EXODUS (Part 3): THE CROSS OF CHRIST

"But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world." (Galations 6:14).

The Israelites were spared from the destroyer that passed throughout the land of Egypt slaying all of the first-born as he went. The blood from the sacrificial lambs that God told the Jews to apply to the lintel and doorposts of their homes provided the saving agent that caused God to pass over their houses. God's intention of bringing the Hebrews out of Egypt, and setting them free from Pharaoh altogether, had still not been realized, though. Yes, they had been redeemed by the blood of the lamb, but they were still not free, and were still technically in bondage to Pharaoh and to Egypt. What could be done to deliver Israel once and for all? God had a plan.

Pharaoh had been somewhat softened by the death of his first-born son, and he told Moses to go, and take his people with him. This was not to last, however. Pharaoh soon regretted his words to Moses, and made plans to go after them. In our lives, Satan doesn't give us up without a fight either. As long as he thinks he can keep us bound, he will work to exercise his will over us. He uses lies and accusations to kill, steal from, and destroy the children of God; but God knows how to deliver His children from Satan's deadly grasp. God has a plan.

So, Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt toward the wilderness of Sinai, but they soon encountered a great barrier that prohibited them from just marching out of the land. The Red Sea stood between them and the wilderness. Worst yet, Pharaoh was right then pursuing after the Hebrews with all of his war chariots. Truly, the Jews were between a rock and a hard place. They couldn't go forward or they would drown in the Red Sea, and they couldn't go back because Pharaoh's army was coming after them. God, to be sure, had a plan though.

The people were very frightened, and they cried out to Moses saying, "Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt?" (Exodus 14:11).  Moses' response was, "Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which He will shew to you today: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen today, ye shall see them again no more forever. The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace." (Exodus 14:13, 14).  We, too, often grow frightened when Satan roars at us as though he would destroy us. I've known Christians who grow very discouraged because the enemy resists their efforts to be free in the Lord. They live very up and down lives struggling to overcome some sin that they can't overcome. Some have even retreated back to Egypt and have become enslaved once more. My heart weeps for such ones. If only they had stood still believing in the Lord, they soon would have seen His salvation. God would have fought for them, and they would have known victory. God always provides a way of escape for His children, but they must be willing to see it and take advantage of it. It may not always be in a way that we expect.

One thing we must be clear about: no one gets out of Egypt without dying. Hear me out. Sin has a tight hold on us because we are sons and daughters of Adam. It is a family trait that has been passed down from generation to generation. I am bald. I didn't choose to be bald, but my father was bald, and his father was bald before him. My mother's father also was bald. I didn't have a chance. The fact that we are sinners is like that. We didn't choose to be sinners; we inherited it from our parents who inherited it from theirs, all the way back to Adam. The only way to break this bent to sin is to die and be born again. That is exactly what God did with the Israelites. He told them to go forward into the sea which meant sure death for them; but, instead of them drowning, He divided the sea and they walked across on dry ground. "And the LORD said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto Me? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward: but lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea." (Exodus 14:15, 16).

This is the miracle of the cross of Christ. Though the Son of God was slain on the cross, yet He rose again to new life. Now He has become the last Adam in the sense that everyone that is born into His family now receives the same traits as the firstborn. "For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren." (Romans 8:29).

The Red Sea crossing is a picture of our own baptism. When we were submerged in the waters of baptism, we were buried together with Christ in the likeness of His death. When we came up out of the water, we were raised with Christ to new life. Just as surely as the children of Israel were once and for all delivered from the bondage of Egypt and of Pharaoh when they reached the other side of the sea, we too have been delivered once and for all from the world and the power of Satan by the cross of Christ of which our baptism is reminiscent.

I know that this is a lot of scripture, but please read these verses carefully and allow the Spirit of God to speak his truth to your heart; and then I challenge you to simply believe it. "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin." (Romans 6:1-7).

To be free from sin is to be free indeed! That is just what God has given to His children in Christ. We are dead to sin. We are alive to righteousness. We have truly been set free! "If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed." (John 8:36) When once a Christian sees and believes that he is indeed freed from sin by the cross and resurrection of Christ, then he is loosed from the things of this world that have kept him in bondage. The sin/repent/receive mercy cycle that many Christians are stuck in is broken, and they find that they don't have to continue to be the slaves of sin. This cannot be a mere intellectual understanding, but must be a life-changing revelation brought about by the truth of the Word of God.

The Hebrews were no longer bondservants to the Egyptians once they crossed the Red Sea. They were now a holy nation. Likewise, we have been delivered from the powers of darkness, and have now become part of the kingdom of God's dear Son. We Christians are now a holy nation, a royal priesthood, a purchased possession. Our allegiance is now to a country that has no natural borders. It is a kingdom that is invisible to the human eye, but very real to those who have been born of the Spirit. Every knee will one day bow to the Ruler of this kingdom, and every tongue is going to confess that He is the King of kings, and Lord of lords.

In part 4 of this series, we will examine the meaning of why God chose to lead His people into the wilderness before they could enter the Promised Land.