Belief in Jesus’ crucifixion, death and resurrection and repentance of sin leads to eternal life in Christ. As is stated in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave the only begotten Son, so that everyone believing in Him should not perish, but should have eternal life.” The depth of this commitment by us and the gift of eternal life is more than just belief, it requires us to be born again as a new person. The Apostle Paul writes in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” This miracle of eternal life was the redemption plan from the beginning–life for life.
Before the last plague the LORD was to unleash on Egypt, the Israelite people were to select a defect-free lamb (or goat) to be sacrificed, and apply it’s blood to the lintel and doorposts of their homes so that the LORD would “pass over” them and spare their firstborn. The roasted meat of the sacrifice was to be eaten with unleavened bread (matzah) and bitter herbs to signify the bitterness of slavery, and the haste in which the Israelites were delivered from bondage. The LORD then commanded the Israelites to observe the seven day “Festival of Matzah” in memory of the Exodus from Egypt for future generations.
The blood of the Passover lamb “covered” the people from the plague of death by atoning for their sins by a substitutionary death. Leviticus 17:11, states that “the life of the flesh is in the blood,” the life blood of a lamb was offered in exchange for the death of others. Eating the roasted lamb of the sacrifice meant that you were identifying with the death offered in exchange for your own. The people of Israel had put their trust in the provision of God’s sacrifice that caused His righteous judgement to “pass over” them. The LORD said in Exodus 12:13, “The blood will serve you as a sign marking the houses where you are; when I see the blood, I will pass over (in Hebrew “pasach”) you—when I strike the land of Egypt, the death blow will not strike you.”
It is interesting to note that the Hebrew word pasach can also mean “to limp,” suggesting the crucifixion of Messiah alluded to in Genesis 3:15, “…he will bruise your head, and you will bruise his heel.” The heel that was “bruised” for us on the cross. It is through the cross of Jesus that God’s justice is satisfied, and His mercy can then “pass over” us. This is the message of the gospel, that we have atonement with God through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, the Lamb of God who said in John 5:24, “Yes indeed! I tell you that whoever hears what I am saying and trusts the One who sent me has eternal life—that is, he will not come up for judgement but has already crossed over (passed over) from death to life!” This is the Good News of the cross. Jesus gave his life so that you may have eternal life. Simple, true, and life giving!
