As you are aware there are multiple Tea Parties happening around the nation on April 15. See here http://brianleesblog.blogspot.com/2009/04/tea-party-movie-johnny-tremain-bumped_14.html for more details. However, there is also a time of Spiritual Liberation that happens on this day which happens to also fall on April 15 this year, the Last Day of Unleavened Bread which commemorates the parting of the Red Sea, when the Israelites escaped the Egyptians. The article below explains this, and if you'd like, you can find out more here http://www.gnmagazine.org/booklets/HD/leavingsin.asp
Passover and Unleavened Bread...True Freedom: A Passover Season Lesson
by Jerold W. Aust
"My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrims' pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."
Similar words to the traditional song above must have rung loudly from the lips of our forefathers that first liberating Passover when they were redeemed from death, then set free!
Their time had come to be saved by the One typified as our Passover more than 1,400 years before He lived on this earth.
Earlier that night, Moses had told all the Israelite families to kill the unblemished lambs, called Passover lambs, selected for this time.
"Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said to them, 'Pick out and take lambs for yourselves according to your families, and kill the Passover lamb. And you shall take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. And none of you shall go out of the door of his house until morning.
"'For the Lord will pass through to strike the Egyptians; and when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and not allow the destroyer to come into your houses to strike you. And you shall observe this thing as an ordinance for you and your sons forever. It will come to pass when you come to the land which the Lord will give you, just as He promised, that you shall keep this service.
"'And it shall be, when your children say to you, "What do you mean by this service?" that you shall say, "It is the Passover sacrifice of the Lord, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt when He struck the Egyptians and delivered our households."' So the people bowed their heads and worshiped" (Exodus 12:21-27).
God vividly detailed this event to help us remember that without Christ having been our Passover sacrifice, sin would result in our having one inevitable end-eternal death (Romans 6:23).
But the Father wants us to also remember that because Jesus Christ was resurrected to eternal life, eternal death itself can be conquered.
Life Mocks Death
Jesus Himself knew that after His death, death itself would be conquered. Near His physical life's end, He desired that His followers would grasp the magnificence of that new life-for Him and them-that hinged on that death.
He revealed to His listeners that "the hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified."
He continued, explaining in terms they might comprehend: "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain" (John 12:24).
Then He told them what they in turn would have to face: " He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor" ( verses 25-26).
While they were considering all this they were stunned by a voice like thunder from the clouds-the voice of God!-affirming Christ's words.
Through His word and His Son's spirit in us, that voice of God still speaks loudly to us today, whereby we're stirred to remember His wonderful promises pictured by His great Holy Days.
Paul, when he was counteracting some who doubted an eternal future, enhanced Christ's metaphor for His death. To Christ's' earthy metaphor, he added those two seeds of human life, Jesus and Adam, to contrast their fruit: "For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive" (1 Corinthians 15:21-22).
Paul continued to build his case for the resurrection. He enthrallingly compared the spiritual and natural realms, revealed that our change will come at the last trumpet's sound, and demonstrated how "this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality."
His conclusion must have then left speechless those still doubting. If they had in fact ever realized it, he reminded them what their revered prophets Isaiah and Hosea had proclaimed: "Then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: 'Death is swallowed up in victory. O Death, where is your sting? O Hades [grave], where is your victory?'" (1 Corinthians 15:53- 55).
Because death cannot exist in eternal life, as darkness cannot exist in light, everlasting life then "mocks," as it were, both the grave and death. It "cheats" the grave and death.
This is why the glorious symbolisms of the Passover and Unleavened Bread are so important to us. They signal the road to eternal life.
Christ's Sinlessness and Our Responsibility
The Feast of Unleavened Bread (Leviticus 23) points us to the righteousness, the holiness, of Almighty God.
This helps Christians realize two important factors: first and most importantly, the feast highlights the sinless character of Jesus Christ, the unblemished "lamb" sacrificed for our sins.
Secondly, having repented of our sins and accepted Jesus' sacrifice for them, we have a responsibility to continue removing various sinful habits from our sinful nature. Why? Because sin weakens and destroys.
This is what the apostle Paul was addressing to the Corinthian Church in 1 Corinthians 5:7. The apostle Paul is clarifying this point: establish in your lives what you profess to know.
The church's acceptance of Christ's sacrifice for their sins was their first step in becoming uncontaminated, like a new batch of unleavened dough. After accepting Jesus Christ's sacrifice, they were then also required to live a clean life, free from past habits of sin. Not to continue putting sin out of their lives would make a mockery of Jesus Christ's holy sacrifice.
Let True Freedom Ring!
The Passover represents Christ's holy sacrifice, therefore the Passover season constitutes for us true freedom. Freedom from anguish, from debilitating weaknesses, from guilt; freedom from fear and from Satan's wicked manipulations of us; freedom of separation from God and freedom to bond with Him through Jesus Christ.
This is true freedom. NB
http://www.ucg.org/un/nb9803/truefreedom.htm (h/t)
Passover and Unleavened Bread...True Freedom: A Passover Season Lesson
by Jerold W. Aust
"My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrims' pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."
Similar words to the traditional song above must have rung loudly from the lips of our forefathers that first liberating Passover when they were redeemed from death, then set free!
Their time had come to be saved by the One typified as our Passover more than 1,400 years before He lived on this earth.
Earlier that night, Moses had told all the Israelite families to kill the unblemished lambs, called Passover lambs, selected for this time.
"Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said to them, 'Pick out and take lambs for yourselves according to your families, and kill the Passover lamb. And you shall take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. And none of you shall go out of the door of his house until morning.
"'For the Lord will pass through to strike the Egyptians; and when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and not allow the destroyer to come into your houses to strike you. And you shall observe this thing as an ordinance for you and your sons forever. It will come to pass when you come to the land which the Lord will give you, just as He promised, that you shall keep this service.
"'And it shall be, when your children say to you, "What do you mean by this service?" that you shall say, "It is the Passover sacrifice of the Lord, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt when He struck the Egyptians and delivered our households."' So the people bowed their heads and worshiped" (Exodus 12:21-27).
God vividly detailed this event to help us remember that without Christ having been our Passover sacrifice, sin would result in our having one inevitable end-eternal death (Romans 6:23).
But the Father wants us to also remember that because Jesus Christ was resurrected to eternal life, eternal death itself can be conquered.
Life Mocks Death
Jesus Himself knew that after His death, death itself would be conquered. Near His physical life's end, He desired that His followers would grasp the magnificence of that new life-for Him and them-that hinged on that death.
He revealed to His listeners that "the hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified."
He continued, explaining in terms they might comprehend: "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain" (John 12:24).
Then He told them what they in turn would have to face: " He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor" ( verses 25-26).
While they were considering all this they were stunned by a voice like thunder from the clouds-the voice of God!-affirming Christ's words.
Through His word and His Son's spirit in us, that voice of God still speaks loudly to us today, whereby we're stirred to remember His wonderful promises pictured by His great Holy Days.
Paul, when he was counteracting some who doubted an eternal future, enhanced Christ's metaphor for His death. To Christ's' earthy metaphor, he added those two seeds of human life, Jesus and Adam, to contrast their fruit: "For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive" (1 Corinthians 15:21-22).
Paul continued to build his case for the resurrection. He enthrallingly compared the spiritual and natural realms, revealed that our change will come at the last trumpet's sound, and demonstrated how "this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality."
His conclusion must have then left speechless those still doubting. If they had in fact ever realized it, he reminded them what their revered prophets Isaiah and Hosea had proclaimed: "Then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: 'Death is swallowed up in victory. O Death, where is your sting? O Hades [grave], where is your victory?'" (1 Corinthians 15:53- 55).
Because death cannot exist in eternal life, as darkness cannot exist in light, everlasting life then "mocks," as it were, both the grave and death. It "cheats" the grave and death.
This is why the glorious symbolisms of the Passover and Unleavened Bread are so important to us. They signal the road to eternal life.
Christ's Sinlessness and Our Responsibility
The Feast of Unleavened Bread (Leviticus 23) points us to the righteousness, the holiness, of Almighty God.
This helps Christians realize two important factors: first and most importantly, the feast highlights the sinless character of Jesus Christ, the unblemished "lamb" sacrificed for our sins.
Secondly, having repented of our sins and accepted Jesus' sacrifice for them, we have a responsibility to continue removing various sinful habits from our sinful nature. Why? Because sin weakens and destroys.
This is what the apostle Paul was addressing to the Corinthian Church in 1 Corinthians 5:7. The apostle Paul is clarifying this point: establish in your lives what you profess to know.
The church's acceptance of Christ's sacrifice for their sins was their first step in becoming uncontaminated, like a new batch of unleavened dough. After accepting Jesus Christ's sacrifice, they were then also required to live a clean life, free from past habits of sin. Not to continue putting sin out of their lives would make a mockery of Jesus Christ's holy sacrifice.
Let True Freedom Ring!
The Passover represents Christ's holy sacrifice, therefore the Passover season constitutes for us true freedom. Freedom from anguish, from debilitating weaknesses, from guilt; freedom from fear and from Satan's wicked manipulations of us; freedom of separation from God and freedom to bond with Him through Jesus Christ.
This is true freedom. NB
http://www.ucg.org/un/nb9803/truefreedom.htm (h/t)
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