60 Seconds – The Lamb of God

In Calcutta, India, a young Brahman came to the house of a missionary for an interview. In the course of the conversation, he said, “Many things which Christianity contains I find in Hinduism. However, there is one thing which Christianity has and Hinduism has not.” “What is that?” the missionary asked. His reply was striking. “A Savior!”

We read of John the Baptist, “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.’ ” According to Arthur W. Pink, “There is an interesting progressive order followed by God in the teaching of Scripture concerning “the Lamb.” In Genesis 4, we have the Lamb typified in the firstlings of the flock slain by Abel in sacrifice. Second, we have the Lamb prophesied in Genesis 22:8, where Abraham said to Isaac, ‘God will provide Himself a lamb.’ Third, in Exodus 12, we have the Lamb slain and its blood applied. Fourth, in Isaiah 53:7, we have the Lamb personified: here for the first time we learn that the Lamb would be a Man. Fifth, in John 1:29, we have the Lamb identified, learning who He was. Sixth, in Revelation 5, we have the Lamb magnified by the hosts of heaven. Seventh, in the last chapter of the Bible, we have the Lamb glorified, seated upon the eternal throne of God, Revelation 22:1.”

We are told, in 1 Peter 1:19, that we have been redeemed “by the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.” “Blemish” means “without blame,” “faultless,” “of blamelessness in character and conduct.” The Amplified Bible reads, “But (you were purchased) with the precious blood of Christ (the Messiah), like that of a (sacrificial) lamb without blemish or spot.” F. B. Meyer stated, “When the soul has spent itself unduly, He recruits it. When diseased, He heals it. When penitent, He puts it back whence it fell.”

Scripture also gives us an orderly development in the scope of the sacrificial Lamb. In Genesis 4, sacrifice is offered for the individual– Abel. In Exodus 12, the sacrifice is made for a family. In Leviticus 16, on the annual Day of Atonement, the sacrifice is for the entire nation. Finally, in John 1:29, it is “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”

“Christ was really God, as though He were not man at all, and as really man, as though He were not God at all. Therefore, with one hand He can reach up – the equal with the Father, and with the other hand reach down to the lowest sinner in the world” (George W. Truett).