John 1:29-36
Jesus, The Lamb of God
Woodlawn Baptist Church
December 2001
Introduction
This week we will all be celebrating Christmas with our friends and families, eating too much and exchanging gifts. Before we do, I want to share with you a message about the greatest gift ever given. Of course you know I am speaking about the gift given from God to man, His Son Jesus Christ.
In the Bible Jesus is called by many names, four of which we have considered since Thanksgiving. We have seen Jesus as the Son of man; as the Son of God; as the Prince of Peace, and as the Dayspring from on high. Today I want to turn your thoughts to a title bestowed upon Jesus by John the Baptist, the Lamb of God.
You are all too familiar with the story. Because of the sin of Adam, the entire human population was and is born in a state of sin; the world is lost. But God is holy and righteous and cannot accept man in his sinful state, and therefore must punish sin. But God loved man, so He sent His Son to take our sin upon Him to make us acceptable. Jesus became the sacrifice for our sins, for the Bible tells us that there is no putting away of sins without a sacrifice, and there was only one sacrifice that could atone for the sins of mankind, and that was Jesus Christ himself.
He was fully God, yet made fully man. He yielded up His life in order that we might live; the Just for the unjust; the Sinless for the sinful. Any man, woman, boy or girl, anywhere in the world, who will trust himself to Christ, God’s great sacrifice, shall be saved, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
You know the story. It has become "old hat." You know the ins and outs of it and could repeat it in your sleep. But today I want to make an appeal to you much like the one John made to those who were in his presence that day long ago when Jesus came into their presence and he proclaimed, "Behold the Lamb of God!"
I want to plead with you today, in the power of the Holy Spirit who is in our presence this morning, to turn your eyes away from the fruitless search for peace and life, for comfort and security, to the precious Lamb of God! Many of you have looked far and wide for that thing in your life that will bring joy and satisfaction, and you know in the depths of your heart it will be found in Jesus, but you have begun to stray and look elsewhere, "Behold the Lamb of God!"
There is a hymn that we don’t often sing that goes like this:
"I’ve a message from the Lord, Hallelujah! The message unto you I’ll give;
’Tis recorded in His Word, Hallelujah! It is only that you look and live.
I’ve a message full of love, Hallelujah! A message, O my friend for you;
’Tis a message from above, Hallelujah! Jesus said it, and I know ’tis true.
I will tell you how I came, Hallelujah! To Jesus when He made me whole:
’Twas believing on His name, Hallelujah! I trusted and He saved my soul.
Look and live my brother live. Look to Jesus now and live;
’Tis recorded in His Word, Hallelujah! It is only that you look and live."
Have you beheld the Lamb of God lately? Can you say with all honesty that you have looked upon Jesus? Have you found salvation from the Lord? Have you found His peace in your soul? Have you found the joy that only comes from beholding, from turning away from all else to follow the Lamb of God who didn’t just take away the sins of the whole world, He took away your sins?
What greater wonder could there be to look upon than God Himself, in the flesh, in the person of Jesus Christ, and know that it is He who was given as the offering for our sin? The angels beheld the Lamb of God. They marveled and sang praises to God as they beheld Him. God Himself beheld His Son, the Lamb of God. He gave Him to die for you and for me.
When John said, "Behold the Lamb of God," I think He meant more than just, "look over there at that man." He meant for them to consider Jesus, to think on Him, to study Him, and to know Him. Look Him up and down. He is God. Do you understand who He is and what He has done? Do you know His great love and compassion for your soul? Have you experienced His forgiveness and His grace?
The Lamb of God is a great marvel. He is your Savior. He gave up the riches of heaven to live among men. He can touch your manhood in its weakness, and touch the Godhead in its fullness. So this morning, take your eyes off of everything else, and behold the Lamb of God! You don’t need to see anything else, for nothing else is really worth seeing. Behold Him! Let me give you some things to behold about the Lamb of God this morning very briefly.
I. Jesus is your Passover lamb.
Turn with me to read in Exodus 12:3-13. We understand the events that are going on here. This final plague in Egypt was that all those who were the firstborn in their families were going to die that night, but God provided a way of escape. Every family was instructed to take a lamb, inspect it for four days to make sure it had no blemishes or defects, and then on the fourteenth of the month they were to slay that lamb, spread the blood of it on the doorposts and header of their homes, and stay inside. They were to roast and eat the lamb, and in so doing, when the death angel passed through the land, he would pass over those people covered by the blood of the lamb.
Just like the Israelites, all of mankind was under a curse of death. The firstborn man must die because of sin. Man isn’t a sinner just because of what he does, but because of who he is. He is born in sin and is condemned to die. But God provided a Passover lamb, He was crucified, slaughtered, and His blood was shed for you and me. Isaiah said, "He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth."
There were some on that night in Egypt who would have considered the instructions to be foolish. Those who were not covered, not protected by the blood of the lamb died that night, and those of you who have not been washed, covered, protected by the blood of God’s lamb will die in your sins as well.
On the other hand, those who have come to Christ, who have trusted in His name, are covered by that blood. Paul said that "we have redemption, even the forgiveness of sins." How? "Through His blood." Turn with me to 1 Peter 1:18-19. Peter said "…ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold … but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot."
This verse 19 tells me a second thing to behold.
II. Jesus was our perfect sacrificial lamb.
Peter said that we were redeemed "with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot." He was perfect. There were no defects to be found in Him.
Turn to Hebrews 9:13ff. Read through and make comments about the perfect sacrifice of Christ for the remission of our sins. You see, when you consider Christ, when you behold Him, you must come to the same conclusion that Pilate came to. Turn to John 19:1-6. Read and make comments. Let me give you something else to behold about Jesus. Not only was He your Passover lamb, but…
III. Jesus was a promised lamb.
Jesus’ sacrificial death for you was planned before the world was created. Back in 1 Pe. 1, we read that we were redeemed with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. Verse 20 went on to say, "Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you." Revelation 13:8 says, "And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him (the antichrist), whose names are not written in the book of life of the lamb slain from the foundation of the world."
It is an amazing thing to me to know that before I was born; before you were born, before any man or woman ever walked the earth, and even before the earth was created, God had made plans for my redemption. God knew in His foreknowledge that man would need a sacrifice, and He planned that sacrifice in Jesus. You can wonder why God did things the way He did from now till you die, but that won’t change the fact that they are the way they are and you must accept Jesus as the sacrifice for your sins if you are to escape the second death.
IV. Jesus will be the praised lamb.
I want to quickly read to you a number of verses found in Revelation. Write these down and read them later.
Rev. 5:8 – "And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odors, which are the prayers of the saints."
Rev. 5:12 – "Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing."
Rev. 5:13 – "And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing and honor, and glory, and power, be unto him that setteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever."
Rev. 15:3 – "And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints."
Now all of those verses are speaking of a future day. We don’t know when it will be, but John was seeing things to come but have not happened yet. What I want you to know today is that you don’t have to wait until you get to heaven to worship and praise the Lamb of God. He is worthy of blessing and honor and glory today because of what He has done for you. "Well I don’t much feel like praising the Lamb of God today," you might say. Then you have not beheld the Lamb of God. Take your eyes off of your circumstances and how bad you’ve got it and get them on Jesus.
Conclusion
As I close, I want to say this final thing. There are some of you today who will not be praising God like John wrote about, but will rather be pleading with Him. In the Passover account we read earlier, God gave the people sufficient time to prepare, and when the death angel came through the camp, there was no second chance; they already had their chance.
Today is your chance. You have been sufficiently warned. If you have never accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior, then today is the day to do that. We are not told when death will strike, but only that it will, and it will. Are you washed in the blood? Have you trusted in the precious blood of the Lamb of God? As we sing this invitation, I plead with you to "Behold the Lamb of God, who took away the sins of the world."
