“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace” (Ephesians 1:7).
The Bible records two great redemptions: God’s deliverance of Israel’s descendants out of Egyptian slavery led by Moses, and God’s deliverance of all humanity out of spiritual bondage led by Jesus.
The exodus spearheaded by Moses required the death of numerous Passover lambs—unblemished one-year-old males taken from the sheep or goats (Exodus 12:5). The exodus spearheaded by Jesus required the death of the Lamb of God, our Passover—a sinless, thirty-something-year-old male taken from the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
In Moses’ redemption, the blood of the lamb was sprinkled upon the lintel and doorposts of the redeemed’s house (Exodus 12:22). In Christ’s redemption, the Lamb’s blood is sprinkled on the redeemed’s heart to cleanse an evil conscience (Hebrews 10:22) when his body is washed in baptism (1 Peter 3:21).
In God’s redemption from Egypt, all the firstborns of the people and of the livestock were struck dead by the death angel (Exodus 12:29-30). In God’s redemption from sin through Christ’s blood, all are spared the wages of their sin via forgiveness (Ephesians 1:7), and each is given the legal status of a firstborn son (Hebrews 12:23).
According to God’s specific instruction, those redeemed in the Old Testament were to remember their great deliverance once a year for seven days (Exodus 12:16-20). According to Christ’s instructions, those redeemed in the New Testament are to remember their great deliverance once a week—on the first day of every week (Acts 20:7) until He comes again (1 Corinthians 11:26).
What riches of God’s grace can be seen in the redemption which comes through Christ’s blood!
