Grace Bible Church
Pastor Teacher
Robert R. McLaughlin
Sunday, November 6, 2016
"Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God and He is at the very center of the entire universe."
"He" is a reference to John the Baptist not the author of this Gospel who is John the apostle but the prophet John who was baptizing those Jews who wanted to repent and be prepared for the coming Messiah, TLJC.
The question that all should have is why was our Lord called the Lamb of God?
The lamb was one of four different categories of sacrifices used under the Old Testament Levitical code.
In the Old testament, the lamb was to be without spot and without blemish and was actually tied down to the horns of the altar.
When the lamb was tied down the priest stood there and had whoever came to him to receive forgiveness of God name his sins to the priest for the purpose of being forgiven by God.
In the OT, the priest would put one hand on the individual's head and another on the lamb's head which represented a transfer of their sins.
The priest would lift up his knife to the nose of the lamb and slit his throat. The result is blood squirting all over the place.
HEB 9:22
And according to the Law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
The point is that the lamb was not responsible for the sins but he paid for them.
When TLJC was hanging on the cross, the sins of the world were literally poured out on Him and judged.
As they were poured out on Him and judged this meant that sins were no longer the issue at salvation.
When the apostle John said "Behold the lamb of God," the word for Behold is was it known as a Greek interjection is used as a command meaning to denote, to surprise, it means to really look, don't miss Him.
"takes away" is the pres-act-part of airo which means to lift up, to bear, to carry It means to pick up a burden and carry it from those that were burdened.
ROM 6:23
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Under the law of double jeopardy our sins cannot be judged again.
When it says that the lamb takes away our sin, it means to lift up the burden, to carry it away and to bear it. The Lord not only died for sin but also for the effects of sin.
1. In Gen 4 there is the account of Abel and his lamb - the emphasis is upon the necessity of the Lamb.
2. In Gen 22, there is the incident in which Abraham offers the lamb in place of Isaac.
In this incident, the emphasis is not on the necessity of the lamb but upon God's provision of it.
Abraham was so impressed that he named the place Jehovah Jireh which is "Jehovah will provide."
The emphasis here is not upon propitiation (like Gen 4), but upon substitution.
1PE 3:18 For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, in order that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit;
3. Exo 12 - there is the Passover Lamb i.e., slain on the night before the Exodus of the Jews from Egypt.
In Exo12, the emphasis is on the slaying of the lamb.
Even though the lamb was without blemish, it was of no efficacious value while it was alive. The emphasis in Exo 12 is on the slaying of the lamb.
4. In Lev 16 the 4th passage concerning the lamb is filled with instructions about the sacrifices which were to be offered.
Lev 22:21, it shall be prefect to be accepted.
In Lev 16, the emphasis is upon complete absolution from guilt and condemnation.
5. Isa 53 is the 5th of these lamb passages, Isa 53:6-8.
In Isa 53, we discover that the lamb is a person.
1. Gen 4:3-7, the necessity of the Lamb. 2. Gen 22, the substitution of the lamb 3. Exo 12, the slaying of the lamb. 4. Lev 16, the character of the lamb. 5. Isa 53, the lamb is a person.
In Joh 1:29, our 6th passage on the lamb, the lamb is identified as the Lord Jesus Christ.
The emphasis in Joh 1 is upon the Lamb completely removing our sins from us.
7. Then in Acts 8, Philip explained to the Ethiopian that the lamb of God is Jesus Christ. The lamb is further identified as the promised Christ, the Son of God.
What the Ethiopian had failed to find in Jerusalem in the Law, in the temple and in the ceremonials, he now found in Jesus Christ the lamb i.e., personal salvation.
8. From that we pass now to the 8th passage on the lamb i.e., 1Pe 1:18-21. The resurrection of the slain lamb was something never disclosed in O.T. times.
That the lamb should die is foretold again and again but nowhere is his resurrection predicted.
In 1Pe 1:18-21, the emphasis is upon redemption through the lamb.
9. Then in Rev 5, we see the 9th reference to the lamb who is now in the throne of heaven i.e., the very throne of the universe.
10. Rev 21and 22, what a climax of the never ending glory of the lamb is portrayed in these last two chapters of the N.T. The final picture of the lamb is that of His everlasting kingship.
The lamb sits in the very throne of God i.e., called the throne of God and of the Lamb
Abel reveals the necessity of the lamb; Abraham reveals the provision of the lamb; The Exodus reveals the slaying of the lamb; Leviticus reveals the character of the lamb; Isaiah 53 reveals that the lamb is a person.
Joh 1, we have the identification of the lamb. Acts 8 gives us the Christ-hood of the lamb 1Pe 1 reveals the resurrection of the lamb Rev 5 reveals the enthronement of the lamb Rev 21,22 reveals the endless kingship of the lamb.
1. In the case of Abel, we are told simply that lamb was offered. It was offered as a propitiation for sin.
2. In the case of Abraham and Isaac, the lamb was offered in the place of one person, namely Isaac.
3. In the Exodus passage, in the case of the Passover, each family must have its own lamb.
4. In the book of Leviticus on the day of atonement we see the character of the lamb for one nation.
5. In Isa 53, we have a great picture of the suffering lamb, the Messiah.
6. In Joh 1, "Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world."
7. In Acts 8, He is the lamb for each individual, not for the Jew only, but also for the dark-skinned gentile Ethiopian.
8. In 1Pe 1, it is the lamb foreordained from before the foundation of the world.
9. In Rev 5, the lamb is enthroned and we see the lamb for the universe.
10. In Rev 21 and 22 where He reigns in endless glory in the new heaven and new earth, we see the Lamb for all eternity.
1. Abel reveals the necessity of the lamb;
2. Abraham reveals the provision of the lamb;
3. The Exodus reveals the slaying of the lamb;
4. Leviticus reveals the character of the lamb;
5. Isaiah 53 reveals that the lamb is a person.
6. Joh 1, the identification of the lamb.
7. Acts 8 the Christ-hood of the lamb
8. 1Pe 1, the resurrection of the lamb
9.Rev 5, the enthronement of the lamb 10 Rev 21,22, the endless kingship of the lamb.
1. The Lamb for sin
2. The Lamb for one person
3. The Lamb for one nation
4. The lamb for the elect
5. The Lamb as a person
6. The Lamb for the world
7. The Lamb for whosoever
8. The Lamb all history
9. The Lamb all whole universe
10. The Lamb for all eternity