The Passover teaches us powerful lessons that we need to learn and apply in our lives. There are a lot of symbolisms that were used to signify the different meanings of Passover. One of these is the sacrifice made by Jesus Christ. He became our Passover lamb that was offered to pay for our sins.
Today, we are also admonished to make a sacrifice. However, this type of sacrifice is not about killing and burning sacrificial animals. There is a far greater sacrifice that all of us must make.
Christ as the Passover Lamb
God instructed the Israelites to select a lamb or goat on the 10th day of the first month. The animal that would be selected must not have any sort of defect and it must be of good condition. On the 14th of the same month at evening, the Israelites were to kill the selected animal and place some of its blood on the doorposts of their homes. The animal will then be roasted and eaten along with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.
The unblemished and flawless male animal represented Jesus Christ’s perfect and sinless life. The Passover lamb pictures the future suffering and death of our Savior. The Apostle Paul said that “Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us” (I Corinthians 5:7). We must remember that “it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins” (Hebrews 10:4).
Through the death of Jesus Christ, we don’t have to kill and offer animals to God just to atone for our sins. The reason is that “we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Hebrews 10:10). Indeed, Jesus is the “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).
A new type of sacrifice
Jesus’ suffering, death, and resurrection made it possible for us to be part of God’s family. With this in mind, we need to live a life that will be pleasing to God.
Though we don’t need to do sacrificial ceremonies today, we are admonished to do a different sacrifice. We can read this in Romans 12:1, which says:
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.”
What does this verse mean?
The Apostle Paul is beseeching, imploring, and pleading the brethren with the strongest terms. In the mind of Paul, this is a very important matter that we, Christians, must all take heed. His request must not be ignored but taken into a serious consideration.
The admonition is clear. We must present our bodies as a LIVING sacrifice. Instead of offering a dead animal, we ought to offer our body, our life, our whole being, the totality of ourselves, as a living sacrifice to God.
We need to live a life of sacrifice. Jesus said:
“If anyone would come after me, LET HIM DENY HIMSELF AND TAKE UP HIS CROSS AND FOLLOW ME. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Matthew 16:24-26).
We know that after baptism, we “have been crucified with Christ; IT IS NO LONGER [US] WHO LIVE, BUT CHRIST LIVES IN [US]; and the life which [we] now live in the flesh [we] live by faith in the Son of God, who loved [us] and gave Himself for [us].” (Galatians 2:20).
Paul added that for God’s sake, “we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter” (Romans 8:36).
THEREFORE, we must already count ourselves as DEAD people who have the newness of life from Jesus Christ. The SOLE PURPOSE of our lives is not to do our own will but the WILL OF GOD. We don’t own our lives anymore. Thus, we should focus on our one and true purpose and that is to live according to God’s will.
This is the meaning of presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice. Our top priority in life is not about getting rich, traveling the whole world, increasing our secular knowledge, and fighting for our country. Though those things are not bad of itself, those are just OPTIONAL! Following God is MANDATORY!
Paul said that our living sacrifice must also be HOLY and acceptable to God. This means that our lives are set apart from the carnal ways of this world. Paul later added that we must “not be CONFORMED to this world, but be TRANSFORMED by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:2).
If we want to serve God, then it must be done as a living sacrifice. Presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice is our “reasonable service” to God. THIS IS MAN’S DUTY. This is the Christian duty that we all must be willing to perform.
Passover and Sacrifice
Passover reminds us of Christ’s life being spent to pay for our sins. He died a very horrible death and the pain that He endured is unimaginable. We must all appreciate the depth of God’s love for us.
For this reason, we need to do our own daily sacrifice as well. God expects us to present our lives as a living sacrifice, a sacrifice that is holy and acceptable to Him.
I desire that the Passover will help us remember the sacrifice of Christ and therefore, inspire us to also live a life of godly sacrifice.
