God's Little Lamb

1. A friend of mine recently shared an observation with me from Exodus 12:1-6

The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, 2 “This month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year for you. 3 Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their fathers' houses, a lamb for a household. 4 And if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his nearest neighbor shall take according to the number of persons; according to what each can eat you shall make your count for the lamb. 5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats, 6 and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight.

a. A Lamb

b. The Lamb

c. Your Lamb

d. Their Lambs

2. The Bible points us to Jesus – one of those places is in the Passover meal – the lamb; the bread; the wine all point to Him

3. Consider the progression:

I. The Common Lamb

A. A “Regular” Person – Isaiah 53:2 2 For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.

B. A “Supernatural” Person – Philippians 2:6-8 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself . . . ,8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

II. The Consecrated Lamb – John 1:29

A. Provided by God

Genesis 22:7 7 And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”

B. Portrayed in Jesus – Isaiah 53:7 7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.

C. Purposed in the Cross

• Jesus took away our sin by bearing it upon His own body (1 Peter 2:24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.)

• Jesus took the charges that were against us and nailed them to the cross (Colossians 2:13-14 13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.)

III. The Clearly Personal Lamb (Your Lamb)

A. Personal Inspection (Exodus 12:5; Matthew 21:1-11)

Christ was closely inspected by:

• Pilate (Matthew 27:11-16; Luke 23:1-6, 13-25; John 18:28-19:16)

• Herod (Luke 23:8-12)

• Annas (John18:12-13, 19-24)

• Caiaphas (Matthew 26:57)

• They could find no fault in Him Christ is the “lamb without blemish or defect” (1 Peter 1:19)

B. From God’s Perspective – Genesis 22:1-2 After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 2 He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”

C. From Our Perspective – Colossians 2:6 Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him,

There’s the story told of an artist named Steinberg who had taken in a beautiful gypsy girl to pose for his paintings. At the time he was working on his masterpiece "Christ on the Cross" and the girl used to watch him work on this painting. One day she said "He must have been a very wicked man to be nailed to the cross like that."

"No, he was a very good man, perhaps the best man that ever lived. He died for others."

The girl looked at the painting for a long time and then looked up at him and asked. "Did He die for you?"

At the time, Steinberg was not a follower of Christ, but the girl's question touched his heart and not long afterward he became a believer in Jesus.