You may turn in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians chapter 5 for our meditation before we participate in the Lord's Supper. 1 Corinthians chapter 5, our focus specifically is verse 7b. But I do want to read the chapter so we can see the flow of thought. Beginning in chapter 5 at verse 1. It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles, that a man has his father's wife, and you are puffed up and have not rather mourned that he who has done this deed might be taken away from among you.
For I indeed, as absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged, as though I were present, him who has so done this deed. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together, along with my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?
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. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people.
Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. Now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner, not even to eat with such a person. For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside?
But those who are outside, God judges. Therefore, put away from yourselves the evil person. Amen. Let us pray.
Opening Prayer
Father, help us now to glorify your name in a study of scriptures. We know that this is an act of worship, and we pray that the Spirit would guide us and lead us and help us to receive, with thanksgiving, the Word of God. Help us, Father, to see Paul's argument in this passage. Help us to appreciate the fact that Jesus Christ is our Passover.
We thank you for his sacrifice. We thank you for his life, his death, his resurrection, all things accomplished on behalf of those whom the Father had given unto him. We just praise you, and we love you, and we adore you, and we give you thanks for so great a salvation. And we pray in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, amen.
Scripture Reading
Well, as I said,
Introduction
our focus is going to be on verse 7b, specifically Paul's statement, for indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. But I don't think it's legitimate to just grab a text, take it out of its context, and look at it. I mean, that's not necessarily the unpardonable sin, but I think it is good to have an idea of what the context is in which the Apostle is operating. And as I see it, or as I perceive it, there are three things going on.
Context of 1 Corinthians 5
First, he condemns a particular sin in verses 1 to 5. He identifies this sin and he highlights the gravity of it. He says, it is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you and such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles. This is another, in other words, a very wicked thing going on in the church at Corinth.
And as he goes on to reprove them, he says that they knew about the sin. And not only did they know about it, but they were arrogant and boastful. They didn't discipline the man. They didn't reprove the man.
Perhaps they rejoiced in the liberty of the gospel, a bad or a misapplication of Paul's teaching that we saw or alluded to this morning in Romans 6. Maybe they thought it was okay to continue in sin, that grace may abound. But whatever the issue, the Apostle sets forth the particular sin, the gravity of it, he reproves the church, and then he gives his response in verses 3 to 5. Essentially, he says, this man must be removed from your midst.
You must purge out the leaven. If there is a little leaven remaining among the lump, it has the propensity to leaven the entirety of the lump, and we can't have that. If you have undealt with sexual sin going on in the context of the local church, it will spread. And so Paul identifies that for removal.
Exhortation to Holiness
Secondly, he then exhorts them to holiness in verses 6 to 8. This is the particular context that we find our text. Notice he says, verse 6, your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? therefore purge out the old leaven that you may be a new lump since you truly are unleavened." What's in the background of the Apostles mind?
Exodus chapter 12. We just read that at the outset of worship. It fits with what he's going to say in verse 7 in terms of Christ being our Passover. Remember the Passover feast subsequent to that was the feast of unleavened bread.
And the children of Israel were to take all leaven out of their houses. They were to get rid of it. It was not to be in their midst. If they had it in their houses, then they themselves would be cut off from the people.
And so Paul, using that analogy, using that typology, speaks to the Corinthians and tells them, Purge out the old leaven. Get rid of the sin that is extant in the midst of the congregation. He says that you may be a new lump since you truly are unleavened. In other words, Jesus has saved you.
He has freed you. He has broken not only the penalty of sin, but the power of sin. And therefore, you as the Church of Christ have the ability to pursue those things which are pleasing to God Most High. And then in verse 8, it's an interesting thing, he says, Therefore, based on what he has said, let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, not with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
Live your Christian life in such a way as to rejoice in God. It ought to be a lifelong feast, because the Lord has redeemed you, the Lord has saved you, the Lord has called you unto himself, and do it in such a way that is consistent with New Covenant biblical Christianity. Not with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. Then I understand this last section in verses 9 to 12 as a warning against compromise.
He is not telling them not to associate with the godless. He is telling them not to associate or compromise with the professing Christian who is godless. In other words, Paul's logic is impeccable. Look at what he says.
I wrote to you in my epistle, verse 9, not to keep company with sexually immoral people, yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters. Why? Since then you would need to go out of the world. If you're not going to associate with these kinds of people, you better get into a rocket ship and point yourself to the moon and launch.
Because that's all there is in this world. These kinds of people. This is what sin and depravity has done. This is the effect of Adam's fall.
This is how mankind lives. Paul's idea here is not that you leave the world, but rather it's those who profess to be Christians. now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother who is these things." B.B. Warfield makes the good observation, we see then the Apostles urgency here is not against association with the world but compromise with the worldly. How else are we going to affect those people that are indicated in our passage if we don't associate with them?
If we don't share the gospel with them? If we don't teach them about the Redeemer? Paul's logic here is impeccable, as I say, and it sums up his whole argument in chapter 5. You need to deal with sin in your midst, you need to pursue holiness, and you need to make sure that you are guarding against compromise.
The Passover Sacrifice
So that's the context let's look at verse 7b under three considerations first he says for indeed Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us I want to look at the Passover sacrifice, the Old Testament type itself, and the type and the anti-type. First, the sacrifice. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. This is given as a reason for 7a.
Notice the flow. 7a, 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. Now listen to me, brothers and sisters, those who are in Christ, those who are believers, those who by God's grace have passed from darkness unto life, there ought not to be any sin whatsoever that you are able to say it has absolute dominion over me. That's not true.
Look at what Paul says. Therefore, purge out the unleavened. This is something you can do. It's something you should do.
It's something you must do. And he goes on to say that you may be a new lump since you truly are unleavened. Why? For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.
Christ's death on Calvary not only deals with the penalty of sin, which loosely corresponds to the doctrine of justification, but it deals with the power of sin, which does correspond to sanctification. In Christ Jesus, in gospel truth, in the blessing of a crucified and risen Savior, we not only have a right standing with God, but we also have the ability in this world to pursue those things which are pleasing in His sight. In other words, we ought not to have churches where there is sexual immorality running rampant. We ought not to have churches that are made up with such Why?
Because Christ indeed, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Yes, to break the power of reigning sin, but as well to set the captives free, that we may pursue those things which are pleasing in his sight. Again, this is the context. This is the issue.
These Corinthians had received the message of the cross according to 1 Corinthians 1, verse 18, all the way to verse 31. The Apostle highlights this reality, that they had received the truth of the gospel. By the grace of God, they had believed it. And shame on them for tolerating such sin in their midst.
For indeed, Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. not that we may continue in sin, but that we may pursue righteousness and holiness and godliness.
Old Testament Background
Secondly, the Old Testament background. We read there in Exodus chapter 12. You can turn back there if you'd like. First, the Passover was instituted while Israel was still in Egypt.
Remember, God had said there would be ten plagues. And in these 10 plagues, we see God's manifestation of His power, of His majesty, and of His glory. You might be inclined to say, why didn't God just snap His fingers and lead the people out of Egypt? Well, Exodus 9.16 indicates the purpose for these several plagues.
In 9.16, speaking of the Pharaoh, God says, indeed, for this purpose I have raised you up, that I may show my power in you, and that my name may be declared in all the earth. So plague after plague after plague after plague identifies, highlights, and demonstrates the majestic power of the God of Israel. It's beautiful. Secondly, the Feast, well that's before we get to the second link, the Passover was instituted while Israel was still in Egypt prior to the 10th plague.
This is particular instruction given to them to avoid the penalty of the 10th plague itself. It's interesting, we often think that the blood was splashed on the door frame, or perhaps we haven't thought about it. What did that blood keep the children of Israel from? The tyranny of Egypt?
No. The judgment of God? Yes. That blood splashed on the doorframe was not their e-ticket out of Egypt.
That blood splashed over the door was their atonement for the sins that they themselves had committed in Egypt. And we'll see more of that in just a moment. So this is instruction given on the eve of the 10th plague that they were supposed to do. Secondly, the feast of unleavened bread was kept in conjunction with the Passover.
Israel was to remove leaven from their houses. I've already alluded to this. Those who did not were to be cut off from the children of Israel. Exodus chapter 12 verses 15 and 19 indicate that.
Fifteen seven days you shall eat on leavened bread on the first day You shall remove leaven from your houses for whoever eats leavened bread from from the first day until the seventh day that Person shall be cut off from Israel Thirdly this Passover feast would function in a very similar manner to what this Lord's Supper does What does the Lord's Supper do it points us back to the great redemptive act of God in and through our Lord Jesus Christ? Isn't that the point? Isn't that the purpose? 1 Corinthians chapter 11 is do this in remembrance of how good everybody is. Do this in remembrance of how well you've done during the week.
Do this in remembrance because you've read your Bible three out of five days in this... No, do this in remembrance of me. This ordinance brings us back to the foot of the cross. And the Passover would do that subsequently in Israel's history.
Every time they ate, Every time they observed, every time they kept this feast, what would be primary in their minds? It wouldn't be their well-deserving attitude. It wouldn't be the fact that they had had a good week. It would be that God the Lord brought us out of bondage and put us in this land of promise.
The Passover function as a reminder to the children of Israel of the great redemptive act of God in the Exodus. Fourthly, the Passover signified the salvation of God. Certainly they were safe from bondage to a foreign oppressor. Certainly they were delivered from Egyptian oppression.
That is a reality and that is a truth. They left Egypt, they marched out boldly, and they went into the land of promise. Certainly that is an aspect, but as I've already alluded to, they were saved from the judgment of God himself. You see, when that blood was splashed up there, it wasn't so that the Egyptians would let them go.
Look at Ezekiel chapter 20 for just a moment. Ezekiel chapter 20. I don't know, maybe you've not thought through this, maybe you have thought through this, but if you ask a Christian, or if you ask yourself, why did they splash that blood up there? It was to save them from the destroying angel of God. the self-same destroying angel that would destroy the Egyptians who didn't have blood splashed up on their door frames.
It was the judgment of God that the Passover affected, it was not the tyranny of Egyptian oppression. Notice in Ezekiel 20 at verse 4, will you judge them, son of man? Will you judge them? Then make known to them the abominations of their fathers.
Ezekiel here preaching, prophesying in about the year 591. It actually is 591. Ezekiel tells us every step of the way what year he's dealing in. It's just amazing.
So in 591, God tells him to make known to these people the abominations of their fathers. And where does he go to indicate the sin of their fathers? Verse 5, say to them, thus says the Lord God, on the day when I chose Israel and raised my hand in an oath to the descendants of the house of Jacob and made myself known to them in the land of Egypt, I raised my hand in an oath to them saying, I am the Lord your God. On that day I raised my hand in an oath to them to bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them, flowing with milk and honey, the glory of all lands.
Then I said to them, each of you throw away the abominations which are before his eyes, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt. I am the Lord your God. But they rebelled against me and would not obey me." You see that? In captivity, in Egypt, under that oppression, what did the children of Israel do?
Probably not every single one of them, but at least a portion of them, instead of crying out to Yahweh of Israel, they cried out to the gods of Egypt. They needed that blood splashed on the door to keep them from the destroying angel for having sinned against their holy God. The blood splashed on the door had nothing to do with Egyptian tyranny. But they rebelled against me and would not obey me.
Verse 8. They did not all cast away the abominations which were before their eyes, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt. Then I said, I will pour out my fury on them and fulfill my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt. What is he talking about?
If they don't throw that blood up on the doorframe, they're going to perish with the idolaters of Egypt themselves. I will pour out my fury on them and fulfill my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt. But I acted for my name's sake that it should not be profaned before the Gentiles among whom they were, in whose sight I had made myself known to them to bring them out of the land of Egypt. Therefore, I made them go out of the land of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness." He made a way of escape.
He provided a sacrifice. He provided blood atonement. He provided remission. That blood on the doorpost typifies and looks forward to the great Lamb of God who would take away the sin of the world.
It was based on that reality that the children of Israel got to leave. without experiencing the same judgment of God that he would pour out on the Egyptians. And then fifthly, in terms of the Old Testament passage, and there's other things to be said. One could read Gerhardus Voss's biblical theology, see other observations on the Passover, but these are just some things to get our minds tracking with the text. Fifth, the Passover demonstrated the power and majesty of God.
We've already seen that in Exodus 9-16, but look again at Exodus 12, at verse 12 specifically. In verse 12 we see, For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast, and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment. I am the Lord. So in the midst of these plagues, in the midst of this situation in Egypt, with reference to the 10th plague, with reference to gods killing the firstborn, he is bringing at one and the same time judgment upon Egypt and a demonstration that their gods are simply false.
So the Passover, instituted while in Egypt, the unleavened bread was kept in conjunction with it. The Passover would serve as a reminder. The Passover signified the salvation of God. and the Passover certainly demonstrated the power and majesty of God.
Type and Anti-Type
Now let's hone in a little bit further. Christ indeed, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Now there are certainly observations that we can make in terms of the type that given in Exodus chapter 12, and the anti-type that fulfilled or accomplished by our Lord Christ.
A Lamb Without Blemish
First, the sacrifice used was a lamb. Exodus chapter 12 verse 3. What does John the Baptist say when he spots Jesus Christ? He says, behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
Have you ever wondered why nobody standing there at that particular time said to John, what are you talking about? What do you mean? What's going on? No, they had an expectation.
They had something in their documentation. They had something in the written covenantal records. They had expectations concerning one who would be a champion. One that would come from God to save his people from their sins.
And he was indeed the Lamb of God. Secondly, the lamb was to be without blemish, Exodus chapter 12 and verse 5. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. Doesn't that answer, doesn't that typify what the scripture says concerning our beloved Lord Jesus?
Hebrews chapter 7, verse 26, for such a high priest was fitting for us who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners and has become higher than the heavens? Do you feel that or understand that or hear that? There's only one in the history of the universe that this could ever be predicated of, and it certainly isn't us. The reality is, brethren, is that sinners dead in their trespasses and sins need a righteousness that avails with God.
We need one who's holy, harmless, and undefiled. We need one who obeys perfectly the law of God. At his baptism, when John the Baptist tries to hinder Christ from being baptized, Jesus says, no, permit it for now. Why?
Because we must fulfill a righteousness. Christ, not only through his death, brings forgiveness of sin. It's not only that he splashes us with the blood of atonement to wash away our iniquity, but he also earns, he wins, he merits a righteousness that is then imputed to us by which we're able to stand in the presence of God Most High. One is well observed that if we only have forgiveness at this point, it brings us back standing in front of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
But because we have Christ, because we have an imputed righteousness, we have security and stability, and we now don't need to get this righteousness on our own because we never could. Brethren, we have one that is holy, harmless, and undefiled. 1 Peter 1 is another place where we see this impeccability, this sinlessness, this beauty of our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 1. I'm sorry, 1 Peter 2. I'm looking at chapter 2 and saying chapter 1.
It's hot up here, anyway. My mind's getting a little baked here. Twos look like ones. No, I'm just kidding.
It's not that bad. 1 Peter 2, verse 18. Servants, be submissive to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the harsh. For this is commendable, if because of conscience toward God one endures grief, suffering wrongfully. For what credit is it, if when you are beaten for your faults you take it patiently?
But when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God. For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that you should follow his steps, who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth." Now probably most of us have italicized words in verse 22, and that indicates that this comes from the prophet Isaiah. And we might say cursorily that Peter's just applying Isaiah's prophecy to Jesus. And he is doing that, certainly.
But I've always found it intriguing that Peter was one in the inner circle. Jesus had 12 disciples, didn't he? A little simple math, wake everybody up. 12 disciples. Of the 12, he had three close friends of those 12.
Peter, James, and John. I know that John is referred to as the beloved disciple, but it is interesting. Anytime these men are indicated, it's Peter, James, and John. Peter, James, and John.
If Peter wasn't the closest, he was one of the three closest people to Jesus. Now just think for a moment. The people that are closest to you in your lives, do they see constant holiness? The people that are closest to us see absolutely unconstant holiness.
Don't we typically sin the most against those we're most familiar with? Probably as husbands and wives we sin more against our husband or wife than we do the next-door neighbor. We probably sin against our own kids more than we sin against, you know, brother and sister's kids in the church. The point is, is that intimacy, that union, that closeness of three years for Peter, he never once saw Jesus sin.
He never once saw Jesus lose his cool. He never once, in an ungodly way, he saw Jesus drive out the money changers and the men that were prostituting the house of his father. He never saw him sin. Could you imagine anyone in your life ever being able to say of you, who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth?
You say, well, no! But you know, in order to stand before God, that's the requirement. In order to stand before God, that is what is necessary. In order to stand before God, it must be perpetual, it must be exact, it must be constant obedience or entire obedience to the entirety of God's law.
If we don't do it, We need the righteousness of another and that's what we have in the gospel. Our Lord Jesus Christ is without blemish. He secures for us the righteousness that avails with God. Beautiful, beautiful doctrine.
The imputation of the active obedience of our Lord Jesus.
The Lamb Slain as Sacrifice
Thirdly, The Lamb, the Passover Lamb, was to be slain as a sacrifice. The text is conspicuous. When we look at chapter 12, verse 6, it says, "...the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight." The theological significance is given to us in verse 27. That, you shall say, it is the Passover sacrifice of the Lord.
So when we see this, the Lamb was to be slain as a sacrifice, that is precisely what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 5.7b, for indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Revelation chapter 5 says the very same thing. Scattered throughout the New Testament interpretation of the redemptive act of God, it tells us, it indicates for us, that Jesus was sacrificed for his people.
Blood Applied: Appropriation
Fourthly, The blood was splashed on the door to indicate appropriation. And by that I mean, or identification. We throw the blood up on the door so that when the destroying angel passes by, when he sees that blood, he knows that the inhabitants have appropriated it. They are identified by it.
They are under the blood. Well, isn't this what the New Testament documents indicate about our Lord Jesus? In Him we have redemption through His blood! Ephesians chapter 1.
Colossians chapter 1. 1 John chapter 1. These are passages we ought to reflect on, so you may turn there. We ought to consider these. If not at the Lord's Supper, Then I don't know when else. 1st John 1.7, but if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanses us from all sin.
I'm always suspicious of what I've come to call a bloodless testimony. A bloodless testimony. You talk to somebody and they say, yes, I'm a Christian. Well, give me your testimony.
Tell me about how you became a Christian. Well, I grew up in a Christian home, and they trotted me off to Sunday school, and they put a little catechism in my pocket, and they handed me a New King James Bible, and put a pencil in my pocket, and an Al Martin tape in my pocket, and therefore I'm a Christian! It's bloodless. The person who says, I was dead and washed in the blood, there's a lot more substance in that briefer confession than in the other.
You see, we're not Christians because we're good. We're not Christians because we merit. We're not Christians because we were brought up in the Christian home or in a Christian church. We're Christians because blood was shed and splashed upon us.
That's why we're Christians. Revelation 1-5. in an opening, in a greeting to the seven churches of Asia Minor. Listen to the richness of the theology in this statement. Beginning in verse 4, John to the seven churches which are in Asia, grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come and from the seven spirits who are before the throne and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth." If you ever wonder where the Bible teaches that Jesus is a prophet, priest, and king, there you go, right there.
And then notice in verse 5 as it goes on, "...to Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood." And then in Revelation chapter 7, Revelation chapter 7, verse 13, Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from? And I said to him, Sir, you know. So he said to me, These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. You don't typically think that dipping a white linen cloth into blood is going to make it white.
The imagery is rich. The blood of Jesus Christ washes, it cleanses, it purifies us from sin. Charles Hodge in his commentary on 1 Corinthians said, as the blood of that lamb sprinkled on the doorposts secured exemption from the stroke of the destroying angel, So the blood of Christ secures exemption from the stroke of divine justice.
Particular Atonement
Fifthly, the blood atoned for the children of Israel, not the Egyptians. Antitypically, the blood of Jesus atoned for the elect of God, not the reprobate. The distinction is made ever so clearly in Exodus chapter 12 at verse 13. Now the blood shall be assigned for you on the houses where you are.
And when I see the blood, I will pass over you. and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt." Now what happens subsequent to this? The land of Egypt is struck. Firstborn are slain. People died in the judgment of God.
This blood did not cover everybody in the land. It covered those whom it was purposed to cover. In the same token, the blood of the anti-typical lamb covers those for whom it is intended. In Matthew 1.21, the angels announcement to Joseph, you shall call his name Jesus, for it is he who will save not all people, but his people from their sins.
Matthew 20 verse 28, for the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many. In his high priestly prayer, our Lord Jesus, in terms of intercession, says, I do not pray for the world, but I pray for those whom you've given me out of the world. We need to understand that atonement is particular. Atonement is definite.
Atonement is specific.
Vicarious Substitution
And then sixthly, and finally, the Lamb at the Passover and the Lamb of God function vicariously. I'm going to explain what that means. Substitute. You all know what a substitute is.
My most popular example, if I would have dropped out on the way back from Abbotsford today, Pastor Cam would have stood in this place. He would have been the substitute. You say, how does the anti-typical Passover lamb show us that? Follow the logic, brethren.
What happens if the Israelite doesn't take blood and splash it on his doorframe? What happens the next morning when he goes in to wake up his firstborn son to go work with him in the field? He finds that firstborn son destroyed by the angel. What's the point?
The blood of the Lamb splashed on the doorframe is for Ham. It's vicarious. It's substitutionary. There is an in the place of-ness concerning that Passover blood in Exodus 12.
When we jump to the New Testament, that is conspicuous. Christ, indeed, was sacrificed for us. I realize some of the other translations excise for us. The theology is present in 1 Corinthians 5-7, even if those two words are absent.
But we only need to comb through the Scriptures in several more places to see specifically this reality that curse-bearing was for others. Christ didn't take the punishment for himself or because of sins that he had committed. The glory of the atonement is substitution. He went in our place.
He stood in our place. He suffered on our behalf. He took the wrath of God for us. That's the point.
And we see that in the Passover sacrifice when the blood is thrown on the doorframe. And certainly it corresponds in the New Covenant setting to what our antitypical Lamb does in terms of atonement. Remember, the first nine plagues are unconditional, aren't they? There's no conditions attached whatsoever in the first nine plagues.
But in that tenth plague, children of Israel, take this blood and throw it on your doorframe. Why? Because as Ezekiel 20 verses 4 to 10 tells us, they were wretched idolaters along with the Egyptians. And if the blood isn't on the doorframe, they will suffer the wrath and punishment of God if another doesn't take it in their stead. a book by the name of Pierced for Our Transgressions.
It was written in 2007. Three authors, I know one of them is Andrew Sachs, I don't know the other two men's names offhand. They write, thus the lamb becomes a substitute for the firstborn son, dying in its place. They go on to say the New Testament writers see Jesus' death as the fulfillment of the Passover.
He suffered in the place of his people in order that they might be marked out by his blood and thus spared from God's wrath. beautiful thing. Charles Hodge again, Christ was slain for us in the same sense that the Passover was slain for the Hebrews. It was a vicarious death. John Gill says on 1st Corinthians 5.7b, thus Christ is our anti-typical Passover who was sacrificed, whose body and soul were offered as an offering and a sacrifice unto God for us. that he might be proper food for our faith, and also in our room instead to make satisfaction to divine justice for all our sins and transgressions." Those are some observations on our particular text.
Application
As we conclude, consider again the reality that the atoning death of Christ frees us from the penalty of sin. frees us from the penalty of sin. I think in many respects at the very hub of atonement is satisfaction. Satisfaction of the penalty of God's wrath. It does that.
But it also frees us from the power That's Paul's point in 1 Corinthians 5. Since Christ indeed, our Passover, was sacrificed for us, do not tolerate this leaven. Do not tolerate this ungodliness. Do not have truck with those who name the name of Christ and then live like the devil.
He frees us from the penalty and the power of sin. Again, with reference to the Lord's Supper specifically, that book, Pierced for Our Transgression says, whereas the Old Passover focused on the body and blood of a lamb slain as a penal substitutionary sacrifice for the redemption of Israel, The Lord's Supper focuses on the body and blood of Christ who gave himself as a penal substitutionary sacrifice for his people. So as we eat this bread, as we drink this cup, we do so in remembrance of him, we do so calling and rehearsing the great redemptive fact that on Calvary's cross God made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us that we in turn might become the righteousness of God in Him. And if you are here this evening and you have not come to the Lord Jesus Christ, go back to Exodus chapter 12.
Go back to Israel in Egypt. Go back to that reality. Remember that when that destroying angel came, people died. You wonder about the judgment of God, you hear us threaten the penalties of God, you hear us say that there is a day coming, perhaps Egyptians would have heard this and said, there's no judgment, there's no wrath, there's no fury, Yahweh of Israel, you know, if he's even there, he's certainly not concerned about us, he's never going to take vengeance upon us.
Look at Numbers 33.3 for just a moment. Numbers 33.3, I've always found to be a very haunting text. And it's an interesting text because it's actually a rehearsal of where Israel had been. We're going to read 3 and 4.
It's actually verse 4. So Israel's journey from Egypt reviewed. This is sort of a retrospective look at where we've been. A few people have said today, how was your trip?
It was Idaho. What else can you say? It's Idaho. I mean, I could have said, you know, we went on this freeway, and then we went down to this freeway, and we went to that freeway, and then we're in Mountain Home, and then we went over to Boise.
You know, that's a retrospective look at the trip, isn't it? That's what Moses is doing in chapter 33. He's just rehearsing where they've been. And yet, verses 3 and 4 always strike me as haunting.
They departed from Ramesses in the first month, verse 3. On the fifteenth day of the first month, On the day after the Passover, the children of Israel went out with boldness in the sight of all the Egyptians. For the Egyptians were burying all their firstborn, whom the Lord had killed among them, also on their gods the Lord had executed judgments." Now imagine, had you been in Egypt in those particular days and you didn't splash the blood, you would have learned all too well about the judgment of God. You would have known all too intimately about His wrath, His fury, and His curse.
If you sit here this evening and you've not come to Christ, something far more horrible awaits you. Something far more atrocious awaits you. Not only is there an entry into a physical grave, but there is a departure into eternity. And the only way to be readied for that is through the gospel, through the blood splashed, through the one in whom we have redemption, through his blood.
And the way by which we have a saving interest in that is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. So believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, let us pray.
Closing Prayer
Our Father, we thank you that Christ, indeed our Passover, was sacrificed for us. We thank you for this consistent thread throughout Scripture. We thank you, God Most High, that He is the Antitype, that all these things in the Old Testament foreshadowed and signified, have come to fruition and fulfillment in the Lord of glory. We thank you, most high God, for the forgiveness that we have as a result of his blood shedding.
We thank you as well for the righteousness that is ours as a result of his life of perfect obedience. Thank you that he's holy, harmless, and undefiled. Thank you for his entire ministry on behalf of his people. And I pray now that you would just guide us as we consider him in more ways to come in the rest of this service.
Help us as we eat this bread and we drink this cup to feast upon our Lord Jesus Christ. And it's in His name that we pray. Amen.