Welcome to South! We're glad you joined us today! Below you will find some sermon notes and Bible passages, to help you follow along with Pastor Scott's message in our series entitled "God's Presence and Glory, in the Book of Exodus." We hope you will be encouraged by what is taught today.

Warning

In these verses God shares a final warning with Moses that was to be shared with Pharaoh - a warning that included both a declaration of JUDGMENT and DELIVERANCE. The declaration of judgment was given to the people of Egypt, and involved the death of every firstborn in the land. The declaration of deliverance was given to the people of Israel, and involved their deliverance from death and enslavement to Egypt, but was still going to require death of some kind.

God has given US a similar warning.

The warning can be found in a very familiar passage in the book of Romans, chapter 6, where Paul…Gives the warning that includes judgment when he says, “For the wages of sin is death” - a death that Jesus says will cause a great deal of weeping and gnashing of teeth. He gives the warning that includes deliverance when he says that “the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Just like the warning given by Moses, this warning given by Paul is the authoritative word of God and therefore non-negotiable.

The Substitute for the Israelites

God’s judgment of death would be placed upon a substitute. That substitute was a LAMB. According to the text, God had several requirements for a lamb to serve as a substitute.
Without blemish - spotless and undefiled (vs.5)
Male (vs.5)
A year old - ensured the lamb was in its prime, representing the best, most valuable offering, rather than a young, undeveloped lamb or an old, weak one (vs.5)
Publicly examined - it was to be observed and inspected from the tenth to the fourteenth day to ensure its flawlessness. (vs.6)
Killed at twilight - or between the sun’s decline and its actual setting (3pm ish).
Its blood was to be put on the doorposts - which signified that God’s judgment had fallen at that house by way of the sacrificial lamb.

Jesus was the Lamb that we needed!

Jesus met the same requirements that the passover lamb of the Israelites.
Blameless - being fully God and fully man insured that Jesus was perfect, sinless.
Male - obviously.
In his prime - he was 33 years old at the time of his crucifixion.
Publically examined - which was done by Jesus’ disciples, as well as the Scribes and Pharisees, during the three years of his public ministry; but also done Roman and religious authorities during the four days that Jesus was in Jerusalem, after his triumphal entry, leading up to his crucifixion. All of this examination by the way confirmed the perfection of Jesus, forcing the religious leaders of the day to fabricate lies about him. These lies were what ultimately led Christ to be killed by way of crucifixion at the ninth hour of the day - which was 3pm. So, Jesus is the Passover Lamb we need today to be delivered from God’s just judgment of our sin.

The Response

Moses laid out God’s warning of judgment before the people, and they responded by way of FAITH and OBEDIENCE. Acting by faith, they took a lamb without blemish, killed it, and applied its blood on the doorposts of their houses.

We have the opportunity to respond to God's warning of judgment to us. Do you accept the gift of salvation offered to each of us?

Judgment Falls

For Pharaoh and the rest of the Egyptians, their choice to refuse to bow their knee to God brought about the very judgment that God had warned them about - death. God once again proved that He is faithful and true to his word. As a result, when God tells us that the wages of our sin is death, apart from applying the blood of forgiveness to our hearts by placing our faith in Christ, His word will continue to hold true in our lives. God’s just judgment of sin has not changed since the beginning of time and the sinful choice made by Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.

Deliverance

For the Israelites, their faith in the Passover Lamb brought about their DELIVERANCE. Centuries of enslavement to the Egyptians were over, because God, acting as their family champion (or Redeemer), intervened on their behalf.Therefore, the ownership of the Israelites had changed. Instead of belonging to the Egyptians, they now belonged to God - which gave them a new identity and purpose.

Deliverance for us

This is such an incredible picture as to what happens to us when we choose to apply the blood of Christ to our sinful hearts. The moment we make that decision, like the Israelites, God delivers us from our slavery to the power and penalty of sin. Paul describes our deliverance in
2 Corinthians 5:17 this way - “The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” God’s deliverance brings about a new OWNER in our lives - God himself. This in turn gives us a new IDENTITY - a son or daughter of God. Which in turn gives us a new PURPOSE - to daily present ourselves to him as a living sacrifice. Like the Israelites, this is a complete reset in our lives.