Leaving Egypt (Pt.2)

(Part 2)

 “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”-John 1:29

Freedom from sin begins with the lamb that was slain and Jesus is our lamb. The blood of the lamb was placed on the doorposts of the Israelites homes to save them from certain death. By faith, you and I can accept the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross and His blood is applied to the doorposts of our hearts to save us from certain death. Romans 6:23 definitively states that the wages of sin is death; the penalty we would have all faced if Jesus hadn’t chosen to be our passover lamb!

“And all the people who belong to this world worshiped the beast. They are the ones whose names were not written in the Book of Life that belongs to the Lamb who was slaughtered before the world was made.”-Revelation 13:8 

Before Jesus came to this earth, as a babe born in a manger, He had already chosen to lay down His life for us. The cycle of sin cannot be broken off of your life without placing your faith in the shed blood of Jesus Christ. When you put your faith in Him, He will break those chains off of you like 400 years of bondage off the children of Israel. However, once those chains are broken, you got to come out and come out quickly! 

 I find it interesting that when God gave Moses the specifications for the Passover meal, He included this instruction to pass on to the Israelites:

“These are your instructions for eating this meal: Be fully dressed, wear your sandals, and carry your walking stick in your hand. Eat the meal with urgency, for this is the Lord’s Passover.”-Exodus 12:11

Why would God tell them to be fully dressed, have their shoes on and walking sticks in hand? Because he didn’t want them to hesitate. The moment that the chains were broken He wanted Israel to be prepared to come out. The moment Pharaoh loosened his grip, God expected them to flee. God was declaring: Be hasty not hesitant when fleeing from bondage. 

He didn’t want them moseying away, he wanted them to exit with urgency. To flee Egypt, like their lives depended on it. The problem is we don’t prepare people to come out quickly. Believe it or not, even though folks have been in bondage for years and the concept of freedom is attractive, they are often hesitant to leave it, because it’s all they’ve known. Everything they know is rooted in their bondage and we as the Body of Christ don’t help matters any by trying to ease the blow of leaving their sinful past lives.

Coming to Jesus means leaving everything to follow Him, that includes our sinful lives. Yet, because people seem hesitant, we’ve tried to make the gospel more attractive, by communicating that coming out of sin quickly and all at once isn’t necessary and that it’s alright to come out little by little. Funny, that was Pharaoh’s plan. He kept trying to get Israel to leave little by little instead of all at once. I wonder why? That doesn’t sound much like an exodus. It sounds like conceding. You want to break the cycle of sin from off your life and find real freedom? You have to come out of it quickly and come out completely. No hesitation! 

We don’t come out little by little, because Jesus didn’t sacrifice Himself little by little. He purchased your redemption in full at Calvary. You aren’t on a payment plan. He didn’t shed His blood a pint at time as you determine when and how quickly you want to leave Egypt. When you receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior and He breaks the grip of sin off of your life, it’s time to come out. Come out quickly and come out completely! 

Scott Burr

Dayspring Community Church