"And When the Day of Pentecost Was Fully Come (continued)
Christ is Our Passover
Thus, in the Life-giving Words of John 3:1-21, we find the true meaning of the Passover. No longer would the blood of lambs and bulls and goats suffice, no longer was the Passover to be celebrated as a remembrance of Israel being delivered out of Egypt, or as a figure of the Messiah, the Christ, to come. And this is because The Word Himself had become flesh, the Christ had come, and now the Passover had become a Reality in the Person of Jesus Christ.
Remember, when the Holy Spirit inspired the Gospel of John, the Lamb had been slain, His Blood had been shed upon the Cross, Christ had been Crucified, and Resurrected, and Glorified. Therefore, in this wonderful conversation between the Lord Jesus Christ and Nicodemus, we find the true meaning of the Passover coming to light as Christ, Who is our Passover, answered the questioning heart of Nicodemus: "Ye must be born again - ye must be born from above - ye must be born of the Spirit"; - which is saying, "if any one is in Christ there is a new creation! The old things have passed away, - Lo! they have become new!" (2 Corinthians 5:17).
The Lord is saying: Behold, the old things have passed away - old feasts, old temples, old ways, old worships - these have passed away. Behold, all things in Me, The Christ, are new.
A New Birth: Ye must be born again - ye must be born from above - ye must be born of the Spirit - which were born, not of bloods, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God - for God so loved the world, that He gave His Only Begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting Life (John 3:3-8; John 1:13; John 3:16).
A New Temple: Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up ... but He spake of the Temple of His Body ... and (God) gave Him to be the Head over all things to the Church, Which is His Body, the fullness of Him that filleth all in all (John 2:19:21; Ephesians 1:22-23).
A New Worship: The the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship Him. God is Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth (John 4:23, 24).
Beloved, "the hour cometh, and now is" that Christ is the Reality of All that God has Purposed. Christ is our Passover, He is the Feast of the Lord, He is the only One that fully satisfies God the Father, He is the One of Whom the Lord God could say: "Thou art My Beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased" (Mark 1:11). This is My Beloved Son, Who wholly and completely satisfies My every Desire, Purpose, and Will. And after we have believed in God's Beloved Son, after we have received Jesus Christ as our Saviour and Lord, then Jesus Christ, the Son of God is to become The Only True Reality, The Only True and Genuine One, Who fully satisfies us as we partake of Him Who is the feast of the Lord - and in The Word of God, "feasting" implies partaking and sharing of the feast with great joy.
~T. Austin-Sparks~
(continued with # 13)
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