The Lamb

Steven Prinz

Among Us • Sermon • Submitted 5 months ago • Presented 5 months ago

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Jesus is the sacrificial lamb who was delivered to take on our sin.

Notes

Transcript

Introduction

Well, good morning!

Listen, I don’t know about you, but doesn’t it feel like this Christmas season has just flown by? And I know for some of you grinches out there, you’re happy about that…but listen, in just one week, we’ll all be gathered together on Christmas Eve…and I know I’ve been busy with school and traveling, but it just feels like it came and it’s gone…and so, for that reason, I just think we should spend like another two or three months observing Christmas. Amen?

Well listen, I’m excited to be with you guys this morning…I’m excited to dive into God’s Word…continue our study through John chapter 1…but before we do that, let’s recite our mission verse together. Matthew chapter 28, verses 19 and 20…we’ll recite this passage this week and next before we learn a whole new one for 2024. And so, if you’re ready, I’ll get us started, you finish us up.

Matthew 28:19–20 (ESV)

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

[Prayer]

Alrighty…if you’d go ahead and keep your places there in John chapter 1…that’s where we’re gonna hang out this morning…specifically in verses 29 through 34.

And so, so far in this study, we’ve been looking at the question, “Who is Jesus?” Right? Obviously, Christmas…it’s a huge holiday season for believers and unbelievers alike…but why’s it so important…why’s Jesus so important? And our goal this Christmas season, it’s been to see what the Apostle John has to say about this Jesus. Of course, John, he was a follower of Jesus during His earthly ministry. He was one of Jesus’s closest disciples…according to his own account, John was the beloved disciple, right? And what we’ve seen so far in John chapter 1, it’s that Jesus was the Word…and that Jesus was the incarnation. Jesus was with God…and He, Himself was God. John says that Jesus created everything through Him and for Him. He goes on and he says that the Word, He’s the light of men. Jesus is where life’s found.

And then last week, Kyler talked about Jesus being the incarnation…Jesus is the God-man. He became the very thing He created so that He could provide salvation for man. John says, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us…[and through Him] we’ve seen his glory.” He became like us…experiencing the same trials…the same struggles…the same limitations.

This morning, as we look at another section of John’s gospel here in chapter 1…John says Jesus, He’s also the Lamb. He’s the one that was prophesied throughout the Old Testament. The One alluded to in the Exodus accounts as God freed His people from the Egyptians. And just as is seen throughout the Old Testament…just as countless lambs and goats and all these other substitutions were sacrificed to pay for Israel’s sins…Jesus was sent to be man’s ultimate sacrifice…a sacrifice meant to step in and take man’s place for good.

That’s the real magic of Christmas…that’s what makes Christmas so important…its the gift God gave to us in giving us His Son…it’s the gift of substitution…of atonement.

Years ago, I heard this pastor share a made up story to kind of try and explain this sacrifice God made for us. It’s a story written by a man named Dennis Hensley.

Let me just read some of it for you. It says:

There was once a bridge which spanned a large river. During most of the day the bridge sat with its length running up and down the river paralleled with the banks, allowing ships to pass through freely on both sides of the bridge. But at certain times each day, a train would come along and the bridge would be turned sideways across the river, allowing a train to cross it. A switchman sat in a shack on one side of the river where he operated the controls to turn the bridge and lock it into place as the train crossed. One evening as the switchman was waiting for the last train of the day to come, he looked off into the distance through the dimming twilight and caught sight of the train lights. He stepped onto the control and waited until the train was within a prescribed distance when he was about to turn the bridge. He turned the bridge into position, but, to his horror, he found the locking control did not work. If the bridge was not securely in position, it would wobble back and forth at the ends when the train came onto it, causing the train to jump the track and go crashing into the river. This would be a passenger train with many people aboard. He left the bridge turned across the river, and hurried across the bridge to the other side of the river, where there was a lever switch he could hold to operate the lock manually. He would have to hold the lever back firmly as the train crossed. He could hear the rumble of the train now, and he took hold of the lever and leaned backward to apply his weight to it, locking the bridge. He kept applying the pressure to keep the mechanism locked. Many lives depended on this man's strength. Then, coming across the bridge from the direction of his control shack, he heard a sound that made his blood run cold. "Daddy, where are you?" His four-year-old son was crossing the bridge to look for him. His first impulse was to cry out to the child, "Run! Run!" But the train was too close; the tiny legs would never make it across the bridge in time. The man almost left his lever to run and snatch up his son and carry him to safety. But he realized that he could not get back to the lever. Either the people on the train, or his little son must die. He took a moment to make his decision.

The train sped safely and swiftly on its way, and no one aboard was even aware of the tiny broken body thrown mercilessly into the river by the onrushing train. Nor were they aware of the pitiful figure of the sobbing man, still clinging tightly to the locking lever long after the train had passed. They did not see him walking home more slowly than he had ever walked; to tell his wife how their son had brutally died.

The author goes on and he writes: Now if you comprehend the emotions which went through this man's heart, you can begin to understand the feelings of our Father in Heaven when He sacrificed His Son to bridge the gap between us and eternal life. Can there be any wonder that He caused the earth to tremble and the skies to darken when His son died? How does He feel when we speed along through life without giving a thought to what was done for us through Jesus Christ? When was the last time you thanked Him for the sacrifice of His Son?

Listen, this is a powerful story…but even then, it doesn’t begin to explain the sacrifice God made for us…to restore us…to redeem us. It doesn’t begin to explain the great love and great desire God has for us. Jesus came knowing He’d be sacrificed…Jesus was sent with the intentions of being sacrificed from the very beginning.

If you take notes…John, he tells us exactly who Jesus is here in these verses…He’s the Lamb. He’s the sacrificial lamb…He’s the eternal lamb…He’s the beloved lamb. That’s our three points this morning.

And so, with that…let’s look at this first point together.

I. Jesus is the Sacrificial Lamb (v. 29)

Jesus is the sacrificial lamb.

Look at verse 29 with me again. John says, “29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”

Now, there’s two John’s here in this account…there’s John the Apostle, the one that followed Jesus. He’s the author of this book…And then there’s John the Baptist, the one who prophesied about Jesus. Verse 29, it’s talking about John the Baptist. He was out prophesying about Jesus coming…He was out baptizing people, and it says that Jesus came toward him. And listen, what’s the very first thing that John the Baptist says about Jesus when he sees Him? He says, “Behold, the Lamb of God!”

Now listen, depending on your translations…it’s kind of hard to really grasp the scene here. John says, “Behold! Look…it’s Him…it’s the One I’ve been talking about! It’s the Lamb that was promised.” And listen, Jesus wasn’t just any Lamb…but John says, “He’s the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world!” He’s the sacrificial Lamb.

Guys, John the Baptist…he was fully capable of preaching because he was the son of Zechariah who was a priest. And he knew about the sacrifice of lambs. He would’ve seen it…he would’ve seen ‘em sacrificed at the temple as he grew up. He knew full well what he was saying about Jesus. He would’ve had memory of the Passover events, where Israel remembered how God rescued them from Egypt and had passed over them when He executed His judgement. John’s saying, “Jesus, He fulfills that!” In Egypt, God sent His judgment on everyone, on Israelite and Egyptian alike, they were all liable to that terrible judgement. It was only those who were covered by the blood of the sacrificial lamb…it was the blood dabbed on the door posts…only those people were passed over…only those people were removed from the judgment of God. There was a sacrifice made in their place…but listen, that sacrifice it was temporary…and all the sacrifices that would follow…all the sacrifices that were made to satisfy God’s justice and wrath, they were all temporary.

Listen, I’m sure when God setup the sacrificial system back in the Old Testament, there were people that asked themselves whether a lamb was really a sufficient sacrifice for a person…let alone whether it really satisfied the righteous requirements of the law and of a holy God. Guys, what John the Baptist’s saying here, its that, it’s all explained now. Here He is…the Passover, it was always about Jesus. He’s the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.

Really, if you think about it, it’s just the whole Exodus story being fulfilled in reverse. Those who repented, they were being baptized…and here comes the Passover Lamb, He walks among them. And just like all those countless lambs that were brought to the temple to be sacrificed…all those lambs who took on the sins of Israel, Jesus was doing the same.

Back in the Old Testament, when the priest would place their hands on those sacrificial lambs, they were passing the sins of the people onto that sacrifice. The wrath of God would then be poured out on to that lamb instead of the people He so deeply loved. It was these temporary sacrifices that allowed them to continue walking in relationship with God. But these lambs, they were never God’s solution…they were always meant to point to the One that would come and shed His blood on Calvary on our behalf. These lambs pointed to the One that would be delivered up and sacrificed once so that all sin, for all time, could once and for all be forgiven. Jesus was that Lamb sent by God to offer His life as a sacrifice. He was the one to whom Isaiah wrote about: “He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth. Like a lamb led to the slaughter and like a sheep silent before her shearers, he did not open his mouth” (Isaiah 53:7).

Jesus came willingly to free His people from the grips of sin by offering His own life. He was our sacrifice. And even as He laid there, at that first Christmas, in the form of a baby, that was always God’s intentions. Jesus was born, all so that He could die.

And listen, the application for that…it’s that God loves you. He desires you. It doesn’t matter who you are…it doesn’t matter what you’ve done…it doesn’t even mattered who you’ve hurt, God loves you and He desires you…and He sent Jesus all so that He could bridge the gap that separates Him and His people.

Have you responded to that great love? And if you have then when’s the last time you reflected on that great love?

That’s t he first point, Jesus is the sacrificial lamb.

II. Jesus is the Eternal Lamb (vv. 30-31)

The second point, Jesus is the eternal lamb.

Look at verses 30 and 31 with me again. John says, "30 This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ 31 I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.”

And so, here's John the Baptist. He's out baptizing people, prophesying about the coming of Jesus. And he says, "This is him...this is who I've been speaking about." And what's interesting here...he says, "At first, I didn't realize exactly who he was." He says, "I myself didn't know him." What he means here, he knew that Jesus was sent to be the Messiah, right? We see that even in the womb, John leaped for joy. But what he's saying here, its that he didn't realize that Jesus was God Himself...that this Messiah was in fact the God of creation...the God of Abraham and Issac and Jacob.

And it's interesting here because of how John the Baptist kind of introduces Jesus. Even though John's ministry was to pave the way for Jesus...even though John was older and born before Jesus...he says, "Jesus out ranks me and Jesus came before me." What John's saying, its that Jesus, He's eternal...Just as John said in the opening verses...Jesus was there at creation, before creation.

And listen, the most interesting thing about John's remarks here...it's in reference to Jesus being the Lamb...because that's the context, right? John's talking about Jesus being this sacrificial lamb for man...and in describing this sacrificial Lamb, he says, "This Lamb, He came before me!" Meaning God didn't come up with this plan because somehow He wasn't in control. Jesus wasn't some plan B because God's intention for creation didn't work out. God's sovereign and before He even created the world...Jesus, the cross, His death, His resurrection...it was always plan A.

That's why Paul says in Ephesians chapter 1:

Ephesians 1:3–4 (ESV)

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.

Paul says God blessed us through Jesus as He chose us before the foundations of the world…before He created anything. I mean just let that sink in. God’s plan, it was always Jesus as our Lamb. Jesus is the eternal Lamb.

Honestly, I think what fascinates me the most is Genesis chapter 3. We talked about this in detail when we went through that at the beginning of the year…but at man’s fall, Jesus Himself was present there to approach Adam and Eve after their decision to sin. And we know it was Jesus partly because of what John says here in his book…verse 18, “18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.” And so, Jesus, He’s the only One that’s made the Father known…He’s the only One that’s been seen. And listen, because Jesus’s role was to represent man on His behalf, it makes sense that He’s always been man’s spokesman at every point in history, right? I mean we were created through Him and for Him so it makes sense that when we fell, He was the One there to discipline us and lay out the consequences.

And if you remember, He told the woman, child labor…it was gonna be painful now…and He said that she’d now desire the role of her husband but that he’d still rule over her, right? That was the consequences for her part in the fall. And man’s, his was that the ground, it would be cursed and it wouldn’t produce a harvest like it did before. Work was gonna be hard now. And if you remember, he told the serpent, Satan…Genesis 3:15:

Genesis 3:15 (ESV)

I will put enmity between you and the woman,

and between your offspring and her offspring;

he shall bruise your head,

and you shall bruise his heel.”

Guys, in the midst of man’s rebellion against Himself…He literally tells the serpent, in the presence of man, that He’ll provide a Savior, a substitution, a Messiah to save them from this problem they created. What He’s telling them here, it’s that He’d provide a lamb which would be Himself. In the midst of man’s punishment, God Himself, Jesus was saying that He’d take on that punishment.

It’s like that time I told you about when I went swimming with alligators when I was kid, right? The only time I ever got a whopping as a kid…because remember I was a good kid, right? But its like, in the middle of my dad reprimanding me, in the middle of him laying out the consequences of my actions, it’d be like him saying, “I’m gonna take the worst of it for you.” That’s what Jesus did for us. Even in the midst of our rebellion, even when we were at odds with Him…even when we were still yet sinners, Jesus always planned to die for us. He was always the eternal lamb. He knew about man’s fall before it ever happened and He always intended to be our Lamb before He ever created us. And every piece of Scripture…every verse, every chapter…everything, it all points to Jesus’s atoning work on the cross.

And listen, this truth, it just further reinforces the fact that you’ve loved…you’re desired by the Creator…by Jesus, the Word, our Emmanuel…the God of the universe. He wants a relationship with you. And listen, He’s done everything to give you that opportunity…But also before you were ever knit together in your mother’s womb, Him dying for you, it was always His plan. Jesus always intended to be your Lamb. Live in that truth! Place confidence in that truth. Find hope in that truth!

That’s the second point.

III. Jesus is the Beloved Lamb (vv. 32-34)

The third and final point…Jesus is the beloved lamb.

I can’t tell you how many people I’ve spoken to that have asked, “How do I know that Jesus’s death really was enough for my sins? Like, how do I know that His sacrifice was all I needed to gain eternal life and be restored?” Well, that’s a great question, right? A question, I think John answers here.

Look at verse 32 with me again. John says, “32 And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. 33 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.’ 34 And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”

And so, what John’s saying here…it’s that Jesus, this Lamb, he was already satisfying to God before His death. Jesus was already beloved by God. Look at what John says, “I didn’t know Jesus, but He, God, who sent me to baptize with water [or in other words, to pave the way for Jesus], He [God] said that when you see the Spirit of God descend and remain on this man that comes, you’ll know that He’s the One I sent.” And he goes on and says, “I’ve seen this man…and I’ve borne witness about this man…and He is the Son of God.”

And so, how do we know that Jesus’s sacrifice is sufficient? I think John covers it here…because He’s the Son of God…He’s beloved by God. In describing this story in more detail, Matthew says in his book:

Matthew 3:17 (ESV)

and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

God was pleased with Jesus from the start. Before He came into the world…before He lived a perfect life…before He began His earthly ministry…before He ever gave His life…Jesus was beloved, and the Father was pleased with Him.

And listen guys, because Jesus is beloved and because Jesus lived a perfect, sinless life as the God-man…His sacrifice, it fully satisfies God’s demands for justice. We have to remember, that our sin and our rebellion, it demands punishment…but what makes the Christmas story so great, it’s that Jesus’s death fulfills that punishment. God’s a gracious and kind God, but he’s also just and holy. And because of His justice, we [as vile and filthy and unholy sinners, we] can’t come into His presence. His holiness, it demands His just wrath to be poured out on sin. And as sinners, we’re the objects of God’s wrath, awaiting a day when God’s full fury will be poured out on us…a day when we’ll experience the punishment our sin demands…But praise Jesus, there was a Lamb offered…a Lamb who offered His life on our behalf…and in doing so, He took God’s wrath upon Himself.

Paul says in Romans 5:9:

Romans 5:9 (ESV)

Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.

Guys, the great joy of the gospel, its that we don’t have to pay for our sin…Jesus paid the bill…We don’t have to endure the wrath of God…God’s wrath, it was poured out on the Lamb, Jesus…Jesus came to take away the sin of the world, to completely satisfy the justice of God. Our sin, it can no longer be held against us if we turn to Jesus and recognize the sacrifice that’s been made on our behalf.

And the reason we can find confidence in this truth, its because of who Jesus is. He’s beloved…and He’s beloved because He is God.

Closing

John says, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”

Guys, as we recognize this Lamb…as we focus our attention on this Lamb…when we take our eyes off us and what we’re doing…when we stop trying to be this good version of what we think goodness looks like…when we stop focusing on our problems or the people around us…when we stop centering everything on ourselves and on others…when we center that attention on the Lamb of God…it’s there we’ll find rest…it’s there we’ll find joy and fulfillment…it’s there we find freedom.

Listen, as we close this morning, would you just bow your head and close your eyes with me?

Guys, if you’re here this morning and you’ve turned your life to Jesus…do you reflect on this truth? Do you make Christmas about this truth? Do you share with others about this truth? Does this truth about the Lamb of God, does it bring you comfort and rest? We as believers, we constantly need to remind each other about the riches of the gospel message…and find our rest there.

And so, maybe this morning, you just need to sit and reflect, meditate on that truth, thank Him for that truth…Thank Him that you’re His…that you know this truth.

But guys, if you don’t know Him this morning, you need to finally turn your life to Him…you need to repent and believe as the Bible says…You need to confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that Jesus is Lord and that He died and rose again…that He came to be your substitute.

Listen, if that’s you this morning, I just wanna give you a chance to respond to that. I know a lot times, we preachers, we tell you about the gospel but then it just seems so overwhelming…it doesn’t explain what you need to do to receive salvation…and so, this morning, if you’re battling with this and you wanna turn your life over to Jesus…all you need to do is repeat after me…you don’t have to use words, you can speak them in your heart…because that’s what matters…it’s what’s going on there, in your heart. These words I’m gonna say, they don’t save you, they’re not magical in any kind of way…they’re just words…but all I wanna do is help you process what the Spirit’s doing in your heart, and all I wanna do is help you turn to Him. And so, if that’s you this morning, would you bow your head and just repeat after me?

"Lord Jesus...I believe you are who you say you are....I believe you came into this world and I believe you lived a perfect and sinless life...I believe you went to a cross and wore the weight of my sin....I believe you experienced the punishment met for me...I confess to you now that I am sinful and wicked....I am in need of grace and mercy and forgiveness...Jesus come into my life and fill me with your Spirit....Help me live in your ways and grow me to be more and more like you…I pray this in Jesus's name...Amen!"

Listen, if you prayed that and met those things in your heart...The Bible says that you've now been given a new life...you've been reborn. You now have hope and assurance in your salvation and even hope in death. It tells us that the Spirit of God has now taken up residence in you. But guys, you don't need to keep that to yourself...you need to let someone know. You need to come alongside of a church and let that church disciple you. You need to grow and learn what it means to follow Jesus. And so, as we close this morning, the praise team’s gonna play one more song, I challenge you...let someone know. Come talk to me, let me pray with you. Or if you’re struggling with something or need to just lay something at the feet of Jesus this morning, these steps they’re open. I’m here if you need me. And so, you take this time and I’ll close us in just a moment.