DEDICATION TO CHRIST - Part 2

Jesus said that the Old Testament Scriptures testify of Him (John 5:39). The only way to honor the words of the Old Testament is to honor Christ. That is what He was telling the religious leaders on that occasion. If they really believed what Moses wrote, as they claimed, they would have believed in Him. Because Moses wrote about Him.

Every page of the Old Testament is about Jesus. Every page of the entire Bible is about Jesus. The book is about Him. And that is the reason to read it. That is the only reason to read it, from a spiritual standpoint. An eternal standpoint. And that is the only standpoint that matters. Eternity is what matters. Read the Bible to know Christ.

The Passover story is not about the faithfulness of the Hebrew people, but rather about the faithfulness of God. Christ is the hero of the book. Whether we are talking about Jews or Gentiles, the focus is not on us. The focus is on the Christ who saved us, and who has united us in one body by the cross (Ephesians 2:16).

While it is true that the Israelites had to do what God said concerning the matter of putting the blood on the doorposts—just as all of us who receive blessings from God must obey Him—the purpose of the act was not merely to compel obedience, but rather to teach them a lesson concerning God’s mighty act of salvation. One that He was, even at that very time, in the process of accomplishing.

We speak, of course, of God sending His Son into the world to save us. That is the saving act. That is what matters.

What God did in leading the children of Israel out of Egypt is not the point of the Bible. It was a type of the salvation that we have in Christ. It really happened, but it happened for a much bigger purpose than just what was going on in Egypt. Everything in the Bible is about Jesus. The blood on the doorposts pointed to the blood of Jesus that was shed to save us from death. Jesus is the point of the story.

The Passover story pointed to John the Baptist’s announcement: “The next day, John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes the sin of the world away” (John 1:29).

The drama that was unfolding, and in which the Israelites were major participants, was what we call “the scheme of redemption.” God was in the process of preparing His people for the appearance of the Messiah.

Jesus Christ would be God’s ultimate Lamb, the only one whose death could adequately deal with the problem of sin. No matter how bad the situation was in Egypt—how bad what the Israelites were going through in Egyptian bondage was—no physical problem is the ultimate problem. The real problem is sin.

What God is concerned with is saving people from sin. God did what He did in Egypt to show who He was and is, so that we would listen to Him when He sent His Son into the world. That was its purpose.

If it was just about saving people from bondage and slavery, God would always keep bad things from happening to people. But that was not the point. Jesus is the point. Salvation from sin is the point. That is always the point with God.

Jesus is always the point with God.

Dewayne Dunaway