Theology for Everybody: RomansSample

(Continued from Day 84)

The third concept Paul presents to us is redemption, and he uses the language of blood and “passed over.” This is a reference to the Jewish feast of Passover. In the Old Testament book of Exodus, there was an important event called the Passover, which was a precursor to the redemption and salvation that came through Jesus Christ. There was a counterfeit Jesus—Pharaoh—who thought he was the son of God. There was a counterfeit kingdom—Egypt. Pharaoh had counterfeit priests who did counterfeit miracles through counterfeit (demonic) spirits. God’s people were enslaved in Egypt. They were oppressed, and God came and crushed the nation of Egypt so He could deliver His people. It all culminated with Passover. This was the final of 10 plagues, and God said, “I’m going to bring death to the firstborn of every household with one exception—those households who sacrifice a lamb without blemish or spot.” Peter uses this language, “without blemish or spot,” to demonstrate that Jesus would come as sinless, perfect, and pure (see 1 Peter 1:19). John the baptizer looked at Jesus and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). First Corinthians 5:70 says, “Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.” The whole point of the Exodus and the Passover was to point to Jesus, who would be coming later in history. All signs in the Bible point to the Savior, whose name is Jesus.

The instructions for God’s people in Egypt were clear: sacrifice a perfect lamb and paint its blood on the doorposts of each home. When God's wrath, justice, and judgment came, they passed over everyone who had faith in the lamb's blood. If you’re Jewish and don’t know Jesus, then you miss the whole point of Passover. His name is Jesus. This is how God saves us. God delivered His people to worship Him until they finally got to go home. Jesus has crossed Satan, sin, death, hell, and the wrath of God. He has delivered us. The blood of the Lamb covers us. His wrath passes over us because it was passed on to Jesus. We now worship on our way to our home, called heaven.

Did the people in the Exodus story do anything to liberate themselves? No, nothing. In the same way, we do nothing to liberate or save ourselves. God does all the work, and we trust and follow Him by faith.

Paul culminates this passage with one of my favorite doctrines—propitiation. It’s a big word that appears four times in the New Testament. Some translations call it expiation or sacrifice of atonement. This translation I use (the English Standard Version) uses the word propitiation. It refers to Jesus’ suffering and dying in our place for our sins on the cross. Some people ask, “How could a loving God possibly pour out His wrath?” The love of God and the wrath of God were both poured out on the cross of Jesus. First John 4:10 says, “Not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” You know Jesus loves you because He propitiated the wrath of God for you. The wrath of God was diverted away from you and toward Jesus. Jesus put you in His place and put Himself in your place, and He did that on the cross.

The Old Testament Hebrew version of the word propitiation is Kippur, and the Jews would celebrate Yom Kippur. It’s called the Day of Atonement. It was their highest holiest day of the year, foreshadowing the forthcoming of Jesus, who would propitiate the sins of the people so that He would divert the wrath of God.

Today’s Reflection

How has God “passed over” your life?