The Lamb of God

As the Sabbath comes upon this week, we are a little less than a week from the Passover. It is a time for us to consider our Savior, Jesus Christ. The Bible reveals a great deal about the one who became God in the flesh and died on behalf of all mankind.

One description of Jesus Christ is given to us by John the Baptist. In John 1:29, we see John clearly recognized who Jesus was, “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”” A day later as they were walking along, he makes the same point to two of his own disciples, “Behold the Lamb of God!”

John was not making an idle statement. He was declaring something of great significance for the people of his time. The Apostle John recorded this declaration because it is still a most significant point for all of us living two thousand years later.

Declaring that Jesus was the Lamb of God points to the promises that had been made from the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8). The significance of the Lamb of God continues to be emphasized in the New Testament especially in the book of Revelation.

It is significant that Christ came as a lamb and not a lion, leopard, bear or other wild predator. He came into the world as a lamb, an animal whose only defense is to flee in the face of attack. Jesus knew from early on in His life that He was the Lamb of God who was to be the ultimate offering for sin. He knew He was to die for the sins of all mankind. We all know that at some point we are to die, but none of us carry the weight knowing for certain we will die a humiliating and excruciating death.

The church deacon, Philip was inspired by God’s Spirit to travel down the road leading from Jerusalem southward toward Gaza. As Philip traveled along, an Ethiopian eunuch was traveling along in a chariot, returning home from worshiping in Jerusalem. Philip encountered this man as he was reading in the book of Isaiah.

This encounter is addressed in the book of Acts, “So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, "Do you understand what you are reading?" And he said, "How can I, unless someone guides me?" And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him. The place in the Scripture which he read was this:

"He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and as a lamb before its shearer is silent, so He opened not His mouth. In His humiliation His justice was taken away, and who will declare His generation? For His life is taken from the earth."

So the eunuch answered Philip and said, "I ask you, of whom does the prophet say this, of himself or of some other man?" Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him” (Acts 8:30-35).

The quote above is found in Isaiah 53 and in the whole context of the Messiah to come it speaks of him as a “sheep” or “lamb” who is to be slaughtered. It’s hard not to see a correlation between the “sheep” of Isaiah, the declaration concerning “the Lamb of God” and Jesus Christ.

I would like to bring this Sabbath thought to a close by considering two passages recorded for us by the Apostle Peter. In both quotes, we can see that Peter ties Jesus Christ in with “the Lamb of God.”

1 Peter 1:17-21 And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear; knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

Clearly, Christ was our Passover sacrificed for us (1 Corinthians 5:7).

1 Peter 2:21-25 For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps: "Who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth"; who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously; who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness — by whose stripes you were healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.”

Without a doubt, Peter ties Jesus to Isaiah 53 which is a prophecy concerning the coming of the Lamb of God.

Jesus was “the Lamb of God.” He came as a lamb and died as “the” Passover lamb for our sins.

What is especially beautiful is that He lived as a lamb and died on our behalf. From that experience, Christ now serves as “the Shepherd and Overseer” of our souls. Who could be more qualified to be our Shepherd than one who experienced being a lamb?

Have a great Sabbath,

Gary Smith

There Is A Way That Seems Right To A Man

As we look at the present world, we can see that it is filled with problems: hunger, ignorance, poverty, sickness, disease, hatred, violence, and war to name a few.

Everyday mankind struggles with these various problems, but men only seem to make limited, if any progress, with the myriad problems. Sadly, this is not a condition that is recent in origin. The problems we face trace all the way back to the first man and woman, Adam and Eve.

Adam and Eve received clear instruction from God on how to live. God told them, “And the Lord God commanded the man saying, of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (Genesis 2:16-17)

God gave man a choice. To walk humbly before God by eating of the tree of life, or to walk in a way contrary to God by eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Regrettably, Adam and Eve chose what the book of Proverbs describes as the foolish path. They chose the way that seems right to a man (Proverbs 16:25), and the end result of that path is death.

Death is the ultimate consequence of choosing to live a life apart from God. In the meantime, what impact did the choice of Adam and Eve have? “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned” (Romans 5:12). In other words, Adam set the pattern of sin and all of his descendants have followed that same path.

Sadly, mankind is going to continue to follow the way that seems right in their own eyes, and the problems we face on this earth will not be resolved.

However, as the Sabbath approaches, we might consider that God in His mercy has opened our minds to see that there is a better way. It is not the way that seems right to a man, but it is the way that seems right to God. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

One cannot gain knowledge of spiritual things if he begins at the wrong point, refusing to fear the Lord (i.e., to recognize God's character and respond by revering, trusting, worshiping, obeying, and serving Him).

The outcome of the fear of the Lord is described throughout the book of Proverbs, but the introductory verses give us a foretaste of what we can learn with the fear of the Lord as our foundation. “To know wisdom and instruction, to perceive the words of understanding, to receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, judgment, and equity; to give prudence to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion — A wise man will hear and increase learning, and a man of understanding will attain wise counsel” (Proverbs 1:2-5).

What a difference it will make once man learns that it is only through the fear of the Lord, and the application of God’s truths, that all these problems that plague mankind will be eradicated one by one.

Each Sabbath is a reminder that a world in which the “fear of the Lord” is foundational is sure to come.

Enjoy the Sabbath day,

Gary Smith