Out of Egypt is Out of Sin

Prologue

From what are the people of God really freed?

Delivered from Slavery in Egypt

Exodus 14:5-14 NIV

When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds about them and said, “What have we done? We have let the Israelites go and have lost their services!” So he had his chariot made ready and took his army with him. He took six hundred of the best chariots, along with all the other chariots of Egypt, with officers over all of them. The Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, so that he pursued the Israelites, who were marching out boldly. The Egyptians—all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots, horsemen and troops—pursued the Israelites and overtook them as they camped by the sea near Pi Hahiroth, opposite Baal Zephon.

As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the Lord. They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!”

Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never seeagain. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

Continue Reading: verses 15-31

Christ's Blood Ransomed
God's People from Eternal Death

Hebrews 9:1-10 NIV

Now the first covenant had regulations for worship and also an earthly sanctuary. A tabernacle was set up. In its first room were the lampstand and the table with its consecrated bread; this was called the Holy Place. Behind the second curtain was a room called the Most Holy Place, which had the golden altar of incense and the gold-covered ark of the covenant. This ark contained the gold jar of manna, Aaron’s staff that had budded,and the stone tablets of the covenant. Above the ark were the cherubim of the Glory,overshadowing the atonement cover. But we cannot discuss these things in detail now.

When everything had been arranged like this, the priests entered regularly into the outer room to carry on their ministry. But only the high priest entered the inner room, and that only once a year, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance. The Holy Spirit was showing by this that the way into the Most Holy Place had not yet been disclosed as long as the first tabernacle was still functioning. This is an illustration for the present time, indicating that the gifts and sacrifices being offered were not able to clear the conscience of the worshiper. They are only a matter of food and drink and various ceremonial washings—external regulations applying until the time of the new order.

Continue Reading: verses 11-28

Epilogue

Ultimately, sin is directed against God for he owns the laws, decrees and commands that man rebels from. Indeed, it has its consequences and corresponding penalty.

What has God done about this sin-problem? First, God pardoned his people and removed the penalty due from them, which is eternal death. Second, God freed his people from their proclivity to sin because of their sinful nature that they be made righteous like their Father in heaven. God through the Spirit. made their hearts and spirits new that they may fulfill what the Father destined them to be, which is to be holy. Third, God makes them experience the blessings of eternal life here on earth amid the perplexity and ignorance of the many.

Can anyone believe this? Now, that's the riddle that most people can't seem to solve. It's a catch-22 situation: which is first, belief or experience? Will one believe by first experiencing God's hand in one's life or will one believe first before the experience?