“The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, ‘Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!’” (John 1:29).
Three questions can help us understand this statement. What is sin? How can sin be taken away? And why is Jesus called the Lamb of God?
What is sin?
Sin is a violation of God’s will. “Sin is lawlessness” (1 John 3:4). “All unrighteousness is sin” (1 John 5:17). “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death” (James 1:13–15).
The world is weighed down with sin. Man’s own righteousness cannot save him “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). “For there is not a just man on earth who does good and does not sin” (Ecclesiastes 7:20). “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8). “As it is written: ‘There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one’” (Romans 3:10-12).
Sin separates us from God. “But your iniquities have separated you from your God” (Isaiah 59:2). Since God is the source of life, separation from God brings death. “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). Adam and Eve were warned that they would die if they disobeyed God (Genesis 2:17).
Sin earns death: “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23).
How can sin be taken away?
The justice of God requires punishment for sin. If God did not punish sin, He would not be righteous. Yet, because of His love, God wants forgiveness to be available. Sin must still be punished, however, or God’s justice would be violated. Forgiveness may only be granted within the framework of God’s righteousness!
Redemption is required to enable God to forgive sin without violating His justice. To obtain forgiveness, sinners must be redeemed by an innocent and equivalent substitutional sacrifice.
Only God can forgive sin because sin is an offense against Him. Only He can determine the basis upon which forgiveness is granted. God has designated faith as the requirement for receiving forgiveness. The saved are “justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith” (Romans 3:24, 25a).
The substitutional sacrifice of Christ enables God to forgive believers without violating His righteousness. Justice is served because the penalty for sin has been paid.
Words used in the Bible to describe this process of salvation by grace are redemption, atonement and propitiation.
Redemption is where a price is paid to free someone from bondage. This idea is rooted in the ancient practice of redeeming captives or slaves by paying a ransom.
In the Bible, this word describes how Jesus Christ’s sacrifice on the cross paid the price for humanity’s sin, thereby freeing believers from the bondage of sin and death. “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all” (1 Timothy 2:5, 6a).
Atonement refers to making amends for a wrong by providing compensation to achieve reconciliation.
Biblical atonement refers to a sacrifice that compensates for sin, thereby restoring a broken relationship with God.
Atonement is central to the sacrificial system in the Old Testament. Animals were not an equivalent sacrifice, however, “For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins” (Hebrews 10:4). Old Testament sacrifices symbolized and foreshadowed the ultimate atonement that would be accomplished under the New Covenant by the sacrifice of Christ.
Propitiation refers to something that satisfies an offended party. Biblical propitiationi refers to appeasing the wrath of God through a sacrifice. The sacrificial death of Christ is the ultimate satisfaction to restore the broken relationship between God and man.
Why is Jesus called the Lamb of God?
Because God planned to offer salvation by redemption from the beginning, Jesus is called “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8).
Those who heard John say, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29), would have understood that Jesus would serve as a sacrifice for the sin of the world.
The sacrifice of lambs as atonement for sin was an established concept in the Old Testament. The Israelites were commanded to offer two lambs each day, one in the morning and one at twilight (Exodus 29:38-42). A lamb was offered as a sin offering for unintentional sins (Leviticus 4:32-35). A lamb could be a guilt offering (Leviticus 5:6). In Egypt, the blood of the Passover lamb protected the firstborn sons of the Israelites from death (Exodus 12:1-13). In Isaiah 53:7 it is said of the Messiah: “He was led as a lamb to the slaughter.”
The New Testament explains Christ’s role as a sacrificial lamb. Peter says we are redeemed “with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Peter 1:19). Lambs sacrificed under the Old Covenant had to be without blemish, which foreshadowed the sinless nature of the sacrifice of the Lamb of God.
To qualify as a sacrifice for the sins of mankind, the Messiah could not Himself be guilty of sin or He would be under the same condemnation. “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Being sinlessii, Jesus did not have to die, and could volunteer to suffer the penalty for the sins of others. It would have been unjust if His sacrifice were not voluntary. Jesus said: “Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father” (John 10:17, 18).
The sinless Christ “bore our sins in His own body on the cross” (1 Peter 2:24). Believers who accept His sacrifice can thereby receive forgiveness without God’s justice being violated.
The glory of the Lamb was revealed to John!
“Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying: ‘You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; For You were slain, And have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, 10 And have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth’” (Revelation 5:8-10).
“Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice: ‘Worthy is the Lamb who was slain To receive power and riches and wisdom, And strength and honor and glory and blessing!’ 13 And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying: ‘Blessing and honor and glory and power Be to Him who sits on the throne, And to the Lamb, forever and ever!’” (Revelation 5:11-13).
The faithful are victorious by the blood of the Lamb (Revelation 12:11). Of those who washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb, it is said: “They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any heat; for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes” (Revelation 7:16, 17).
Have you been washed in the blood of the Lamb?
“Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29).
Forgiveness of sin is offered to all through the sacrifice of Christ. Through baptism you can have a part in His death, burial and resurrection. “Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:3, 4).
If not, “Why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord” (Acts 22:16).
Amen.
Herselt, Belgium. RoyDavison@oldpaths.net
i In the New Testament the word “propitiation” is found only in Romans 3:25.
ii With regard to the sinlessness of Christ, see also 1 Peter 2:22, Hebrews 4:15 and 1 John 3:5.