Redeemed by the Blood

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This is the second message in a series of sermons given during Lent in which details of the Passover in the Old Testament are compared to the events surrounding the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for our salvation. This sermon discusses the idea of redemption in the original Passover event, in the ongoing requirements of redeeming firstborn sons of Israel and in the sacrifice made by Jesus.

Written Excerpts:

Deuteronomy 7:6-8 

Introduction:

I stated last week that I planned to do a series of messages regarding some of the parallels between the Passover and Exodus from Egypt and the emphasis in the NT on Christ being our new Passover lamb for a new kind of deliverance. In the first message last week, we talked about some of the ways God prepared the Israelites for the coming deliverance by the messages He gave to the patriarchs. We also talked about the ways that God promised His personal involvement in their rescue. In one of the passages we looked at, Ex. 6:6, God stated that He was going to “redeem” Israel from Egypt. Today I want to continue our thoughts about Passover by looking more closely at the theme of redemption.

About 1 ½ years ago I did a series of messages on the general theme of redemption. In the very first message of that series I tried to define and describe what is meant by the term “redeem” or “redemption.” Please allow me to review that information for the sake of those who would not have been here for those sermons, and also for those who need a “refresher” of what was said.

The Meaning of Redemption

Earthly/material meaning:

Buy Back – i.e. Pawn Shop   

Pay Off – i.e. a lien, ransom   

Turn in / Exchange – i.e. Lottery/Raffle Ticket; Store Coupons

Atone for – i.e. “He redeemed himself by bringing roses home the next day.”

Spiritual Meaning: 

I previously shared a comment by a theologian named Charles Hodge regarding passages of Scripture that discuss the matter of redemption. This is what he said:

The idea running through all these texts, however various their reference, is that of payment made for our redemption. The debt against us is not viewed as simply cancelled, but is fully paid. Christ's blood or life, which he surrendered for them, is the "ransom" by which the deliverance of his people from the servitude of sin and from its penal consequences is secured. It is the plain doctrine of Scripture that "Christ saves us neither by the mere exercise of power, nor by his doctrine, nor by his example, nor by the moral influence which he exerted, nor by any subjective influence on his people, whether natural or mystical, but as a satisfaction to divine justice, as an expiation for sin, and as a ransom from the curse and authority of the law, thus reconciling us to God by making it consistent with his perfection to exercise mercy toward sinners" (Hodge's Systematic Theology).

Let us go back now and review the theme of redemption through the background of the Passover.

I.     God viewed the entire Passover and Exodus as a Redemption.

Nation redeemed from slavery – Repeatedly the Exodus is referred to as a redemption from slavery and from Egyptian bondage/control.

Is the Exodus to be understood as a redemption in the same way we have defined it, “buying back, or paying a ransom?” If so, who did God pay for Israel? And, what payment did He give for them? One author seemed to suggest that all the lambs slain in preparation for the night of Passover was God’s payment for Israel. It seems like this could only be true if all the lambs were identified as belonging to God, which is implied in Psalm 50:10.

However, It seems more certain to understand the use of the word “redeem” as it is described in the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. 

 (ISBE) From this start the word "redemption" throughout the Old Testament is used in the general sense of deliverance. God is the Redeemer of Israel in the sense that He is the Deliverer of Israel (Deut. 9:26; 2 Samuel 7:23; 1 Chron. 17:21; Isaiah 52:3).

Read Exodus 6:6; Deut. 7:7;  9:26; 15:15 

Understood in this fashion, the Exodus that was initiated by the Passover truly is a redemption by almighty God.

II.    God insists on the perpetual redemption of Israel’s sons.

Passover in Egypt

The very first Passover, on the night before the Exodus, God required the firstborn sons of Israel to be “redeemed, delivered, protected” by the slaughter of a lamb and its blood being applied to the door frame. Even though I could not find any specific reference in Scripture where that slaughter of the lambs for the Passover is referred to as a “redemption,” yet that truly is what it provided. Every firstborn son was in danger of being destroyed by the death angel, unless his life was delivered or redeemed by the death of the lamb.

Perpetually whenever first son is born

The first Passover is not the only time that a lamb had to be killed in redemption for the sons of Israel.

Exodus 13:11-15 

There are other passages in the books of Exodus and Numbers where reference is made regarding the need to “redeem” the firstborn males by offering a lamb, or by paying a redemption price of five shekels of silver.

Numbers 18:15-17 

Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries – Likewise the ‘redemption’ of the first-born son is seen as the memorial of Israel’s ‘redemption’ from Egypt. Like all of Israel’s religious customs, it is interwoven with the history of salvation: henceforth, it will commemorate a historical event.

Not only did God institute the Passover originally and require it to be memorialized by annual re-enactment of the meal followed by a 7-day festival of “Unleavened Bread;” but He also requires the redemption of unclean firstborn animals and all firstborn human males. This perpetual requirement is a constant reminder of the great redemption (deliverance) He performed for Israel by bringing them out of bondage in Egypt. It is also a reminder that because of the kind of deliverance God provided (killing of the firstborn in Egypt), He has a claim on all firstborn sons and firstborn of every animal. 

In thinking about this, I see a parallel with the sacrament of communion, which Christians frequently observe and celebrate. It is an ongoing reminder of our redemption. Just as the Israelites who continually celebrated Passover, and continually practiced the redemption of firstborn males as a reminder of God’s divine intervention and deliverance, we Christians celebrate Communion as a reminder of God’s divine intervention and redemption from sin. 

III. God provides redemption for all humanity from judgment for sin.

Not only did God consider the Exodus of Israelites from Egypt as a redemption, and not only did He require the Israelites to perpetually commemorate that redemption by observing the Passover every year and by paying a ransom for every firstborn son, but God also provided redemption for all of humanity by paying a ransom for our salvation.

Galatians 4:3-7 

Context is 3:13ff; i.e. purpose of the law  

We were in “slavery” to elements of the world. (4:3)

“Elements” = rudiments, principles; that is, material vs. spiritual principles. 

Understood in context, it means temporal, visible, or elementary understanding of the law. Now it’s time to “graduate” to spiritual understanding.

God redeemed us from condemnation of law.

We now are no longer slaves, but sons.

1 Peter 1:17-19 

Peter clearly seems to be making a connection between the sacrifice of Christ and the sacrifice of the lambs in the OT.

Conclusion:

The Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread was a reminder every year for the Israelites that God had redeemed them from the bondage of Egypt. Every time a firstborn son was born into an Israeli family, his life had to be redeemed as a reminder that God had a perpetual claim on all firstborn sons ever since the first Passover.

Satan had a claim over all of us because of Adam & Eve’s disobedience. The Law had a claim over us because of the consequences it required for our sins. But God, through His infinite grace and mercy, redeemed us by the blood of His own Son and paid the ransom price to release us from the bondage of sin and from the condemnation of the Law.

We celebrate that redemption through the Sacrament of Communion, which we will be observing again next Sunday morning.

Let us rejoice and sing about the redemption that God has provided to all of us.

Redeemed