What Does The Bible Mean When It Calls Jesus The Lamb Of God? John 1:29

This is a short post looking at what the Bible means when it calls Jesus the Lamb of God.

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"The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, 'Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.'" John 1:29

A LITTLE BACKGROUND:
Lambs were sacrificed at the temple every morning and evening as sin offerings to bear punishment as a substitute for the sinner.  Sin is rebellion against God, and sin must be punished because God is holy; but because God is love He accepts the lamb as a substitute for man's sin. The lamb represents innocence. God credits the innocence of the lamb to the sinner's and the sinner's sins are attributed to the lamb.

BEHOLD:
To behold is to have a sustained look. John is saying, "Take a good look at Jesus, look at him for yourself."  Even a casual reading of the Gospels will convince that Jesus was unique among all humanity.  He lived a beautiful and perfect life, there was no sin in him- even those who wanted to find fault in him could not find any wrongdoing.  His actions and miracles proved his divinity.

LAMB OF GOD:
Not the lamb of any man but the Lamb of God for God does what man cannot.   God who had no sin makes a sin offering.  The thousands of lambs offered at the altar only pictured the eventual sacrifice of Christ's death that would be enough for all mankind and satisfy the justice of God.

The lamb is singular, not plural as was the thousands of sacrificed lambs given at the altar over the years.  John spoke of one lamb and there is only one way to have peace with God through the offering of His one and only lamb- Jesus.

We cannot be our own lamb of sacrifice because of our sins.  We need another to save us. Jesus' righteousness becomes ours and our sins become his.

TAKES AWAY:
To take something away is to remove it or transport it.  The ancient custom of a scapegoat is suggested here, the scapegoat would symbolically bear the sins of Gods people out of the community as he wandered the wilderness.   Jesus became our scapegoat when he took our sin away.

THE SIN OF THE WORLD:
The scapegoat served the nation of Israel but was a picture of Jesus who would come not only for a nation but for the entire world.  God does not regard borders, ethnic identity or nationalities but offers the sacrificial lamb for all humanity.

That Jesus is the Lamb of God is salvation for the world but he must become your lamb in your own heart.  Trust him as Savior then you can say he is the lamb who takes away your sin.

To learn more about having your sins forgiven and how Christ saves then click on the tab above for the Gospel.

(c) Adron

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What Makes Jesus So Special? Colossians 2:9

We all know the stories of Jesus going around doing go good, healing people, teaching wonderful things, and performing miracles. What makes him so special?

"For in Christ all the fullness of God lives in a human body." Colossians 2:9.

ALL
To say all is to say every aspect is included, or nothing is left out.

FULLNESS
Fullness is not only all but all in total completeness, not just representative or a token.

LIVES
The fullness of God didn't just come on Jesus like a mist or enveloping spirit but in Christ God lived.

HUMAN BODY
Jesus was physical and human; he was fully man and also fully God. If God is all-powerful then he can do anything and if he wants to inhabit a human body he can if he can't then he is not much of a God. If there is one thing that is impossible for God how do we know there isn't another- like give us eternal life with Him in heaven? So it is not only reasonable that God the Almighty could and would inhabit a human body it is even essential to believe in the possibility.

EVEN MORE AMAZING
Jesus was all God so it is not a surprise that he was able to create miracles and raise the dead. Since he was all God he was able to do something else more amazing than raising the dead- he died. The death of Jesus can only be explained one way and it is that he died by choice. Jesus said, "I have authority to lay it down (his life) and I have authority to take it up again." John 10:17-18.

WHY
Why would Jesus the man who lived the most beautiful life ever willingly die? It was for others. He 'Gave his life as a ransom for many." Mark 10:45.

JESUS WAS QUALIFIED
Because he was the perfect man he was able to die for the sins of the world. No ordinary man could die for another's sin because he would have his own sins to pay for; so no one else was qualified to die and take the penalty of humanity's sins. When Jesus died on the cross our sins were put on him and he paid their judgment to the full. The resurrection proves Jesus completely satisfied God's judgment against sin.

YOU
Jesus paid for your sin and offers eternal forgiveness before God to any who will come to him. The Bible says, "To as many as received him to those who believed on his name he gave the right to become sons of God." John 1:12. Receive and Jesus today!

To learn more about the plan of salvation click the tab above for the "Gospel"

(c) Adron 3/6/14

Did Jesus Do Everything Or Do I Do Something To Get Saved?

We understand that Jesus died to pay for our sins so we can come to God but is there something we need to do to finish what he did, is Jesus death just a starting point and we do the rest?

"Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him because he always lives to intercede for them." Hebrews 7:25. NIV.

ABLE
Jesus is sufficient. There was enough of what he did and does for all mankind who has or will live. Christ's death is not just a patch on our sins. It wasn't just a good start for us. He is completely able. He does not need our help. If he needed our help in even the smallest bit there would be the threat that we did not do enough or the right thing, and salvation would always be suspect and liable to compromise. Someone who could have been saved may do the "whatever" not quite right and miss salvation.

If Christ was only able to do 99% of what needed to be done for salvation then why only 99%? If he is God he should be able to do it all. If we were able to do 1% then why can't we do 100 %? It is because we can't do anything to make right even the smallest sin that Our Lord must be able to do it all.

Our Lord must be able to pay it all or none of our sins are to be paid for at all.

COMPLETELY
Jesus knew his sacrifice was enough and nothing more needed to be done because on the cross he declared, "It is finished." (John 19:30). We do not have to finish what he started to get saved, he did it all. Our eternal life is given totally. His resurrection proves that there is no longer any punishment to be done.

ALWAYS LIVES
His resurrection demonstrated his power over death and that he has eliminated the threat of death spiritually for now and physically in the future. He is seated at the right hand of God and will be forever.

INTERCEDE
Jesus is the living intercessor for us since we come to God through faith in him and his work on our behalf; our faith is good as long as he lives and since he is living forever our faith once placed in him is good forever. He stands between the judgment of the Almighty and us as the one who has satisfied the judgment against us by paying for our sins.

When we trust in Jesus as our savior we are completely saved; Jesus said, "I give them eternal life and no one shall snatch them out of my hand." (John 10:28).

All that is left for us to do is to, "believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved." (Acts 16:31)

If you want to learn more about the good news of salvation by faith click on the Gospel tab above.

(c) Adron 8/23/13

What does Revelation say about Jesus?

In the ancient classical style, the Book of the Revelation begins with an introduction that is a summary of what it will tell you. Revelation chapter one is a thesis of what the book is about. What does it say about Jesus?

"When I saw him I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said, "Do not be afraid, I am the First and the Last. I am the living one, I was dead and now look I am alive forever and ever. and I hold the keys of death and Hades." Revelation 1:18-19.

THE FIRST AND THE LAST
This echoes the declaration of God as the Alpha and the Omega in verse eight, "I am the Alpha and the Omega says the Lord. Who is and who was and who is to come the Almighty." That means one of the opening statements and the thesis of Revelation is that Jesus is acknowledged and worshiped as God in heaven.

Alpha is the first letter and omega is the last letter of the ancient Greek alphabet. It is clear he is saying he is the beginning, end, and purpose of all things.

WHY IS JESUS THE FIRST AND LAST
The Lord has given part of the answer now and no doubt eternity will reveal more. Revelation shows Jesus as the lamb freshly slain. (Revelation 5:6). This recalls the word of John the Baptist, when he indicated Jesus and said, "Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." (John 1:29).

LAMB
The lamb was sacrificed to be a substitution for sins so that judgment would be passed over as if the lamb took the punishment. It was a living picture of God's plan for salvation that he would send his substitution, his son, to bear our sin and take our punishment. It was always His plan since before the beginning of time. This living picture pointed to Jesus the one who bore our sins.

THE BIG QUESTION
Volumes have been written about these questions but we each must answer for ourselves who to me is the man who hung on the cross for my sins? Is he no one, or is he my Savior whose promise I accept and receive eternal life?

To learn more about finding salvation click on the tab above titled "The Gospel."

 (c) Adron Dozat

Is God In People?

Does God live in people in some mystical way; do we all have the light of God in us, and do we contain some divine spark that will bring us to oneness with God?

"If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the son of God, God lives in them and they in God." 1 John 4:15. NIV.

ACKNOWLEDGE
This is not the just a mental assent, or an agreement with a tradition or history but a public statement of personal conviction. It is the same as confesses, declaration or to proclaim something to be true. This is to go beyond agreement that Jesus lived and died but to embracing him in a personal faith.

WHAT WE ACKNOWLEDGE
We must agree that Jesus is the son of God. To say Jesus is the son of God is to say he is, he always was and always will be God. It is to say that God himself came to us in a human form and lived a holy life that was sinless from conception to the time he returned to heaven.

The Bible shows Christ lived a life of good works, loving acts, restrained power, and divine insight. He demonstrated his divinity by forgiving sins, calming the storm, walking on water, healing the sick, raising the dead, and more acts of love and compassion than can be listed here.

THE CONDITION
We are all made in the image of God but he does not dwell in us until we make this confession because we have the issue of sin, and The Lord can have no fellowship or companionship with sin. Jesus being God had no sin to pay for, so when he sacrificed his life on the cross he accepted the punishment for our sins. He satisfied the judgment and the resurrection proves that the judgment of sin is fully paid. Just as Jesus accepted to himself the punishment for our sins we can accept his righteous life. We must believe and receive the salvation God offers through the sacrifice of his son and our confession is the public acknowledgment of the truth that God has come to live in us.

To learn more about salvation see the tab at top of this page.

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Thank you for visiting this blog. I hope these thoughts are helpful for you.

You can find more like this in the most helpful post list on the left sidebar.

You can contact me through comments or the email link. If you live near Columbia MD I would be glad to meet you and discuss how you can know for sure that you may have eternal life.

Adron

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