For someone not familiar with scripture, the term “Lamb of God” must sound very strange, yet for those who were at the Jordan River that day with John the Baptist, they understood the term. The Passover Lamb was part of the fabric of the Jewish life and culture, thus hearing the term “Lamb of God” would not be peculiar, but in reference to a mere human, “who takes away the sin of the world”, extraordinary.
This sacrificial Lamb has eternal relevance for all of us, as all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. We all need to understand who this Lamb of God is and why He is of utmost importance in our lives.
The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is He of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water.”
And John bore witness, saying, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him. I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.”
The Lamb of God
By Greg Laurie
“Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.”—Exodus 12:13
It’s interesting that when God instituted the ordinance of the Passover in Exodus 12:3, He told the Israelites to take a lamb. Then in the next verse He tells them to take the lamb. And then finally in verse five, He tells them to take your lamb.
When you stop and think about it, you can see a progression in this passage of Scripture of how a person comes to see Jesus. First, Jesus is a lamb. Then He is the lamb. Then He is your lamb.
Coming to Christ first begins with our recognizing that Jesus is some kind of religious figure with some kind of message of significance. We’re not really sure. We may have a general respect for Him, but it’s from a distance. He simply is a lamb.
Then Jesus is the lamb. There comes a moment in our lives when we recognize that Jesus is unique from all other figures in history. He’s more than a prophet, more than a teacher. He is actually the Son of God—deity in human form. He becomes the “Lamb of God,” as John the Baptist said, “who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). But then we go a step beyond that, and He becomes our lamb. We receive Him as our Savior and as our Lord.
There are many people today who acknowledge that Jesus is God. They acknowledge that He is in Heaven. But they have not yet embraced Jesus as their Savior. It is not enough to know that Christ died. It is enough when we recognize that Jesus died for our sins, then we repent from our sins, and finally, we receive Him as Lord. Only then is Jesus your lamb.