The Lamb of God

In part 3 of The Biography of Jesus series, Pastor Beth Jones brings an uplifting word that highlights Jesus as the Lamb of God. Her message emphasizes The Gospel and encourages us to stand firm in who God has created us to be as born again Christians. We have been given a new nature in Him! 

Jesus the Lamb is filled with foundational scriptures, pivotal details about who Jesus is, and life lessons for us all as we uncover the gift of righteousness given to us by the blood of the Lamb. As we continue to explore and get to know Jesus through hearing, reading, and consuming the Word, let’s listen, read, and consume with our hearts so that this revelation knowledge becomes part of our spiritual DNA, our belief system, as we passionately pursue Jesus Christ daily. 

We’re answering two big questions: 

Who is Jesus the Lamb and what did He do for us?

What is our response and how does it change our lives?

Righteousness Revelation

Oftentimes, we feel a disconnect between what Jesus the Lamb came to do and what we as Christians are actually experiencing. We go to church, we believe, we serve…but experiencing the true goodness of God isn’t real to many of us. We see this concept as theory, when God wants it to be our daily reality. 

So what do we need to make that happen? We need revelation. Man can’t give us what we need; only in Christ can we experience the righteousness God designed for us. God’s goodness and Jesus’ righteousness aren’t just for us to experience on the day we’re baptized or when we’re in heaven, either. 

God left us on earth to experience Him here, now, everyday, without ceasing. That’s what the cross is all about! That is why the Lamb came. Eternal life starts the minute Jesus Christ becomes the Lord of our lives, not the minute we die. Amen! 

In the window of time between giving our lives to Jesus and the time we physically die and enter heaven, what are our lives supposed to look like? We see the answer to that question in the revelation of the Lamb of God. Through that revelation, we’re able to experience the realities of God in a fresh, real, tangible way. Which is exactly what God wants for us! 

Who is Jesus the Lamb of God and what did He do for us?

John 1:29 (NLT) The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

As John the Baptist highlights in this New Testament verse, Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. This is revelation knowledge we discover more of throughout Jesus the Lamb.

The problem for many of us, and church culture in general, is that we focus on one word in that passage: sin. We have become very sin conscious; we’re so mindful, so aware of our mistakes, our shame, our weakness, and our inabilities. In the fallen world in which we live, the enemy is always making sure we feel like nothing, like a nobody, like a failure. 

Unfortunately, over time, the church has reinforced that concept. We hear a lot about the sinners we are, which is true–we were born with a sin nature. But the emphasis of John 1:29 is that Jesus, the Lamb of God, is here to take away our sin, not to emphasize our sin. 

There’s a feeling of guilt, condemnation, and inferiority that the enemy wants us to live under all the time. But Jesus is here to take our sin–our guilt, our condemnation, our inferiority–away. We need to stop being focused on our sin and start focussing on the Lamb of God who takes away all sin. Amen! 

When is it for? 

When are we supposed to experience the reality of Jesus taking away our sins? Is it just on the day we get saved? Is it just for when we go to heaven? Nope and nope. God intends for us to experience this reality throughout the bulk of our lives. 

Yes, the day we get saved is the best day of our lives, the best decision we could ever make.

Yes, heaven is going to be glorious and perfect with no more tears, no more sorrow. 

No, Jesus did not give His life on the cross for us to experience our sin removed just one day on earth and then in heaven. 

1 Peter 1:18-20 (NKJV) 18For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And it was not paid with mere gold or silver, which lose their value. 19It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. 20God chose him as your ransom long before the world began, but now in these last days he has been revealed for your sake.

Throughout scripture, we see the foreshadowing of the Lamb, beginning in the book of Genesis when Abraham offered up his son Isaac as a type and shadow of Christ. Pastor Beth reminds of this story in Jesus the Lamb at timestamp 14:57. We see more foreshadowing of the Lamb during the Passover in Isaiah 53. 

Then we see John saying, Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. From the foundation of the world, this Lamb was prophesied to come. Jesus is that Lamb. The lamb with spotless, sinless blood. Pastor Beth teaches more on why the shedding of spotless blood is truly essential for us to experience God as He designed in her book Why the Bloody, Gory Details?

Discussion:

What does it mean to you to experience the reality of Jesus taking away your sin? 

How did you feel the day you accepted Jesus as the Lord of your life? 

How can you feel that way throughout the duration of your life?

Why is the blood essential? 

In the Old Testament, there were all different kinds of sacrificial systems set up to atone for and cover the sins of the Israelites, both individually and as a nation. All of these sacrifices were types and shadows, prophetic events, to tell us about a redeemer, the Lamb of God, who would come. 

Pastor Beth shares insightful details about the historical shedding of innocent blood and why that matters to God in Jesus the Lamb at timestamp 16:26. Here’s the takeaway: It’s about the Lamb, not the man. Hebrews tell us that without the shedding of blood, there’s no forgiveness. In Old Testament times, if the sacrificial lamb was worthy, his blood could be shed and you could go free. The same is true for you and I in Jesus Christ!

Jesus came as the Lamb of God to be a sacrifice, a substitute, for all of us and take away our sin. Jesus was sinless, He was spotless, He was a worthy Lamb. Because His blood was shed, we’re able to experience the taking away of our sins–all of our sin, our sin nature. Because the sin of the whole world was poured out into the Lamb, the righteousness and perfection of the Lamb could be put upon us. Praise the Lord!

1 Corinthians 5:7 (NLT) Get rid of the old “yeast” by removing this wicked person from among you. Then you will be like a fresh batch of dough made without yeast, which is what you really are. Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed for us.

2 Corinthians 5:21 (NKJV) For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Jesus became sin when the sin of the world was placed on Him and He took away our sin from us on the cross. He did this so that we may become the righteousness of God through the sacrifice of the Lamb. 

We have become the righteousness of God–it’s who we are, it’s our nature. God removes our sin nature and our heart of stone and replaces it with the righteous nature of God Almighty. Allow the Holy Spirit to absorb this truth within you; this is revelation knowledge!

Through Jesus’ work on the cross, we become less sin conscious, less failure conscious, less weakness conscious and more righteousness conscious. Our default response when we sin shouldn’t be to wallow in guilt and shame, it should be to immediately thank God for His mercy and His gift of the righteousness of God in Christ! 

Discussion: 

Consider the story of Abraham and Isaac. How would you feel if you were required to sacrifice your child?

Does this principle help you understand the magnitude of Jesus’ death on the cross? 

How has your life changed since knowing the Lamb of God takes away all of your sin?

What does righteousness look like?

We only know what righteousness looks like through watching and observing and learning from Jesus. When a person lives in righteousness, they’re confident; they don’t live in guilt or condemnation or shame. We love people and we’re compassionate. We’re kind and generous and merciful. We are full of grace and truth. 

Righteousness creates a way of living. We can live in righteousness daily! On top of that, God desires for us to do exactly that. This is what God wants for us because of the Lamb.

3 righteousness realities for us to experience because of the Lamb

In Jesus the Lamb, Pastor Beth shares all the details about the 3 righteousness realities we’re able to experience because of Jesus, the Lamb of God. We are intended to experience these realities every single day, so be sure to print out these lists as a daily reminder and encouragement! 

1. Righteousness is not earned–it’s given through a faith exchange.
2. Righteousness is not temporary–it’s our eternal legal status.
3. Righteousness is not a license to sin–it’s how we reign in life. 

Faith Exchange

Romans 3:21-24 (NLT) 21But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago. 22We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.

• Righteousness is the ability to stand before God without any sense of guilt or inferiority, as though sin never existed.
• Mankind has always sought to obtain righteousness by works. 
• If we were told that someone had obtained righteousness by confessing all their sins since childhood and by making restitution for them, we would be willing to make the effort. 
• He was made sin; we are made righteous. It’s not by our works, but by Christ’s work. Righteousness doesn’t come by our perfection, but His.
• Jesus was treated as if He were a sinner, though He was perfectly holy and pure; we are treated as if we were righteous, though we were sinners. 

Our Eternal Legal Status

Romans 3:23-25 (NLT) 23For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. 24Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. 25For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past…

• In a judicial, legal way, Jesus became our substitute and representative for sin. He paid the “wages of sin” by dying in our place.
• Justification is God’s legal act by which an unrighteous sinner who believes in Jesus Christ as Savior is declared righteous before God, because Christ’s righteousness is imputed to him.
• Christ died for our sin–past, present, and future. 
• He paid a debt He did not owe. We owed a debt we could not pay. 
• When God declares you righteous, you are acquitted and He has dismissed your original sin case. 
• God’s declaration of righteousness over you is not temporary–it is eternal. You have been found not guilty and there is no eternal penalty. 
• In a legal courtroom, when a case is dismissed, it is dismissed forever. That case can never be brought before the courts again.

Not a License to Sin + The Power to Reign

Romans 5:17 (NKJV) 17For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.)

Not a license to sin…

• Sin may not affect our legal and eternal acquittal from sin and our being made “the righteousness of God” in Christ, but it does affect our temporary lives. 
• Sin hinders our close fellowship with God–so repent quickly.
• Sin hurts our relationships with others–so confess your faults and be restored. 
• Sin results in undesirable consequences–so choose wisely.

The power to reign…

• God’s gift of righteousness enables us to reign in life without any sense of guilt, inferiority, or condemnation. We can enjoy an intimate relationship with the Lord.
• We can live a free, loving, joyful, faith-filled life without fear of man, disease, failure, or life’s circumstances.
• We can walk just as confidently as Jesus did in this world and we can expect God’s favor, protection, health, wisdom, and provision. 
• When we receive His grace and the gift of righteousness, everything that Jesus accomplished on the cross has been credited to our account. 

1 John 4:17 (NKJV) Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the Day of Judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.

As we think about how Jesus lived in this world–loving people, fearless, compassionate, full of abundance–remember, this is the life God wants for all of us! Being righteousness conscious utterly destroys sin consciousness. When we focus on that, we live in God’s presence, full of joy and peace. We live with gratitude and freedom. 

Discussion: 

What does it mean to you personally to experience the righteousness of God?

What thoughts, feelings, and actions have held you back from experiencing His righteousness daily?

What did you learn about righteousness through this message? What elements were reaffirmed for you?

Click HERE to watch a moving video relating the power of the blood of the Lamb and how Jesus’ righteousness overcomes all the sin of the world. This visual helps us understand the almighty power of God and how we should live our daily lives knowing we have the gift of His righteousness!

Remember: God looks at the Lamb, not the man. There’s no more “if..then..” Through Jesus Christ, it’s now “if…because…” Because Jesus went to the cross, we’ve been made righteous. Amen! 

Prayer: 

Father, thank you for the opportunity to come together and learn about the many, many facets of your Son, Jesus Christ. Please grant us divine revelation as you continue to reveal to us Jesus as the Lamb. Thank you for your Son; thank you for the gift of righteousness in Him.  We love you, Lord. In Jesus’ holy name, Amen!