Advent is a time we can refresh our amazement in the prophecy and arrival of Jesus the Messiah, growing closer to Him as we proclaim our longing for His coming again. We pray this devotional will challenge and remind you of the hope, joy, preparation, and love that we experience as we anticipate Christ’s birth.
The Passover
What does it mean for someone to be “with you?” When was the last time it felt like God was with you? What elements of the situation helped you feel that way? Christmas is the gift of a Partner who doesn’t just stand beside us as a shoulder to cry on, but who says, “I will enter into the hardships you face. I will take the weight of your burden upon my shoulders.”
There is no other friend like Jesus, no other partner like Him. No one else has both the ability and the inclination to help us in the way we really need.
Read Exodus 12:1-7, 12-13
What kind of lamb needed to be sacrificed? What did God need to see in order to pass over?
Read Hebrews 9:22
What do you see about blood? Why do you think the Passover lamb needed to be without blemish?
For someone to be with you in the way you truly crave, they need to have the ability to help you. They need to be free of their own sin issues and have the power to change things for you.
Read Hebrews 5:1-3
What are earthly priests beset with, and what are the implications of their weakness?
Read Hebrews 9:13-14
Jesus is able to be with us in our sin because He has no sin issues of His own and because He actually has the power to fix our problems with sin.
Read Hebrews 10:4, 11-14
The cost to be paid for the freedom of God’s people was the death of Egypt’s first-born sons. God wanted us to see what all it would take for a harsh master to release his slaves. God tells us that we are born as slaves to sin, the harshest of all masters.
Sin had us. We belonged to it as much as the Israelites belonged to Pharaoh. We couldn’t escape its hold on our hearts.
God always knew what it would cost for Him to set us free. He knew He was going to send His anger down against us for our sin and that there was only one way He could protect us from Himself.
For us to be safe, God put His Son to death and painted His blood over us. He gave us His best and perfect Lamb to make us safe and free from sin, our horrible and evil master. He set us free from sin so that we could come and worship Him forever.
Spend some time reflecting on ways you may have rejected God’s perfect provision, then praise Him for giving you Jesus who is both able and inclined to take on your sin. Write out your prayer.
This Jumpstart Advent series was written and produced by Park Community Church in Chicago, IL.
JumpstartCPC.com 