We have been studying the power of sacrifice, and especially the power of the sacrifice of the Son of God to deliver us from bondage, which was typified by the Passover. Now we will go on to another crucial aspect of the Passover, as we see in Exodus 12:7, 13:
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.
And the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live;
and when I see the blood I will pass over you,
and no plague will befall you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.
Just as the sentence of death was on every household that did not have the blood of the sacrificial, Passover lamb applied to their house, the same is true for all of humanity, as we read in Romans 5:12: "Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned." Even so, God has given to the whole world a Passover Lamb whose blood will fully protect those who apply it to their lives. As we read in Romans 5:8-10:
But God demonstrates His own love toward us,
in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Much more then, having now been justified by His blood,
we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.
For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God
through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled,
we shall be saved by His life.
All Israel had to do to protect their families from the death that was going to sweep over Egypt that night was to apply the blood of the specified Passover lamb to their doorways. When the angel of death saw the blood, he passed over them. Likewise, all we have to do to be delivered from the sentence of death that is upon all mankind is to apply the blood of the cross of Jesus to our lives. Nothing more will help, and nothing less will save us.
Israel would not have been saved by knowing that there had to be a Passover lamb sacrificed, or even to have sacrificed it, unless and until the blood was applied. Likewise, it does not do us any good just to know that there had to be a sacrifice for our sin. It does not even do us any good to know Jesus made that sacrifice, unless His blood is applied to our lives. Just knowing the facts is not the same as trusting in them for salvation. Even the demons know the power of the cross. Salvation requires more than just an intellectual assent to the spiritual and historic facts of the cross, as Romans 10:8-10 states:
But what does it say? "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart"—
that is, the word of faith which we are preaching,
that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord,
and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead,
you shall be saved;for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness,
and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.
There can be a big difference between believing with our minds andbelieving with our hearts. The belief that is required for salvation is more than just an intellectual assent to the facts. To believe with our heart is to believe with our lives. Just as anyone passing through the Hebrew neighborhoods that night could see the blood had been applied to each house that had partaken of the Passover, if we have partaken of the Passover Lamb that is Christ, His blood will likewise be evident on our lives.
Jesus said, "I am the way, and the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me" (John 14:6). The way is not a formula, but a Person. Knowing the truth is more than just having accurate doctrines—it is knowing a Person who must also be our life. If Jesus is not our life, we really do not know the way or the truth either. Salvation is much more than just agreeing that Jesus died on the cross for the sins of the world—it is embracing the cross and trusting in His atonement for the forgiveness of our own sin. Just as the Passover blood had to be applied to every house that was trusting in it for deliverance from death, the blood of Jesus must be applied personally to every life.
No one is going to be saved because they live in a "Christian" country. No one is going to be saved because they have a parent who knows the Lord. No one is even going to be saved because they go to church, or even because they were baptized, unless they have a personal faith in Him, and His blood is applied to their life. We must each have our own faith, and our own relationship to the Lord. If we do, the evidence of what has taken place in our hearts will be clearly seen on the outside of our lives as well.
Just as we saw in our previous study, once Israel partook of the Passover, their whole world changed. They left Egypt immediately to go to a place they had never seen. Likewise, when we partake of the Passover sacrifice of Jesus everything changes—we are born again into a whole new world.
If you have been in church all of your life, and know very well all of the doctrines of salvation, but have never actually been born again by having a personal encounter with the Son of God, you can do so right now. All you have to do is humble yourself and confess your sins to God. Then ask Him to forgive you and cover you in the blood of His Son's sacrifice, knowing that there is nothing you can do to make atonement for yourself, but also knowing that His sacrifice is sufficient to cover your sins. This simple faith will allow you to be accepted by the Father into His own household. Then ask Him for the baptism in the Holy Spirit, who was given to lead us into all truth, so we might live lives that glorify the Son of God, by displaying the power of His sacrifice in our lives.
As we studied on Day Six, if the sacrifice of the king of Moab could release such power to cause the armies of Israel to flee, how much more power does the sacrifice of the Son of God have? His sacrifice is enough to cover all of your sins, to redeem you from the bondage of sin, and to give you eternal life. As we begin to comprehend this, we are transformed by the power of such great love.
For this reason, I bow my knees before the Father,
from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name,
that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory,
to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man;
so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith;
and that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
may be able to comprehend with all the saints
what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge,
that you may be filled up to all the fulness of God.
Now to Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond
all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us,
to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus
to all generations forever and ever. Amen (Ephesians 3:14-21).