Thursday, April 28, 2016

72 Hours to Chaos

From http://el-paso.ucg.org/ or call 1-888-886-8632. Please follow this site here.

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Video of Beyond Today -- 72 Hours to Chaos

How thin is civilization’s veneer? What could cause average people to steal or turn violent? Learn how not to fear such chaos.

Transcript


[Gary] In 2005 I worked as a volunteer at a shelter for people displaced by Hurricane Katrina. There was a lot of confusion as hungry, filthy, frightened people who were picked off the roofs of their houses in New Orleans, taken to an airport and flown to San Antonio, Texas, tried to comprehend what had happened to them.
One young woman sat on a cot staring aimlessly. The woman, in obvious shock, ignored the activity swirling around her. I finally stopped, leaned down and asked her if I could help. She looked up with eyes filled with despair and asked, “What happened to my baby?”
I never knew what happened to that woman or if she ever found her baby. Since that time I have often thought about how human life can be degraded by the destructive force of natural disasters. Even more disturbing is the reality of how easy it is for human beings to devalue each other.
On Beyond Today we’re going to discuss why civilization is walking the razor’s edge of anarchy with only “72 Hours to Chaos.”
[Announcer] Join our host, Gary Petty and his guests, as they help you understand your future on Beyond Today !
[Gary] Working in a shelter for victims of Hurricane Katrina was a study in how the veneer of civilization hides the possibility of chaos. There were many encouraging examples by scores of volunteers who simply showed up and worked, at times without supervision, to unload trucks of food and water, and to set up cots and assist the tired and hungry refugees.
There was no way to be totally prepared for the human tragedy that began to trickle into the shelter. Having lost their homes and personal possessions, the refugees were bused to the shelter, stripped of their filthy clothes, allowed to shower and pick through some donated used clothing, then given a bottle of water and a slice of pizza.
Underneath the attempts to supply basic human needs was a current of chaos. People were lost, confused, many were angry. “Where am I? Why did the levees fail? Why did the state and federal governments let us down? When will I get to go home? What happened to my baby?”
In one instance a policeman was guarding a room full of supplies including stacks of blankets. He had been instructed not to allow any refugees into the room. A small group of men demanded some blankets for their children who were cold. The policeman refused. The standoff was escalating before a volunteer worker explained that the blankets were used and needed to be checked for lice.
One day I received a call from a government worker who was working at another shelter in another city. Her voice trembled as she told me how some refugees had procured guns and they were in fear of a riot. It didn’t take long for civilized behavior to disappear when the basic benefits of civilization–food, water, clothing, shelter–disappeared.
How quickly would your neighbors turn against each other if there was no electricity for just one week? How quickly would people resort to stealing or violence if there was another international great depression like what happened back in the 1930s?
Natural disasters give a glimpse into the weakness of the veneer of civilization. Underneath the thin covering is a boiling pot of chaos. We see how thin that veneer is everyday in crime, violent entertainment, war, euthanasia–which are all examples of how human beings devalue each other. Under stress, the cheapening of other people can collapse into violent anarchy.
A study done a number of years ago in Britain concluded that they are a nation just “nine meals from anarchy.” An article in the Daily Mail reported that it would take only–listen to this, “three full days without food on supermarket shelves, before law and order started to break down, and British streets descended into chaos. A far-fetched warning for a First World Naion like Britain? Hardly. Because that’ exactly what happened in the U.S. in the aftermath in oder to feed themselves and their families.” (Nine Meal for Anarchy, Daily Mail , Rosie Boycott).
In other words, Britain, just like all civilized countries, is only 72 hours from chaos.
How quickly and how far would people go to devalue other human beings in order to justify taking from that person money, food, clothing, a blanket?
There are many historical examples of a group of people denouncing another group of people as subhuman to justify a philosophy of hatred and violence. The Nazi concept of the master race convinced rational civilized human beings that it wasn’t immoral to commit unimaginable horrors on what they saw as lesser human beings.
Now you might be saying, “Well, that couldn’t happen in our society. We’re too educated for that kind of devaluing of others.” The reality is that in spite of the social reforms and human rights progress, especially over the last 200 years in the Western world, the veneer is very thin. The looting and violence we see during a blackout or hurricane are symptoms of a society that already devalues others.
Here’s one example. I recently read an article, written in 1977 by Jesse Jackson titled “How we Respect Life is the Overriding Moral Issue.” He explains that slavery in the United States was only sustainable as long as white slave owners were willing to see blacks as subhuman.
He went on to write, “It was part of the dehumanizing process. The first step was to distort the image of us as human beings in order to justify that which they wanted to do and not even feel like they had done anything wrong.”
He then links the same process to the justification of abortion. He says: “Those advocates of taking life prior to birth do not call it killing or murder; they call it abortion. They further never talk about aborting a baby because that would imply something human. Rather they talk about aborting the fetus. Fetus sounds less than human and therefore can be justified.” (“How We Respect Life Is the Overriding Moral Issue”, Right to Life News , Jesse Jackson, 1977).
The logic in this article is undeniable. The atrocities of slavery can only be justified by civilized people through the dehumanization of the slaves. This is the same degrading of human life that must take place in order to make abortion appear civilized. By the way, Jesse Jackson has since changed his position on abortion.
How thin is the veneer of civilization?
Now here’s another news story, this one from Europe. Prostitution has been a reality in most civilizations throughout history. In the Western world it has been seen as an ugly side of human nature. Prostitution degrades both the institution of marriage and womanhood. It is devaluating for a woman to sell her body as a commodity to be used without consideration of her as a human being.
In November 2012 Zurich, Switzerland legalized drive-in sex boxes. The Telegraph reports that these “garage-like boxes will have roofs and walls for privacy, and easy access for cars.”
Michael Herzig, a representative of Zurich’s social welfare department announced, “The women will be better protected from attack, and it will also mean better business for them. With the women right the sex boxes there is no ‘travel time’ so they can deal with more customers. It’s a better business model than standing on the street.” ( The Telegraph , Matthew Day, Nov. 29, 2012).
A better business model? Switzerland is a civilized nation. Most Swiss take pride in their tolerance and humanity. Yet, for many people in Zurich it doesn’t seem degrading for a woman to sell her body in a government supplied sex box.
What does this matter to you? You may not be concerned with political issues like abortion and who cares about prostitutes in Zurich?
You should find both of these stories disturbing. Through movies, television, radio, music and 24 hour-a-day news you are being desensitized to the great moral issues of our time.
Now all great moral issues are concerned with God’s purpose for humanity and the value of each individual. All moral issues eventually deal with your value.
Now before we talk about the greatest moral issue of our time, I want to mention the short, easy to read booklet we’re offering on today’s program: What is Your Destiny? This 30-page booklet tackles the questions of the ages: Why does all human life have value? What eternal destiny does God have in mind for all human beings? Now to receive a free copy call the number on the bottom of the screen: 1-888-886-8632.
And we’ll give you more details in just a few minutes.
Why should you care about the greatest moral issues of our time? As long as people leave you alone, let’s all just get along and not judge each other.
Well for many people there is a general sense that the only evil is being intolerant of others. If you accept that view then there are very few evil acts, except maybe to promote that there is absolute good and evil which is seen as intolerant.
Here’s a trait concerning your human nature you need to understand. Now unless you are totally amoral, you want to feel that you are basically a good person. You want to experience high self-esteem about your moral decisions.
Now if you want to feel that you are a good person, what makes up your moral center? What criteria do you use to decide what is good and evil? Or let me put it this way, how hungry would you have to get before you beat your neighbor to death for a granola bar? In the midst of chaos how long would it take you to become barbaric? Seventy-two hours?
Let’s look at one more example then we’ll discuss the most important moral truth of all time. In California a truck filled with live fish on the way to market crashed and 1,600 pounds of bass spilled onto the highway and died. According to an Associated Press release, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals have asked for a memorial to be erected along that stretch of road, quote, “…in order to remind drivers that all animals - whether they’re humans, basset hounds, or bass - value their lives and feel their pain.”
Another spokesperson for PETA announced, “They [the bass] were on their way to slaughter, which is of course pretty hellish. To suffer an accident on the way and be left in the middle of the street is unthinkable.”
Now I tell you this story because for some people the value of the life of fish exemplifies one of the great moral issues of our time. I’m not supporting cruelty to animals, but honoring fish life as having the same value as human life originates in the same perverted moral center as those who support slavery, abortion, euthanasia and genocide.
Now that, I know, that may sound harsh. But it brings us back to the central moral question of all time: What is the value of the life of a human being?
Here on Beyond Today we believe in the God of the Bible and that that this Book was inspired by that Great God to teach human beings their moral center. Now this message is derided by secular humanists, the “enlightened” educational community and unfortunately in many of today’s pulpits.
The Creator God sent His Son to this earth to teach us the way of goodness and happiness. The New Testament book of Hebrews states, “Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself shared the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage” (Hebrews 2:14-15).
Notice that Jesus Christ came to earth as a human being because we are children. Children of whom? Children of God. The great moral truth of our time, of all time, is that God formed human beings because He is creating a family. That’s why you were born! This truth must guide all of your moral decisions.
You were created in the image of God. You were designed to have the same moral center as your Creator. When you have a right relationship with God you will experience a sense of goodness. Now listen to this, when you don’t have the proper moral center you will create your own sense of morality in order to feel good about yourself. When we make up a sense of morality in order to feel good about ourselves we’re just covering our barbarism with veneer.
Supporting a memorial for dead fish feels moral; it feels spiritual to someone who doesn’t understand the unique purpose for human life. Defending the rights of a woman to control her own body by aborting a fetus feels democratic and moral. Until you substitute the words “a child of God made in the image of God” for the word “fetus.” Young SS soldiers experienced very high self-esteem as they tortured and murdered Jews, Poles and Ukrainians because they believed they were subhuman. Many times what human beings make up as morality is the facade that hides our barbarism. God wants to develop in you, in us, human beings the real character that He calls love.
You can begin to understand the great moral center God wants for your life from two short biblical passages.
A man came to Jesus and asked Him, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” Jesus said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind,’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 22:36-40).
You will never understand who you are until you understand Who created you and why He created you.
Until you submit to your Creator God with all your heart, and soul and mind you will continue to create false concepts of right and wrong in order to feel good about yourself and your life will continue to be chaotic. You know, this commandment is the most ignored teaching given by Jesus Christ.
You may praise God, sing to Him and claim to be a believer, but… are all of your emotions, life energy and thoughts dedicated to obedience to God as your Father? Notice it’s a family relationship.
The second passage to help you begin to form a moral center is found in Exodus 20:1-17. These verses record the only time in human history that God spoke to an entire nation and explained basic morality. We call them the Ten Commandments.
Now you might be saying, “Oh, I agree with the Ten Commandments. Our church sent a petition to the mayor because he didn’t want a plaque listing the Ten Commandments, he wanted it removed from the courthouse wall.” Signing that petition made you feel very moral, very religious, didn’t it?
But you see the real moral question is not just about posting the Ten Commandments. Do you obey the Ten Commandments? Are you a moral person? Do you even know what is listed in the Ten Commandments? What about the Second Commandment (Exodus 20:4-5) that forbids the use of images in the worship of God? Do you bow down to statues of Jesus and Mary? What about the Fourth Commandment (Exodus 20:8-10) concerning the seventh-day Sabbath? If you observe Sunday as your day of worship you’re doing nothing more than making up your own sense of morality. What about the Commandment (Exodus 20:16) against bearing false witness? Are you totally honest in your business dealings? The Tenth Commandment (Exodus 20:17) forbids coveting? Do you even know what coveting means?
You see, the reason we live under a facade of civilization is because we live under a facade of religion. It is time for you–right now–to explore your moral center and discover God’s purpose in your life.
Now before we discuss this religious facade, and how you can replace a form of godliness with moral substance, let me tell you about today’s free offer.
Have you ever wondered if you have a purpose or a destiny? What is Your Destiny? is a short, easy to read booklet answering the most important question in your life–why was I born? Discovering the purpose and value of each human life is the basis for all moral issues and questions you have.
The booklet will show you how the Bible reveals that you can have a relationship with God as your Father. And to be a child of God transcends your present life with all its problems. The central message of the gospel of the Kingdom of God is about how you can be in God’s Family for eternity.
You can read What is Your Destiny? online at BeyondToday.tv where you can also watch scores of Beyond Today television programs and BT Daily– a daily commentary to help you make sense of a chaotic world.
Now, you can have your free copy of What is Your Destiny? sent to directly to your home if you want to by calling: 1-888-886-8632. That’s 1-888-886-8632.
Now let me also tell you about our free magazine, The Good News . If you are not a subscriber then its time you order it and begin using it as a guide to prepare for your destiny. This magazine is an invaluable aid to use in gaining insight into the Bible. It is a magazine of understanding and you can get a free subscription. It is also by the way, available as an iPad app if you prefer to read it on your tablet.
I’m joined by fellow Beyond Today hosts, Darris McNeely and Steve Myers.
[Gary] Why is understanding God’s plan for humanity really at the center and core of moral decision making?
[Steve] Well I think when you begin to realize that God is in charge, God is in charge of this universe, that means He needs to be in charge of my life as well. And when God has a plan and we understand what that plan is, we realize the importance that God places on all human life. And as that standard to live by, I have to order my life by God’s standards then so that I can be a part of that plan. And I think that’s so very important for all of us to realize.
[Darris] It also anchors us in a system of absolutes. Unless there is an absolute authority and an absolute moral code in this world, then everyone is an authority and a power unto themselves. And that’s the starting point. That has to be a starting point for understanding how a universe can work, how a society can work to keep us out of chaos.
[Steve] In fact that goes against culture though when you think about it because we are our own decision makers. We are the authorities in our life but God says, wait a second. The way of man is not in himself is what Jeremiah says. It says that we don’t know the godly way, the right way to order our lives and so we’ve got to look to God for the right order in our lives, rather than take that authority to ourselves.
[Gary] Which just shows that if, you’ll never know who you are until you understand Who created you and why He created you. Now as pastors you deal all the time with people coming to you and dealing with the deconstruction of this veneer of morality and getting into a real core morality based on understanding God. How do you help people go through that process?
[Steve] I think you’ve got to come to see yourself as you really are. If we are going to strip away what’s on the surface to really get down to the heart of the matter, the Bible says our hearts are deceitful. We kid ourselves, we can fool ourselves. And it also says it’s desperately evil. So we’ve got to get beyond the surface and realize that we’re nothing before God and we need Him to really make us valuable in His sight.
[Gary] He gives us value.
[Steve] He does give us value.
[Darris] You talked a lot about a veneer of society in your program today, Gary and really a veneer when it comes to us, down to our level as individuals, stripping away our own veneer and having it exposed. Veneer is really another word for identity. Which is actually our core belief, our core being and really who we are behind that veneer. This table has got a veneer on it.
[Gary] Right.
[Darris] Strip that away and then you really know what’s underneath and that’s what happens with us. And you cannot really understand a true identity unless you understand that we are created in the image of God. It goes back to Genesis 1:26-27 where God says “Let Us make man in Our image.” And in God’s image we were all created. That is a spiritual process. That is a spiritual creation that is on-going and if that is not being done at the inner core of our life and at the basis of our identity then we will build our own veneers but it will be stripped away by time, by events, and it will be proven to be false and hollow.
[Gary] Well, you know we’re in a society that always talks about self-esteem. And you can’t build up people’s self-esteem as a veneer–underneath it’s still chaos. There reaches a point where we have to understand our value comes from our Creator, and that relationship and love we have with our God as Father and Jesus Christ as our Brother.
The basis for all moral decisions begin with understanding that there is a Creator and His purpose in creating humanity is to create an eternal family! That’s why you need to read What is Your Destiny? and share it with others.
You can read What is Your Destiny? online at BeyondToday.tv . Or request your free copy to be send to your home by calling: 1-888-886-8632. That’s 1-888-886-8632. Now let me also tell you about our free magazine, The Good News . The Good News will help you make sense of today’s bewildering news and events in light of biblical prophecy.
In addition, I really encourage you to visit the Beyond Today website where you can find daily video commentaries on breaking news and important biblical topics. Join us throughout the week for BT Daily and get additional analysis on prophecy, the Bible and God’s plan for your life and to give it value.
The shelter for survivors of Hurricane Katrina I mentioned earlier was set up in an abandoned department store. A week later the shock and exhaustion of the refugees was replaced with apprehension about their future. The shelter supplied three meals a day, along with abundant used clothing. Hundreds of people slept on cots, walked the streets around the shelter or watched football on donated television sets. Many displayed a growing sense of boredom.
The week after that first night in the shelter I was walking through a different kind of department store. It was an exclusive shop celebrating a grand opening. Violinists played music while well-dressed patrons received coupons for free roses and waited in line to pay $300 for leather purses. A perky clerk asked if I wanted a whiff of fashionable cologne. I couldn’t help but think of the odor of people who had been trapped in humid attics and thinking about how I was strolling through the facade of civilization–a razor’s edge from chaos.
The greatest moral truth of all time is the reality that the purpose for human life is that God is creating a family. Seek Him and His ways today and you won’t have to fear chaos because the Almighty God will be the center of your life.
Join us next week on Beyond Today as we continue to discover the gospel of the Kingdom. We also invite you to join us in praying, “Thy Kingdom come.” For Beyond Today, I’m Gary Petty. Thanks for watching.
[Announcer] For the free literature offered on today’s program, go online to BeyondToday.tv. Please join us again next week on Beyond Today!

Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Snake Bit on Wall Street

From http://el-paso.ucg.org/ or call 1-888-886-8632. Please follow this site here.

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Video of BT Daily: Snake Bit on Wall Street

The Occupy Wall Street movement gets a second life today. But what's it all about?

Transcript


[Darris McNeely] If you’ve been confused about the Occupy Wall Street Movement, so have I and so have a lot of other people. It reminds of being snake bit–seeing all of these protests across the United States and other world capitals against the world economic financial condition.
[Steve Myers] Well, it certainly reminds you of how do we fix our problems? You know, people come up with all kinds of solutions and the latest one is protesting and violence in many cases. So, is that what solves our problems? Is that really where it’s at?
[Darris McNeely] Well, you know, Steve, they drove them out of Zuccotti Park in New York earlier this week and today they’re threatening to come back in by the tens of thousands and maybe getting a second life it seems with this protest movement. And, again, are they…There’s even confusion about the goals that they have and what they actually want to do…some want to bring down the whole economic system, whole system of capitalism.
[Steve Myers] It’s interesting, some of the goals, are they good? Some of the things I’ve heard, yeah. Is man’s system working in some ways? Yeah.
[Darris McNeely] There are problems.
[Steve Myers] But in other ways there are problems.
[Darris McNeely] And we know now this has come three years after the near collapse of Wall Street and the entire American and world financial system that has been tried to be put back on track, yet there has been recessions that have kept it from really operating and coming back with all engines operating. And we’re still in the middle of a mess and that seems to be fueling this. This seems to be a symptom of larger problems.
[Steve Myers] Boy, is it ever. Absolutely.
[Darris McNeely] It reminds me of the story you told in a Beyond Today program recently that we did of the canary in the coal mine that starts to sing when the gases get a little bit too high. This is a symptom of something bigger. That, um, just won’t go away.
[Steve Myers] And where do you look? Are we looking to Wall Street to solve our problems or do you take down Wall Street so we can solve our problems. Or is there a different place that we need to look?
[Darris McNeely] Well, the problem is in leadership. The problem is in some workable solutions. It reminds me of a scripture in the book of Amos, where the prophet Amos talks about conditions at the time of the end. People are told there that they will flee from a lion, and run into a bear. They will run into a house and put their hand against a wall and get bit by a snake (Amos 5:18-20). Everywhere they turn, they don’t find solutions, they find bigger problems.
[Steve Myers] That’s right
[Darris McNeely] And I think that’s where we are right now.
[Steve Myers] Are we solving our own problems? I think that scripture points it out. As long as we keep looking to ourselves we’re going to be snake bit. We’re going to run into a bear. We’re going to run into a lion. So are we looking to God for the solution? Proverbs says that we look to God. He knows how to direct our steps (Proverbs 3:5-8).
[Darris McNeely] That’s BT Daily. Join us next time.

Tuesday, April 26, 2016

There's More Than a Crack on the Liberty Bell

From http://el-paso.ucg.org/ or call 1-888-886-8632. Please follow this site here.

The Fourth of July is coming up this week. This holiday honors a unique event in history. It's a commemoration of the time when men declared themselves free of the hereditary rule of other men and established a society not guided by right of birth, but guided by the privilege of individual freedom based on “the rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
July 4, 1776 began a new historical era in human relationships. Nothing would ever be the same again. History had reversed itself. Based on these tenets of individual liberty, the 13 colonies would ultimately emerge into becoming the Unites States of America, and would ultimately become the dominant nation on earth and the main exporter of the notion of political freedom.
Other than the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor, there is perhaps no more revered icon of liberty in America that depicts “feelings of the Fourth” other than the Liberty Bell. Its claim on Americans' affections comes from the fact that its toll rallied the people of Philadelphia to the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence in front of Independence Hall on July 8, 1776. It was here that the common man would become attuned to his destiny. “Let freedom ring” is often associated with this single piece of molded iron.
But what about the familiar crack up the side of the bell? The bell has a notorious history of trial and error in its many moldings and later tollings, but it is commonly agreed that the final expansion of the crack, which would silence the “Bell of Freedom,” occurred on Washington’s Birthday in 1846. Now it is simply a monument for the ages.
But what other resonating message does this now dormant bell still tell us besides the exploits of the American Revolution and the faulty casting that ultimately led to its famous crack? Embedded into its iron fabric is an inscription from the biblical passage of Leviticus 25:10 which says, “Proclaim Liberty Throughout All the Land Unto All the Inhabitants.”
But why this phrase on this particular bell? It's best understood by opening up your Bible to the same scripture and focusing on the preceding thought of “And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year.”
The bell was commissioned to be crafted by the Pennsylvania Assembly to commemorate the 50-year anniversary of William Penn's 1701 Charter of Privileges. This progressive document, Pennsylvania’s first constitution, established broad freedoms regarding religious expression, a humane stance regarding Native Americans, and the inclusion of the citizenry in local government issues. Penn's genius of establishing new approaches to relationships in a New World was worthy of a golden anniversary memento.
But what liberty was being proclaimed in the original context of the scripture embedded next to the famous crack? And when was it proclaimed?
The preceding verse of Leviticus 25:9 states: “Then you shall cause the trumpet of the Jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement you shall make the trumpet sound throughout all the land.”
A reading of the entirety of Leviticus 25 will reveal to you that every 50 years at this time: 1) Families that had lost their land had it returned; 2) People who had become indentured servants due to economic conditions were released; and 3) In general, debts were forgiven. No wonder liberty was proclaimed “throughout the land” with the dawning of a new existence on the Day of Atonement.
Does this sound too good to be true? What is this Day of Atonement that is mentioned in verse 9? Does it have any relevance to our day? Or is it simply a cherished relic of the past, like the Liberty Bell, which has seen its best days come and gone?
Actually, it's a day whose meaning reveals and annually reminds Christians that we are truly free in Christ and that ultimately “the rulers of the darkness of this age” (Ephesians 6:12) will be cast aside on the trash heap of history on the ultimate independence day of the future.
Want to know more? Just click on to our Literature Library Section, then go to Booklets, and click on to God's Holy Day Plan: The Promise of Hope for All Mankind . The section on the Day of Atonement begins on page 38. It explains the future reality of how God is going to elevate all humanity to the ultimate rights of “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
Until then, we wish you a happy Fourth of July—and remember, there’s more than a crack on the bell.

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Thursday, April 21, 2016

Why Should Christians Keep the Passover?

From http://el-paso.ucg.org/ or call 1-888-886-8632. Please follow this site here.

Only 3 ½ years after He began His ministry, Jesus of Nazareth was apprehended by the religious authorities at the time of the Passover feast (Matthew 26:2; Mark 14:1). After a brief trial-while mocking Him, spitting on Him and beating Him-they took Him before the Roman authorities and accused Him of “perverting the nation, … saying that He Himself is Christ, a King” (Luke 23:2; Matthew 26:59-68).
Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor in Jerusalem, after analyzing the charges, declared to the chief priests and the others present: “You have brought this Man to me, as one who misleads the people. And indeed, having examined Him in your presence, I have found no fault in this Man …; no, neither did Herod … I will therefore chastise Him and release Him” (Luke 23:14-16).
Why did Jesus Christ keep the Passover? Is there a connection between the Passover and Christ’s death? What does the Bible teach us about this most important observance kept by Jesus and the apostles?
But the people would have none of it. They cried out, “Away with this Man, and release to us Barabbas [a murderer]” (Luke 23:18).
Pilate found himself in a difficult position. Wanting to release a man he knew to be innocent, he urged Jesus’ captors to reconsider. He was answered with angry shouts of “Crucify Him, crucify Him!” (Luke 23:21).
Pilate tried to reason with the crowd. “Why, what evil has He done?” he asked. But the mob was insistent, demanding that Jesus be put to death. The priests and the crowd prevailed. The Roman governor freed a murderer and sentenced an innocent man to death (verses 19-25).
Jesus was mercilessly beaten and scourged by the Roman soldiers and subjected to a horrible death.
But why? Why did Jesus Christ have to die?

Meaning of the Passover

Many Christians have been taught that the Passover is an outdated “Jewish” observance done away with at Jesus’ death and replaced by Easter, the commemoration of His resurrection.
But why did Jesus Christ keep the Passover? Is there a connection between the Passover and Christ’s death? What does the Bible teach us about this most important observance kept by Jesus and the apostles?
In ancient Israel the first Passover was a time of deliverance, the rescuing of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. The blood of the Passover lamb was smeared on the doorposts of the residences of those Israelites who put their trust in God, and He promised to deliver them from harm (Exodus 12:13, Exodus 12:23). The Israelites were spared while the firstborn of the Egyptians were slain.
God ordained the Passover as a commanded feast: “So this day shall be to you a memorial; and you shall keep it as a feast to the LORD throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance” (Exodus 12:14).
Much later, during the time of Christ, the observance of the New Testament Passover was revealed as the first step toward salvation. It reminds Christians not only of how God delivered ancient Israel out of Egypt, but, more important, of our deliverance out of sin today. “We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin” (Romans 6:6, New Revised Standard Version, emphasis added throughout).
The Passover is the first of the annual festivals commanded by God (Leviticus 23:5). Jesus knew this and kept the Passover with His disciples (Luke 22), showing that this is not a command to be taken lightly.
During His final Passover with His disciples, Jesus Christ introduced new symbols, which commemorate Him as “our Passover, [who] was sacrificed for us” (1 Corinthians 5:7). Jesus said, after He had broken the unleavened bread and given it to His disciples, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me” (Luke 22:19).
The Passover is an annual reminder that, through Christ’s sacrifice, we have been set free from slavery to sin so we can serve God in righteousness (Romans 6:1-22).

Sacrifice for sin

But why was Jesus sacrificed for us?
All human beings are in slavery to corruption and death caused by sin (Romans 6:16; Romans 8:21; Hebrews 2:14-15), “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). And the Bible says, “the soul who sins shall die” (Ezekiel 18:4, Ezekiel 18:20).
What frees us from this bondage to sin? The sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God! God the Father willingly gave up His firstborn Son, and Jesus willingly poured out His life’s blood.
Why? Why couldn’t God just forgive our sins without a sacrifice? Why did Jesus Christ have to suffer and die for our sins (Philippians 2:8)?
The truth is that there is no other way to save humanity from the consequences of sin!
God will not compromise with His perfect law (Matthew 5:17-20; Matthew 19:17; Psalms 19:7). All of God’s commands are summed up in the law of love: “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind,” and “you shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:36-40).
As the apostle Paul wrote, “Love is the fulfillment of the law” (Romans 13:10). God’s law would, if observed, produce and maintain a peaceful, abundant and joyful society (Deuteronomy 4:5-8; Deuteronomy 6:1-2; Deuteronomy 28:1-14; Galatians 3:21). Tragically, no human (other than Jesus Christ) has kept God’s law perfectly. All have broken it by sinning (1 John 3:4).
The Bible likens sin to leaven: If sin is not removed, it grows and spreads (1 Corinthians 5:6). The whole world suffers the curse of sin. Wars, famine, disease, oppression, crime, poverty, family problems, emotional disturbances and every type of evil result from sin, the breaking of God’s law (Leviticus 26:14-39; Deuteronomy 28:15-68).
The ultimate result of sin is death. “For the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23), just as God in His love warned the first man, Adam (Genesis 2:17).

Why Christ’s sacrifice was necessary

God’s way of redeeming humanity-all of us-from the death penalty without compromising His perfect law is for the penalty to be paid in our place by the Son of God.
Why? Because “truly, no ransom avails for one’s life, there is no price one can give to God for it. For the ransom of life is costly, and can never suffice that one should live on forever and never see the grave” (Psalms 49:7-9, NRSV). And that applies to us all, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:10, Romans 3:12, Romans 3:23).
Our partaking of-participating in-Christ’s sacrifice makes possible our reconciliation to God, setting us on the road to eternal life. “… God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us … When we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, … through whom we have now received the reconciliation” (Romans 5:8, Romans 5:10-11).
Our sins separated us from God, because through sin we lived hostile to God and His ways (Isaiah 59:1-2; Romans 3:10-12; Romans 8:7). As sinners we had the death penalty hanging over us. We fell under that penalty for breaking God’s law (Romans 3:9, Romans 3:19-20).
But, because Jesus Christ’s sacrifice paid the death penalty for our sins, God “passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate … His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (Romans 3:24-26).
Except for Jesus Christ, no man or woman has ever lived without sinning. But notice these encouraging words in the Bible: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
We read that the wages of sin is death, “but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23, King James Version).

What must we do?

Does Jesus Christ’s death, then, save us? Let’s see what the Word of God-the Bible-says.
If Jesus paid the penalty for our sin by His crucifixion, what must we do to receive God’s gift of eternal life? Notice Acts 2:38: “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission [forgiveness] of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
Though “while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8), His sacrifice does not redeem us from the death penalty until we have repented of breaking God’s law, turned from sin and accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Master. Then what happens?
Notice Romans 8:1: “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the [lusts of the] flesh, but according to the Spirit.”
We no longer seek to go our own way, but are led by the Spirit of God (Romans 2:2-16; 1 Corinthians 2:10-16), building our relationship with God and Christ through prayer and study of God’s Word (Ephesians 6:18; 2 Timothy 2:15).
When we embark on this new way of life, following Christ’s example as shown in the Bible, we are then saved by His life in us (Romans 5:10; Galatians 2:20). Gradually God begins to write His law of love (Romans 13:8-10) in our hearts and minds (Hebrews 10:16). We become transformed by taking on the thoughts of God (Romans 12:2; Philippians 2:5).
With the help of God’s Spirit we can obey God’s law, submit to Him and overcome sin. Sin is no longer in control over us. We become servants of God rather than the servants of sin (Romans 6:12-16). Keeping the Passover brings these great truths into sharp focus.

Will we follow Jesus’ example?

Jesus Christ observed the Passover. The Bible makes this clear in many passages (Matthew 26:2, Matthew 26:17-19; Luke 2:41-42; Luke 22:1, Luke 22:7-20; John 2:13, John 2:23; John 13:1-30; 1 Corinthians 11:23-29). His words and actions at His last Passover provide us profound lessons about our relationships with Him and our fellow human beings.
“Then came the Day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover must be killed” (Luke 22:7). According to God’s instructions, a new day begins with the evening (Genesis 1:5), not at midnight.
Jesus Christ and His disciples assembled that evening in a large upper room. “And supper being ended … [Jesus] rose from supper and laid aside His garments, and took a towel … and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel …” (John 13:2, John 13:4-5).
Assuming the role of a servant, Jesus washed His disciples’ feet and said to them: “If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you … If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them” (John 13:14-15, 17).
Jesus carried out this humble act of service to show His disciples that His true followers must be led by a giving, serving attitude. He tells us all by implication to follow His example (see “A Lesson for All Time “).
On that same evening Jesus “took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is [or ‘means,’ James Moffatt Translation; i.e., ‘represents’] My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me’ ” (Luke 22:19).
He also “took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you. For this is [represents] My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins’ ” (Matthew 26:27-28).

A lasting memorial

The Bible makes it clear that all who will follow Christ should observe this New Testament Passover in remembrance of His love and sacrifice for our sins and as a reminder of our commitment to Him for what God has done in our lives (1 Corinthians 5:7-8; Luke 22:19; Luke 14:21-24).
We are to avoid observing the Passover in an “unworthy” manner, as Paul wrote to the Corinthians: “For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes. Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord” (1 Corinthians 11:26-27).
Many readers of this scripture have not comprehended the significance of Paul’s warning. Some, incorrectly feeling they were not worthy of Christ’s sacrifice, have elected not to take the Passover. Others have taken the Passover in attitudes ranging from casual to ritualistic to superstitious. Nothing is magical about the unleavened bread and the wine Jesus used; they were simply symbols to remind us of His sacrifice for our sin.

Self-examination necessary

We are to take the Passover in a worthy manner, but what exactly does that mean?
Paul warned, “But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup” (1 Corinthians 11:28).
In a later letter, Paul wrote: “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?” (2 Corinthians 13:5, KJV).
We are to examine our own hearts before we take the Passover symbols of bread and wine. We are to ask ourselves some searching questions about our intentions toward God and our fellow human beings. Do we show humility and service to others? Do we honor God in our everyday lives?
Just what should your attitude be toward the world, toward God and His laws and toward others? “Do not love the world or the things of the world,” the apostle John wrote. “If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world-the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life-is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever” (1 John 2:15-17).
As long as we live in “this present evil world” (Galatians 1:4, KJV), which is under Satan’s influence (Ephesians 2:1-3), we will be tempted to break God’s law. We are tempted through our own desires (James 1:14) to cheat, lie, boast, swear, gossip, hate, commit adultery and put other things before God (Matthew 5:27-28; Galatians 5:19-21).
Each of us, even though called, repentant and forgiven, will fall down and sin. But, as long as we are genuinely repentant, striving to overcome sin, “we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (1 John 2:1).
And, “if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). God forgives and accepts us, applying Jesus’ sacrifice, as long as we allow God to lead us (Ephesians 2:8).
No one is worthy of Christ’s sacrifice on his own merit. But that is not what Paul is discussing. Not taking the Passover is choosing to disregard Christ’s instructions and example. Taking the Passover in an unworthy manner is choosing to take it with little or no respect for Christ’s sacrifice, showing indifference to the importance of His death as payment for our sins.
“For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep. For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world” (1 Corinthians 11:29-32).
If we take the Passover while reverently respecting and appreciating the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, we not only won’t be condemned, but we will be on our way to salvation.
Observing the Passover in its New Testament context, and obeying God’s Word in respect to His Holy Days, gives understanding of God’s great plan for humanity. We are to strive to obey God in all things (Matthew 4:4), a truth that is summed up in the two great commandments-love toward God and love toward our neighbor (Matthew 22:36-40).

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