Sermon: The Lamb in Scripture

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The Lamb in Scripture 

Biblical history slowly revealed the Lamb of God

John 1.29

Don Ruhl • Savage Street, Grants Pass, Oregon • March 31, In the year of our Lord, 2013

Scripture Reader and Reading: Kadin Lopez – John 1.19–28

Song Leader and Song Suggestions: Kevin Michael – Any songs on the Lamb of God

Prelude: 

1. God did not reveal the truth all at once. 
   1. It was like slowly pulling up a window shade.
   2. Until finally He revealed everything.
      1. People in the beginning could not see nearly as much as we do.
      2. Sometimes they had almost no idea what they were seeing.
2. First Peter 1 shows that the prophets who delivered their messages, 
   1. did not always know the meaning, but
   2. we have the benefit of the complete revelation, because
      1. the window shade has been pulled up completely.
      2. Listen to Peter speak of the prophets desiring to know what we know,10 Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, 11 searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. 12 To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things which angels desire to look into (1Pe 1.10–12).
3. One of those things 
   1. was the image of a sacrifice,
   2. then the image of a lamb as a sacrifice.
4. Let us pull up the window shade and see what we discover. 

Persuasion: 

1. A Sacrifice in the Garden 
   1. Genesis 3 shows the attempt of Adam and Eve to cover themselves,7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. 8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden (Gen 3.7, 8).
      1. Their attempt to cover themselves fails.
      2. God covers them by sacrificing an animal.
   2. This shows three things about sin:
      1. Man cannot cover his own sin.
      2. Man cannot provide an escape from the consequences.
      3. Blood has to be shed,22 And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission (Heb 9.22).
2. A Substitutionary Lamb 
   1. Genesis 22 shows a substitute for man.
      1. It shows what the substitute would be.
      2. It shows that God provides the substitute,9 Then they came to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order; and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, upon the wood. 10 And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 11 But the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” So he said, “Here I am.” 12 And He said, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me” (Gen 22.9–12).
   2. However, consider a conversation Abraham and Isaac had earlier,7 But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” Then he said, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” 8 And Abraham said, “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.” So the two of them went together (Gen 22.7, 8).
      1. God did just as Abraham said to Isaac.
      2. Watch what happens afterwards,13 Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 And Abraham called the name of the place, The–Lord–Will–Provide; as it is said to this day, “In the Mount of the Lord it shall be provided” (Gen 22.13, 14).
   3. This shows:
      1. God provided a substitute.
      2. The substitute was a lamb.
      3. The location was Mt. Moriah, later known as Jerusalem (2Ch 3.1).
3. The Character of the Lamb 
   1. Exodus 12 revealed the nature of the lamb,5 “Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats. 6 Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight. 7 And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it” (Exo 12.5–7).
      1. The lamb could not have spot or blemish.
      2. It had to be perfect.
   2. The blood of the Passover lamb covered the lintel and doorposts.
      1. It protected those in the house from the destroyer.
4. The Lamb Would Be a Man 
   1. Reading Isaiah 53 gives the impression that the lamb would be a man,7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
      Yet He opened not His mouth;
      He was led as a lamb to the slaughter,
      And as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
      So He opened not His mouth.
      8 He was taken from prison and from judgment,
      And who will declare His generation?
      For He was cut off from the land of the living;
      For the transgressions of My people He was stricken.
      (Isa 53.7, 8)
   2. A man would not fight the slaughter.
   3. A man like a lamb would take our place.
5. Jesus Is the Lamb 
   1. John 1 shows John declaring Jesus of Nazareth as the Lamb,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!” (John 1.29).
      1. Not Isaiah.
      2. Not any other man.
   2. Look at what we have seen:
      1. In Jesus, God covered man.
      2. In Jesus, we escape the consequence of our sin.
      3. In Jesus, we have the blood necessary for remission.
      4. In Jesus, God provided for Himself a lamb.
      5. In Jesus, a lamb died on Mt. Moriah.
      6. In Jesus, we have the perfect, spotless, sinless sacrifice.
      7. In Jesus, we have the blood of the Passover lamb on the upright and crossmember of the cross.
      8. In Jesus, we have a lamb that did not resist the slaughter.
      9. In Jesus, we have a man acting as a lamb.

Exhortation: 

1. Jesus received the wrath of God, yet, 
   1. no one stopped it
   2. like God did with Abraham.
2. The sinless Son of God protects us from eternal destruction. 
   1. However, that does not happen automatically.
      1. We must accept Him as the Lamb of God.
      2. We must repent of our sins.
   2. Are you ready?

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