October 09, 2024
Where has your life been and where is it now? God is the God of new beginnings. Regardless of where your life has been, if you come to Him in faith, He can make all things new.
A NATION DELIVERED
Moses and his kinsmen (several million Israelites) had been in cruel bondage in Egypt for 430 years. There was nothing they could do: no way out and no human means of deliverance.
God knew what He was about for His people to whom He had pledged the Promised Land. On a perfect day, He instructed the people to take an unblemished lamb (a picture of Christ, the Lamb of God who was to come) and place the blood of that Lamb on their doorposts. It would protect them from the judgment coming across the land of Egypt.
All of this was God’s means of deliverance but also a foreshadowing of the future, as everything is. The Messiah (the Lamb of God) was coming. He would become a man and live a sinless life and then die a sacrificial death. His death in our place would be the means of our deliverance from sin, death, and hell.
BUT …
Something had to happen. The people must believe in God as their only Deliverer, partake of an unblemished lamb, and the blood of that lamb had to be APPLIED to their doorposts.
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. (Exodus 12:7)
The whole nation of Israel—every household—believed and trusted in the blood of the Lamb to save them. The blood was applied to their doorposts and the Death Angel passed over their lives.
A NEW YEAR
God now gave a significant command to Moses and the people.
Now the Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, “This month shall be the beginning of months for you; it is to be the first month of the year to you. (Exodus 12:1-2)
This night and the moment of their deliverance marked a new year for them, forever to be remembered.
And in our day, when a sinful man comes to the end of Himself, sees what Christ has done for him, and trusts in Christ for the forgiveness of his sins, he is born again. It is the beginning of a new life in God’s kingdom. Paul describes it this way …
Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. (2 Corinthians 5:17)
For you have died (*i.e., to a life without Christ) and your life is hidden with Christ in God. (Colossians 3:3)
I was with a man named Christopher this past weekend. Although he had a religious upbringing, he had run from Christ for decades, thinking he could be the better master for his life. His life was now in shambles, and he had come to the end of himself. He had a physical brother who loved him and had brought him to a men’s retreat where I was speaking. He had shared the gospel with his brother many times and lived the life of Christ before him. Many had been praying.
On the first night of the retreat, God allowed me to sit by him and hear his story. He was looking for something new for his life. He was broken and hungry for a change.
I told him the testimony of my brother-in-law, who had run from Christ for years. After life-threatening cancer in his late 20’s, he came to desperation. In a car, taking him to the airport one Christmas, I asked him, “David, isn’t it time to quit running and surrender your life to Christ?” We pulled over on the side of the road and prayed together as David gave His life back to the One who loved him and gave His life for him. The blood of Christ was applied to his life.
At an opportune moment on the final day of the retreat, Christopher was now ready. He kept telling me, “Well, I need to learn more and grow into this.” Finally, I said, “No, it’s time right now to ask Christ to come in and take control. Are you ready right now to do that?” “Yes,” he said humbly.
I called his brother over, and the three of us prayed as Christopher applied the blood of Christ to the doorpost of his life. He was born again, just as millions have experienced through the ages. The grace of God was applied to his life, giving him eternal forgiveness and the life of Christ now residing in Him. He will never be the same, for he now has Christ, and Christ has him. It is the beginning of a new, eternal life!
Happy New Year, Christopher … for all of eternity!
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