#345  Passover Perspectives  Exodus 12:  The Protection of the Father in the Midst of the Cross

Not a bone broken   Exodus 12:46  “It must be eaten inside one house; take none of the meat outside the house.  Do not break any of the bones.”

“Many are the afflictions of the righteous; but the LORD delivers him out of them all.

He keeps all his bones;  Not one of them is broken.”  Psalm 34:19-20

The Father exercised His all powerful and wise deliverance in the life of His Son.  Every challenge was met with the Father’s overruling.  John 5:30  Many were the afflictions of Christ, and yet God exhibited His power to limit these afflictions when He ordained that the Passover lamb would not have any bones broken.  The custom of the day was not allowed to be carried out in the case of Christ. John 19:31-36

This is an assurance to us.  We also will experience many afflictions.  But our challenges are limited by the wisdom of a loving Father.  No evil power or scheme will have the power to be break the hope and strength of His people.

Psalm 22 begins with the words from the cross “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken me?” and ends with the final word from the cross “It is finished.”  This suggests that Psalm 22 was a focus of Jesus thoughts when he was on the cross.

Again the Father supplied specific prophecy and assurance for Jesus, an anchor of light in his darkest hour through this Psalm, written thousands of years before the crucifixion of Christ.

 

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Please accept this dramatic rendition of Jesus last hours on earth as an attempt to make his loving sacrifice more of a reality. Some parts of Psalm 22 are paraphrased.

Crucified

“The evening of overwhelming emotion, the night of sleepless anxiety and suffering, the three trials and three sentences of death he received before the Jewish officials, the endless scene before Pilate, then Herod, the mockings and the beatings, then the final verdict of the people and the final scourging had totally sapped Jesus of his physical strength.”  (Life of Christ by Fenton Ferrar, pg 634)

Jesus was utterly exhausted as he staggered beneath the weight of sin’s cruelty that had been placed on his shoulders.  The greatest weight had been placed on his heart.  The people who pushed by him and stared and hurled insults at him were his people, the lost sheep of the house of Israel.  He recognized many faces.  Many he had healed, many had followed him, many had hailed him a king just a short time ago when he had entered Jerusalem on the donkey’s colt.  Many more made the pilgrimage to Jerusalem in order to observe the Holy Passover.  He sensed the oppressive darkness in their lives, a separation from God that made them blind. He sensed the fear and the engulfing confusion of those who had seen his miracles and believed him to be the Messiah.  He read their nobility and he read their depravity.  ‘For this cause I came into the world, to open the eyes of the blind,’ he uttered in prayer to his Father.

Jesus was stripped of his clothing and nailed to the cross.  The cross was slowly raised to its height and then dropped into a deep hole in the ground, in full reach of any of the gaping onlookers who may choose to strike him or inflict on him some other gesture of insult.  (Life of Christ by Fenton Ferrar, pg 640)

For six hours Jesus experienced excruciating pain, dizziness, cramping, and a raging thirst.  (Life of Christ, pg 641)

The Jewish officials were smug in their victory until they noticed the wooden sign that had been nailed to the top-most portion of Jesus cross.  An inscription was smeared in black letters, in three languages, and it read:  “The King of the Jews.”  Enraged, they sent their chief priests to beg Pilate to change the inscription to read “HE SAYS he is the King of the Jew,” but the Governor refused.  And so the truth was openly victorious, even on the cross.   Colossians 2:15

Suddenly the noonday sun turned to darkness.  The crowd was filled with fear and misgiving.  Jesus uttered the first verse of Psalm 22 in prayer to his Father.  His words were audible and tortured.

“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

His mind labored to focus beyond the pain in order to silently speak the Holy Word.  He recalled the Psalm in a monotone of thought, the words rising and falling and melting into one another in quick succession as he struggled to breathe in and out.  He prayed the remaining verses inaudibly, his lips barely moving.

‘O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer…

Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; You are the praise of Israel.

In You our fathers put their trust; They trusted and You delivered them…

But I am considered a worm, helpless, yet the blood of deliverance is in me,

Scorned by men and despised by the people…

Do not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help…

I am poured out like water and all of my bones are out of joint…

And my tongue cleaves to the roof of my mouth…’

“I thirst,” Jesus cried out.  A man took a sponge and dipped it in some wine, and using a stick of hyssop as an extension, he held the sponge up to Jesus parched lips.   (Life of Christ by Fenton Ferrar, pg 650)

Jesus continued to pray the Psalm with great effort.

“…They pierced my hands and my feet…they divided my garments

and cast lots for my clothing…

O my Strength, come quickly to help me…

I will declare your name to my brothers;

In the congregation I will praise you…

Praise Him, all you descendants of Israel.

For he has not despised or disdained the suffering of the afflicted one;

He has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help…

All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord,

And all the families of the nations will bow down before him,

For dominion belongs to the Lord and he rules over the nations….

“Father,” he cried out with all the strength that was left in his body, “into your hands I commend my spirit.”  He willed his thoughts to continued to follow the Psalm.  The words he uttered built up to a crescendo speed, spilling over one another as his hard breathing quickened with the determination to finish the Psalm.

‘All the rich of the earth will feast and worship;

all who go down to the dust will kneel before him—

those who cannot keep themselves alive.

In the future everyone will serve him;

Future generations will be told about the Lord.

They will proclaim his righteousness

To a people who do not yet have real life.

For he has finished it.’

“It is finished!” he shouted.

The earth shuddered and twisted in rage, rending the rocks and tearing the thick veil of the Temple in two.

#341  Passover Perspectives  Exodus 12:  Living Unleavened

Leaven cleansed from your homes   Exodus 12:15 “For seven days you are to eat bread made without yeast.  On the first day remove the yeast from your houses, for whoever eats anything with yeast in it from the first day through the seventh shall be cut off from Israel.”   Exodus 12:18-20   “In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread, until the twenty-first day of the month at evening.  Seven days there shall be no leaven found in your houses; for whoever eats what is leavened, that person shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is an alien or a native of the land.  You shall not eat anything leavened; in all your dwellings you shall eat unleavened bread.”

We celebrate the delivering power of Christ in our lives by living an ‘unleavened life,’ a lifestyle that seeks the holiness of God.  1 Corinthians 5:7-8  We are empowered to live this holy life as followers of Christ throughout this Gospel Age and the seven stages of the Church.  Our spiritual life and blessing depends on our feeding on the example of the holiness of Christ and our surrender to him as he lives his holiness through our lives.   This lifestyle of purity is possible only as a result of the Passover-deliverance in our lives.

Exodus 12:34  “So the people took their dough before it was leavened, with their kneading bowls bound up in the clothes on their shoulders.”

The Bread of Affliction

On the first Passover the Hebrews had no time to cleanse the leaven out of their homes.  That direction was to be followed for the celebration of future Passovers.  But The LORD instituted the original eating of unleavened bread by the haste of the journey.  There was no time for the leaven to make the bread rise for the Passover meal and the bread they left Egypt with would have been unleavened.  The leavened bread is referred to as ‘the bread of affliction.’  “You shall not eat leavened bread with it; seven days you shall eat with it unleavened bread, the bread of affliction (for you came out of the land of Egypt in haste), in order that you may remember all the days of your life the day when you came out of the land of Egypt.”  Deuteronomy 16:3

It was referred to as the bread of affliction because it was prepared while in a state of stress and hardship as they hastily left Egypt.  (Soncino)

I heard the thought years ago that the bacteria for leavening is in the air, and so is the opportunity to sin.  We are vulnerable from the inside as well as from outside influences.  But if rightfully prepared and engaged in our Christian journey, we have no time for sin.  We have a standing of innocence in Christ and we live a sanctified life through his power amid the influences of Egypt.  These choices are challenging in the face of old habits from the old life, and are both a source of celebration and an experience of affliction.

We are to celebrate the feast that commemorates our deliverance with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

1 Corinthians 5:1-7 admonishes us to cleanse out the old leaven, the old issues of sin, that you may be a new lump (of dough) just as you are unleavened (in your standing of innocence through Christ’s merit.)  We have the privilege of celebrating the sacrifice of Christ by choosing a lifestyle that matches our standing of innocence in Christ.  We celebrate Jesus sacrifice and the deliverance it brings us by living a lifestyle of purity.  The cleansing in this context includes the cleansing of the leaven in our hearts as well as the leaven in our fellowship.  We need to deal with the sin in ourselves and be a support and help for others to deal with their sins, all the while mindful of our common vulnerability and need for the strength and sacrifice of Christ.  Galations 6:1-10

#340  Passover Perspectives  Exodus 12:  Eating on the Run

Eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs   Exodus 12:8  “And they shall eat the flesh that same night, roasted with fire, and they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs…”

Exodus 12:39  “The dough was without yeast because they had been driven out of Egypt and did not have time to prepare food for themselves.”

Eat ready for a journey   Exodus 12:11  “Now you shall eat it in this manner:  with your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste—it is the LORD’s Passover.”

They were to eat it ready for travel at any moment.

As one Sister shared with me, “We have no time for sin.”

There is an urgency and “haste” in our lives as we absorb the offering of Christ in our hearts.  We partake with loins girded, shoes on our feet, and staff in our hand ready and motivated for a journey by the memory of the bitter oppression of sin and the contrast of his amazing deliverance.  We partake as pilgrims and strangers on this earth, “those who use the things of this world, as if not engrossed in them.  For this world in its present form is passing away.”  1 Corinthians 7:31  There was urgency in the quickly consuming trials of Christ.  There is urgency as we partake of the unleavened bread—the lifestyle of innocence and purity—we have no time for the leavening process of sin.

We wear the garb of travelers ready to leave because we do not identify ourselves with this world or with it’s Pharaoh.  “Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts, which wage war against the soul.  Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may on account of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation.”  1 Peter 2:11-12  We have left Egypt, and we are be ready to leave any remnants of sin habits from the old life.  When the LORD reveals the next step of our journey we are to be ready to respond.

No leftovers   Exodus 12:10  “Do not leave any of it until morning; if some is left till morning, you must burn it.”  Our ingestion of the life and offering of Christ is to be complete.  We are to eat fully so that all hunger of heart is satisfied.  The privilege of being part of the Kingdom of heaven is limited to this Gospel Age; it is an unrepeatable privilege to be part of the Church of the Firstborn with the heavenly reward of blessing all the families in the second passing over through the Red Sea.   Exodus 15:10, 16, 17; 2 Corinthians 6:2,3; 1 Corinthians 6:2

Our lives are surrounded by unrepeatable opportunities.  Our opportunity to encourage a brother or sister in Christ amid the tyranny of sin and death is limited to this Permission of Evil period.  Our opportunity to share the Hope for Kingdom blessing to the weary world when they see no hope, is limited to the present age, soon to be swallowed up by the reality of that Hope when all will know Him from the least to the greatest.  Jeremiah 31:33-34

May we absorb this sacrifice with the urgency and mission of being pilgrims and strangers.

Since this is the season of remembering Jesus crucifixion  and the value of his sacrifice on behalf of the whole mankind, we would refer you to the following site to realize at least in part how awful this way of death was and what it entailed: http://www.frugalsites.net/jesus/crucifixion.htm

Isaiah 53:4

3 He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

4 Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted.

5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed.…

Micah 7:1-7

“Woe is me! for I am as when they have gathered the summer fruits, as the grapegleanings of the vintage: there is no cluster to eat: my soul desired the firstripe fruit.

2 The good  man is perished out of the earth: and there is none upright among men: they all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net.

3 That they may do evil with both hands earnestly, the prince asketh, and the judge asketh for a reward; and the great man, he uttereth his mischievous desire: so they wrap it up.

4 The best of them is as a brier: the most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge: the day of thy watchmen and thy visitation cometh; now shall be their perplexity.

5 Trust ye not in a friend, put ye not confidence in a guide: keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom.

6 For the son dishonoureth the father, the daughter riseth up against her mother, the daughter in law against her mother in law; a man’s enemies are the men of his own house.

7 Therefore I will look unto the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me.”

#339  Passover Perspectives  Exodus 12:  The Fires that Proved Him Faithful

The lamb roast with fire   Exodus 12:8-9  “That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire…Do not eat the meat raw or cooked in water, but roast it over the fire—head, legs and inner parts.”

Christ’s life was in direct contact with trial, and his offering was consumed quickly in three and a half years.  May we fully appreciate the intensity of testing the our Savior endured.

“Therefore, If you would escape becoming weary and faint-hearted, compare your own sufferings with those of Him who endured such hostility directed against Him by sinners.”  Hebrews 12:3  Weymouth

Please accept any dramatic renditions as attempts to make the last experiences of Jesus more of a reality

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The High Priest Caiaphas looked at Jesus with narrow eyes of contempt, his finger wagging in his face.  “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?  I charge you under oath by the living God,” his voice was loud and demanding.  “Tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God.”

“Yes, I am.  It is as you say,” Jesus replied, looking straight into the High Priest’s eyes.  “But I say to all of you:  In the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

Caiaphas tore his clothes in a show of dramatic frenzy. “He has spoken blasphemy!” the High Priest raved.  “We don’t need any more witnesses.  You have heard the blasphemy yourselves.  What do you think?”

Angry voices cried out, “He is guilty!”  “He deserves to die!”  “Let him die!”  Jesus stood in fearless silence.   Matthew 26:63-66

The temple guards spit in his face.  They pushed him around.  They struck him.  They blindfolded him.  “Prophesy!” they demanded, “Who hit you?”  They insulted him.  They mocked him.  They jeered.  Matthew 26:67-68, Mark 14:65, Luke 22:63

“The Sovereign Lord has opened my ears, and I have not been rebellious; I have not drawn back.  I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting.  Because the Sovereign LORD helps me I will not be disgraced. Isaiah 50:5-7

 hey struck him repeatedly with their fists and he doubled over from the blows.  He sensed another kind of blow, a blow to his heart that hurt him far deeper than the physical blows which sent him reeling to the floor.  He sensed that Peter, in a second wave of temptation, was even at that moment denying with cursing that he ever knew Jesus.

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One man had been watching Peter with suspicion.   He saw that Peter had denied his association with this man from Galilee a number of times.  The man was sure of his accusation.  “This man must have been with him, for he is Galilean,” he exclaimed   Luke 22:59

“Man, I don’t know what you are talking about.”  Peter felt his throat tighten and a nervous sweat beaded his forehead.  He cursed and swore.  “I don’t know the man.”  A rooster began to crow.

At that moment from across the Courtyard Jesus turned and looked upon Peter.  There was great sorrow and great love in the Master’s eyes.  Peter’s eyes met his Master’s gaze for a brief moment and then he looked away.  Peter felt the pain of a thousand knives sink into his heart.  He had failed his Master when he most needed a friend.  All was lost.  He flung his outer coat over his head, rushed out into the night and wept bitterly.  Luke 22:59-60, 61-62; John 18: 27, Matthew 26:67-75, Mark 14:71-72

Those who guarded Jesus continued their cruel sport for the remainder of the cold night hours.  They beat him.  They blindfolded Jesus again, while others struck him repeatedly with their fists and with rods.  They continued their taunts.  “Prophesy to us, Messiah.   Who is the one who hit you?”Jesus sensed the lonely pain of the calloused men who beat him.  He sensed the shame and anguish of those who had been victims at the hands of men such as these.  “For this cause was I born, and I came into the world,” he prayed, “to set such men free….”  Luke 22:63-65, 66

“Because the Sovereign LORD helps me I will not be disgraced.  Therefore have I set my face like flint, and I know I will not be put to shame.  He who vindicates me is near.  Who then brings charges against me?  Let us face each other!  Who is he that will condemn me?  They will all wear out like a garment; the moths will eat them up.  (Their victory is only temporary.)”  Isaiah 50:7-9

#338  Passover Perspectives  Exodus 12:  The Power of his Sacrifice

 Blood on the door frame  Exodus 12:7   “Then they are to take some of the blood and put in on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs.”

In a collective sense and in an individual sense the power of deliverance in the blood of Christ is applied to the doorway—the heart affections and conscience which allows or denies entrance to thoughts and influences.

The blood of Christ is here pictured as effecting our choices, our decisions of what to let in and what to let out of our lives.

“And if you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each man’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay upon earth; knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.”  1 Peter 1:17-19

It is the power of his ransom sacrifice gives us a standing of freedom from sin, and that that leads to the power to free us from futile and empty sin habits inherited from Adam so that we can make sanctified choices.

May the sign of his sacrifice be evident to all who observe the influence of our lives.

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While they were eating, Jesus took bread, the remaining half of the unleavened cake that had been set aside, and with a deliberateness that separated this part of the service from tradition, he gave thanks, and passed it to each of his disciples, saying,

“Take and eat.  This is my body given for you.  Do this in remembrance of me.”

And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying,

“This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.”  Luke 22:20

With prayers that the LORD will specially bless your Memorial meditations, inspired by the depths of love of the Father and the Son that we can barely fathom,

Sister Joy

#337 Passover Perspectives  Exodus 12:  The Keeping of the Lamb

Keeping the lamb  Exodus 12:6  “and ye shall keep it (from the tenth day of this month–verse 3) until the fourteenth day of the same month; and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at dusk.”

The Lamb of God was “kept” safe (#4931 to watch or guard as in the act of custody, safe) within the nation of Israel until the ordained time for his death. The Priests could not arrest Jesus in public because they feared the reaction of the people.  Mark 12:12  They cried “Hosanna” on the tenth day.  But they cried “crucify him” on the fourteenth day, incited by the Priests.  John 19:6, Luke 23:13, 18, 23

What a blessing to realize that the timing and provision in our Savior’s life belongs to us also.

We see this same power of protection in the anonymity of the Upper Room location.

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The disciples came to Jesus with a sense of urgency and excitement.  Peter spoke for the collective group’s question.  Luke 22:7-8;  Mt 26.17; Mk 14.12

“Where do you want us to go to make preparations for you to eat the Passover?”

Judas inched his way closer into the circle of men who stood before Jesus and listened carefully to his response.  Jesus paused and looked at the two disciples closest to him, securing their undivided attention.  “Peter and John—you will go and make preparations for us to eat the Passover.”  Luke 22.8

“As you enter the city, you will meet a man carrying a jar of water.  Follow him to the house that he enters.”  Jesus instructed the two how to address the man they would meet, and how to request the use of the room they would be led to as the place to prepare.

Judas sighed, disappointed that the place of Passover remained a mystery as yet unusable to his nefarious scheme.  Jesus had purposely kept the place of his last Passover a sacred secret, and thus had protected his last evening hours with his beloved disciples from the crude and premature intrusion of the powers of darkness.

 

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Jesus knows how to protect his fellowship with his followers.  The events and words of that Passover night including John 13-17 are the accounts that we have because of his efforts.

Do we protect our fellowship with him?  Mark 6:41;

In his foresight, he has provided an upper room, furnished and ready, in order that we may commune with him and receive the strength and encouragement we need to face the dark days ahead.

Are we ready to give him our upper room, our best room, furnished and prepared for his use? 2 Tim 2:21

He knows our heart and he is ready to use our best for his service.

#336  Passover Perspectives  Exodus 12:  A collective celebration

 Joy Thompson

A lamb for his family  Exodus 12:3  “…on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household.”   We are celebrating the sacrifice of Christ individually in our personal heart appreciation as well as collectively as part of the body and family of Christ.  Each class is a household.  Just as families make up the strength of a nation, so our classes make up the strength of our collective worldwide influence.  Even if our celebration is literally alone, we celebrate with the collective body of Christ in our hearts.

The Memorial of the death of Christ is not to be celebrated alone.  The fullest blessing comes when we partake in heart-fellowship and in sympathy with the needs of our spiritual family.  1 Corinthians 1:29, 33-34  We share the life and death need for our Savior.

Collective praise and thanksgiving is a wonderful way to make the power and deliverance of God the most real to us.  “O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt His name together.”  Psalm 34:3   Collective efforts and appreciation also cause an overflow of worship and praise for God and Christ.  “For your giving does not end in meeting the wants of your fellow-Christians.  It also results in an over-flowing tide of thanksgiving to God.”  2 Corinthians 9:13

If the household be too little for a lamb   Exodus 12:4  “If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbors, having taken into account the number of people there are.  You are to determine the amount of lamb needed in accordance with what each person will eat.”  The literal definition of family was to be overridden by the larger definition of neighbor for the sake of the most respectful and fullest use of the lamb.  In some cases neighbor became part of family.

Out of respect for our Savior and his sacrifice we need to go beyond the “family,” or those we know best, and include others we may not feel close to as “family.”  Even in our own Bible class or church, personality, doctrinal difference and difference of opinion can draw lines that leave out those not closest to our view and approach.

“Now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus:  that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Wherefore, accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God.”  Romans 15:5-7

Please accept any dramatic renditions as attempts to make the last experiences of Jesus more of a reality

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They reclined in their places by the table.  The aroma of roasted lamb and the thought of bread and bitter herbs restored the irritable mood of the disciples who had just finished a scramble to be the greatest.  They anticipated partaking of sustenance that would satisfy their hunger and energize their minds with the remembrance of the mighty delivering power of their God.

Jesus spoke as the ‘Head of a Company’ because there were over ten people present, and therefore he was considered the one who offered of the Paschal Lamb, and had the responsibility of being the server for the evening.  (Edersheim 813)  He shared with them his own great need to both strengthen and be strengthened through the observance of this feast.  He longed deeply to share this feast with them, his true family, with those who sought to do the will of His Father.  Matthew 12:46-50

He knew he was the Lamb of God chosen to take away the sin of the world.  He knew well the harsh reality of what being that Lamb meant, especially in the hours that lay before him.  The finished picture of deliverance illustrated in this Passover brought him strength and vision to go forward.  Part of the joy that was set before him was the truth of the complete deliverance of the church of the firstborn and finally the deliverance of all the families of the earth.  Partaking of this feast with this small band of followers gave him joy and foreshadowed his complete joy.

“With desire I desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.  For I say to you, that I will not eat of it until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God.”  Luke 22:15-16

Passover Perspectives  Exodus 12:  A New Beginning

Joy Thomson

The Beginning of months   Exodus 12:2  “This month shall be unto you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you.”

“Israel is now given a new Calendar thus making the break with Egypt complete.”  (Soncino)  The fulfillment of the Passover marks the time when our true life begins and when the hope of deliverance for all the world is born.

Reset your calendar.

Reset your perspective.

Realize this new beginning!

Do not think of time of life in the same way as the world.

Bondage is a memory.

Put the past in the past.

The hour of freedom and deliverance is the greater reality.

Freedom and redemption becomes our beginning and our priority.

 

“For the love of Christ controls us,

having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died;

And he died for all, that they who live should no longer live for themselves,

but for him who died and rose again on their behalf.

Therefore from now on we recognize no man according to the flesh;

even though we have known Christ according to the flesh,

yet now we know him thus no longer.

Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature;

the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”

2 Corinthians 5:14-17