Paul says Christ is our Passover Lamb, but what does that mean? What was the Passover Lamb and how does it relate to Christ?
This is what Paul said,
“Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.” 1Corinthians 5:7
Paul makes a direct reference to the Passover sacrifice which was allowed to be a lamb or a goat. John the Baptist clarifies that Christ represented a lamb.
“Again, the next day, John stood with two of his disciples. And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, “Behold the Lamb of God!”" John 1:35-36
Here these two verses are referencing a specific sacrifice which was established while the Israelites were still enslaved in Egypt. The original sacrifice was part of an event which was a shadow of the reality which was to be Christ. It was, in itself, a prophecy of what the Savior of the children of God was and would do.
The original Passover Lamb Instructions (Exodus 12, Numbers 9):
1. It had to be an unblemished male - symbolic of one without sin
“knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.” 1Peter 1:18-19
“How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!” Hebrews 9:14
2. The Passover Lamb is slaughtered by the community of Israel – Christ was condemned to death in an open community assembly
“And so Pilate, willing to content the people, released Barabbas unto them, and delivered Jesus, when he had scourged him, to be crucified.” Mark 15:15
3. The blood of the Passover Lamb sacrifice that is put on your house is what keeps you from receiving the death of the firstborn – Death was decreed when Adam and Eve broke God’s Law and ate the fruit. Any flesh of the firstborn Adam carries that sentence of death, all mankind came from Adam and so is considered the body of firstborn Adam.
“For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.” 1Corinthians 15:22
On the day of Judgment when Christ returns, only those whose house has the Lamb’s blood will live. The blood is only found on the House of God, each person becomes part of that House where God dwells if they also have become part of the Body of Christ.
“Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.” Ephesians 2:19-22
The Body of Christ is the second Adam, anyone who is of this Body will live because they share the Blood of the Lamb. You cannot enter the House of God except by blood, you must be a sacrifice of the same nature as Christ. You cannot join to the body of a Sacrifice unless you yourself are also a sacrifice.
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” Romans 12:1
“You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin.” Hebrews 12:4
4. None of the Passover Lamb’s bones were to be broken (fulfilling Psalm 34:20), it was a whole and complete Sacrifice – Christ was a whole and perfect Sacrifice.
“For these things were done, that the scripture should be fulfilled, A bone of him shall not be broken.” John 19:36
5. The Passover Lamb is to be eaten quickly, and you are to dress to be ready to walk out the door – Right after the Passover Lamb sacrifice, the Israelites walked out of Egypt. They left slavery and their old lives behind. Once we accept Christ as our Passover Lamb, we are free from the slavery of sin and we leave our life of sin behind.
“Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.”" John 8:34
“Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?” Romans 6:16
Sin, which is breaking a Command of god, must be given up.
“She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.” John 8:11
“Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, “See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.” John 5:14
“Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame.” 1Corinthians 15:34
When you become part of the Body of Christ, you also become part of the Passover Lamb Sacrifice. The story of Passover is a story of you. We have to follow the same pattern which is Christ. We must be a living sacrifice, shedding blood by suffering in obedience while living among the unrepentant. When the Israelites left Egypt they entered a phase of testing. God wanted to see who had the heart of God’s Sacrifice. We are still in the phase of testing. This requires faithful obedience, which when held will bring suffering for God. We become a living sacrifice, a place suitable for God to dwell.
“in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.” Ephesians 2:21-22
God dwells in His Temple. His Temple is being built with Christ as the cornerstone, the foundations are the Apostles and Prophets, and then us.
“And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;” Ephesians 2:20
Christ is the Head, and we are His members.
“For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.” 1Corinthians 12:12
“Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually.” 1Corinthians 12:27
We are the Passover Lamb, a living sacrifice. Christ is the Head of this Body, our Righteous Master whom we are all slaves to. Slavery which leads to life versus slavery which leads to death. We obey the Head and His Commandments. His Commandments are the same as His Father’s. Sin is still sin. Before the resurrection, sin is breaking a Commandment of God. After the resurrection, sin is still the same. The Commandments of God still stand. Just because we are free from the punishment of sin which is death, we don’t continue to choose sin.
“What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not!” Romans 6:15
To sin is rebellion against God. If the members of Christ’s Body were rebellious then His Body would not function. If the members of your own body refused to obey your will and did whatever they wanted then you could not function. You would see a body in a state of brokenness or disease, whether the part was growing uncontrollably like cancer or whether your members refused to move like in paralysis. Any part of Christ’s Body that refuses to obey Him can be removed just as a diseased portion of your body can be removed.
“You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.” Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but tremble. For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either.” Romans 11:19-21
If the members of Christ’s Body make a mistake and disobey a Commandment of God then we can apologize in submission to the authority of Christ and YHWH. We will then be required to do as instructed next time.
We just have to understand that we must fear God because our life is in His hands. We must obey and accept a life of suffering in obedience which means opposing the ways of this world. The world is going to crush you in order to persuade you to abandon the Commandments of God, just as they pressured Christ. We must not give in but accept suffering instead, this is the life of the Passover Lamb. The Passover Lamb is a slave to YHWH, preaching and defending His ways, even to death.
The Passover Lamb is still being sacrificed because we are still in the flesh and suffering, shedding our blood in obedience to YHWH. Just as a baby is born head first, Christ (the Head of His Body) has entered life first. We as members of His Body are following. Just as a baby enters through blood, we too are entering by blood. The mysteries of God are shown in patterns here and now. The life of Christ is the pattern to which we must follow. This path is the only way to life.
“Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” Matthew 7:14
Those who claim they are faithful but yet are disobedient are the ones who claim to be Christ’s children but disobey the Laws of YHWH. Their disobedient hearts refuse to accept that after the resurrection sin has remained sin. This keeps them from becoming a living sacrifice. You cannot suffer for God if you are not obedient. They have created their own book of morality which changes as needed and therefore they suffer only for themselves, attaining only a fabricated righteousness which leaves them as a whitewashed wall.
“Then Paul said to him, “God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! For you sit to judge me according to the law, and do you command me to be struck contrary to the law?” Acts 23:3
Paul was holding them to account because they were breaking the Law of YHWH even though they were claiming to judge according to YHWH's Laws. He was referencing Ezekiel 13:10-16.
All members of the Body of Christ, the Passover Lamb, are obedient to Christ who is obedient to YHWH. The Body of God is one Body. The body of the unrepentant is one body. Two bodies, two different results. One is life, the other is death.
Will you suffer now in righteousness with the Passover Lamb and enjoy life later or will you avoid suffering today by choosing sin and reap destruction later? The disobedient and unrepentant are living a fantasy where their god allows them to disobey according to a ‘spirit’ that now leads them after the resurrection. YHWH’s Spirit would never sow disobedience to Himself. The unrepentant’s white-washed walls look wonderful on the outside, but they hide a rotten decomposing structure that will be crushed when Christ returns.
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. “Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’” Matthew 7:21-23
The true Passover Lamb is coming, and with Him will be all His Members, the faithful obedient.
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