Saved By Grace: When Grace Looks Like Sacrifice
From Livestream
by Pastor Nave on March 25, 2018
This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you. Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house: And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats: And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it…And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the LORD’S passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD. And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt (Exodus 12:2–7, 11–13, KJV).
The sacrificial lamb was important during the Passover. As the blood of a perfect lamb was spread upon the doorposts of a home, the death angel passed over and the home was protected from the wrath of God. The judgment meant for the world around us, isn’t meant for the church. Jesus Christ was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8). Calvary wasn’t pretty; it was gruesome, dark, and horrible. But, it brought life to each and every one of us. When the blood has been applied in our life we will receive blessing and hope (Ephesians 2:12–13).
Some fights will be won in our life only by surrendering. Jesus told the Roman soldiers that no one would take His life. He had the power to lay it down and take it up again (John 10:18). Jesus surrendered His body and won the war of sin for all. He gave up when He could have stood up to fight! In the Garden, the before Jesus crucifixion, Peter took out a sword to fight off the soldiers. But, Jesus could have commanded 80,000 angels to help—He didn’t need Peter!
We should ask ourselves what things would be better if we just gave in? Jesus was right in everything He said—He was the King of kings, the Lord of lords, the Messiah, etc. But, He didn’t open His mouth to His accusers (Isaiah 53:7). He didn’t fight, but grace proved Him right in the end.
Sacrifices don’t pay anything back. In the Passover, the Lamb was the sacrifice and gave all. Jesus was the precious Lamb slain, and He gave His life so we could have all. The world has the wrong perspective about sacrifice and daily living. We live in a society of entitlement, and an ill perceived need to always be happy and fulfilled. But our lust in this world will bring forth sin and eventually death (James 1:15).
When we allow the cross to have its perfect work in us, we will give without taking. Christ was offered to bear the sins of many (Hebrews 9:28) and blotted out the ordinances against us (Colossians 2:14). Everything we’ve done has been erased and He’s made atonement for our sins. He remembers our iniquity no more—as far as the east is from the west (Psalms 103:11–12).
