The Meaning of Life

I left off on Tuesday in my post on The Three Passovers introducing the idea of the importance of the first-born. The three Passovers, Isaac’s sacrifice, the Passover, and Jesus’ sacrifice, all deal with the first-born. Isaac is the first-born, and he offers himself up as a sacrifice; he was passed over with a ram taking his place. Israel is God’s first-born, and they were passed over by the blood of the lamb on their doorposts and by eating the lamb. Jesus is the Father’s only-begotten Son: “He is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation” (Colossians 1:15). Jesus, as pre-eminent first-born, sacrifices Himself in order for you and me to be passed over. We are united to Him in baptism and Holy Communion wherein we put His blood on our doorpost and eat the Lamb, respectively.

In the first two Passovers, the first-born was passed over; in the final one, the first-born is the sacrifice. Is there another first-born that was passed over in Jesus’ saving actions? -Perhaps it is you and me: “But far be it from me to glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. Peace and mercy be upon all who walk by this rule, upon the Israel of God” (Galatians 6:14-16). Paul speaks of the Church as the Israel of God; therefore, since Israel is God’s first-born, and we are now the New Israel, we and all members of the Church are God’s first-born. So we are first-born who are passed over by the angel of death, and our Passover Lamb is Jesus at the Last Supper and on the Cross.

The question that arises in my mind is why is the first-born so important, and why does it hold such a pivotal place in these highly important events in Salvation History? As usual, I think the answer lies in the events at the beginning. The course the man and the woman set the human race upon is the answer to much of human history and to the questions we have today. According to my theory, the direct result of the Fall was the conception of Cain. They wanted him and were trying to get him; hence, his name means gotten. He was the first-born of the human race. He was a murderer and a son of the evil one. The first-born son of man belonged, in a certain respect, to satan, and Cain gave himself over to his ways and so slaughtered his righteous brother.

Cain imitated his fathers in killing his brother: humanity is like a brother to the angels, and satan wants to destroy us and has destroyed many of us; Adam’s fall resulted in the spiritual death of the human race. Both satan and Adam murdered their brothers so to speak, and Cain only imitated what they did. In one sense it is amazing just how bad the very first person born of man was, yet in another sense, Cain was merely a chip off the old block. Either way you look at it, humanity’s fruitfulness started off with a horrible beginning. And his name was Cain for he was gotten. He was gotten.

So why did the first-born need to be sacrificed or passed over? A clue resides in the three main sacrifices of the Old Testament: bulls, sheep and goats. Bulls needed to be sacrificed because people were worshipping bulls and the bull-god, Apis. The Golden Calf was part of this worship where people were seeking fertility and prosperity and so the men and women would imitated what bulls would do to female cattle. Seeking life, they had an orgy. The result, they hoped, would be a conception: thus, the golden calf. Here, too, they were seeking a child, and they sought this child in a way contrary to their dignity, to God’s plan, and to trusting in God. After the golden calf, bulls needed to be sacrificed as a financial penance and so that the people would no longer worship them.

After the Golden Calf, the people went after another false god symbolized by goats. It was another fertility cult, and the people were again seeking life and a child in their own way and by their own terms. “So they shall no more slay their sacrifices for satyrs, after whom they play the harlot” (Leviticus 17:7). The satyrs are the goat gods who are obsessed with continually having sex, and those who worship these false gods would imitate them. Since the people were involved with this evil practice, God had them sacrifice goats. Again, it was a financial difficulty to sacrifice one’s livestock, and one’s gods did not look kindly on being killed. It was a God-given help to avoid this near occasion of sin.

Sacrificing bulls and goats was mandated because they were worshipped. Sheep were never worshipped, so why would God have us sacrifice them? A sheep is the sacrifice of the Passover, and Jesus is the Lamb of God. They are the most important animal sacrifice, but why does God mandate this sacrifice? Was their any sin associated with sheep or lambs? I think there was. Sheep symbolize humanity. We are like sheep; we are incredibly stupid. So sheep need to be sacrificed because they symbolize us; we worshipped ourselves. When did we do this? We do it every time we sin, but we do it especially when we seek humans over God.

The man and the woman sought a child over and against God’s command not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God wanted them to have a child, but He wanted to give it to them virginally as He did with Mary. They sought a child, and they got him, and they named him gotten (Cain). So here the theme of the first-born and sheep come together. The Passovers all have to do with sheep and with first-borns because our first parents worshiped, as it were, their first-born son and even disobeyed God to get him. Their souls were sold to satan in order to get Gotten; that is why he and all of the human family needs to be bought back or redeemed from the prince of this world.

We all deserve death and are in bondage to sin and satan, and we are like lambs, so the solution is for a lamb to take our place that we may be passed over and live. That is why sheep were sacrificed in the Old Testament, but those “sacrifices are offered which cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper” (Hebrews 9:9). These Old Testament laws were good, but they were the symbol, not the reality. “For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices which are continually offered year after year, make perfect those who draw near” (Hebrews 10:1). Those sacrifices do not make perfect; however, Jesus’ sacrifice is capable of such a feat.

“For it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins. Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, ‘Sacrifices and offerings thou hast not desired, but a body hast thou prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings thou hast taken no pleasure. Then I said, ‘Lo, I have come to do thy will, O God,’’ as it is written of me in the roll of the book” (Hebrews 10:4-7). We are given a body in order to have something to sacrifice, and with our bodily sacrifices we are praying with the body. We are given a will in order that we can sacrifice that, too, and by saying “Thy will be done,” we are praying the most important prayer. Prayer and sacrifice, the prayer of the heart and of prayer of the body, when they are combined are the most powerful. When we completely trust God and seek to do whatever He asks of us, especially what He asks us to do with our bodies, then we are far along the path to unity with Him. It is in this full faithfulness that we have abundant life and belong to Him, and that is the meaning of life.

Thanks for reading and your prayers.
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