Exodus: A Great Salvation -- The Lamb of God

Today we come to the final post in this series, and it is fitting to end with the Passover and exodus—the climax of this book and the great miracle of the Old Testament. As we saw in the last sermon, during the first nine plagues, Pharaoh became increasingly hardened before God and would not let the Hebrews go. God, of course, had told Moses this would be the case because God is making His glory known through Pharaoh’s stubbornness. What we did not read in the last sermon, however, was Pharaoh’s last words to Moses before the tenth plague: “Get away from me; take care never to see my face again, for on the day you see my face you shall die.” Those are really bold words from a man who’s just seen his entire nation and pantheon of gods defeated by the God of a rag-tag group of slaves. Pharaoh’s arrogance in this story is striking, for even with the tenth plague predicted, he still doesn’t relent, and he’s conceited enough to think that he can threaten Moses’ life, even though Yahweh has devastated his country and worldview. When thinking about Pharaoh as I prepared for this sermon, I was reminded of a poem by William Henley, in the late 19th century, called “Invictus”:

Out of the night that covers me,
      Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
      For my unconquerable soul. 

In the fell clutch of circumstance
      I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
      My head is bloody, but unbowed. 

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
      Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
      Finds and shall find me unafraid. 

It matters not how strait the gate,
      How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate,
      I am the captain of my soul. 

Even though this poem was written thousands of years later, it’s a pretty good description of Pharaoh’s attitude toward God. Yahweh has just answered his question—“Who is the LORD?”—with nine plagues of devastation, and yet he still remains unbowed; still thinks that he’s master of his fate. Well, God has one more plague that will show Pharaoh he is, in fact, not the captain of his soul. Yet, this plague isn’t like the previous nine, for in the midst of it, we not only see Pharaoh, Egypt, and all their so-called gods judged by God—showing they’re not masters of their fate—but also God’s great salvation remembered and His ultimate salvation in Jesus—the Lamb of God—foretold. In the midst of judgment, we see redemption by the blood of the Lamb.

If you want to find out more of how the plagues display God's sovereignty, you can listen to the sermon here or read the transcript here. I pray that the Holy Spirit will use it to magnify Christ in your heart and mind to the glory of God.

By His Grace,
Taylor

Solus Christus: The Judge

Not only did God promise that His Redeemer would be a prophet like Moses, not only did He foreshadow Jesus’ priesthood in the high priests of the Old Testament, but He also told us through the prophet Isaiah that Jesus would be the righteous Judge of the world from the line of King David:

¹ There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
    and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
² And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him,
    the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
    the Spirit of counsel and might,
    the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.
³ And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD.
    He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
    or decide disputes by what his ears hear,
⁴ but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
    and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
    and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
    and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
⁵ Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,
    and faithfulness the belt of his loins. (Is. 11:1-5)

Our Redeemer is the Messiah who will one day judge the world in righteousness. But, what did Isaiah mean when he prophesied that the Messiah would judge the world “in righteousness”? Well, let’s turn to what Jesus Himself has to say about this judgment in Mt. 25:31-34, 41, 46:

³¹ “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. ³² Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³ And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. ³⁴ Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world…. ⁴¹ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels…. ⁴⁶ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

With His “wisdom and understanding,” “counsel and might,” and “knowledge and… fear of the LORD,” Jesus will separate the righteous from the unrighteous; those whose name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life from those whose is not. Then He will judge them according to their righteousness. This is good news (indeed the gospel!) for believers because we’ve been given Christ’s righteousness and will be judged according to that imputed righteousness. But, Advent should remind us that for this to be good news, we must be in Christ—we must have His righteousness credited to our account. Those who are in Christ are the sheep who’ll be placed on His right and who will hear the words, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” Those who are outside of Christ will also be judged in righteousness, but since they are not righteous, the righteous judgment on them is condemnation and “eternal punishment” in hell. This should remind us that we need to spread the good news of Christmas to the world.

On this day of Advent, think about your non-Christian friends and family members. Jesus is the righteous Judge and He always judges in righteousness, but for that judgment to be “Well done, good and faithful servant,” one must accept Him as Lord and Savior in this life. This is a solemn reminder of Advent but a much-needed one for all of us (especially me). The Judge is coming, and we need to be spreading the good news of Christmas: “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.”

By His Grace,

Taylor

Solus Christus: The Judge

Not only did God promise that His Redeemer would be a prophet like Moses, not only did He foreshadow Jesus’ priesthood in the high priests of the Old Testament, but He also told us through the prophet Isaiah that Jesus would be the righteous Judge of the world from the line of King David:

¹ There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
    and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
² And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him,
    the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
    the Spirit of counsel and might,
    the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.
³ And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD.
    He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
    or decide disputes by what his ears hear,
⁴ but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
    and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
    and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
    and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
⁵ Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,
    and faithfulness the belt of his loins. (Is. 11:1-5)

Our Redeemer is the Messiah who will one day judge the world in righteousness. But, what did Isaiah mean when he prophesied that the Messiah would judge the world “in righteousness”? Well, let’s turn to what Jesus Himself has to say about this judgment in Mt. 25:31-34, 41, 46:

³¹ “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. ³² Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³ And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. ³⁴ Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world…. ⁴¹ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels…. ⁴⁶ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

With His “wisdom and understanding,” “counsel and might,” and “knowledge and… fear of the LORD,” Jesus will separate the righteous from the unrighteous; those whose name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life from those whose is not. Then He will judge them according to their righteousness. This is good news (indeed the gospel!) for believers because we’ve been given Christ’s righteousness and will be judged according to that imputed righteousness. But, Advent should remind us that for this to be good news, we must be in Christ—we must have His righteousness credited to our account. Those who are in Christ are the sheep who’ll be placed on His right and who will hear the words, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” Those who are outside of Christ will also be judged in righteousness, but since they are not righteous, the righteous judgment on them is condemnation and “eternal punishment” in hell. This should remind us that we need to spread the good news of Christmas to the world.

On this day of Advent, think about your non-Christian friends and family members. Jesus is the righteous Judge and He always judges in righteousness, but for that judgment to be “Well done, good and faithful servant,” one must accept Him as Lord and Savior in this life. This is a solemn reminder of Advent but a much-needed one for all of us (especially me). The Judge is coming, and we need to be spreading the good news of Christmas: “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.”

By His Grace,

Taylor

Advent: Day 7

Not only did God promise that His Messiah would be a prophet like Moses, but that He would also be a righteous Judge of the world, from the line of King David: 

1 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
    and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
2 And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,
    the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
    the Spirit of counsel and might,
    the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
3 And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.
He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
    or decide disputes by what his ears hear,
4 but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
    and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
    and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
5 Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,
    and faithfulness the belt of his loins. (Is. 11:1-5)

Our Savior is the Messiah who will Judge the world in righteousness. This is good news to the believer because we have been given His righteousness (Ro. 4:1ff) and are judged on the basis of that imputed righteousness (Ro. 5:12-21). Advent should remind us that for this to be good news, we must be in Christ. Those outside of Christ are also judged in righteousness, but since they are not righteous (Ro. 3:10-13), the righteous judgment on them is condemnation. It should remind us that we need to spread the good news of Christmas to the world.

By His Grace,
Taylor