Introduction
The first announcement John the Baptist made concerning his cousin, Jesus, was that he was the Lamb of God.
The Lord gave John the privilege and responsibility of introducing Jesus the Messiah to Israel and the world.
Although he did not do any known miracles and only a few of his words are recorded in Scripture, Jesus declared that John was the greatest of the prophets. Greatness in God’s eyes is often very different from how we perceive it.
John announced four important aspects of Jesus’ person and work, which we would never have grasped on our own and which are integral to the gospel.
John announced that Jesus is the Lamb of God, the Son of God, the Baptizer in the Holy Spirit, and the Son of Man. Each of these titles has tremendous significance and defines an important aspect of our Lord’s person and work. I will describe the importance of each of these titles in this and the following three articles.
The Lamb of God – Knowing Jesus as Savior
The next day he [John the Baptist] *saw Jesus coming to him and *said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! John 1:29 (NASB)
I imagine that John shocked his followers by telling them that Jesus was God’s Lamb. Our impression of a lamb is probably a cute, gentle, and cuddly animal. But for the Israelites, this designation brought to mind the blood sacrifice and perhaps the prophet Isaiah’s words.
He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth. Isaiah 53:7 (NKJV)
How many of them at that moment grasped that this meant that Jesus would be a human sacrifice? Not since Abraham’s day had such a thing been heard. Would God the Father actually sacrifice his Son? Looking back from our present day, the answer, of course, is yes, but try to put yourself in that time before the crucifixion and resurrection. How would they have conceived that God would carry through on the act he foreshadowed when he asked Abraham to slay his son Isaac, the son of promise, his only son by Sarah? Whereas God the Father relented and spared Isaac, Abba allowed his own Son to die an excruciating death to expiate the sins of his enemies.
For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. 11 And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. Romans 5:10–11 (NKJV)
Amazing grace! Only by the shedding Jesus’ blood on the cross could God the Father forgive our sins.
The perfect Lamb made the perfect sacrifice that inaugurated the perfect covenant.
Even though John prophesied these words, I doubt that even he fully understood them. Jesus, however, grasped their import and what being God’s Lamb would cost him. At the Last Supper, he made this announcement to his bewildered disciples. Taking the cup of wine, he told them:
“...This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. Luke 22:20 (ESV)
Probably most people who call themselves Christians know Jesus primarily as the Lamb of God, the One who died for our sins. Another way of describing this role is to call him Savior.
Those of us who become followers of Christ must first know Jesus as Savior before we can go forward on our discipleship journey.
We must first of all be forgiven, declared “not guilty,” and reconciled to Abba Father. Otherwise, we are imprisoned in the realm of darkness, sin, and Satan. Putting our faith and allegiance in God’s Lamb opens the door wide for us to become one of God’s born-again children, part of his eternal family.
If there is a “down side” to this, many of those who acknowledge Jesus as Savior may go little further in their understanding of who Jesus is.
Jesus is Savior, but he is so much more, and the Spirit of God wants us to know him in each way John prophesied.
In our consumer culture, it is only natural that Jesus would be presented and received in terms of what he can do for us, but the full gospel is not consumer oriented.
Whenever the complete gospel is presented, the benefit of experiencing forgiveness through the sacrifice of the Lamb is always in the context of radical surrender to his Lordship.
Presenting forgiveness without the call to surrender our total being to God is a distortion that can influence people away from following the Lord in joyful obedience as a way of life. Jesus said that his disciples must enter through a narrow gate and walk a narrow path in order to follow him. Preaching only forgiveness without Lordship, is much too wide a gate and path and can hinder a person’s development as a disciple. The Lordship of Christ will be the subject of the next article.
With that being said, it is absolutely proper and necessary to proclaim the forgiveness of sins. Jesus told us to do so.
Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, 46 and He said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, 47 and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. Luke 24:45-47 (NASB)
Prayer
Jesus, thank you for dying for my sins as the perfect Lamb of God. I receive from you, my Savior, the forgiveness that I could never earn. Thank you, Father God, that you have declared me to be “not guilty” in your sight because of what your Son did on the cross by taking my sins upon himself. Thank you for raising him from the dead to be my Lord, too. Thank you for making me part of your forever family. Come, Holy Spirit, fill me to overflowing. Reveal more and more about what the Bible says about Jesus to me. Help me to live for Jesus from now on. Amen.
