JOHN SHIRK – Today’s Faith-Building Verse is Hebrews 11:28.
Referring to Moses, “By faith, he kept the Passover and the application of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.”
In the book of Exodus, it was the blood of the Passover lamb applied to the doorframes that protected the firstborn of Israel from death. This is a foreshadow to the spiritual reality of Christ. First Corinthians 5:7 says that “Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed.”
Our redemption depends on what Jesus did for us at the cross. Without the shedding of His blood, there would be no forgiveness. By faith, we are protected by the application of Christ’s blood to cover our sins. Forgiveness is found in God’s grace demonstrated through the perfect life, death and resurrection of Jesus.
This Faith-Building Verse inspires us to trust Jesus to save us from our sins in the Year of Relationship.
John Shirk
john@wjtl.com
JOHN SHIRK – In the Year of Exploration, today’s Reason to Believe is Feast of Passover.
This Jewish feast continues to be observed year after year to this very day celebrating deliverance from slavery. Moses was sent by God as a messenger to tell Egypt’s powerful leader Pharoah, “Let my people go.” Pharoah resisted Moses’ message time after time, despite many plagues on his land.
The final plague was what led to Pharoah’s change of mind, and Israel’s deliverance from slavery. The Israelites were told to sacrifice the Passover lamb without defect and put some of the blood on the top and on both sides of the doorframe. The firstborn of the family in that house would be protected when the LORD came to strike down all the firstborn in Egypt.
The LORD gave the Israelites instructions to observe Passover as a lasting ordinance.
Followers of Jesus see Jesus as the fulfillment of Passover. He was unblemished. His blood is precious, and qualifies as an atonement for our sins, to deliver us from slavery to sin, and from spiritual death. First Corinthians 5:7 says “Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed.”
Passover is a reason to believe in God’s good news.
John Shirk
john@wjtl.com
