Getting Passed Over - Part B

If you think you can stand before God and say, I deserve to get into your heaven because I was a good person, God will simply ask, Where's the lamb? Well, I'm here because my parents always went to church.

They were like, Where's the lamb? How do you get into heaven? Well, today on Connect with Skip Heitzig, Pastor Skip answers that question in the conclusion of his message, Getting Past Over. That's why we share these messages to help listeners like you connect to God through His Word and grow in your walk through an intentional relationship with Him.

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That's connectwithskip.com slash donate. Thank you. Okay, let's turn over to Exodus 12 as we join Skip for today's lesson. If you were the firstborn child in that family, you would not escape the significance of somebody standing in your place. But the children would have cried on this first Passover, Daddy, why?

Daddy, why? And the dad would have to explain that lamb is your substitute. A lamb is always what God required, always what God required. Go back to the book of Genesis, at least in your minds, you don't have to turn there. Adam and Eve sinned, they covered themselves up with fig leaves, pretty itchy, not a good fashion statement. God, in turn, covers them up with animal skins.

For that to happen, it requires death, right? And most scholars believe it was a lamb. Lamb skin feels really good, by the way. So in that case, it was one lamb for one person, one lamb for Adam, one lamb for Eve.

Follow? By the time we get to Exodus chapter 12, the Passover, now it's one lamb for a family. You take the blood, put it on the lindels and doorposts. Later on in Israel, God will establish what's called Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. A lamb is killed, this time it's one lamb for a nation. The blood of that lamb is sprinkled on the mercy seat in the tabernacle to atone to cover for sin. So you have one lamb for one person, one lamb for one family, one lamb for one nation, but the best is yet to come. When Jesus comes down to the Jordan River, his cousin John the Baptist said, look, it's the lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world.

Now it's not one person or one family or one nation, it's for everyone. Now this becomes the consistent message of the Bible. The consistent message of the Bible is this. If you want to meet God, you must meet God on the basis of a lamb.

That's the only way God will meet with you. Remember Isaac asked the question when Abraham took him on Mount Moriah? They're walking up the hill, we covered this, and he says, well, here's the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb? That's the only question God will ask you. If you think you can stand before God and say, I deserve to get into your heaven because I was a good person, God will simply ask, where's the lamb? Well, I'm here because my parents always went to church. They were saying, where's the lamb?

Well, I attended semi-regularly, and I think compared to other people, I'm okay. Where's the lamb? Jesus is often referred to in the Bible as the lamb. Isaiah 53, as a lamb before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. 1 Corinthians chapter 5, even Christ our Passover lamb has been sacrificed for us. And in Revelation 13, Jesus is called the lamb, slain from the foundation of the world. It's always about a lamb, a substitute. So it tells us about our sin, it tells us about our substitute. Third thing it tells us is about our salvation. Now I want to drill down a little bit on this. God didn't just require a lamb.

Let's get specific. God required a dead lamb. As you read through chapter 12, the Passover, you start understanding the importance of blood being shed. It grosses a lot of people out. You can't read chapter 12 without being confronted with blood, blood.

It's all over the place. Verse 6, command is the command to slaughter a lamb. Verse 7, the blood of that lamb applied to lindels and doorposts. Verse 13, the blood that's there will be a sign on their homes. Blood is everywhere.

Why is that? Why blood? Blood represents life, that's why. It says in Leviticus, the life of the flesh is in the blood. So blood represents life. And blood was a sign that a life ended in substitute for your life being ended. Now I want you to notice something in verse 13. And if you don't mind, I'm going to wax a little theological.

I think you're up for it, I think you can handle it, and I think you need to know it. Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. In other words, you're going to put the blood up, you're going to look at it, it's going to signify something, be a sign to you about something. You're going to see it. The blood will be a sign for you on your houses. Same verse, it continues, and when I see the blood, God says, I will pass over you and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. Did you notice there's two parts? You're going to see it, it'll be a sign to you.

I'm going to see it, it's going to be a sign to me. When Israel saw the blood on their doorways, it was a reminder that their sin took a life, that a lamb died in their place. The technical term for this, theological term, is expiation. Expiation.

They knew they were covered. Their guilt had been removed. When God saw the blood, it was a sign to him that a death had already occurred in that house and the penalty against sin had already been meted out. The technical term for this is propitiation. That's a New Testament term you've read about if you've read the New Testament.

It appears a few times. That means the wrath of God is turned away. God is not against them. So, when we look up at the cross, we see our payment has been made for sin. When God looks down at the cross, he sees his punishment has been made for sin. That is the doctrine of substitutionary atonement. A substitute allows God to take death and pass over you and for you, according to Jesus, to pass from death into life.

You are safe forever because of substitutionary atonement. So, in the New Testament, it's very specific about this. When it starts explaining the crucifixion, it gets very specific that the whole crux of the matter is the blood of Jesus Christ.

Here's a couple examples. Romans chapter 5, verse 9, we have been justified by his blood. We're not justified by his birth. We're not justified by his teachings. We're not justified by his exemplary life.

We're justified by his blood that was shed. 1 John chapter 1, verse 7, the blood of Jesus Christ, God's son, cleanses us from all sin. Ephesians chapter 1, verse 7, in him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins. Hebrews chapter 13, verse 12, Jesus also suffered to make the people holy through his own blood. 1 Peter chapter 1, you were redeemed, not with corruptible things like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Jesus Christ, a lamb without blemish and without spot. It's all about blood, isn't it?

Not just a substitute, one who died. Blood. Peter even calls it the precious blood of Jesus Christ. Why is it so precious?

Easy answer. Because it's the blood of the only person who never sinned. Never sinned. Of all the people ever living on the earth, Jesus was the only sinless, perfect son of God. Pilate said, I find no fault in him. Jesus said, which of you can convict me of sin?

He was without spot, without blemish. This is why Hebrews 9, 22 says, without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness for sin. One of the most important verses in your New Testament. Hebrews 9, 22, without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sin.

Do you know what that means? It means that God will not arbitrarily forgive people. God didn't forgive you because you have a good intention. God didn't forgive you because you really meant well. God didn't forgive you because you live better than other people you think and you hope God grades on a curve.

God only forgives based upon shed blood of his son as the substitute. A few years ago, the group Consumer Reports, you've seen them, they evaluate things that you're thinking of buying. They say, don't buy this, it's really crummy, but buy this, it's really good. Consumer Reports, the good people of that organization, put out a little book called How to Clean Practically Anything. It's a very handy guide on how to come up with solvents for different stains. Glycerin will remove ballpoint pen stains. Boiling water is good for berry stains. Vinegar will remove crayon stains. Ammonia takes care of blood stains. Alcohol will remove grass stains. Hydrogen peroxide is what you need to get out magic marker stains. Bleach will take care of mildew stains. Lemon juice is how you get out rust stains. Very handy book, but the book lists nothing for how to get out sin stains. Humans can't do it.

Only God can. Unbelievers look at our faith with great ignorance, thinking, why are you Christians always talking about such gory subjects like blood? It's always the blood of Jesus, the cross of Jesus, what a gross, gory worship system. That's because they don't understand how bad off they are in their natural condition apart from Christ. That their sin is so offensive to God that it took the extreme measure of the death of his son. If they don't see how bad off they are, they don't see how good it is that we get passed over and don't get a ticket by God eternally.

Joseph Parker was a contemporary with Charles Spurgeon in London. He wrote this, An extreme condition demands an extreme remedy. Until you see that you are doomed apart from Jesus Christ, you will never truly count his blood precious in your sight. So Passover tells us about our sin, our substitute, and our salvation.

Let me give you the fourth and we'll close on this. It tells us something about ourselves. What I mean is, it tells us that our entire self-identity must change because of this. So there's a couple things that were to change for the children of Israel.

First of all, their future was to change. Look at verse 2. This month shall be your beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year to you. It's like God says, okay, we're doing a new new year.

This is a do-over. Let's make this month, the month of redemption, new year. How about you orient your whole future based upon your past?

Why don't you orient your whole future year based upon being redeemed and becoming my people? Their whole future was to change. Passover took place during the month of Abib, the Hebrew month of Abib. Later on, it was called Nisan, not like the car. It took place in the spring time of the year as opposed to the Canaanite religions. Their new year was in the fall time of the year. So God says, I'm giving you a new start, new bearings, new direction.

It's not unlike we in the Western world. What's the date today? What year is it today? 2019.

What does that mean? It's been that long since what happened. Jesus Christ came and died on a cross. We decided as a culture a while ago to reorient our calendar based upon a sacrifice. If we didn't do that, we would still be in the year, I think they say, 5779, Ano Mundi. That's the year since creation. That's what the Jewish people believe.

But it's Ano Domini, A.D. So every check we write, every time you put a date on it, you are attesting to the fact that God sent His Son into this world as a substitute for us. You are reorienting your time.

It should reorient everything. If any man is in Christ, he's a new creation. All things pass away, all things become new. I love it when you get a 30 or 40 year old Christian saying, hey, celebrate with me, I'm two years old. An unbeliever doesn't get that. It's a whack hammer over here saying he's like 30 or 40.

We know what they mean, right? It means two years ago, I gave my life to Christ. Everything's different. So my physical life began in 1955. Yes, I'm not ashamed to say I'm an older person. 1955, I was born into this world. That's when life began for me.

But really, it wasn't until 1973 that life began for Skip Heitzig. Because that was the summer in San Jose, California that I gave my life to Christ and everything from then on changed. Not only was there a future to change, but their family should see a change. Verse 3, speak to all the congregation of Israel saying, on the 10th day of this month, every man shall take for himself a lamb according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household. Newer translations say family.

The NIV puts it this way, each man shall take a lamb for his family. This is to be a family meal. And so if you've ever been to a Jewish Passover, it's a long, leisurely meal. And it's interactive.

The kids ask questions, they have games, it's fun. I love that the first spiritual ordinance in Israel was a family holiday. And I've always believed that a nation is only as strong as its families. If the families in a nation are strong, the nation will be strong. If the families are weak, the nation is weak. Passover was a long family meal. By the way, can I just say, using this as a model, as your kids get older and they do sports and they have friends and they go off with a lot of different activities, always bring them back to the table for at least one family meal a day. Many studies have been done to show the kids who eat at least one meal a day with their parents, without looking at screens, just with their parents. As boring as it might sound to a teenager. The kids who do that are healthier physically, emotionally, they become less depressed, they do better in school, and they are more confident as a result. So then, redemption was to change everything, their futures, their families.

Let me close with a story. The bright noonday sun cast a common shadow on the Judean countryside. It's the black silhouette of a shepherd standing near his fat-tailed flock. He stares at the clear sky, searching for clouds.

There are none. He looks back at his sheep. They graze lazily on a rocky hillside. An occasional sycamore provides shade. He sits on the slope, he places a blade of grass in his mouth, and he looks beyond the flock at the road below.

For the first time in days, the traffic is thin. For over a week, a river of pilgrims has streamed through this valley, bustling down the road with animals and loaded carts. For days, he has watched them from his perch.

Though he couldn't hear them, he knew they were speaking a dozen different dialects. And though he didn't talk to them, he knew where they were going and why. They were going to Jerusalem, and they were going to sacrifice lambs in the temple. The celebration strikes him as ironic, streets jammed with people, marketplaces full of the sounds of the bleeding of goats, the selling of birds, endless observances. But the people relish the festivities.

They awaken early and they retire late. They find a strange fulfillment in the pageantry, but not him. What kind of God would be appeased by the death of an animal? Oh, the shepherd's doubts are never voiced anywhere except on the hillside, but on this day, they shout.

It isn't the slaughter of the animals that disturbs him. It's the endlessness of it all. How many years has he seen the people come and go? How many caravans? How many sacrifices?

How many bloody carcasses? Memories stalk him. Memories of uncontrolled anger, uncontrolled desire, uncontrolled anxiety. So many mistakes, so many stumbles, so much guilt. God seems so far away, lamb after lamb, Passover after Passover, yet I still feel the same.

He turns his head, he looks again at the sky, and then he asks this question. Will the blood of yet another lamb really matter? I want to answer that. Nope. A lamb from your flock, shepherd, or from any flock on these hillsides won't matter. It'll just be a temporary fix, a temporary covering. It won't matter.

But on the other hand, I want to say yes. One lamb will make a difference, and only one. And that's behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. That one lamb makes all the difference and is enough to atone for your sin and my sin and give God permission to turn away his wrath and welcome you into his kingdom as sons and daughters forever and ever with blessing upon blessing forever and ever and joy upon joy forever and ever.

Expiation, propitiation. That's why, where's the lamb? If you ever wonder, well, how bad is my sin?

Just look at the cross of Jesus Christ. Your sin put him there. My sin put him there. God had to do that to buy you to himself and get this. He did it because he thought you were worth it. For the joy that was set before him, he endured the cross, the Bible said. He looked at you in relationship with him and goes, I'll do it.

They're worth it. So when we say God loves you, we don't say that glibly. We say it based upon the fact that he would give his only son in time and space to take our sin. So God's wrath is turned away. Your sins are covered. You come before him as brand new.

All things become new. That concludes Skip Heitzig's message about the Passover and its significance to believers. From the series Bloodline, tracing God's rescue mission from Eden to eternity.

Find the full message as well as books, booklets and full teaching series at connectwithskip.com. Now we want to tell you about a new resource that gives you powerful insight into the current war in Israel. Israel at War.

That's the title of a new book by Skip Heitzig. Modern Israel has been at war from its very first day of existence. As Skip points out, on the day after Israel became a nation, that was May 14th, 1948. On May 15th, virtually every Arab neighbor attacked Israel to destroy it. Israel had been a nation one day.

They didn't have an organized army. Israel at War is up to date concerning current events in the Mideast and includes Skip's comments during his December tour of the Gaza border and a video link to Skip's interview in Jerusalem. The new book, Israel at War, is our gift to you this month to anyone who encourages the growth of Connect with Skip with a gift of $50 or more.

Make your financial vote of support at connectwithskip.com or by calling 1-800-922-1888. Israel at War will give you Skip's insight from over 40 trips to Israel and decades of Bible study. I know the Middle East seems like a very complex situation.

It's actually pretty basic. One side wants the other side dead. On one side you have a Jewish nation, a Jewish state called modern day Israel. Israel wishes to exist as a sovereign state living in peace.

Most Palestinians and other Arab nations, not all but many of them, deny the right of Israel to exist. Receive Israel at War by Skip Heintzig with your gift. Go to connectwithskip.com or call 1-800-922-1888. Come back tomorrow as Skip begins a new message about the radical transformation in one woman's life. She was transformed from the house of shame into God's hall of fame.

From prostitute to princess, from harlot to heroine, from somebody who walked in the night to somebody who walked in the light. Make a connection, make a connection at the foot of the cross and cast all burdens on His word. Make a connection, connection. Connect with Skip Heintzig is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never changing truth in ever changing times.