How to pass our faith on
…and why we should make it our priority
The Passover reminded Israel of God’s grace and mercy. God rescued them from slavery and saved them from death. They were instructed to pass this on to their children to show them what He was going to do. Jesus became our Passover Lamb to lead us out of slavery to sin and save us from eternal separation from God’s love. The Lord’s table now reminds us what Jesus did and what we should be doing in response as precious sheep in God’s beloved flock. Being sheep means practising 247 faith, so that we can follow Him and teach others to do the same.
Bible Study Questions
God’s precious possession.
Are Israel valuable to God, even after they strayed and were exiled as a result?
Isaiah 43:1-4 ESV But now thus says the LORD, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. 2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. 3 For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in exchange for you. 4 Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you, I give men in return for you, peoples in exchange for your life.
Beloved Sheep of the Great Shepherd
Isaiah 43:1-4 tells us that Israel are valued because God made them, purchased them, called them by name, and made them His own. Even when they had strayed and been exiled as a result. He gave nations in exchange for them and took them back. Can we take this and simply apply it to ourselves – who is this said of? Who does God constantly refer to as His beloved flock in the Old Testament?
Exodus 3:1 ESV Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.
Psalms 78:52 ESV Then he led out his people like sheep and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.
Psalms 23:1-3 ESV A Psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. 3 He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
Are we, the Church, also the sheep of God?
Is there is a New Testament link to say that we are also made by God, purchased by Him, named by Him, and made His own, and that He exchanged someone for us? Are we also compared to sheep?
John 10:14-16 ESV I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.
Romans 8:29-30 ESV For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
God’s precious and eternal ransom for all His sheep
We are loved and saved at a far greater price. God values His sheep so much that He always planned to send His own Son to become a sheep like us. What kind of Lamb did He become for the glory of God and for our salvation?
Isaiah 53:6-7 ESV All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. 7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.
The Holy Lamb of God
The final book of Bible calls Jesus the Lamb around 30 times, the most of any book. Why is this title of Jesus emphasised in the book focused on the final victory of God through Jesus Christ?
Revelation 5:9-12 ESV And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, 10 and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.” 11 Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, 12 saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!
Saved by the Lamb for His purpose
We celebrate the Lord’s table to remember that we are like sheep that have strayed, and that God became a sheep in the person of Jesus and that He died like the Passover lamb. What slavery does He free us from, and what end does He save us from, and what are we saved for?
Psalms 23:5 ESV You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Romans 6:1-5 ESV What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.
Following the Great Shepherd 247
Celebrating the Lord’s Table gives us an opportunity to remember Jesus great sacrifice, and then to commit to being sheep, and to celebrate the Shepherd who became like one of us and gave Himself for us. Why should we follow like sheep 247?
Galatians 2:20 ESV I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.