As we continue our study on the Lamb of God, we’ll begin with a prophecy given by the prophet Isaiah approximately seven hundred years before the birth of Jesus Christ.
For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, And as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, There is no beauty that we should desire Him. Isaiah 53:2
He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Isaiah 53:3
Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. Isaiah 53:4
But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our Iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. Isaiah 53:5
All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. Isaiah 53:6
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. Isaiah 53:7
This prophetic word picture describes the Son of God coming as a sacrificial Lamb, not as a conquering king, which the Jews longed for and expected of their Messiah. Instead, He came meek and lowly as the One giving His life to ransom us from our sins and bondage.
How did Jesus become the Lamb of God? Was this something God came up with after Adam sinned, or was Jesus already destined for to give His life for mankind before the foundation of the world?
In our first post in this series, we learned God promised to raise up the SEED of the woman, who would crush the head of the serpent (Genesis 3:9-15). This SEED referred to Jesus Christ, God’s Son, who would put on human flesh, be born in a manger, walk among us, and eventually take the sins of the world upon Himself as a sacrificial Lamb (John 1:29; Philippians 2:5-8).
Was this a kneejerk response of heaven after Adam sinned or did God already have a plan in place before the foundation of the world?
“…knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.
He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. Peter 1:18-21
And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him (the antichrist), whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Revelation 13:8
Here we see this was not a kneejerk reaction of heaven. We see it was God’s plan to save all who would put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God. God made provision before He created mankind. This is a great mystery, but it shows God’s love and mercy before the beginning of His creation.
Under the law, God required Israel to offer sacrifices pointing to Christ’s ultimate sacrifice on the cross. They were required to bring a sacrificial lamb each year for Passover, which reminded them of the first Passover in Egypt, when the death angel went throughout the land destroying the first born of every family who did not have the blood of a spotless lamb smeared upon the doorposts and lintel of their house. (Exodus 12)
This symbolic act was to be their faith in God’s salvation. It was a way for them to agree with His plan of salvation. He ordained it. They did not come up with this idea. God ordained salvation and ordained it to come through the sacrifice of Christ, the Lamb of God.
Sin came into the world through Adam, and the penalty for sin was the death of the one committing the sin. First spiritual death (separation from God), then physical death, and finally eternal death (in the lake of fire).
Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die." Genesis 2:15-17
For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. 1 Corinthians 15:21
Mankind was hopeless, lost in sin and bound for destruction BUT God in His great mercy made a way through His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ the Lamb of God. Jesus Christ, as the Lamb of God, would take our punishment on the cross. He would become the perfect and final sacrifice for sin. His blood would now be applied to those who trusted Him for salvation. He would become their Passover Lamb, slain from the foundation of the world. What amazing grace and love!
We have only scratched the surface of this wonderful topic. I encourage you to do your own study on the sacrificial ordinances of the Old Testament that were designed to point us to the Savior of the world, Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God. God instituted those Old Testament sacrifices as a reminder of the cost of sin, and the unfathomable price He was willing to pay to redeem us from our sins.
And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight— Colossians1:21-22
In 1865, the songwriter Elvina M. Hall wrote these words to describe Christ’s substitutionary sacrifice.
“Jesus paid it all.
All to Him I owe.
Sin had left a crimson stain.
He washed it white as snow.”
We’ll cover more on the Lamb of God, next time. Until then, may God our Heavenly Father, richly bless and keep you!
James Brown CST 09/14/2023