Jesus the Lamb

---

John 1:29

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!"

What did John the baptist mean by referring to Jesus as "the Lamb of God"?

Leviticus 5:5,6

When anyone is guilty in any of these ways, he must confess in what way he has sinned and, as a penalty for the sin he has committed, he must bring to the LORD a female lamb or goat from the flock as a sin offering; and the priest shall make atonement for him for his sin.

Under the law, the Jews often had to sacrifice lambs, goats, bulls, and other animals in various sacrifices symbolizing different things. The "sin offering" was for sins committed by individuals, tribes, or the nation, and was to atone for those sins. Sin offerings were quite common because the people found themselves sinning often. The Passover is an annual event in which a lamb was sacrificed to the Lord. All sacrifices required an animal that was "without blemish", so it could not be lamed, sick, or in any way undesirable to the people for eating, breeding, or working.

In our society today, animal sacrifices are not a common thing (thankfully). So the details of these stories can be intriguing or repulsive to us. But to those people living back in the time of these sacrifices, it wasn't just an interesting story or two, it was part of their lives, and it was very real to them. When a "sin offering" was given to the Lord, many times the animal was hung upside down, and its throat was cut, thus the animal would quickly bleed to death. These people would watch the blood spill to the ground, and the animal die, and they knew that the animal's blood was being spilled because of their sins! And every few weeks they would witness a similar scene. To them it was very real.

Romans 8:3,4

For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.

Jesus became a sin offering for our sins!

Romans 4:25

He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.

I John 4:10

This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

God sacrificed His one and only son Jesus, a lamb without blemish, to make atonement for OUR sins!

[Matthew 26:1 - 28:20] (Read about the crucifixion, and explain the details.)

Why did Jesus have to be sacrificed for the sins of the world?

Given that God sacrificed His only Son for our sin, how seriously do you think God takes our sin?

Romans 5:6-9

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him!

Who put Jesus on the cross? You did! If you were the only sinner in the whole world, the price for your redemption would still be the same -- the sacrifice of God's son!

Romans 3:23-34

It is by this free gift that we are offered grace! We did not, and can not, earn it!

But this free gift is not cheap.

If you believe that Jesus was who He claimed to be -- the Son of God, and if you believe that He sacrificed himself for YOUR sins, and that this sacrifice is as real to you as the animal sacrifices were to the people of Israel thousands of years ago, then you will not treat this free gift as if it were a cheap, common thing! In fact, it will have the most profound affect on your life! Indeed, the bible teaches that God's free gift does call for a grateful response.

Next week, we will look at our response to God's grace.

Close with prayer.