from Gary Hamrick
... Senior Pastor of Cornerstone Chapel

... God’s mercy is given where His provision is trusted

Exodus 12:13 NKJV (devotion translation)

In the first Passover, God gave His people a clear and specific instruction: the blood of a spotless lamb was to be applied to the doorposts of their homes. This was not symbolic sentiment—it was a decisive act of obedience. Judgment would pass through the land, but wherever the blood was present, there would be mercy.

The power was not in the people, nor in their background, but in the provision God had made. The determining question was simple: Was the blood applied?

This points us directly to the work of Christ. God, in His holiness, must judge sin. Yet in His mercy, He has provided a substitute. Jesus, the spotless Lamb, has shed His blood so that sinners might be spared. At the cross, justice and mercy meet. Sin is not ignored—it is paid for. And those who are covered by Christ are no longer under condemnation.

The message of Passover is not merely historical; it is deeply personal. Just as in Egypt, the issue is not identity, effort, or intention, but whether we are trusting in God’s provision. It is possible to be near the truth and still remain uncovered.

Faith, then, is not a vague belief but a deliberate placing of trust in what God has said and done. We come not with our works, but with dependence upon Christ alone. His blood is sufficient. His sacrifice is complete.

God has made a way that upholds His righteousness while extending grace. This is not complicated, but it is profound. The question remains for each heart: Am I resting under the covering God has provided?

Lord, help me to trust fully in the sacrifice of Christ and rest under the covering of His blood. Amen.

• Exodus 12:23 - The Lord “passes over” where the blood is applied, reinforcing divine protection through God’s provision.
• Leviticus 17:11 - Life is in the blood, and atonement is made through it, underscoring the seriousness of substitutionary sacrifice.
• Isaiah 53:5-7 - Describes the suffering Servant whose sacrifice brings healing and peace.
• John 1:29 - Jesus is identified as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
• Romans 5:8-9 - Believers are justified and saved from wrath through the blood of Christ.
• 1 Corinthians 5:7 - Christ is our Passover Lamb, fulfilled in His sacrificial death.
• Ephesians 1:7 - Redemption and forgiveness are found through Christ’s blood.
• Hebrews 9:22 - Without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.
• 1 Peter 1:18-19 - Redemption is described as being purchased with the precious blood of Christ, like a spotless lamb.