December 14, 2025 - The Inheritance of the Firstborn and the Fulfillment of the Cross (Exodus 13:1-16)

The Inheritance of the Firstborn and the Fulfillment of the Cross (Exodus 13:1-16)

Rev. Myung-Sin Choi

1 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Consecrate to Me all the firstborn, whatever opens the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and beast; it is Mine.” The Feast of Unleavened Bread 3 And Moses said to the people: “Remember this day in which you went out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand the Lord brought you out of this place. No leavened bread shall be eaten. 4 On this day you are going out, in the month Abib. 5 And it shall be, when the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, which He swore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, that you shall keep this service in this month. 6 Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a feast to the Lord. 7 Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days. And no leavened bread shall be seen among you, nor shall leaven be seen among you in all your quarters. 8 And you shall tell your son in that day, saying, ‘This is done because of what the Lord did for me when I came up from Egypt.’ 9 It shall be as a sign to you on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, that the Lord’s law may be in your mouth; for with a strong hand the Lord has brought you out of Egypt. 10 You shall therefore keep this ordinance in its season from year to year. The Law of the Firstborn 11 “And it shall be, when the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites, as He swore to you and your fathers, and gives it to you, 12 that you shall set apart to the Lord all that open the womb, that is, every firstborn that comes from an animal which you have; the males shall be the Lord’s. 13 But every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb; and if you will not redeem it, then you shall break its neck. And all the firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem. 14 So it shall be, when your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What is this?’ that you shall say to him, ‘By strength of hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 15 And it came to pass, when Pharaoh was stubborn about letting us go, that the Lord killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of beast. Therefore I sacrifice to the Lord all males that open the womb, but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.’ 16 It shall be as a sign on your hand and as frontlets between your eyes, for by strength of hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt.”

Introduction

I am thankful to God for giving us this sermon today. If you go to the grocery stores, you will hear the bells of the Salvation Army. The founder of the Salvation Army is William Booth but William came to know of Jesus due to his wife, Katherine. Katherine was called the mother of the Salvation Army. Katherine raised all of her children, eight children, in great faith. As she raised her children, people asked her how she was able to raise all of her children in great faith? Katherine replied with the same answer that all she did was that she was always one step ahead of the devil. Before her children could build a bad habit or speak bad words, she would speak them with good words, good wisdom, and good habits. Through the Bible, Katherine shared good wisdom to her children. That is why it is so important what we need to imprint into our children. We need to receive great grace through today’s sermon. I pray that you will receive good grace so that you can imprint with the word of God today. 

1. The Blessing of the Firstborn

(1) The power of the blood of the lamb

Verses 1-2, 12 - When all of the firstborn Egyptians were being killed during the passover, God told any one who posted the blood of the young lamb on their doorpost, their firstborns lived. It wasn’t just the firstborns who were saved but the entire household and their livestock were saved as well. This was amazing. All they did was apply the blood of the lamb and their entire household and livestock were saved. This shows the power of the lamb. If you look in Genesis 3, mankind sinned for the first time. When mankind became corrupted, the entire earth and land became corrupt and sinned. Everything was full of sin and death but all they did was apply the blood of the lamb, all curses and sin were resolved. Death departed and those who applied the blood of the lamb were consecrated. 

Verse 13 - It mentions a donkey and donkeys were considered unclean animals. When donkeys were born, they were born to be killed. From the moment they are born, they are born with the fate to be killed. But it was saved through the power of the lamb. But if there is no lamb to redeem that donkey, it will die and their neck will be broken. What determines life or death will be determined by the blood of the lamb. This was astounding. What does the blood of the lamb represent? The cross of Jesus Christ. But during the exodus, the cross of Jesus Christ wasn’t there but through the blood of the lamb, the same power was shown. If you apply the blood of the lamb, all curses and sin was washed away. If this all happened with just the blood of the lamb but right now, we are holding onto the blood of Jesus Christ. What kind of problems can be resolved from the blood of Jesus Christ? No matter what sin, curses, or problems come to us, it will all be resolved with the blood of Jesus Christ. 

(2) The firstborn made holy

Verses 3-9 - What does it mean to not eat unleavened bread? Through the blood of the lamb, the Israelites were completely freed and were made holy. They were completely freed from sin and curses through the blood of the lamb. They were able to live a new life and needed to live a new life. They had to discard their old life. Leavened and yeast represented sin. Eating leavened bread means that the bread will grow in size due to the yeast in it. This means that sin works the same way. Mankind fell because a small thought of sin entered into Eve’s mind. That small sin grew into a greater sin and caused her to eat the forbidden fruit. This caused all death for mankind. Due to this small thought, all mankind experienced death during Noah's flood. Because of a small thought, mankind fell again during the Tower of Babel. Not eating leavened bread means to discard all of our thoughts, lust, and greed. 

Verse 5 - God tells us what happens if we live a life of holiness. If we live as righteous people of God, God said that the land that He promises them will be full of honey and milk. A land flowing with milk and honey means that land has everything that they need. It is a land full of God’s blessings. If they entered into that land, then they can enjoy all of the blessings of God to the fullest.  

Verse 6 - How can they practice that? They needed to examine themselves and their lives before God. 

Verse 7 - God told them to not eat unleavened bread means that God is telling people to discard all things associated with sin. God is telling them to remember this and keep this law.

Verse 9 -  It is talking about what we see and what we speak. Our actions and what we speak, we should do it in righteousness. God is telling us that all of that needs to be holy. God is telling us that we need to keep God’s words in our mouths. WE need to take hold of God’s word and meditate on it, then we will always be victorious. God is telling them to do that in the land of Canaan. Then, we can enjoy the blessing of the land that is full of milk and honey. We must receive the blessing that God gives us. But we end up letting go of all of the blessings that God gives us and create their own version of blessings. But that is exactly what God desires from us. God desires us to live a life of eating unleavened bread. We need to be careful how we speak and of our actions. We need to keep our words and actions according to God’s word and God will grant us great blessings. We will find all blessings within God’s words. 

2. The Inheritance of the Firstborn

(1) Birthright

Verses 12-14 - There is constant emphasis on the firstborn. God is saying that the firstborn belongs to the Lord. Even if that life is destined for death, there is a way for it to be redeemed, just like donkeys. After donkeys were mentioned, God talked about all of the firstborns needing to be redeemed. God is actually referring to the firstborns of man. God is saying among your sons. 

Verse 14 - God is giving us the message regarding redemption for our next generation. God is talking about all of us even though it looks like God is speaking about only firstborns. God is giving a message to all Israel. We need to hold onto the message regarding the firstborns. 

Exodus 4:22 “Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord: ‘Israel is My son, My firstborn.’ ” - God said that Israel was His firstborn. All people of Israel are God's firstborns. It wasn’t just talking about firstborns but all of Israel. Then, what does firstborns refer to? All people of God who were redeemed by the power of the lamb are the firstborns. 

Hebrews 12:22-23 “But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, 23 to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect.” - There are meetings in heaven of the firstborns. What is the general assembly of the firstborns? All those whose names are written in the book of life. Those who were redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ. Why does God keep talking about firstborns? Firstborns are referring to the heirs of God. All blessings of God’s inheritance will go to those who are saved. We are the heirs of God and our names are written in the book of life. We have been redeemed by God and we have been promised of the power of God. The power of the heavenly throne has been given to us. We have the perfect condition to inherit God’s blessings. 

(2) Inheritance of the firstborn

Verse 15 - This is an important verse. Who is I in this verse? It was Moses. Moses gave sacrifice to God for all of Israel. In the Bible, it speaks about how all firstborns were redeemed. Firstborns means the heir of that family line. If the firstborn inherits something from their parents, it will represent what they have received for that entire family line. When someone applied blood of the lamb on their door post, probably the head of the family, that person saved their entire family and family line. Moses is saying that he was the mediator.  

Numbers 3:12 “Now behold, I Myself have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of every firstborn who opens the womb among the children of Israel. Therefore the Levites shall be Mine.” - The entire household was blessed from the firstborns but here, the tribe of the Levi were considered as the firstborns. The firstborn was able to redeem the entire family line but through the tribe of Levi, the 12 tribes of Israel were all redeemed. Through sacrifices, the blessing of the firstborns were on the Levites now. This was a great blessing that was given to the tribe of Levi. In order to save the firstborns, God used the blood of the lamb. Now, in order to save the 12 tribes of Israel, the tribe of Levi were used. By making the Levites as the heirs, they were able to redeem the 12 tribes. We have a more meaning of redemption through the firstborns and now the Levites. If Jesus Christ is the true priest, why do we have to become part of the sacrifice? The reason was because Jesus Christ was both the true Priest and sacrifice. This means that Jesus was the sacrificial animal and true priest who performed the sacrifice. Jesus redeemed us who were like donkeys who were destined for death. By the cross, Jesus Christ died and shed His blood for us. As the eternal sacrifice and priest, Jesus Christ died for us as the firstborn. When Jesus Christ died and resurrected, the first fruit was born. Jesus became the first fruit of resurrection and firstborn. Those who enter into Jesus Christ, then you will enjoy all of the blessings of resurrection. We were able to experience and receive all of the blessings of the firstborns through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. We are able to enjoy these blessings on this earth. 

3. The Message of the Cross

(1) Spiritual imprint - healing from darkness

1 Corinthians 1:18 “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” - We must hold onto this. Through the blood of the lamb, great power was shown. All sins were resolved and we were made holy. Then, what kind of power was shown through the blood of the cross? All darkness has no choice but to be broken. All curses and disasters have no choice but to flee. When we hold onto Christ, then all problems will be resolved. 

(2) Spiritual strength - root

1 Corinthians 1:24 “But to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.” - Through the blood of Jesus Christ, who was redeemed? Those who possess the power of Jesus, they are the firstborns. The firstborns of Jesus means that we have received all of the spiritual blessings given to us. If we are within Christ, then we lack nothing and we can do everything. 

(3) Spiritual mission - nature

1 Corinthians 1:28-29 “And the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, 29 that no flesh should glory in His presence.” - When we go to heaven, there is a general assembly of the firstborns. This means that we will one with Christ, where Christ is the head of the body and we are the body. We can enjoy all blessings of peace and happiness. The only thing that we can boast about is Jesus Christ. We live to glorify only the Lord. We are living a life flowing with milk and honey. 

Conclusion

Verse 13, 16 - To be called the firstborns of the Lord means that we will see the power of the Lord manifest in our lives. Through our actions and what we see, we will be witnesses of God’s power and presence. Through God’s power, may God guide our lives. Through the blessing that God gives us today, that is the absolute journey. May we enjoy this blessing in the name of Jesus Christ in full faith.