Celebration Of A New Festival

1 Corinthians 5:7-8 says, ‘7 Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 8 Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.’

In the Old Testament, God asked His people to celebrate festivals. We always think that if we choose the path of God, we are choosing a life that is dull, devoid of any fun and happiness. This is a myth. Nothing in the world can give you peace and happiness like God. Everything else in our life are our bubbles. They look fascinating from afar, but when you touch it, the bubble bursts only to show us the crude reality. 

Everything that happened in the Old Testament is a shadow of the things to happen in the New Testament. Even in the time of the Old Testament, while it was a shadow of things to come, there was still celebration and revelry. Life as a believer is not seeped in unhappiness and agony. It is a beautiful walk with God. One of the key celebrations during the time of the Old Testament was Passover. Passover was celebrated by the Israelites just a day before they were rescued from Egypt under rule of the Pharaoh. They killed a Passover lamb and ate its meat. They applied the blood of the lamb on the pillar posts of every home to protect their first born from the angel of Death. They commemorated this day every other year. 

1 Corinthians 5:7-8, is a reflection of the Passover celebration. The scripture talks about bread and on the Passover day, the bread they are expected to eat should not contain yeast and should not be fermented. Yeast is a representation of malice and wickedness, which means what you consume should be holy. The Passover Lamb is a reflection of Jesus being crucified on the Cross of Calvary. We must ensure that we remove wickedness and sin from our life. We should embrace sincerity and truth instead which is represented by the new bread. In the Old Testament as a religious ritual they celebrated Passover and ate the unleavened bread. 

However in the New Testament, after the lamb, which is Jesus who has no wickedness or malice, was slain on the cross we have moved away from the Old. We must eat the bread of sincerity and truth. The substance of the shadow was fulfilled in Jesus. Now, we do not need to sacrifice a lamb for our sins. We must live a life of holiness and celebrate this holiness. The crucifixion of Jesus Christ on the Cross is a mark of celebration of the new promise and the commandment to live a life of holiness. It’s our duty to not slide back, to not go back to sin or wickedness. 

Romans 12:1 says, ‘Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.’

We should surrender our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. The aspect of purity and holiness is a recurring theme in this verse as well. In fact, Holiness is considered to be a hallmark of Christianity. In conclusion - what is our celebration today? Our celebration is the celebration of Holiness; celebration of a new festival. 

1 Peter 3:15 says, ‘But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear;”

Sanctify the Lord in your heart means vacate and throw away all other occupants from your heart. In your heart of hearts you must love Jesus more than anything and anybody in your life. Create a throne room in your heart (holy of holies) for the Lord Almighty and glorify his name. Don’t let anybody or anything else take hold of your heart. One of the most common things that try to take a hold in your heart is money (Mamon) and the greed for it. While many people claim that they believe in God, what they rely on is money. From money to your partner to video games and movies can take the place in your heart that is reserved for Christ. We must guard our hearts against this and throw away any such obsessions from us. 

In the Old Testament, the Israelites celebrated Passover and ate the unleavened bread and sacrificed a lamb. However as per the New Testament, we don’t need to eat the unleavened bread but live a life of sanctification, truth and holiness. Our celebration is a festival of holiness. If we all decide to live in this Holiness, the Christendom will be blessed, our people will be blessed and the world at large will be better.