Lamb and Son of God

The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God” (John 1:29-34).

The Holy Spirit had already prompted John to declare that the Word of God… “Came to his own, and his own people did not receive him” (John 1:11). But the Baptist did not relent in using imagery that should have captured the attention of his Jewish audience. John used divinely inspired words to introduce Christ… Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. John identified Jesus Christ as the object of sacrifices that dated all the way back to Abraham, who trusted in God’s timely provision of a sacrificial lamb… “Abraham said, ‘God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son’” (Genesis 22:8). The Spirit used the declaration of John to clearly identify Jesus as the Messiah He described so intimately through the prophecy of Isaiah… “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.  He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth” (Isaiah 53:6-7). After acknowledging that this was no invention of his own mind, but that God Himself had given him this revelation, the Spirit prompted John to add a further title to Jesus. The Spirit moved John to identify Jesus as both Lamb of God and Son of God. Here the Holy Spirit, our Teacher, reveals the spiritual truth that it was no ordinary lamb that was to be offered for our sin. The Savior who would atone for sin and baptize Christ followers with the Spirit of God had to be both Lamb and Son of God.

There is certain truth that sets Christianity apart from other religions. All religions offer solutions to the problems of sin and death. Mankind wrestles with these two great problems in every part of the world and in every culture because the world God has created declares the truth that mankind sins and suffers death as a consequence of sin… “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse” (Romans 1:18-20). Because men suppress God’s revealed truth instead of submitting to it, they invent all sorts of man-made, religious solutions to the problems of sin and death. And a close examination of every religion except Christianity reveals some sort of human effort at its core to deal with sin and achieve eternal life.

Christianity is founded on the teaching and revelation of God’s Holy Spirit. The teacher plainly teaches that sin requires the shedding of blood as atonement… “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life” (Leviticus 17:11). The blood must come from a perfect lamb… “Your lamb shall be without blemish” (Exodus 12:5). But the Spirit also teaches that only God Himself could be the savior that would permanently atone for all sin for all sinners… “For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior” (Isaiah 43:3). Again the Spirit teaches that the promised Savior would be God Himself… “But I am the LORD your God… you know no God but me, and besides me there is no savior” (Hosea 13:4). As the Son of God, Jesus was begotten of God and therefore was and is of the same substance as God… “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30). Therefore, Jesus Christ, the Word become flesh, satisfied all the requirements to atone for sin and to be the promised Savior.

As we grow up into Christ our appreciation for Him grows as we better understand that He is both…

Lamb and Son of God.