BEHOLD THE LAMB OF GOD (Part I)

BEHOLD THE LAMB OF GOD (Part I)

It is mission critical that believers stretch toward a fuller comprehension of the person and the work of Jesus Christ.  For the remainder of this season leading up to the Holy Week commemoration of the vicarious suffering and death of Jesus Christ and the celebration of His resurrection, our primary focus will be an in-depth examination of the character, the life and the ministry of our Lord and Savior.

Exactly who is this man called Jesus Christ?

The Apostle John portrays Him as The Pre-Existent Christ.  In other words, Jesus Christ predates all of creation and all of human history.  He is The Logos, The Living Word of God, who always was and forever shall be.  (Hebrews 13:8 – Luke 1:33) The Apostle John expresses this fact with great clarity:

John 1:1-3 (NKJV)

¹  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

² He was in the beginning with God.

³ All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.

Additionally, the book of Hebrews confirms to us that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the express image of God and the chief architect of creation:

Hebrews 1:1-5 (NKJV)

¹ God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, ² has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; ³ who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, ⁴ having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. 5 For to which of the angels did He ever say: "You are My Son, today I have begotten You”?  And again: “I will be to Him a Father, and He shall be to Me a Son”?

As the Son of God, Jesus Christ is manifested as “the propitiation for our sins” and for the sins of “the whole world.” (I John 4:10 – I John 2:2 – Romans 3:25 – Hebrews 2:17)  Dictionary.com defines “propitiation” as “conciliation.”  As such, it is synonymous with atonement, reconciliation, restoration and a peace offering.  In other words, “God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself.” (II Corinthians 5:19)

Of necessity, this was designed to be a vicarious or substitutionary act of atonement.  According to the Word, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23)  However, fallen humanity had no effective means of redemption for our corporate rejection of God.  Thus, Jesus Christ entered the scene as the perfect solution to the dilemma between the justice of God, which requires punishment for sin, and the mercy of God, which mediates grace and forgiveness. (Romans 6:23)  Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man, thus He is a just representative of humanity and a merciful representative of God.

John the Baptist was the cousin of Jesus and his forerunner.  That is, he prepared the way for Christ’s coming by preaching the gospel of repentance in the Jordanian wilderness.  His task was to turn the hearts of the people toward God and to publicly identify the Savior. 

John 1:29;36 (NKJV)

²⁹ The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! 

³⁶ And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, “Behold the Lamb of God!”

As believers, our mandate is to behold Him, to honor Him, to love Him and to obey Him.  Throughout this series, let us remain prayerful and open to a fuller and deeper revelation of Jesus Christ.  Sisters and brothers, be continually blessed!