Malachi 3:6, Revelation 22:13). How else is God revealed in the Bible?

I. RESCUE: The Promise and the Problem

The second greatest rescue mission of all time was the liberation of the Israelites from their bondage in Egypt. We’ve not only read this in the Bible, but watched different movies made over the years about it. What lessons can we learn about God from this rescue mission? How did God teach them how to respond to His rescue?

The promise of God’s rescue was made hundreds of years before Moses, given to Abraham (Genesis 15:5, 12-14). God’s promises are eternal; but even if there was a promise given, life was not problem free for the Israelites (Exodus 1:13-14, 2:23-25). God does not forget, but He has His perfect way and perfect time for His promises to be fulfilled in our lives. We’re the ones who forget and turn away from God when we think He’s taking too long in fulfilling His promises. We need to intentionally remember who God is; our problems may be great but God’s promises are greater! In the seeming delay, God is strengthening our character and our faith in Him.

Even in the Old Testament, God is gracious; He chose Israel because He loved them (Deuteronomy 7:7-8)! God rescued His people through the Ten Plagues where each one was a judgment against an Egyptian god (Exodus 12:12)! But aside from the Egyptians, the Israelites were also worshipping idols (Ezekiel 20:6-8). We may be God’s people, but we can still have idols in our lives—wealth, fame, success, political ideologies, theological biases, etc.. No wonder the Israelites needed rescue, and so do we.

God gave detailed instructions for the Israelites to follow for their rescue (Exodus 12:1-3,5-7,11-13). They were to follow these instructions by faith; and if there was any Israelite family who did not obey, they will lose their firstborn in the final plague. God is gracious, an showed them the way of escape. God promised Abraham that his descendants will not go out empty-handed and God kept His promise (Exodus 12:35-37, 40-41).

Jesus’ death on the cross was divinely orchestrated and Scriptures show us that Jesus is the Passover Lamb sacrificed to rescue us from our sins (Matthew 26:1-2):

II. THE RESPONSE: Our Purity and Pursuit

The first and absolute greatest rescue is the one by Jesus for you and me. As a response, Jesus wants us to remember His sacrifice through the elements of the bread and the wine until His return (Luke 22: 17-20). We can also respond to Him through thanksgiving and singing our praise to Jesus. Worship is a fitting response to our rescue!

Sin is often symbolized by yeast in the Bible; God gave a very serious ordinance to the Israelites relating leaven to the Passover (Exodus 12:14-15, 1 Corinthians 5:6-8). Jesus, our Passover Lamb has been sacrificed, therefore live a life without “leaven” (sin). Live holy lives for the pleasure and glory of our Redeemer (1 Peter 1:14-16). David teaches us about areas of our lives where we need to seek personal purity (Psalm 139:1-3, 23-24).

What and who are we pursuing with our lives? God was with the Israelites day and night; He wanted them to follow Him in the wilderness (Exodus 13;21-22, 40:36-38). God was teaching them, “when I move, you move; when I stay, you stay. You trust Me, I will take care of you”. In the New Testament, Jesus told His followers that those who follow Him will not walk in darkness (John 8:12). The love of Christ should be what drives us through life (2 Corinthians 5:14-15). If your pursuit in life is anything other than Jesus, you’re headed in the wrong direction! Take that step of faith, put your trust in the blood of Jesus that rescues us, to have a relationship with the God of love who wants you to know Him today.

Does the fact that Jesus rescued you from sin impact your daily life? If yes, how? If no, why not?

How is your personal purity? Have you looked at, listened to, said or done things that are displeasing to our holy God? Confess those to Him and to one another right now.

What can you do to follow Jesus more closely every day of your life?

Pray for people to in your family, among your friends, co-workers and classmates who have yet to be rescued by Jesus from the bondage of sin. Be an example of the right response to God’s offer of forgiveness and reconciliation with Him through Jesus. Share the gospel to those you are praying for.

• Worship God for who He is, what He has done, and what He will do in our lives.

• Upright and moral governance of public servants; repentance and salvation for government leaders and citizens for a Christ-centered Philippines.

• God’s help and comfort, salvation for Israel, wisdom for their leaders in government, military and their soldiers as they defend themselves against terrorists’ attacks. PRAISE GOD for the release of hostages so far! Continue to pray for the release of the remaining ones.

• War in Ukraine to end, loss of lives prevented, violence and lawlessness in Haiti to stop.

• That CCF Members would honor and love God and make disciples.

• Elders, pastors, dleaders, and families (holy, humble, harmonious, happy, heart-working).

• Ministries and churches expansion worldwide.

• Worship and Training Center

• Prayer Mountain

• Deeper intimate relationship with God.

• Righteous living.

• Salvation of family and friends.

14 For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; 15 and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.