The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

John 1:29

When we speak of Christ, ‘the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world,’ what do we mean when we speak of ‘sin?’  What is sin?  A good definition is, ‘Sin is any want of conformity unto or transgression of the law of God.’  This is what Christ came to address by His life and death.  Sin is what has brought us death.  When Christ came into the world, He came that we ‘might have life and…might have it more abundantly.’  He could not make that a reality without dealing with sin.  To this end, He lived perfectly to deal with sin as it respects the precepts of the law.  He then died sacrificially to deal with sin as it respects the penalty which the law requires.  This sin is the very thing of which we cannot free ourselves.  It is that sinfulness, which is ours by nature and by choice, that Christ addressed.  When we come to understand sin, the nature of it, and the effect of it, we come very quickly to recognize the virtue and value of the Person and Work of Christ.  This makes our view of Him as, ‘The Lamb of God’ even more delightful.  We behold Him as the Altogether Lovely One, Whose value is only exceeded by His virtue.  It is for this reason that we cannot make too much of Christ.  It is for this reason that all theology and doctrine, rightly understood brings us to, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world.’

Our Gracious sin-bearing Savior,
we rejoice in Your perfect life and atoning death.
We praise You that by them,
You have satisfied the law of God in every way
on our behalf.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

John 1:29

‘Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.’  According to Hebrews, ‘…without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.’  Faith is also a gift of God according to Ephesians 2.  When God gives us faith, to what end does He give it?  John tells us, ‘…these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.’ Faith in God means faith in Christ.  ‘Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name under heaven, given among men, whereby we must be saved.’  Therefore, when we hear the clarion call of John the Baptist, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world,’ we take that very personally.  We believe in Christ, His perfect life and His atoning death.  We believe that He has satisfied the law of God in precept by His life and in penalty by His death.  We believe His testimony, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No man comes to the Father, but by me.’  We have placed all our hope in Him, for forgiveness of sin, for acceptance with God, for justification, adoption, sanctification, and glorification.  We hold Him to be the only Redeemer of God’s Elect.  Therefore we not only receive John’s message, but we also repeat John’s message.  We are the spiritual inheritors of the Great Commission to go into all the world and preach the Gospel.  Popular or unpopular, accepted or rejected, praised or pilloried, living or dying, we say with John the Baptist and all the redeemed of all the ages, ‘Behold the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world.’

Our Glorious Living Christ,
we rejoice that You have given us every reason to believe in You.
We praise You that we have the great privilege,
to proclaim all that You have done for us
and will do for others, who place their faith in You.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

John 1:29

John the Baptist was an utterly unique individual.  From the angelic announcement of his birth, to his bizarre attire, to his rough-hewn message and ministry, he captivates our attention.  When he beheld Christ ‘coming toward him,’ he spoke clearly and unmistakably about the Person and Work of Christ.  He said, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.’  This is a message for the ages.  It spans the whole of the Old and New Testaments.  The first acceptable sacrifice, made by Abel to God, was the sacrifice of a lamb.  Later, Abraham testified, and in his testimony prophesied, ‘The Lord shall provide Himself a lamb.’  When God set the annual calendar for the nation of Israel, He began their year with the sacrifice of the lamb.  Central to the worship of the Tabernacle and the Temple was the sacrifice of the lamb.  John’s message of ‘Behold the Lamb of God would continue on throughout the New Testament.  The once-for-all sacrifice of Christ came at the time of the Passover.  Paul reiterated the message with ‘Christ, our Passover is sacrificed for us.’  John saw Christ in Revelation as the ‘Lamb as though it had been slain.’  When he came to the end of his work, he again showed us in the New Jerusalem, ‘the throne of God and of the Lamb.’  This is the message for the ages.  This is the Message which surpasses all others.  ‘Behold, the Lamb of God.’

Our Wise and Holy God,
we rejoice that You have set forth
the message of Christ, throughout history.
We praise You that we may look backward
and forward and find Christ all along the way.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning