Christ & Him Crucified—Why?

(Go To Meeting)

Lyall Johnston—March 11, 2023

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Greetings to everyone wherever you are located on God's good Earth, a planet that is more and more begin disturbed by what we're doing to it.

1 Corinthians 2:1—Paul says: "And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with superiority of speech or wisdom… [of men] …in proclaiming the testimony of God to you…. [the Father and Jesus Christ] …For I decided not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified" (vs 1-2).

• Was Paul preaching and inferior Gospel?
• Was Paul not preaching a full Gospel when he says he "…decided not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified"?

Let's see what else he has to say, because he makes a very similar introduction in 1-Cor. 15:1, which we know this is the chapter where he addresses our resurrection. An incredible knowledge that God has given to us, and what it's been like for us, at the least 'seeing through a glass darkly' of what the resurrection is going to be for us, and for all the saints clear back to Abel.

1 Corinthians 15:1: "Now, I am declaring to you, brethren, the same Gospel…"—of Christ and Him crucified!

• So is he preaching a new limited Gospel?

or

• Is there more to that statement that we need to unpack?

We'll attempt to do that as we continue today.

"…that I proclaimed to you, which you also received, and in which you are now standing" (v 2).

That's interesting because Paul is the one who established the teachings, the Truth of God, amongst these people.

Verse 3: "For in the first place, I delivered to you what I also had received… [from Christ Himself] …that Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures."

Verse 12: "But if Christ is being preached, that He rose from the dead, how is it that some among you are saying that there is no resurrection of the dead?"

That's in reference to the Pharisees who had very high places in the Jewish hierarchy in Jerusalem.

Why are some "…saying that there is no resurrection of the dead? For if there is no resurrection from the dead, neither has Christ been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, and your faith is also in vain. And we are also found to be false witnesses… [Paul is saying of himself and the other apostles] …of God; because we have testified of God that He raised Christ…" (vs 13-15).

If He hasn't been raised then we are lying; so you see the importance of Christ and Him crucified. Was He, in fact, raised?

"…Whom He did not raise, if indeed the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised" (vs 15-16). It means the prophecy has not been fulfilled!

Verse 17: "But if Christ has not been raised, your faith is vain; you are still in your sins, and those who have fallen asleep in Christ have then perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most miserable…. [then Paul goes on with his answer] …But now Christ has been raised from the dead; He has become the Firstfruit of those who have fallen asleep" (vs 17-18).

So, we see how important that the crucifixion is. IF Christ hadn't been crucified there would be no resurrection, and our faith would be in vain! Jesus would have just lived out His normal life and died. But that's not the way that it occurred, not the way it happened!

We're talking here primarily about the Passover. Every year each one of us has more to learn about the Passover of Jesus Christ, the Christian Passover. We have that great volume: The Christian Passover by Fred R. Coulter. It's one of those volumes that we are reading this time of the year as we are examining ourselves and preparing ourselves to take the Passover. This is not a casual event! The Passover is an event that affects the entirety of the creation, as we talked about in the message: Satan's Great Defeat!

Let's go back to the very first Passover, and yes, we're going to be repeating this old story. They told the story of Jesus' love, but they didn't tell the story about the obedience to God the Father and Jesus Christ. There was so much that was missing in that very great attitude that they had. But there's more to the story that each one of us needs to unfold every year.

The Passover is a critical event. Without the Passover, there is not Plan of God for you and me! It's just that simple. This is the beginning point. This is why Paul says when he was with the Corinthians, 'The Gospel would be preach, and Him crucified.'

But he also unpacked that little by little. Today we can understand the Passover, because it is reflected from the very beginning, from the book of Genesis clear through the book of Revelation. It's the foundational stone: Christ and Him crucified! Paul is saying that:

It all begins here! Everything I preach is related to the Passover. If it's not related to the Passover, the crucifixion, which goes into the resurrection; if that's not involved then we're just speaking hot air!

Not saying anything! Just trying to impress people.

Let's look at Exo. 12 where the Passover for the Old Covenant was established:

Exodus 12:1: "And the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, 'This month shall be to you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year to you'" (vs 1-2).

Not March or April, but the 1st month of the year. That's how God labels months. We know that in the Hebrew language attaches Hebrew names to it. When God talked about Passover, yes, Abib or Nisan are attached to that. But when God gave this, He says: "…It shall be the first month…" that the Passover and Days of Unleavened Bread occur, and the of course, we have Pentecost, and then we have the 7th month we have the remainder of God's Feasts.

God doesn't give them a name, He just gives them a number. Same with the days of the week. God talks about the 1st day thru 6th day, and then He gave the 7th day—which He did not do with any other day—He named the Sabbath (Exo. 20).

Verse 3: "Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, 'In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them each man a lamb for a father's house, a lamb for a house. And if the household is too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next to his house take according to the number of the souls, each one, according to the eating of his mouth, you shall count concerning the lamb'" (vs 3-4).

So, the lamb was to be selected, and this was a Passover that was a domestic Passover, it was held in their homes! If the lamb was too much for one family they could invite their neighbors and they could join together.

Verse 5: "Your lamb shall be without blemish… [Why? This lamb was to represent the Lord Jesus Christ when He was to come 1500 years later!] …a male of the first year. You shall take it from the sheep or from the goats. And you shall keep it up until the beginning of the fourteenth day of the same month…. [note this next statement and think of Christ] …And the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it between the two evenings" (vs 5-6)

Absolutely necessary information, because there are those who have taken God's Festivals, and particularly the Passover, and tried to change the day it was kept using theological thinking and reasoning. Most of that does not come from the Spirit of God! Theological thinking, yes, ministers are instructed to 'think theologically.' That's contra thinking from the Scriptures.

There's a great phrase that 'theology has been boiled down to faith, seeking and understanding. In order to have understanding you have to think with your mind and come to an understanding of the Scriptures. How did that work out for Worldwide Church of God?

What does God say? Obey My Word! Obey My laws, commandment, statutes and judgments, ordinances and precepts! If you do that, what does God tell us? A good understanding have all those who keep My commandments! Not faith, it's seeking understanding. The understanding comes not from the mind, but from the Word of God that I'm sure that most of us have before us. We can see where that led the Worldwide Church of God. What's interesting is that in 1977 was the beginning of the STP: Systematic Theological Project, which was based on theological thinking! Ministers put that on the various doctrines.

In 1978 was the beginning of the next step. Then we had the removal of the top evangelist because of his activities. Then we had the attorney general of Southern California come in and try to take over the Church. I'm not sure exactly but about that time we had all of these top men going out to the theological seminaries, faith, seeking and understanding, which led to the doctrine of the trinity, and Christmas, Easter and the Lord's Supper! We'll take that as often as we drink it, not once a year, but every week, every month, whatever!

Where s WCG today? It's extinct! It doesn't exist! Those who were faithful the Word of God and seeking understanding from God's Word, by obeying God's Word, are survivors, and that's a positive comment. If that was you, you're a survivor! Praise be to God!

Verse 7: "And they shall take of the blood and strike it on the two side posts and upon the upper doorpost of the houses in which they shall eat it."

Does that have a symbol for you and me today? Yes, it does, because the two upright posts represent our heart! The blood of Christ that was spilled, shed is applied to the posts of our heart, and to the mind that God has given to us.

• it purifies us
• it cleanses us

And because we've been baptized into the death of Christ:

You may have had this read to you at your baptism, but at our service we ask the person:

• Have you repented of your sins?
• Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior?

Based on His blood, which is going to be put on your heart and your mind so that you have the remission of sins on a daily continuous basis, which is the meaning of the propitiation of the blood of Christ. It's always there for us! Are you ready?

Even if you didn't have these words read to you, I don't know, I can't remember the words I had, I just knew that I had to be baptized! I was convicted by God's Spirit so much that I didn't understand. I was spiritually young and immature, probably 24-25 at the time. There was so much I didn't understand. But I had faith in the blood of Christ.

Are you ready to bury your own sinful self and life under that watery grave symbolizing that 'I don't want to live according to the will of my flesh! I now want to live according to the will of God!' We made that commitment and then the struggle began, the struggle that we continue with today. But it's a battle that we're fighting and the rewards are absolutely enormous.

Are you ready to bury your old sinful self and life into the baptismal covenant death, saying, 'I am going to die with Christ; I am prepared to die for Christ for the covenant of Jesus Christ in this watery grave!

So, the old man is dead and buried, but we know He wants to resurrect Himself again; that's our battle and Satan is on the side trying to stir the pot and tempt us. God doesn't tempt us! That's why we pray, 'Father, lead us not into temptation, as Christ was led, but deliver us from the evil one. That's what God' will is, that's what Jesus taught us, and that's what the Father wants us to pray daily.

Daily we're having that blood applied to our lives to help us to keep the old man buried, dead, so that the new man can continue to grow in grace and in the knowledge and love of Jesus Christ with the rest of our brothers and sisters within the Body of Christ. As we continue in this baptismal survey, we ask this:

Are you going to walk in the way of Jesus Christ keeping His commandments and to love Him with all your heart, mind, soul, being and strength.

Verse 8: "And they shall eat the flesh…" What are we to do with the body of Christ? He who will eat My flesh and drink My blood…!

So, hereThe blood wasn't involved. The lamb was killed and the blood was spread on the doorposts, and I often wondered what happened to the remainder of the blood, particularly in the sacrifices that represented Christ. A lot of the blood just went on the ground, just like with Christ it dripped on the ground when He was hanging there on that cross bleeding to death before the stroke of the spear was on Him. Finally putting Him that place or condition of being dead. Totally dead for three days and three nights.

Another thing about that Passover paper by Grabbe and Kuhn--Paper: The Passover of the Bible and the Church Today—they also changed the resurrection time. When is the resurrection going to occur? They say, Easter Sunday!

I declare my opinion on this: These men were totally in disregard to the Lordship of God and His Son Jesus Christ, Who has been placed above all authorities and principalities. He is the One Who created them all. He's over them all. He's over you and me because we have submitted to His rule in our lives. We have submitted to His Word, all through the crucifixion of Christ and Him crucified.

If He hadn't been crucified, we would not be keeping the Passover. There would be no extended meaning or spiritual meaning for Passover, as it was for ancient Israel. Let's go back to:

Verse 6: "And the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it…"

Is there a message there for us that Christ had to die for our sins? So, we were personally involved in that event.

Verse 8: "And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roasted with fire, and unleavened bread…. [that's what we do today] …They shall eat it with bitter herbs. Do not eat of it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted with fire, its head with its legs, and with its inward parts. And you shall not let any of it remain…" (vs 8-10).

Even the body of that lamb was sacred because it represented Christ. Ancient Israel didn't understand that, but that's the picture that we have today, because we are told that we will learn from the things that happened and that were dead and happened in ancient Israel. They were examples for us today. They had no idea of the coming of Christ.

Because the blood was posted on the doorposts and lintel, what happened? The death angle passed over and slew the firstborn of all of those Egyptians who were not protected by that blood. So, because our heart and mind, in fact our whole being, is covered by the blood of Christ. That sacrifice is perpetual. Christ did not need to die every year. His sacrifice was a one off, because it was a physical sacrifice, but the impact was cosmic! It affects the entirety of the universe!

Verse 11: "And this is the way you shall eat it: with your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in trepidation…."

When we eat the Passover, we need to be in an attitude of totally looking to Christ and God the Father, realizing that taking the bread that represents Christ's body, and the wine that represents His blood is that we are reconfirming what we said at baptism, that we are ready to bury our old sinful self and life into the baptism covenant of death, of Christ Jesus in this watery grave. Every year we keep the Passover that is what we are recommitting ourselves to. It's not that we don't, but we need to be reminded. As Paul said, 'It's no problem for me to remind you of these things, because it's beneficial to you.'

Peter says, 'I'm writing to you again for you to keep these things in mind. This is why, the beginning of God's Plan of salvation. The Passover is such an important event. Paul says that we're to examine ourselves to make sure that we are in the faith.

Let's see what Jesus had to say about the Passover, before it actually occurred.

Matthew 26:1: "Now, it came to pass that when Jesus had finished all these sayings, He said to His disciples… [they didn't understand what Jesus was saying, nor the fulfillment of what was about to take place] …'You know that after two days the Passover takes place, and the Son of man is delivered up to be crucified'" (vs 1-2).

As Paul says, 1-Corinthians 2:2: "For I decided not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified."

It's the beginning, the foundation of the salvation of the Family of God, of you and me! God's promise that we are locked into by the Word and by the Spirit.

Matthew 26:2 "…and the Son of man is delivered up to be crucified"

It's interesting in the book of Acts, we find out who it was who killed Christ.

Acts 3:15: "And you killed the Author of life… [ordained by God right back to Genesis] …Whom God has raised from the dead, whereof we are witnesses."

1:Corinthians 15:6: "Then He appeared to over five hundred brethren at one time, of whom the greater part are alive until now, but some have fallen asleep."

So, if you want to know if He died and was resurrected, go and ask one of those people who were eyewitnesses. Paul was talking to the Corinthians, not people around Jerusalem who were there and witnessed the event, some of them anyway.

Our sins are a part of that. We are the ones involved in the slaughter of Jesus Christ with every sin that we commit. Does that tell us a little bit of how merciful and gracious that God is to us? Once we're converted, of course, we're not sinning deliberately; we're not practicing sin on a continuous basis. We're living our lives striving to overcome the sin that dwells within, to overcome the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, the presumptuous pride of physical life, as well as the attacks from Satan!

• Why?
• Why do we do that?
• Why don't we just let everything go and let the river just wash us down the stream into the ocean?
• Why don't we just live life, be happy, be merry with wine, women and song?

Because we know what the end is, and we don't want that end! We want the end that God has promised us. God is there day-by-day forgiving our sins as we pray:

Father forgive us our trespasses, forgive us our sins, forgive us our debts against You. And forgive us as we forgive those who have debts, trespasses or sin against us.

Those who have offended us or done terrible things to us. Turn the other cheek! 'A soft answer turns away wrath.'

Let's see the importance of the Passover, because this is what this is talking about:

Romans 8:19: "For the earnest expectation of the creation itself is awaiting the manifestation of the sons of God."

That's can only happen if we repent of our sins and we continue daily repenting of our sins, continually daily taking on the mind of Christ, letting the mind of Christ dwell within us. Letting His Word dwell within us richly by keeping and maintaining that contact with God the Father. It's the whole creation!

How big is the universe? There was an amazing illustration given by this man who said, 'If you want to know how great the creation is, and how much we can see through the James Webb telescope, take a grain of sand and put it at arms length, and that's all we see through the James Webb. How great is the creation. It's constantly on YouTube and download the various incredible constellations, galaxies made there by the countless billions upon billions all created by the hand of God with suns and power that we can't comprehend!

That same Power is directed toward us in order to conquer that old sinful man! It's there if we want to use it. It's a promise! It's available 24/7 365 days a year! Even that will change when Christ returns, maybe we will go back to a 360-day year as it apparently was in the beginning.

Verse 18: "For I reckon that the sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the glorythat shall be revealed in us."

• What glory? The glory of God!
• Why? Because we accepted Christ and Him crucified every single day of our lives as we pray to the Father:
  • forgive us trespasses
  • forgive us our sins
  • forgive us our debts against You

Thank Him every day that He does this! With Passover coming up, we're renewing this again, saying that we are fully committed. Every year we endeavor to be committed more and more, and further until the mind of Christ and the maturity of Christ is fully developed within us!

It's a process of time. I think back at my life and I think how merciful God has been with me! How lacking and neglectful I've been so much of the time, how much I just spun my wheels! But I've come to learn how merciful God is, and the older I get I begin to appreciate things I couldn't appreciate when I was younger.

Verse 19: "For the earnest expectation of the creation itself is awaiting the manifestation of the sons of God."

The little grain of sand, which is all we can see of the creation, then you've got the rest of it spread out like a curtain (Isaiah), and not one of the astronomical or the various galaxies, stars, whatever God has created, not one fails! That doesn't mean to say that there may not be a super-nova.

What happens with a super-nova? I've come to understand that when a star system explodes it gives off gases—which are billions of years—are forming new planets, suns, whatever. In other words, the process of recreation is an ongoing process. So the death of a star means the birth of another one, or more. Some of these secrets will be revealed to us.

This whole creation, as far as we can see, even the angels are waiting for this event to take place. The manifestation of the sons of God!

Verse 20: "Because the creation was subjected to vanity…"—the mind of Satan!

Adam and Eve sinned and were subject to vanity.

• Did God know that would happen? Pretty likely!
• Did God know that Satan would sin? God gave Lucifer, as he was then before he fell, freedom of choice!
• Did God know? He knew there was the possibility!
• Did God know for sure? I don't know! We don't know, we're not told!
• Did He know that Eve would son? Yes, I'm sure He did, because Gen. 3:15 was already in play!

We know what that says! That Satan was going to wound the heed of the coming Christ, and Christ was going to crush Satan, his government and head. We know the rest of the story, that eventually he'll be removed from the whole created order!

Verse 19: "For the earnest expectation of the creation itself is awaiting the manifestation of the sons of God. Because the creation was subjected to vanity…" (vs 19-20)—the mind and will of Satan!

God allowed that because he wants us to build the character that Satan refused to build. Satan came to the point of no return (Ezek. 28; Isa. 14 where it gives the background and history to that).

But for us, made in the flesh, we also have the opportunity to choose. We also have a sacrifice, and that's called Christ and Him Crucified! It was so important to Paul, who is saying and writing here in Rom. 8, how the crucifixion and Him crucified is impacting and going to impact the entirety of the creation! Even the angelic realm, because they are waiting for this to occur.

Sidebar: In preparation for Passover, it would be good to go through the books of Corinthians and see the problem that Paul had to deal with, and he said at the beginning, 'I'm writing to you in somewhat trepidation.' He had so many things to correct them on, he was expecting that many would not accept what he had to say.

That's true today; sometimes the elders can see people or even congregations going in a wrong direction, we stand in fear and trepidation because we don't want to not declare the Word of God, but on the other hand we don't want to see people departing from the Body of Christ.

God says that it's the will of God that none perish! No one! That's not what God wants.

• Will some perish? Yes!
• Why? Because they will take in the future that Lucifer took to become Satan!

They will not turn back, because they have been become set in their ways!

This is why it's so important for us coming up to Passover to make sure that we are ready and prepared for it every year. And every year asking God to take us to the deeper levels by His Spirit as to what that meaning is, and what the meaning of the Passover means for us personally and for our bothers and sisters in Church.

God wants us to be closely knit together. I was very troubled in spirit when someone in the Church said to me that 'they no longer attend the Church, we decided that we are going to be loosely connected.'

• Is Christ divided? Paul covers that in 1-Cor. 1-3!
• Is Christ loosely connected to you and me? If so, and we're loosely connected together:
• How serious are we about our walk in Christ?
• What does Christ want? He wants us to be tightly knit together!

Even though we are not many people, in one Body we are all of one Spirit, and we are all a part of the Body of Christ!

• What about all these other groups? In meantime, we have to leave that up to God!

God has called us into a Body, and He wants us to be tightly knit together with each other in word, all speaking the same thing—which is God says and gives to us in His Word—and also knit together in love. A lot of this is demonstrated in how we pray for one another when we have trials and difficulties.

When God looks down and sees that, He takes it personally, because He sees that you love a brother and sister. If He sees that if somebody has offended and upset you and maybe injured you, and you forgive them:

• What about God forgiving you?
• Is He not going to be willing and ready to forgive you, because you have been willing to forgive an enemy?

Absolutely!

Verse 21: "In order that the creation itself might be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God."

The creation is waiting to be set free from whatever it was that Satan did and Satan caused! The angels are waiting.

So, in preparation I would recommend reading through the book of 1-Corinthians and just see how many things Paul had to correct the Corinthians for, and the trepidation that he was in having to correct them.

Of course in 2-Cor. Where they responded, which he was joyful about, but then there were more things that they had to understand. You might want to read 2 Cor. 10 where Paul talks about what we have in our mind, the strongholds. God wants us to bury under the water.

• What is my stronghold, or strongholds that I may have? I continually ask God to show me:
• What are the strongholds in between me and my relationship with You Father, and the Family of God?

We can do that, so we can bring every thought into the captivity of Christ! Let's reject those strongholds! We are a work in progress and the work is being done by God the Father.

1-Cor. 11 is a chapter which begins talking about healings. Does that remind you of the arguments we had in the Church is the past?

• healings, makeup and all the rest of it
• majoring in the minors
• Christ and Him crucified getting left on the shelf, and the bottom shelf, not top shelf

Healing and makeup became the top-shelf issues! IF we had taken care of the top-shelf issue of Christ and Him crucified as Paul preached, maybe we wouldn't have had the problems that we had in Worldwide, and some of those people might still be with us!

We come to where Paul gives some of his strongest words. The people were coming along and keeping issues:

1-Corinthians 11:17: "Now in this that I am commanding you, I do not praise you, because when you assemble together, it is not for the better but for the worse. For first of all, I hear that there are divisions among you… [the poor vs the rich] …when you are assembled together in the Church, and I partly believe it. For it is necessary that heresies be among you, so that the ones who are approved may become manifest among you" (v 17-19).

Yes, we can tell those people who are solid in the Word of God, those who are seeking the mind and Spirit of Christ, the love of God. When we are that way, we can stand out as examples, not through pride or boasting, but just to be an example that God wants us to be, particularly for the younger brethren that God is calling into the Church. They need examples. We need to be those mature examples, expressing the mind, the thinking and the words of Christ!

Verse 20: "Therefore, when you assemble together in one place, it is not to eat the Lord's supper."

That, of course, is what many do today, keeping the Lord's Supper, which is not the Passover. That's the Eucharist! But here it refers to the Lord's supper that He had with His disciples before He then changed the symbols to the bread and wine, representing His body and blood.

Do read before the Passover, John 6 where Christ goes into the whole explanation about those who are eating His body, and drinking His blood, they are His! The children of the Father! As we read the Word of God—Jesus Christ IS the Word of God—we're actually imbibing of Him and also of the blood of Christ, we're to be drinking of that. John 6 is very important coming up to the Passover.

• drinking His blood: we're actually repenting continuously of our sins every day
• eating His body: we are devouring the Word, He is the Word of God.

The Word of God is spirit! The words He says are spirit! So, as we read these words, the Spirit that is in us connecting with us, our mind, we're comprehending!

Again, I suggest that before Passover, read the book of Hebrews, because it's all about Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Why He was crucified, and because of His crucifixion where He is today! If He had rejected, sinned, we would have no Savior! IF He hadn't been crucified, THEN we have no High Priest that can take our requests for repentance and explain to the Father why it is and the difficulties that we have as weak, physical, mortal human beings.

This is why Heb. 4 is one that I really do appreciate and turn to it many times.

Hebrews 4:12: "For the Word of God is living and powerful…"

• Who is the Word of God?
• Is it talking just about the written word?

or

• Is it talking about something else?

Verse 13: "And there is not a created thing that is not manifest in His sight…"—referring back to:

Verse 12: "For the Word of God is living and powerful…"

As we read the Scriptures—the Word of God, the mind of Christ—it is living by spirit and power!

"…and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of both soul and spirit…" (v 12)

Right to the very core, the very center of our being: our thinking, our processing information and data, revealing our sins, revealing the strongholds within and it can cut right down IF we allow it. IF we ask God to show us, He will!

"…and of both the joints and the marrow…" (v 12).

In my former life, I was managing a family butchery business. When they chop the larger bones down the center, we put them through saw, you will see this soft spongy-type substance in the center of the bones. It's the marrow! So, this is really descriptive and how deeply it can get into us! It's a physical explanation of what the Spirit is able to do with the very inner workings of our lives.

It's also interesting, do you know where the blood is produced in the body? In the marrow! Stem cells in the marrow produce the blood! When we get a cut or wound and we bleed, the message goes through to the stem cells and immediately new blood cells are formed. This is all God's creation! Millions just start pouring out and replace the blood that's been spilt!

Verse 13: "And there is not a created thing that is not manifest in His sight…"

God the Father and Jesus Christ know just everything about us, and They want to help! That's why we have Christ and Him crucified!

"…but all things are naked… [right down to the marrow of our spiritual bones] …and laid bare before the eyes of Him to Whom we must give account. Having, therefore, a great High Priest… [Christ is our High Priest] …Who has passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, we should hold fast the confession of our faith…. [that's what we're doing coming up to Passover] …For we do not have a High Priest Who cannot empathize with our weaknesses, but One Who was tempted in all things according to the likeness of our own temptations; yet, He was without sin" (vs 13-15).

Think about it! Pray over this passage in regard to yourself!

Verse 16: "Therefore…"—because of Christ and Him crucified!

Now He has been raised and is High Priest and at the right hand of God the Father, what are we to do?

"…we should come with boldness to the Throne of Grace, so that we may receive mercy… [and thank God for the mercy He has already extended to us] …and find grace… [thank Him for that grace and able to be in regular contact with Him] …to help in time of need" (v 16).

We're to come boldly before the Throne of God. That's what Paul says among many other things.

Scriptural References:

• 1 Corinthians 2:1-2
• 1 Corinthians 15:1, 3, 12-18
• Exodus 12:1-8, 6, 8-11
• Matthew 26:1-2
• 1 Corinthians 2:2
• Matthew 26:2
• Acts 3:15
• 1:Corinthians 15:6
• Romans 8:19, 18-21
• 1 Corinthians 11:17-20
• Hebrews 4:12-13, 12-16

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Exodus 20
• Genesis 3:15
• Ezekiel 28
• Isaiah 14
• 1-Corinthians 1-3
• 2 Corinthians 10
• John 6

Also referenced:  {truthofGod.org}

• Book: The Christian Passover by Fred R. Coulter
• GTM Message: Satan's Great Defeat!
• Paper: The Passover of the Bible and the Church Today by Lester L. Grabbe and Robert L. Kuhn

{https://www.cbcg.org/holy-days/the-passover-of-the-bible-and-the-church-today.html}

LJ:bo
Transcribed: 4/9/232

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