The Passover is a type of Christ; Christ is not only the Passover lamb but also every aspect of the passover. The Apostle Paul said, For our Passover, Christ, has been sacrificed (1 Cor. 5:7). Christ is the entire passover: He is the Lamb of God, the unleavened bread, the bitter herbs, and everything related to the passover is related to Christ.
God was specific and detailed when He ordained the Passover, and the reason for this is that we need to remember and enjoy Christ in a specific and detailed way both in His redemption and in His life-impartation.
Christ as the Lamb of God took away our sin, and when we apply His blood by faith we are spared from God’s judgement; in Christ under His blood God passes us over in His judgement over the world.
As the Lamb of God Christ not only redeems us but also supplies us with life, and His salvation is for the whole house – He wants to redeem, save, and supply with the divine life our whole family, our whole household.
Before He was sacrificed as the reality of the passover lamb, Christ was examined by the Jews and the Romans and was found to be without a fault; this Perfect One passed every test and is fully qualified to be the perfect passover lamb of God.
In God’s eyes, Christ was like a “one year old lamb”, so fresh and absolute for God and His purpose, not having been used by any matter, person, or thing but being fully for God and His purpose.
Even though He was such a Perfect One, the Lamb of God, we all had a part in putting Him to death; He died for us to redeem us and bring us back to God that we may enjoy God in Christ as our life supply. Hallelujah for Christ as the real passover!
Because of the Blood of Christ, God’s Judgement Passes Over us
The noun “passover” comes from the verb “to pass over” (Exo. 12:13); in the most basic aspect, the Passover means that God’s judgement passes over His people when they sprinkle the blood of the lamb on their door posts.
Today the whole world lies in the evil one, and all men are sinners under God’s condemnation and judgement. But whoever believes into Christ as the Lamb of God and applies His blood is no longer under God’s judgement; rather, God’s judgement has passed over him because of the blood of Christ, the real Passover lamb (John 1:29).
We can now be at ease and in peace because we’re in the house and the blood is sprinkled on the doorposts. We can have the full assurance that God’s judgement will pass over us because of the blood of the Lamb!
Hallelujah, now we are saved under the precious blood of Christ; God’s judgement is no longer our share – our portion is peace and enjoyment in the house under the blood!
A Lamb for a House: God Desires to Save the Whole Household!
In Exo. 12:3-4 God commanded that each household would sacrifice one lamb, and if one household is small, they should join with their neighbours to sacrifice the lamb. The lamb being for every house reveals God’s principle in His salvation: the unit of God’s salvation is the house, the family!
God doesn’t just want to save us; He wants to save our whole family. In Joshua 2 and 6 Rahab was saved with all her father’s household from the destruction of Jericho. In Luke 19 the Lord Jesus visited Zaccheus, a tax collector, and He said, Today salvation has come to this house (Luke 19:9).
In Acts 11:14 Cornelius and his whole house were to be saved. When Paul and Silas were asked by the jailer in Philippi what to do to be saved, they replied, Believe on the Lord Jesus and you shall be saved, you and your household (Acts 16:30-31).
God’s salvation in Christ is for us and our whole house. If we are saved, we need to pray for the rest of our family and claim God’s salvation for our whole household! Strictly speaking Christ’s redemption is not just for an individual but for the whole house; His redemption and salvation are applied to us as a house, corporately.
As the Passover Lamb, Christ was Examined and Found to be Perfect before He was Killed
Before the people of Israel killed the lamb, they had to buy the lamb and examine it for four days; they had to examine the lamb to make sure it was pure, without blemish, and qualified to be sacrificed as the passover lamb (Exo. 12:6).
In a similar way, Christ presented Himself to the people in Jerusalem to be tested and analyzed for four days before He was killed on the day of the Feast of the Passover (John 8:7, 46; 18:38; 19:4, 6; Luke 22:7-8, 14-15; John 18:28). The Lord Jesus was examined for four days before He was killed (John 12:1; Mark. 11:1, 12-15); He was examined by the Jews, the Pharisees, and the Herodians, and He passed all the tests.
Christ was the perfect passover lamb, passing through every test and being found perfect. The more they checked and tested and asked, the more He was proven to be perfect.
On the night He was arrested and brought before the chief priests, He was further tested and found without fault. The priests tested the Lord according to the Jewish law and the Pilate the Roman governor tested Him according to the Roman law, and Christ was found faultless and perfect!
Hallelujah, no fault was found in Christ, the Lamb of God! He is the perfect spotless Lamb of God to be our real passover lamb. Because He passed all the tests, God was satisfied with Christ, and now we can have the assurance that He will pass over us since we have His blood applied to us.
“A One Year Old Lamb” – The Lord Jesus was Fresh, Never having been Used for Another Purpose
The lamb to be sacrificed for the passover was supposed to be one year old (Exo. 12:5), which indicates that it was to be fresh, not having been used for any other purpose than the passover. Christ came to do the will of God, and He was not used by Satan or the world in any way, shape, or form; He was used only for God’s purpose, accomplishing God’s will, and seeking God’s glory (Heb. 10:5-10).
Christ had no interest or capacity to do anything but the Father’s will; He was fresh and absolute, having room for nothing else but God and His purpose.
We all have been used by the world, our job, our family, our industry, our business, and Satan, but Christ was uniquely for God’s purpose. In God’s eyes when He was put on the cross the Lord Jesus was fresh, never having been used for another purpose.
The Whole Congregation Killed the Lamb – We All had a Part in Killing the Lamb of God
It is very interesting that God didn’t command that “the head of the house would kill the lamb”; in Exo. 12:6 it says that the whole congregation of the assembly of Israel shall kill it at twilight.
In a similar way, it was not only the Roman soldiers that killed the Lord Jesus but it was the whole congregation of the assembly of Israel together with the Romans (see Acts 3:14-15; John 19:20). We all have a share in putting the Lord Jesus, the Passover lamb, to death; He was crushed for our iniquities and wounded because of our transgressions (see Isa. 53:5-6).
It wasn’t just the Jews or the Romans, but the whole mankind put Christ to the cross. When He was crucified, an inscription was put on His cross written in Latin, Greek, and Aramaic (John 19:20) representing the Hebrew religion, the Roman politics, and the Greek culture and philosophy.
The entire human race put Christ to death on the cross; He was crucified for our iniquities, and He died for us that we may be released. Christ died on the cross as the passover lamb for the whole mankind; He died because of us and for us.
Thank You Lord for dying as the real passover lamb, the lamb of God, so that God’s judgement would pass over us. Lord, we apply Your blood right now and we come to enjoy You as the Lamb of God. Lord Jesus, You are without blemish or fault – You have been found to be perfect before You were killed as the Passover lamb. Praise You for being such a perfect One, without fault or guilt. Lord Jesus, thank You for dying for us on the cross to redeem us and bring us into the enjoyment of God. How we appreciate You for perfectness, absoluteness, freshness, and willingness to die because of us and for us! Praise God for the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my Christian experience, bro. James Lee’s sharing in the message for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Exodus, msg. 23, as quoted in, the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of Exodus (1), week 5 / msg 5, The Passover.
- Hymns on this topic:
# By this blood, God’s life released, / Blood surpassing any beast’s; / Perfect, spotless Lamb of God, / Incorruptible His blood. (Hymns #1124)
# Teach me, O God, to fix mine eyes / On Christ, the spotless Lamb, / So shall I love Thy precious will, / And glorify His name. (Hymns #297)
# My song shall be of Jesus; / His mercy crowns my days, / He fills my cup with blessings, / And tunes my heart to praise. / My song shall be of Jesus, / The precious Lamb of God, / Who gave Himself my ransom, / And bought me with His blood. (Hymns #165)
About aGodMan
The passover is a type of Christ. In 1 Corinthians 5:7 Paul says that “Our Passover, Christ, also has been sacrificed.”…Christ is not only the Passover lamb but also every aspect of the passover. The lamb, the bread, and the bitter herbs are all related to Christ. In principle, therefore, Christ is not only the lamb of the Passover, but the very Passover itself.
The word passover means that the judgment of God passes over us. In Exodus 12:13 the Lord says, “When I see the blood, I will pass over you.” Eventually, the Passover became a proper noun in English. The proper noun Passover has its source in the words “pass over” in 12:13. (Witness Lee, Life-study of Exodus, pp. 247-248)