During ancient times, the children of Israel were enslaved in Egypt for four hundred years. As the
Lord God prepared to free them from the clutches of Pharaoh, He gave instructions to Moses on how the exodus from Egypt would occur. Without force, Pharaoh would not have obliged to let the Israelites go. An Angel of Death sent by the Lord would kill all first born offspring of both humans and animals. To escape the destructive arm of the Angel of Destruction, every family, Jewish or Egyptian had to heed the call to place blood on the lintels of their doors and their door posts. So they killed a lamb and used its blood on the gates and doors as described above. When the day had come for the Angel of Death to exec
ute judgment as decreed by God, he would Passover the homes where there was blood on the doors. But death was rampant in the households that didn’t carry the blood markings. The death of the lambs ensured that the lives of those whose households were painted in blood were spared.
The death of an innocent lamb foreshadowed the ultimate death of God Himself on the cross to atone for the sin of fallen humanity almost 2000 years later. Perhaps it’s just me, but I am yet to come across a person sentenced to death for nothing other than their identity. Jesus was crucified not because He had committed a heinous crime but because He claimed to be the Son of God. HE was scourged, bound, beaten, spat upon, mocked, stripped naked, dehumanized, his beard pulled and finally nailed to the cross.
It was on the sixth day that God created man in His own image. Yes, it happened on a Friday. Now it was poised to happen in reverse. Also on a Friday, the day that God in the beginning had created man to bear His glory and ex
cellence, mankind on the sixth day, made God to bear the image of fallen man, as one found guilty, and as one cast out. This was the image of fallen man. When you and I look at the cross, we are seeing God in the image of man. Man passed judgment on God because man himself was under judgment. God allowed himself to be so abused and degraded to bear the image of man so that man might once again be allowed to bear the image of God.
My friend, no matter what it is you have done, Jesus bore your sin on the cross so that you could live free of guilt, condemnation and humiliation. Your life can turn around this instant if you open your heart and invite Jesus to be Lord of your life. Romans 10 v 10 says; with the heart man believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. In His death Jesus took upon Himself your image. Now take upon yourself His image and begin to live a life based on nothing but the TRUTH. Afterall, Christ is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Allow Jesus to make you and form you into His image.
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