In the previous two articles we have studied that we can receive the promises of the forgiveness of sins and eternal life through the Passover. In this article, we are going to see the ultimate purpose of God giving us the Passover.
What does God want to do for us when we keep the Passover and receive the precious promises of the forgiveness of sins and eternal life. To understand the matter, let us first take a look at the Passover of the Old Testament as copy and shadow so that we can know the will of God for us.
Passover and Canaan
God’s Will in the Emancipation of the Israelites
In Exodus, God explains the reason why he gave the freedom from the Egyptian slavery to God’s people.
Exodus 6:6 “Therefore, say to the Israelites: ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. 7 I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. 8 And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord.’”
The will of God for them was clear that he wanted to take them to the Land of Promise Canaan and give the land to the Israelites as inheritance. He did not want them to live in Egypt after the freedom.
Journey to Canaan the Promised Land
After keeping the Passover, we can see the Israel people leaving out of Egypt the land of slavery right the next day. They started their journey toward the Land of Promise Canaan.
Exodus 12:31 During the night Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Up! Leave my people, you and the Israelites! Go, worship the Lord as you have requested. 32 Take your flocks and herds, as you have said, and go. And also bless me.” 33 The Egyptians urged the people to hurry and leave the country. “For otherwise,” they said, “we will all die!”
The Egyptians got terrified after they experienced the power of God in the last plague the plague of the first-borns and in the Passover that gave the protection to the Israel people from the disaster. And they urged the Israel people to leave the country and to go wherever they wanted. So the Israel people could leave Egypt as free men right next day.
Conquering the Promised Land Canaan
After the freedom and the forty year’s journey in the desert, they could enter the Land of Promise in the end. And they could inherit the land just as God promised them.
Joshua 1:1 After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ aide: 2 “Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites. 3 I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses.
To fulfill the promise of God the Israel people could conquer the Promised Land. And they could receive the land “flowing with honey and milk” as their inheritance.
True Meaning of Inheritance of Canaan
Slavery of Sin and Death
All these things in the Old Testament were just a copy and shadow for the reality which would be revealed to the true Israelites or God’s people in Jesus Christ. (Colossians 2:16) Then what is the reality God have wanted to teach through the Law of Moses in the Old Testament?
As we have seen in the previous article, all mankind is the people of God in the spiritual sense. (Romans 2:28) They were once angels in heaven. However, because of the sins they committed in heaven, they were cast down to this earth, living in the agony of death.
About the life on this earth, Christ teaches us that we are living as slaves to sin and death.
Freedom Through the Passover
However, God took pity on the people who are suffering the pain of death and listened to their prayer for salvation. To give them freedom from sins and death, God came down to this earth and gave himself as ransom on the cross. He took up our sins in our stead and gave us the forgiveness of sins, the freedom from sins and death through the Passover.
Through the sacrifice of Christ on the cross we could be freed from the slavery of sins and death. First, Christ gave us the forgiveness of sins through the Passover. (Matthew 26:26) And also he gave us the freedom from death or the eternal life through the Passover. (John 6:53)
Spiritual Canaan the Kingdom of Heaven
Then what was God’s will for us in giving the freedom from the slavery of sins and death? Does God want us to live on this earth forever? In the Old Testament the will of God for the Israel people after the emancipation from the slavery was to lead them to the Promised Land, not living in Egypt.
Likewise, God’s will for those who have been set free from the slavery of sin and death is to lead them to the Promised Land or the spiritual Canaan, that is, the Kingdom of Heaven.
Both Apostle Peter and John testifies about the spiritual inheritance God’s people would receive through the redemption work of God. Apostle Peter prophesies about the destruction of the earth we are living in and the creation of new heavens and earth (or the Kingdom of Heaven) where the saved would receive as inheritance.
2 Peter 3:7 7 By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly, ,,,,, 13 But in keeping with his promise we (the saved) are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.
New Heaven and New Earth
And Apostle John testifies about some characteristics of this new heaven and new earth.
Revelation 21:1 Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. ….. 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
The most important characteristic of the new heaven and new earth is that there is no death there, which means there is only eternal life in the new heaven and the new earth. Since we cannot receive this inheritance with the body of sin and death, God eagerly wanted to give us “the forgiveness of sins” and “eternal life” that we may enter the new heaven and new earth. This is the reality of the Promised Land God wanted to show us through the Law of Moses.
Conclusion
God gave us so many precious promises through the Passover of the new covenant. The message of God in the Passover can be summed up as inheritance of Canaan the Promised Land. Even though we are sinners from heaven, God made the plan for the creation.
Through the creation work of God, the elect will be made into a perfect creation and they will receive the kingdom of heaven as eternal inheritance. All the forefathers of faith made their journey toward heaven through the faith in God. As chosen people of God, people in Zion should follow the Spirit and the Bride, Christ Ahnsahnghong and Heavenly Mother New Jerusalem to the end.